(update 2025 16/07) hello world uhm I decided I’ll keep this one bc this is actually rlly guuuud (it got a distinction in the competition, FLEXING TIME, and I entered it in the year level above mine!!), this was for STS (Science Talent Search) 2023, I’ll post 2024 soon maybe (╥ᴗ╥)
“Rebecca! Rebecca! Did you hear? The famous researcher, Dr Ashwood, launched a new VR Gaming headset!” Cathy cried excitedly, slipping and stumbling as she bolted into the room.
“It’s out?” Rebecca’s eyes sparked with anticipation, “I’ve heard that this headset goes beyond sight and sound. It interferes directly with our brain through this buzzword…”
“Neuro-reality?” Cathy continued, “Somehow the headset allows us to navigate and physically feel every aspect of the virtual world…”
“Bought it already!” Rebecca interrupted impatiently, “Pay attention to the delivery bots from Lightspeed Post outside.”
Almost immediately, the doorbell rang, followed by a metallic voice: “Hello. It’s Lightspeed Post. I have a delivery for Miss Cathy.”
The sisters rushed to the door. Outside was a small robot, waiting patiently for the door to open. In its hands, was a package with Cathy’s name and address on it.
The sensor of the delivery bot moved in front of Cathy’s face.
“Identity confirmed through facial recognition. Item successfully delivered. Enjoy.”
Cathy grabbed the package. With Rebecca right on her trail, they ran into the living room and hurriedly unwrapped the packaging.
Cathy gasped. It was a sleek, modern VR headset, glittering brightly.
“It seems to be calling my name!” Rebecca exclaimed. After peeling off the wrapper, she saw a set of instructions written in red italic letters.
Hello User. Warm greetings. This headset is powered by neuro-reality, a technology that alters your brain signals through external sensors and binaural rendering, allowing you to immerse in the virtual world fully. After countless years of examining the intersection between neuroscience and artificial intelligence, my team developed this machine that interacts with our neural processing mechanisms regarding perception and memory. Now, it is your time to embark on an exhilarating gaming journey.
“I’m putting it on first!” Cathy declared, and without Rebecca realising what was going on, she pulled the hairband out and snapped it onto her head. Cathy was in the VR world now.
Abruptly, she sat up. She was a different person altogether. She was dressed in a green camo outfit, suitable for war. When she looked up, she could see her description.
Cathy, it said, Honourable soldier and nurse in 1915, during World War 1.
World War 1? What was World War 1? There has been no war, neither in the present nor in the past!
Frantically, she looked around. She was in a wasteland, littered with abandoned trenches, bombs, and unfamiliar weapons. This was a land filled with chlorine gas, with its looming pale green colour and its poignant smell enveloping the environment. She waded through the scraps that littered the ground. And immediately regretted it.
Underneath the pollution, lay a body. So peaceful, yet died in the chaos. Suddenly, a mass of visions stomped through her mind. Dad, dead because of the war. Rebecca, captured in an enemy’s camp. Mum, racing through ruins, knowing one day the enemy will catch her.
Why has the war taken so much from us? Why can’t we live in peace? Why?
I’m scared of you. I’m terrified of what you’ll do to my loved ones. I’m scared you’ll defeat us first, and that is why I fight, I must defeat you before you do the same to me.
The gas plunged into Cathy and she soon felt a piercing pain in her chest. Her surroundings suddenly started spinning and before the last light in her eyes fainted, she thought desperately: Will the future generations have a better fate than ours? They have better technology. They probably can defeat their enemies quickly.
And then, she was someone else completely. Cathy was in a hospital in 2060. She thought over what she had just experienced: she was positioned to feel the soldiers’ pains, their grieves, their reasons.
This time, her description said: Cathy, an orphan whose beloved foster mother died from Mycohydra Parasitoid, a disease caused by a deadly parasite invented by a secret organisation to initiate wars across continents…
Cathy’s brain whirled. That was not what we used our advanced technology for.
“She is in a fragile state, and I don’t think she will make it any longer,” Cathy recalled her previous conversation with the doctor.
Cathy clutched an already-drenched napkin. The doctor came out of the room, grief masked by a solemn face.
“I’m so sorry, miss. We tried everything, but she didn’t make it.”
Once again, tears flooded down Cathy’s cheeks. She raced towards the door of her mother’s room, but the doctor blocked her way.
“I’m sorry, but to protect you from this infection, you cannot go in.” He said soothingly, but Cathy still bawled and screamed like a baby throwing a tantrum.
A mother and child’s love. Nothing’s stronger.
Her surroundings gradually darkened and everything was too late.
Time became fragmented then as Cathy experienced countless sufferings that occurred in the past, including Covid-19, cancer, global warming, and the unemployment strike after robots took over most jobs. She finally arrived at the last scene. The VR concoction faded slightly as the background changed to the modern world: vertical gardens hanging up in the sky, delivery bots darting across the city, and every citizen stuck in their smart houses shaped like small capsules. Cathy saw Dr Ashwood smiling fragilely at her as she gently spoke:
“This is what happened in the past. The government has erased this part of history from the entire physical world to create a fake image of perfection. They commanded us to continue developing technology without thinking about the unethical consequences.
Although our older generation knew everything, we could never voice it due to the manipulation of big data, surveilling us, controlling all our information and relentlessly silencing us on social media. By the time you saw this video, we probably have already been secretly executed by the government. However, we created this device that claimed to be a gaming headset to educate our future generation, you, that the world is not perfect. In an era of technology boom, what matters more is how we use them to shape our lives and create a better future.”