Crash Flux 1: Welcome To The Machine Read Online Free

oblivion.
    Adon said, “Relax man.  How long have you been working without filters?  You keep working without AR, you are going to get fried.”
    Raydin sighed.  Augmented reality was the step between full VR immersion and the real world, where computer images were overlaid over normal sight.  He ran the program, and text scrolled across the upper left corner of his vision.  “Augmented Reality mode activated.  Population Density: 1 person/m2.  Compensating…”  The distances between him and the people around him swelled and expanded, the road grew wider, the buildings grew taller and farther away.  Hundreds of figures disappeared from the crowd, the simulation selectively removing them to create the illusion of more space.  
    Raydin heard something, and switched the filter off for a moment.  A group of men with shaved heads, all wearing the same colored t-shirts, were beating a man in a dark alleyway.  A red text relay read, “Admin Warning: turning off AR censorship filter is not recommended.”  Raydin switched it back on, and the people in the alleyway disappeared.  The program reported the incident to the Bulldog Private Security Corporation, the private firm that policed Datcora.  They would show up fifteen minutes later, take a statement, and promptly forget about the incident, as if it never happened.
    The text relay continued, “Environmental simulation reactivated, loading...” he looked up as the ceiling was transformed, a wave of color turning the grey chitin into blue sky, with a bright yellow orb that was supposed to be the sun materializing directly above him, though he felt no heat on his skin, no glare as he looked into the light.  Waves of green, manicured lawns and trees surrounded the office buildings, appearing out of nowhere.  In another alley, he felt a presence, and switched off the AR censor.  He saw a man having sex with a teenage girl behind a stack of crates, watched as she clung to the plastic chit in her hand.  Irule put her hand on his shoulder and said, “Don’t look Raydin…”  The scene disappeared from his vision as he restored the AR filter.
    The text continued, “Psychological programming commencing.”  The bumps and shoves from those surrounding him were dulled, as a constant stream of polite, “excuse me, pardon me, excuse me…” faded into the background, and thousands upon thousands of two-dimensional screens appeared in mid-air, all broadcasting the same things, three channels repeated endlessly, over and over.
    Irule smiled, pointing, “Raydin, your broadcast is about to begin.”
    One by one, the screens were all replaced by the image of a starry sky, as the colors and tones for the Conditioned Response triggers activated in sequence.  The screens all winked out, disappeared, turning into twinkling stars as thousands of people sat down in unison.  The buildings disappeared, and the sky became an endless sea of stars, the entire cosmos stretching out before them in all directions.  A few of the people whimpered, years of living indoors triggering their agoraphobia.  Raydin and his friends sat down, so as not to appear suspicious.
    A large silver streak flew above them, as it grew closer, it became a silver serpent, with two glowing blue eyes.  Metallic plates formed ridges, forming a gleaming, shining, mechanical dragon, thin and wiry, with a massive wingspan that seemed to engulf the cosmos.  The entire universe seemed to hurl forwards towards the sky as the view zoomed towards its claws.  It opened its palms slowly, revealing inside it a blue orb, with white swirling clouds, and it began to speak.
    “Long ago, man lived in harmony with the Earth.  We respected nature, and it, in turn, provided for us everything we needed… food, clothing, shelter.  But man forgot his place in nature as its caretaker, and aspired instead to dominate the Earth.”  The orb grew green, then brown, the clouds became darker and darker, until it resembled