Abraham looked at his watch. He looked at the tiny steel needles as they gently stopped their endless cycle of hours, minutes and seconds to let him know the time – It was 4:27p.m. He’d been waiting all day. Were they ever coming? He was sure they were. He felt the gentle heat of the sun on his right arm, warm, familiar. He spent a lot of time sitting on the porch of his tiny cabin in the middle of nowhere, as his daughter called it. His daughter… Would they arrive soon?

Credit: @lymmerik

He looked to his left, at the empty chair sitting beside him. He hoped they’d get there soon. In the meantime, however, he enjoyed just sitting there on the porch, sipping on his cup of hot coffee as the dry wind carried the smells from the plains to his little oasis of human interference in the middle of nowhere. There was grass, there was burning firewood, even some flowers got mixed in from time to time. No sewage, no smog, no cigarette smoke. Here, it was only plains – And his cabin.

He liked it there. It was cozy, comfortable. Life was easy without others. You’d think he’d have trouble with pests, water, even food, but he had no such issues. Everything seemed to sort itself out one way or another. Life was good.

He couldn’t quite recall how long he’d been living there – He felt like he had lived there forever. He’d grown to know and love every nook and cranny of the cabin and its immediate surroundings, never bothering to wander too far from it – Why would he? He had everything he needed right where he was. Well, almost everything. Were they ever going to arrive?

Abraham looked at his watch; it was 4:27p.m.

. . .

“Yes, my friends! This is the most efficient simulation to date, allowing us to keep the subject fully immersed with minimum processing power! Nothing is wasted in this environment. Everything has a purpose, even the cup of coffee!”, concluded Tezca. The big monitor behind him still showed the image of the man sitting on the porch, still, relaxed, unknowing.

“Excuse me, Mr. Tezca, but why is there a second chair beside the subject’s? It has a purpose, I’m sure.”

Tezca swallowed hard. The second chair? Was it really necessary to justify everything that went into the simulation? Although, in retrospective, it was to be expected, given their last project was eating away at the company’s resources faster and faster as it grew more complex.

“Sharp eye, Mr. Chairman. Quetza, do you mind explaining the purpose of the chair?” Tezca’s brow filled with little droplets of sweat.

“The second chair serves to keep the subject unsuspecting. Abraham here is constantly waiting for someone to arrive. When idle, it’s his daughter, but we can change his expectations at will. It doesn’t only give him a purpose, it also lets us go in to check on him personally if needed”, explained Quetza, calm and collected. He looked at the public inquiringly, as if to ask whether anyone had any more questions.

“But doesn’t he… grow tired of waiting? Doesn’t he need sleep?”

“You see, that’s the thing. Anyone would grow tired of waiting, and the brain will demand sleep after some time even if it doesn’t need it, unless, of course, there is no time. He lives in the present; there is no past and no future for him, only the present. That’s the key to the whole system. We’re not simulating a place, we’re simulating a moment in time.”

Quetza looked on as the crowd of high-ranking government officials and company bigwigs exploded into applause. They’d convinced them, they’d get funding from the government and permissions from the company. He looked at Tezca, who was bowing towards the public like an actor after a play. It was fitting, he thought, given that Tezca had only read the notes minutes before the conference began and yet managed to act as if he’d developed the project all by himself.

The crowd left some time after that, not without everyone getting a chance to greet Tezca, the man who would change the way we handle imprisonment forever . Tezca loved the attention, and Quetza was happy to let him have it all. He was only interested in the simulation. The simulation.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come with me for drinks, Quetza? We’ve got a deal to celebrate! Success unparalleled! All thanks to you, my friend. You and poor old Abraham. “

“It’s fine, Tezca. I want to run a couple more tests before I go back home. Lots of work to do before we can implement the system nation-wide.”

“Well, your loss mate! I’ll be waiting for you at the usual chicha place if you change your mind. We’re about to start a revolution, so don’t work yourself too hard. I don’t want a crisis like the one with… What was his name? Sissy-Fou?”

“Camus, Tezca. Sisyphus was the solution.”

“Whatever man, see you later.”

Quetza waved at Tezca as he closed the glass door behind him and disappeared from sight.

Camus. It was a shame, really. A mind so brilliant it realized the true nature of the world, only to be tricked into thinking it was just a philosophical epiphany. The futileness of finding meaning in a meaningless life condemned to repeat itself endlessly without reason. Quetza wondered what he’d have thought of Abraham.

Yeah, it was a shame, but he was ahead of his time. He wasn’t ready, they weren’t ready. Quetza typed some words into the terminal connected to the monitor, which went from Abraham to a blue sphere spinning endlessly in space without reason.

“He wasn’t ready, but with these new resources I’ll be able to keep you running a bit longer – And you’ll be ready when the time comes.”

Quetza laughed at how right Tezca had been. It was true…

Revolution was coming.

Afterword

Wow! This story changed like a thousand times before arriving here, The Cabin at the End of Time. The name sounds a bit like some low-budget horror movie but I think it'll do, it's fitting.

When I first saw the image the first thing to come to mind was the Wild West, which naturally made me think of Westworld. I couldn't simply write Westworld fanfiction, of course, but the simulation idea stayed. There's also ancient Meso-American culture sprinkled on the story, but I won't go and explain it - Do your research!

I want to thank @gmuxx for holding the 5th Art Prompt Writing Contest once again, as well as @bex-dk for her generosity and specially @jordan.lesich for bumping the prize for the contest (and always reading my stories).

See y'all at the winning announcement! I'll be reading the other entries in the meantime.