The Tokyo Domain

  What was it about life that sometimes just seemed to make it last forever. Every experience of every man was a series of sudden bursts of passion, followed by endless years of nothingness. So was it, that I was doomed to a similar existence. My passions were long since lost to the eternal abyss of the endless lonely years of boredom.  Was it that which motivated me? I could never be truly sure.  It seems as though, that is the fate to which I was resigned at the moment.

A glance up at the screen revealed nothing. A quick look out the window, nothing again. I leaned back in my chair. Some days sitting here mindlessly was a comfort, a true moment to be alone with myself. Now it was like every moment wore on in the core of my very being. I once read that true immortality could be achieved in such a manner. To resolve oneself to their own mind, to make time wear on into infinity. The very though made my body tremble. I wanted nothing to do with a life longer than any other persons.

The screen was still empty. Formless blackness left to its own devices. Water began to drip slowly off of my still wet hair. I rubbed it again with my towel. Still, there was nothing to do. I was not motivated enough to make any vague attempts to create action myself. That never gave me the same rush as when something beyond my control excited me. Something about it, it thrilled me. Playing games I had coded did nothing for me, too much predictability. Ironic isn’t it? Here I am confined to a life of anything but.

Had I just lost the things that had excited me? Something must have been occupying my thoughts without my consent, for I could not pin down why this time I would act in such a way. I breathed a heavy sigh. The ceiling was a dull gray from my vantage point. Unpainted, unadorned. I had never really looked at it before. Somehow it had never seemed important enough to divert my attention toward it. The sun was making its way slowly across the sky outside. Then I would feel better. I was sure of it. I stared out the window and the slowly receding light.

The noises were intensifying downstairs; the dinner rush would probably start any second now. When that happened it would be hard to go out. Who said I wanted to go out anyway? It actually sounded like an interesting thing to do. My mind darted here in there in a would-be future. It would feel good to have the pavement under me again, racing along through the night. Maybe then I could clear my head of all this. How much time had passed since I had last ridden? I could not tell. Time was funny like that sometimes. Was it days or hours since I had logged into the Domain?

“The human mind can be pushed, trained to process information faster than he real world can provide it. Once a man’s mind is beyond the pace of normal everyday life that is when he has lost his real life.” The man who taught me to run said this to me before he would even begin to teach me. “You must give up your own reality to understand it, once you are resigned to do this, then you will learn.” I learned everything he had to teach me.  Now time is near endless. When he last logged onto the net he told me that he had finally achieved the immortality that he sought all those years; where one instant could be stretched into endless time. That is when I realized what the price could be for our dabbling with the human mind. Immortality.

As the minutes passed by like hours I found myself truly pained by the lack of interaction. I stood up. The towel that was around my shoulders fell to the ground slowly, leaving me naked and cold standing in the middle of my room. I began to shiver slightly. What did it matter though, these simple sensations? One could also train their mind to cast them off as well. All sensation, all sense of time, all emotion… They all could be cast off into the abyss of the net. Would you trade your soul for this power? I traded just enough it seems. Still, would his words follow me until my last desperate moments, when I too longed for a life of infinite thought? A wandering ghost forever more?

A subtle knock on the door snapped me out of my philosophical ramblings. The main screen dimmed a dull black before revealing a familiar form to me. The girl from downstairs was standing outside my door. I glanced up at the screen. Its point of view shifted slightly, drawing my attention towards the delicate lines of her form. She knocked again slightly.

“Just a minute!” I ran over to my dresser, pulling on some clothes; a simple pair of pants and another one my old t-shirts. I clamored over to the door awkwardly. I took a deep breath before opening it slowly.

“Good evening.” She smiled at me slightly.

“Hi” I couldn’t think of anything better to say. Damn it! Why was I getting all nervous around her? I was never this nervous around people.

“I am sorry to bother you, but it is important.” She looked up at me. Her eyes were beautiful. They seemed soft and caring somehow. I couldn’t put my finger on it, they were drawing me in, and something about them just crushed the real world all around me.

“No, no! its no problem. What is it that you need?” I half stammered it, still lost in the daze of those eyes.

“Well its just that…” Her delicate voice drifted off. I hung on every word. “…your rent is due today. I was asked to collect it.”

“Oh?” My god, since when was my life like a bad clichéd sit-com! It would be so horrible that my fate would be resigned to slapstick comedy and missing my rent so the owners pretty daughter would talk to me? I shook my head slowly.

“I am sorry to bother you, it would be fine if you needed more time. You have always paid in full, and many times in advance before…” Her voice trailed off.

“No, you are right. It is time for the rent isn’t it?” Somehow I don’t think I could hide the disappointment in my voice no matter how hard I tried. She just smiled.

I wandered back into my room slowly, leaving the door ajar just enough for her to peek in slightly. The main screen was displaying the local weather. Konpyuuta-chan was not foolish enough to leave security camera feed on the wall for outsiders to look at. I rummaged trough my drawer producing a small metal box. I plugged its interact wire into my desks main board. There was a dull click and it snapped open. I pulled out the next few months rent, and then stopped. I carefully put back the extra money.  I walked back over to the door where she was peering in curiously.

“Excuse me for asking, but what exactly is it you do?” She looked puzzled by the huge technological wonder that rested in such a sleepy town. I looked down at her. What could I say? Could I tell her all about my adventures as a mighty hacker, battling the evils of the corporate world? Could I regale her with tales of triumph over mighty foes in the private networks of the wired?

“Oh that? It’s just my television. You know how some people are. I just like the big screen stuff, with the loud stereo.” Would she call my bluff?

“Ah! It is very big, the one in my room is barley seventy inches wide!” She smiled broadly, taking the money and placing it in her pocket. “I’m sorry but I must go, it is almost time for dinner.” She smiled at me again then walked quickly down the hall.

I couldn’t help but watch her as she went, until I finally lost her around the corner of the hallway. I turned back into the room slowly, the image of her soft form filling my mind.

“Why didn’t you just give her all the money like you planned? Eh?” Konpyuuta-chan was standing almost on top of me.

“Erm uh… huh?” She startled me.

“You did take out all that cash to pay them for the next four months in advance didn’t you?” She had a smug look on her face.

“I um… must have forgotten about that.” I walked by her into the room, closing the door behind me.

“Oh sure you did.” She crossed her arms. I blushed.

“Just shut up and get ready.”

“Ready for what?”

“I feel like going for a ride.” I picked up my helmet and headed for the door.