Gregory Richard Barden | + Follow Poet |
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extreme vr

* Some rather dark sci-fi, (to be included in a future novel) … it begs the question: just how far will virtual reality go? *

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Yeah ...
they hijacked my mind, man -
hard-wired my neural synapses,
said I'd be famous ...
(wealthy, certainly).
With MY financial issues,
what choice, really?
Family no longer cares -
they gave up on me ages ago,
(who can blame?),
so here I am … pfffffft!!

The sci-geeks wanted to see what I'd see -
feel what I'd feel -
the ultimate Virtual Reality,
POV on an altogether new level …
dark, digital details of dissolution -
the worst and most visceral of mélange,
served up cold in binary code,
and delivered, fresh, to the parietal lobe,
(of anyone willing to shell out the pesos).

So, I took the bonus ...
told them I'd only do it if I was
paid up-front,
(I wouldn’t need the coin after, that’s for sure) …
hey, nobody ELSE would go for it,
no one was that whacked,
so I had 'em - on a platter …
I took a cushy vacay,
went on a top-shelf bender, (frosting, baby),
then put the rest in a Swisser,
and gave my kids the key-code -
figured it might make up for a few
of my gaffes over the years …
should have seen their faces, lol ...
"HOW much money, D-der?!?"
(My kids always call me D-der, long story).

Then I signed the papers and
took the merry meds …
the honchos wheeled me into surgery,
long faces in Gucci scrubs,
(though I grinned like a Cheshire) …
I knew they expected I'd never come out -
just a stiff with a skull full of borscht -
but I surprised 'em,
came out fine,
my brain tied into a PC,
smooth … as … buttah!

And then …
the bucks came flooding, baby!
A deluge of dollars for lineal access -
for subscriptions to ME, ha!
People could see what I saw,
feel what I felt,
know every last emotion, as I knew it.
They couldn't keep up with
the torrent of customers - cha-ching!
I … was the new ultimate entertainment,
a cutting-edge, darkly real, reality show -
the one true gamer game, supreme!!

Well …
when they'd satisfied themselves
with maximum profit,
(graft for the ghoulish goons),
they brought me here,
to my favorite place …
(it was my choice, you see,
exactly how I wanted to check out),
next to the lake I grew up on -
gorgeous spot on a hill,
with my favorite twisted old tree,
the tree I used to swing in,
(and I'll swing in it again -
blue nylon cord - also my choice).

All those paying voyeur freaks
tied into my gray matter …
they'll put their VR units on and FEEL it -
know what it's like to hear
the snap of cartilage,
experience first-hand the
constricting pressure of the noose,
choke right along with me
as I gasp for my last breaths,
and know those dark, paralyzing fears,
as the world fades from my sight,
and all goes black.

Only they'll go on,
they'll take the VR units off
and go about life,
put the kids in the car
and go to grandma's,
tug on a vape and do the laundry,
grab a cheeseburger and bang the nanny,
tell everyone they were there,
and contemplate their own end with a
new clarity ... and FEAR …
a fear like they never imagined -
(serves them right, sickos).

But hey, my kids will be rich,
laughing all the way to the damn
Bank of Switzerland, ha!!
I'll be cold as carrion -
my worries over,
and everyone will know my name ...
EVERYone ...
there's something to be said for that.

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Copyright © Gregory Richard Barden

( photographic art created copyright-free by the author with GALA AI software )

Copyright © Gregory Richard Barden | Year Posted 2025

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