GLITCH

CHAPTER TEN

   Contrary to what I thought, falling from a stupendous height wasn't bad; it was terrible. The singular worst experience of my entire life. You know how it feels when you stand too close to a standing fan and it seems as though your face is about to peel off? That's exactly how it was. I tried to scream but the wind took the screams right out of my mouth. The stupid belt was making an annoying beeping sound as I screamed myself hoarse wondering when I became part of an organization of mad people. The pressure hitting me from that height was enough to swallow my thoughts whole. I just didn't want to die. I don't know who came up with such ludicrous ways of doing stuff but I promised myself that if I somehow survived, I'd have a word with that person. A word that involved fists and a face.

    Would you like to be shielded from the wind pressure?

   I could hear a voice as clear as day as I screamed my lungs out. The wind didn't distort the voice, it didn't affect it in the slightest.

    "I don't care! Get me out of this!!" I felt the ground coming at me and I couldn't break my fall. The infinitesimal view I had from up above had quickly morphed into life sized structures. Rooftops and skylines. I could see them all.

    Okay, I'll do as instructed.

   The voice came again and I felt the speed at which I was falling reduce drastically and my breath came out in ragged gasps. I felt a warm bubble envelope me as my fall turned into a slow glide. The belt I wore beeped loudly but I pointedly ignored. I tried to touch the warm substance hovering all over me and it felt stretchy somehow, like some sort of balloon. It was a colourless protective gear and I felt my glide come to a stop as my feet landed slowly on the ground.

    Can you rate your first diving experience?

   The first thing that came out of my mouth was, "what in God's name is going on?"

   I'll take that as a 10.

  Excitement ✅

First time jitters ✅

Screaming at the top of your lungs ✅

It was a pleasure working with you.

   I was dumbstruck. One, I had no idea where the voice was coming from. Secondly, the whole thing was bizarre. There was no prerequisite, nothing prepared me for it. The belt beeped again and my eyes caught it immediately.

    Do not fret.

   Heart rate will return to normal shortly.

    I felt my heart race even faster. The voice was coming out of the belt! Whenever it made those beeping sounds, the sounds were translated into words directly into my head. I'd heard of the nerve transmitter, a device that could directly translate machine language into the human tongue for easy understanding. It was in the 25th issue of Man & His Machines that were serialized yearly.  I found it while digging through the tech trash that were dumped separately. It was the last issue I got wind of.  I wanted to read more about the nerve transmitter but the details were vague with words that seemed to fly over my head. Seeing one in reality was enough to almost stop my heart.

    Heart rate accelerating. Initiating safety measures.

    A slow love song began to play in my head. Don't let me die by Shina Rayas. I felt the lyrics hit me and the mere fact that I didn't need to use an archaic external device like a radio or a Bluetooth speaker to listen warmed my heart.