No Roads Left - Behind The Mystery Door

He knew this city like the back of his hand.

He had spent his whole life wandering those streets, listening to those very same ambient sounds over and over. Everything about this place was painted on his memories with such vivid colours that he could notice repetitive patterns. He knew this place and its people so well, it almost felt like he could read their minds. They would always wear the same clothes and talk about the same things. He could even predict which individuals he would meet on his walk every morning which in return provided a feeling of comfort. Or maybe not.

The Mystery Door./ Image Courtesy of @twiceuponatime

This place is all he had ever known. But he did know everything about this place. Everything there is to know.

Just like he knew he should avoid knocking on this Mystery Door. Situated in the middle of the forest, this mysterious ancient stone settlement was believed to be the source of otherwordly sounds echoing on the mountain slope. Those terrifying yet beautiful sounds were often accompanied by mesmerizing lights which would light up the sky and turn night into bright. Those were the only signs of life ever documented. Not a clue about the forest's inhabitants. Curiosity got the best of the city's dwellers, which resulted in the loss of many brave men who decided to solve the mystery and never returned. Legend has it that nobody ever came out of that door.

But how could they know? They were all looking at things from their own limited perspective.

The pain for all the loved ones who never made it home served as a terrible reminder of the ancient settlement's intimidating presence. A terrible reminder and a great motivator. What if his father was still alive after all? What if he was just being kept inside this stone prison? What sort of twisted psychopath would do that to all those innocent men? How could anyone survive isolated in the forest for so many years? How are those powerful sounds and lights generated? And what was the purpose of all this spooky behaviour and secrecy? All those questions would still remain unanswered and torture his mind. He had to do it. Standing in front of this very same door for the hundredth time in his life, he felt like his heart would explode. ''Tonight is the night.'' He whispered to himself.

He knew he couldn't live one more day without knowing. He would give everything in the world to know. Everything that he knew.

For the first time in his life he felt absolutely sure about what he was doing. Without a second thought, he knocked on the wooden door and waited. All of a sudden, the wooden door started to move on its own towards the interior of the structure, making otherwordly noises that seemed so familiar. He entered the room and stood still in awe, as he witnessed the floor emitting all those stunning beautiful lights that people would often see in the night sky. Everything inside the room was covered by computer screens, which kept demonstrating various known star systems, clusters and galaxies. Some screens started displaying weird symbols and shapes successively that resembled an alphabet of some sort. This place looked like some kind of advanced vessel cruising through space. He couldn't wrap his mind around what he was witnessing, however he wasn't terrified at all. ''How is this possible?" A general question regarding so many different things was dominating his thoughts. "Am I dreaming? Why am I not scared? Why do I feel like home even though nothing makes sense?" He came for answers but instead he was now more confused than ever. Confused and inexplicably happy. He heard the door close behind him.

He realized that he actually knew nothing. He knew there was much he ignored and ignored how much he actually didn't know about.

He suddenly heard a familiar voice and turned around only to lose his breath.

-"I'm so sorry you had to go through all this.'' He was greeted by a figure that looked and sounded just like his father.

-"This can't be possible! Where have you been? You mean you left us intentionally? What is this place?? Where's everybody else? What's going on???" More and more questions were coming up.

-"There are no others, son. There's nobody else. Nothing you ever experienced exists. Our home planet was invaded a few decades ago. Me and you are the only human beings that survived the last Great Galactic War. You've been living in this spaceship since you were born. I created this quantum simulation of reality to give you the opportunity to enjoy your youth without having to face the cruel truth. We are alone."

-"That's nonsense! I don't trust you! I don't even know you! I'm out of this place!"

-"There's no way out, son. No roads left. I tried to keep you away from the control room. Your simulation was terminated the very moment you entered. We ran out of ununpentium a long time ago, which basically means our nuclear reactors are useless. We don't have enough energy to generate another simulated version of reality. We need to keep harnessing energy from stars and unfortunately we've now consumed more than 90% of Electra's energy. We are now heading towards Alcyone. The Pleiades star cluster is your actual home. Have a seat and enjoy the ride."

Those terrifying yet beautiful sounds were heard again as the spaceship started to accelerate. It all started to make sense. The repetitive patterns, the mysterious disappearances, the predictable behaviours and discussions, the dressing similarities. He finally knew.

Thanks for reading.

This was my entry for @onceuponatime's #behindmysterydoor challenge! Special thanks to @onceuponatime for inspiring me to write this story in order to participate in this challenge! I'm also grateful to @twiceuponatime for allowing me to use their photo.

Inspired by "real" events.

Thank you for your attention!
I hope you enjoyed this story!

Highest Regards
@lordneroo