The following is a little short story I wrote. It's a bit shitty, but please enjoy anyways!
You recently heard about company that offers a peculiar service: you can sign up for a vacation program that will take you to the highs and lows of the human condition. They will let you make experiences that you could likely never make otherwise in your whole lifetime. And the best thing: it will not just be like watching a movie or experiencing a VR game, it will not just be an immersive story, it will actually happen to you. At least, that's their pitch. You don't actually know what they do, but one of your colleagues recently had a vacation with them and they seemed to have liked it so much that they were almost begging you to try it out for yourself. So because you have a two-week vacation coming up and didn't know what else to do, you decide to pay a visit to one of their stores. What's the worst that could happen.
You find yourself in one of their establishments in a popular shopping street. You look around a little and what you immediately notice is the hefty price tags on everything you see. A salesman immediately walks up to you and asks you what you want, but upon talking to them you feel like this is far from the revolutionary vacation service you had been promised. Their offers strike you as very overpriced VR experiences after all. A bit disappointed, you decide that this really isn't worth your money and you'd rather spend some time sightseeing. The salesman is very understanding and doesn't push you too much. He even recommends a travel agency right down the street. It's where he always books his vacations, he says.
A few moments later, you find yourself under the harsh neon light of the small travel agency. You tell the agent briefly what you want, look at a few offers and settle on a vacation in Thailand that is almost perfect for you and at a very reasonable price. Satisfied, you leave, pick up a few groceries on the way home, and spend the evening looking forward to your vacation in Thailand.
A few weeks later, it's time to board your flight. Your seat is right next to a business man who seems slightly stressed, yet polite. The two of you get to talking. He tells you about his business and how he runs a global trading platform. At firs you're intrigued, but soon you become sceptic. If this guy is as rich and successful as he says, why is he flying economy? Confronted with this question, he seems a bit embarrassed at first, but then he leans in to whisper in your ear that he is being watched and needs to be really careful. You're a bit confused by this, but ultimately decide that he is probably just paranoid. Stealth wealth is a common thing after all. In addition, if this guy really has something to be afraid of, it's probably best for you to not know too much about it.
After too many hours of flying, you finally land in Bangkok. You wish the stranger a nice day and walk to the security checkpoint. While waiting in line, a security officer walks up to you and tells you to follow him. Confused, you walk behind the bulky man to a small room in the back of the airport that has nothing but a table and two chairs with a large mirror on one wall. From that, it's not to difficult for you to guess what the purpose of this room is. You're made to wait for an uncomfortably long time before two police officers walk in. The whole situation makes you quite nervous, but you haven't done anything wrong so you're not overly worried that the matter will resolve itself.
The two police officers are not friendly at all. They don't tell you what this is about, they simply ask many questions about you, some uncomfortably personal. After that they shift their attention to the man you sat next to on the flight. You honestly reproduce all the information he gave you, as none of it struck you as particularly confidential. When you mention that he was afraid and thought he was being watched, you think that you see a slight smile on the face of the otherwise expressionless police officer who is interrogating you. They tell you that the man you were sitting next to was a high profile drug trafficker they have been following for years and that they think you might be one of his accomplices. Naturally, you deny their claims but that doesn't seem to convince them. They confront you with a small electronic device they say was found in your bag. That's the moment you realize that you are in big trouble.
The officers prompt you to leave the airport with them to go to the police station for further interrogation. You have no option but to comply. They lead you out of a backdoor into a small ally where their police car is parked. There's not many people around. You're very tired from the long flight, yet scared to death. But the fear you're feeling right now is nothing compared to the one that hits you mere seconds later when gunshots echo across the ally and one of the police officers lifelessly collapses beside you as the other draws their gun to fight back. Instinctively, you drop to the ground and put your hands on your head to signal to anyone shooting that you're not a thread. You're also crying like a baby as more gunshots are fired.
You hear something heavy fall beside you. Apparently the second police officer also didn't make it. You hear a car pulling up in the alleyway before you hear a familiar voice. It's the stranger you sat next to on the flight, the alleged drug trafficker, who commands you to get into the car. Once again, you have no choice but to comply. At that point you seriously question if you'll ever see your family again. Confusingly, the stranger tries to comfort you while he's confidently navigating the chaotic traffic of Bangkok. He says that he's not going to hurt you and that he's sorry for what happened, but that you're a part of this now, if you want it or not. You have no idea what that means, but you're too tired and confused to care. He drives to a small house on the outskirts of the city. It's nothing special, maybe even a bit decrepit, just like all the other houses in this neighborhood. He leads you inside and brings you to a small but cozy room with a small desk, a chair and a comfortable looking bed. He says that you should rest and that he'll explain everything in the morning. He places a tray of food on the desk and explains where the bathroom is. He leaves without locking the door. For a moment you contemplate running away, but the police took all your belongings and the prospect of running through Bangkok without any money, phone or documents doesn't sound too appealing. Also you're incredibly tired, so you lay down on the bed and fall asleep almost instantly.
You wake up, drenched in sweat. The realization of what had happend woke you up as soon as your body had accumulated enough sleep to keep your eyes open. The stranger walks in with a tray of breakfast he places next to your untouched dinner. He asks you whether you want to talk now or if you want to take a shower first. You tell him that you just want to go home to which he replies that that is unfortunately not an option. You start crying again, so the stranger tries to calm you down as good as possible. He seems really nice for a drug trafficker. You relax a little and take them up on the offer of a shower. The water washes away all the fear and sweat and helps your body relax your tense muscles. You have never taken a shower this satisfying. The stranger has provided you with some clean clothes that fit you surprisingly well. Refreshed, you sit down with him to finally get some answers.
What he tells you makes no sense to you at first. He promises you that he is not involved in drug trafficking, as that is the lie that "they" are telling everyone to have as few people as possible know what is really going on. It's likely that the two police officers who interrogated you actually believed it. The truth is that he, along with hundreds others, was part of a secret program the Chinese government conducts in Thailand to research genetically engineered humans. Everything was top secret. He and the other "inmates", as he called them, were held in a secret research facility and experimented on under terribly inhumane conditions. He tells you a few gruesome details that make your stomach turn. A few years ago, he and a few others managed to set fire to the facility and escape. He shows you pictures of the others who managed to escape with him. He explains that all of them had been caught and he doesn't know what the Chinese did to them but it can't have been good. Ever since he's escaped, he's been looking for ways to free all the other humans from that facility. He recently met with the secret service of your home country, that's why he was on that plane. Everything needs to remain top secret to avoid a diplomatic incident. He was given a hacking device that he was supposed to use to gather enough evidence to take the facility down, but during the flight he was told that it had been compromised and that security was going to arrest the person carrying the device upon landing. His only way out was to hide it in your bag. He is terribly sorry for dragging you into all this, but if he were to get caught, all these people are doomed.
You listen to him and do not believe a word at first. This all has to be some kind of con, but you can't really conceive its purpose. He seems genuinely sorry and he's been really nice to you so far. Although it feels like you shouldn't, you manage to unwind a little. You eat some of the food he provides and continue listening. You ask a few critical questions, all of which he answers to the best of his abilities. He doesn't really know what the point of these experiments is, nor does he really care. All he cares for is those people and he is begging you not to do anything that could endanger his mission to save them. In fact, he could use you help. He stresses that he is in no position to make demands and that he will do all he can to help you get home regardless, but he also says that it's going to be a lot easier if his plan succeeds.
It may seem crazy, but after talking to this strange man for hours you can't help but believe him. And it may seem even stranger but you actually agree to play your part. After all, you've been working a boring desk job for the past few years and felt like your whole existence was entirely meaningless. This might be your one chance to do something that actually matters. So as stupid as it might sound, being a part of this operation feels exciting. And as a bonus, it's your best option for getting home.
A few hours later, you meet the ambassador of your country at their house. The ambassador is sceptical of the plan at first, but the stranger convinces them that you're the best person for the job as the enemy has you on their radar, yet doesn't really know what your deal is. After reaching agreement, you're briefed about your mission. You're going to sneak around the secret facility with camera equipment and take photos. Your actual goal, though, is to get caught. The facility is located in the middle of the jungle, so they'll have no other choice than to bring you inside to interrogate you. The crucial part is that you'll have a hacking device on you that, as a technician assures you, will automatically breach the network of the facility and gather enough evidence for your government to put pressure on the Thai government to raid the facility. Although, even if that fails, you should be able to leave unscathed as you'll tell them that you are a journalist and that people know where you are, so a lot of uncomfortable questions will be asked if you don't return. While the plan requires a non-negligible amount of bravery, it doesn't require you to do anything difficult.
Unfortunately, acquiring a new hacking device will take a few more days. During this time you should keep your head down and not attract too much attention, although you shouldn't completely vanish as that would be conspicuous as well. You can assume they are watching. So you keep enjoying the hospitality of the stranger for a while. He takes care of your needs, provides you with food and even shows you around a bit. At this point it might have been just the vacation you wanted to have in the first place, if it weren't for the lingering anxiety about what you'd have to do soon. You feel like school kid who has an important exam coming up, only a hundred times worse. You try to rationalize away all the thoughts about how this whole thing could go terribly wrong. What if they shoot you on sight? What if they find the hacking device immediately? What if they torture you? You bring this up to the stranger multiple times, who is very understanding and always manages to settle you down one way or the other.
Then the big day comes. You were given a car and instructions on how to get to the facility. The hacking device is well hidden in the camera which is lying next to you on the passenger seat. At this point you're a nervous wreck, but you need to focus on your mission. As instructed, you park the car a few hundred meters away from the facility and continue on foot. Then the facility comes into view. It's a lot smaller than you imagined, just a bunker with a barbed-wire fence around it. You sneak up to it in the shade of large palm trees and take out the camera. You start taking pictures and it seems like nothing is happening. You're starting to wonder what you should do if they actually didn't notice you. You look around and see a security camera that is pointed right at you. At this very moment you suddenly hear an alarm and there's movement all around you. Soldiers with fully automatic rifles shout at you to freeze. You comply. Your heart is racing. Even though this is part of the plan, you're so scared you almost wet your pants. For a dauntingly long time you just stand there with your arms raised.
One of the soldiers walks up to you and shouts something in Thai. Or was that Mandarin? You tell them in English that you don't speak their language which they don't seem overly surprised by. They take your camera away and with hand gestures they signal you to follow them, which you do. They lead you into the bunker, down a surprisingly narrow stairwell into a corridor. They open one of the doors which leads to another corridor, this one with some dirty cells to the side of it. They harshly shove you into one of the cells and lock the door, all while frantically discussing something. At that moment the fear hits you that they might just leave you here to rot without ever talking to you. Do they even have someone here who speaks English? You try to push these thoughts away and simply hope that the hacking device is doing its job by now.
The guards have left and you're now alone in the dimly lit cell. Nervously you peek through the bars but only see concrete walls that form the corridor you came through. Suddenly you hear a noise. It sounds like someone is coughing but they lack the breath to really do so. Slowly and shaking you turn around to discover that you're not alone in this cell. A young woman wearing filthy rags is lying in the corner. She is only barely alive as her cloudy eyes are looking right at you. You recognize her face from one of the photos the stranger had shown you. This is one of the inmates who escaped with him but got caught. You don't dare to imagine her suffering. At this moment the full realization hits you that you're in a prison cell, in a secret facility somewhere in the jungle of Thailand, completely at the mercy of the people who have done this to her. You feel like you have to vomit. You feel dizzy. You feel like you could collapse at any moment, when the door to the corridor is pushed open again.
A man in a fancy suit enters, followed by two guards. He says something to his entourage and they open the heavy door and pull you out of the cell. Firmly gripping both of your arms they lead you behind the man in the suit. You're brought to a room that has only a table and two chairs, no mirror this time. You're made to sit down on one of the chairs, opposite the mysterious man. At first he looks at you without saying a word. Something about this man makes you feel very uneasy. He asks you who you are working for. As planned, you recite the name of the newspaper you're pretending to be your employer. He smiles and says that journalists don't usually carry hacking devices. Lucky for them, they put your camera into a box that shields it from any form of radio communication. You feel like you have been punched in the stomach as he says this. The plan failed. They know about the hacking device. They know you're not a journalist. What are they going to do with you now?
In a desperate attempt you claim to not know anything about a hacking device but he's not having it. You're brought back to the cell where you immediately collapse on the ground and start to weep. This is the end of you. They're probably going to kill you. What else would they be doing. A guard has been positioned outside of your cell. Another guard walks up to them, carrying a strange box. They get in a brief argument during which you think you heard the word "camera". Could this be the box they put your camera in? Why would they bring it here? The guard in front of your cell points to the end of the corridor where a locker is barely visible in the shadow. The other guard takes the box and walks to towards it. You hear the rattling of sheet metal as the box is placed down. All you'd need to do to make your mission a success after all would be to somehow open that box which now sits only a few meters away from your cell.
Desperately you try to come up with a plan but it seems hopeless. You're locked in this cell, there's a guard and the locker is way out of reach. Lost in your thoughts, you hear the coughing of the woman again. Only this time it sounds a lot more frantic and irregular. You look at her and see foam forming around he mouth as her whole body is shaking. You try to get the attention of the guard, although you're not expecting him to even care about this. To your surprise he actually does care. With a concerned look on his face he points his flashlight at the woman and when he sees the foam he nervously mutters something at his radio. Without awaiting a response, he unlocks the cell door and approaches the woman.
With the cell door open and the guard distracted, this might be your only window of opportunity. Reinforcements are undoubtedly already on the way, so you decide to make a run for it. You're not even trying to be stealthy as you sprint out of the cell towards the locker. With a strength you didn't know you possessed, you rip open the locker which is only held shut by a cheap lock that simply can't oppose the strength with which you pull the doors apart. The loud noise echoes through the hallway, followed by tiny bits of metal hitting the ground and the shouting of the guard. Without hesitation you take the box which is the only object in the locker and without even trying to figure out how to open it you smash it to the ground. Relieved, you watch the lid pop open and the camera roll across the floor as the guard grabs your wrist and wrestles you to the ground. If they kill you now, at least it hasn't been for nothing.
Lucky for you, this guard apparently wasn't briefed about the significance of your camera. His first priority seems to be to get you back into the cell, his second priority to help the woman who is having some kind of seizure and his third priority to shout at his colleagues in that East Asian language. All while the camera is lying on the ground, unprotected. You don't know how much time the hacking device needs, but you just hope it was enough when the guard angrily throws it back into the box, haphazardly covers it with the lid that doesn't close properly anymore and shoves it back into the locker.
Filled with your newly found hope you wait in the cell for hours as nothing happens. You have no way of knowing what time of day it is. You can't tell if the sun is up or if it is the middle of the night. There is nothing for you to do but wait. It's driving you insane. Then, after what feels like an eternity, you suddenly hear noises from the corridor. It sounds like screaming and gunshots. The guard in front of your cell seems to panic as he assumes combat position. Moments later he lifelessly collapses on the ground in his own blood. Then you see the rifle-mounted flashlights of the swat team approaching. You're being released from the cell and are wrapped in an emergency blanket. The woman is placed on a stretcher. As you leave the facility, you find that it is dawning. The sun is barely up and it is quite chilly. You're brought to an ambulance where the stranger and the ambassador are waiting for you. Both are very relieved to see you.
They ask you what went wrong and when you tell them about the difficulties you had, they seem shocked, yet impressed, by your courage. They assure you that the hacking device worked and that enough evidence was gathered to prevent the facility from ever operating again. The word "hero" is used several times. You suddenly realize that you are very tired. You're brought to the hotel you initially booked and finally get to rest. Your suitcase is there, along with all your other belongings except your phone. At this moment, you're too exhausted to care so you just collapse on the hotel bed.
The next days are like a blur. You're being celebrated as a hero and many people want to meet you. You're being invited to parties, dinners and drinks. You feel a sense of accomplishment you've never felt in your life. You can't wait to tell your friends and family about this but your phone is nowhere to be found. The ambassador also has no idea where it went, but he promises to relay some messages for you. The telling of your heroic tale will have to wait until you get home.
You board the return flight after what must have been the craziest vacation of your life. When you land in your own country, a woman you've never seen before approaches you at the gate. She sits down with you in the waiting area. With a smile she hands you your phone and ask you how your experience was. You're very confused by this question and cannot figure out why this person has your phone. She patiently explains that she works for that company that offers those special experiences and that you have just completed one. Confused, you explain that you have not actually booked anything with them, to which she replies that it's normal for you to think that but that you actually did. She then pulls out a tablet and plays a video of you, sitting down with her and signing a contract. She explains that, before the scene in the video, they had you take a special drug, a medication that contains modified analogues to certain chemicals your brain needs to form new synapses. Unlike their biological counterparts, those chemicals decay within a few hours, leading you to forget anything that happened during that time. After forgetting everything, a salesman approached you again, making you disinterested in their services but reommending the travel agency that works with them.
Confused by watching the scene you cannot remember, you still struggle with the gravity of what is being said. The policemen who captured you at the airport in Bangkok? Actors. The stranger, the ambassador? Also actors. People getting shot? Blood capsules. The small house and the secret facility? Properties owned by the company. You thought you had only seen a small part of the secret facility but there really wasn't much more. Most doors are fake. Waiting for the acquisition of the hacking device? No, waiting for your slot at the facility. The parties and dinners people invited you to? Everything paid for in advance by you.
You feel anger rising in your chest. You actually feared for your life several times. You were locked in a prison cell. And after all that you're not actually the hero you came to believe you were? You furiously complain, but the agent calmly explains that you chose all of that. All the details of what was going to happen were explained to you in advance while you were under the influence of the drug that would wipe your memory but otherwise couldn't inhibit your free will as confirmed by clinical trials. They have many other experiences to offer, like winning the lottery or being stranded on an island, but you chose this one. You signed a waiver that allowed them to do all this to you and paid for everything.
And now that you've experienced it, you understand why.
