Tevun-Krus #73 - Best of '19

No Free Rides - @Wuckster - Virtual Reality

No Free Rides

A Virtual Reality story by Wuckster

Jimmy was awoken by a loud incessant pounding on the door. He opened his eyes drowsily and looked around in confusion. It was still completely dark in the room, other than the dim red light of his alarm clock, which showed it was 4:01 am. 

The pounding on the door continued relentlessly, and Jimmy was just pulling himself out of bed to answer it when the door burst inward off its hinges. Several heavily armed men covered from head to toe in full military battle gear charged into the room and pointed their guns at him. They shined their blindingly bright flashlight directly into his eyes as they pushed him down into a chair and cuffed his hands.

"Are you James Lionel Wilson? Social security number 999-45-0067?" one of the armored men shouted at him.

"Yes, that's me," Jimmy said. "What is the meaning of this?"

"As of yesterday you are no longer employed at General Technology Solutions, is this correct?"

"Well, yeah. They shut down the factory. Everybody got laid off. No one's working there anymore."

"So is it correct that you are now officially unemployed?"

"Uh, yeah. I mean they let me go without any warning at the end of the shift yesterday. I haven't exactly had time yet to find a new job. But at the rate all the factories have been closing around here lately, I don't think there's a lot of jobs to be had."

"Fucking leech on the system." One of the soldiers in the back pushed his way forward and smacked Jimmy across the face.

"Private Grimes! Stand down! That's an order!" the lead soldier said as he turned to his comrade who had broken ranks.

"Sir, yes sir!" the soldier said as he returned to his spot at the back of the pack.

The lead soldier turned back towards Jimmy and leaned forward so their faces were just inches apart. "Since you are now part of the welfare state you are required by Presidential Executive Order J594387 to perform virtual work to earn your welfare check. There are no free rides anymore, son. Lazy fuckers like you who just want to sit around and collect their checks off the backs of hard working Americans are a thing of the past. There may not be any real jobs anymore, but that doesn't mean we can't simulate the work experience. The best part is that even those "disabled" crybabies can put in a hard day's work in the virtual realm now. No free rides for anyone!"

"No free rides for anyone!" the other soldiers cheered.

"I haven't even gotten a welfare check yet," Jimmy protested.

"That's right you haven't," the soldier said. "You haven't put in the work yet. You've got to earn your welfare checks now. You'll be putting in fourteen hours a day Monday through Friday and then you get a little break and only have to do twelve hours a day on Saturday and Sunday. There's a built in monitor on the Virtual Reality goggles. If you take them off at any point before the fourteen hours are up, an extra hour of work time will be added to your day. You got that?"

"But what if I need to use the restroom?" Jimmy asked. "I mean in real life? I can't just virtually pee, right?"

"Oh yes. I almost forgot. Private Mercer! Insert the catheter!"

Another soldier pushed his way forward and roughly yanked down Jimmy's pants. He pulled out a long rubber tube connected to a plastic bag and quickly jammed the tip of the tube into Jimmy's urethra.