Hannah:
I woke early the next morning. I looked over at Sarah and saw that she was still asleep. It was still early to be starting breakfast so I laid in my bed for awhile. It was nice that I could call a bed mine for more than a few days. Things were back on track for the Kelly family with the simple addition of me. Something was bothering me though. I knew that the person who had changed their reality before was still out there. That wasn't what was bothering me though. My bosses' plans were what were bothering me.
I quietly got out of bed and picked up my cell phone. I opened it and sent a text message. I knew my bosses wouldn't tell me if they wanted to recruit them but maybe they would tell me if they had anything to do with dad's late night. As usual they answered back within a few minutes. What I read shocked me. Dad seems to be working on a reality virus. Reality viruses are nasty business. They change reality randomly around the person or animal infected. They can be spread by sexual contact and you wouldn't even know who was
infected. There was one outbreak during my time the Reality Monitoring Agency (RMA). It took us five years to track down each infected individuals and treat them. Then of course we had to get reality back to the way it was. At least as far as we could. Quite a few of those that were infected had been transformed into farm animals and some of them were sent to slaughter. I couldn't eat any meat during those five years fearing that what I would be eating was once a human being. Like I said, reality viruses are nasty business.
I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep now so I might as well get ready. I took off my night shirt and panties and tossed them into the hamper in our room. I paused for a few seconds to look over my body. I was glad that I would be keeping it for a hundred years. It was a nice change of pace for once. I smiled at the thought that maybe I'd finally be allowed to get pregnant. It would be so nice to finally find out what being pregnant felt like.
I sighed and grabbed the clothes I had laid out last night. I was looking forward to today. I had essentially been given a hundred year vacation and I was determined to make the most of it. I could really enjoy myself for the first time in thirty-four years. Perhaps I'd see Henry Brandon at the pool. I had a bit of crush on him and I would love to have sex with him.
After I was dressed I went to pee and then headed downstairs. I was surprised to see Dad still up. He had to have come home pretty late last night. He should be in bed by now.
"Hello pumpkin" my dad said when he saw me.
"Hi Dad" I said. "What are you doing up?"
"I'm determined to have breakfast with my family" my dad said. "I missed dinner last night and I'm sorry. Also I still have some work to do."
"What are you working on?" I asked innocently.
"Just a project" my dad said. "No need for you to worry yourself over it."
"I think that there is a need for me to be worried" I said. I knew that I would be breaking the rules but this was too important. "Dad, please abandon the reality virus."
"How did you know what I was working on!?!" my dad asked. "This project was suppose to be a secret!"
"Right now just accept that I know" I said.
"Mr. Doogan wanted this virtual reality game kept secret" my dad said. "I'll be fired for sure."
"I know I'm doing the right thing with what I'm about to tell you" I said. "There could be consequences for both of us but it's too important. What you're working on is not a virtual reality game. It is a virus that can infect people and animals."
"That's about the premise of the game" my dad said. "I know that you won't tell anyone else so I'll give you a bit more. In the game you get infected by a virus that causes you to transform into various forms. Why would you want me to abandon a harmless game?"
"Because it isn't a harmless game!" I said. "I need to do something real quick so you will at least be more inclined to believe what I tell you."
"What are you going to do?" my dad asked. "Are you going to hypnotize me?"
"No I'm not going to hypnotize you" I said as I took out my cell phone. I opened it and started X-Reality: Mobile Edition. I moved to my dad's sim and checked the aware toggle for him. Then I went into the options which hardly anybody could find if they didn't know how and set the retroactive awareness for my dad to one change. That would
give him memories of me being Sarah's friend instead of his daughter. I was taking a big risk by doing this since my dad could go crazy but I needed the shock it would provide if I was to convince him of what the virus really was. I took a deep breath and hit ok.
My dad got a blank look on his face and then asked "What the hell is this!?!"
"Relax and I'll explain" I said as I shut off the game and put my phone away.
"You want me to relax!?!" my dad said. "I suddenly have these memories of you being Sarah's friend instead of my daughter! How am I suppose to relax!?! Which memories are true!?!"
"Both sets of memories are true" I said. "You see reality is pretty much constantly being altered. Most people are unaware of it. Have you ever gone into a room and then you can't remember why you went into that room?"
"Of course I have" my dad said calming down a bit. "I don't think there is anybody who hasn't experienced that. But what does that have to do with reality being altered?"
"Well when that happens it's because reality has been altered" I said. "You may have gone in there for a can of pop in one reality but it's changed so you don't have pop in that room. You're not aware that reality has been altered so you become a bit confused as to why you went into that room in the first place."
"I think I follow you" my dad said. "But how can the memories I have now be true when they contradict each other?"
"In one reality I was Sarah's friend" I said. "In this one I'm your daughter. Both are true."
"A person could go crazy knowing this" my dad said.
"I know" I said. "I've seen it happen. Just focus on the reality that we are in now. That will help you."
"We're in the reality where you are my daughter, right?" my dad asked.
"Yes we are Dad" I said.
"So what did you want to tell me?" my dad asked.
"The reality virus is a virus that infects people and animals and alters reality around them" I said. "There was an outbreak of one some years ago. It took us five years to fix reality almost back the way it was before."
"Who is this 'we'?" my dad asked.
"I'm part of an organization that monitors reality" I said.
"Why were you able to almost get reality back?" my dad asked.
"Trust me on this, you really don't want to know" I said.
"I doubt it could be that bad" my dad said.
"Oh it is" I said. "It's so bad that I couldn't eat any meat for those five years."
"I want to know what could be so bad!" my dad said.
I knew that my dad would continue to nag me until he got the answer so I said " Quite a few people were turned into farm animals."
My dad looked like he was going to be sick. I couldn't blame him since that was how I felt.
"I don't know if I'll be able to eat meat again" my dad said after a few moments.
"We monitor the transformation into animals very closely" I said. "We have been able to prevent the slaughter of animals who were once human."
"I still don't think I'll be able to eat meat" my dad said. "At least not for awhile. So what happened to with their families?"
"We left reality pretty much the same in such cases" I said. "We are unable to bring back the dead. It wouldn't be fair to those families to return reality to the way it was and have them agonize over their loved one suddenly being missing."
"Couldn't you have told them what happened?" my dad asked.
"That would have been worse" I said. "Just imagine that I go missing and someone tells you that I was transformed into an animal and slaughtered."
"Before I would have thought the idea to be crazy" my dad said. "Now that I don't well..." He suddenly got a look of horror on his face. "Dear God. That would be horrible. I would probably go crazy. I might kill the ones that I love and then take my own life."
"Just remember that that hasn't happened to us" I said. "No member of our family was slaughtered."
"Could we have eaten what was once a human being?" my dad asked looking sick again.
"I have no idea on that" I said with all honesty. I felt sick because my memories of this life had me eating meat at the tail end of the virus outbreak. This was one of those instances where it was better not to focus on the reality one is in.
"You look like you're going to be sick" my dad said.
"I'll be ok I think but I may not eat meat for awhile" I said.
"Well this will make you happy" my dad said. "I definitely won't be working on this project anymore. Not with what I know now."
Just then Sarah walked in and said "Good morning. Should we get breakfast ready Hannah?"
I knew what we would be cooking and I felt like being sick again. From the looks of it my dad felt the same way.
"Is something wrong Hannah?" Sarah asked.