AVP: The Future of Incarceration

"Introducing the revolutionary Somnicorp Alcatraz Virtual Prison (AVP), where sentences can be reduced down to mere minutes! Now with AVP, inmates will experience years within that short time span, eliminating the need for traditional prisons. Don't miss out on this technology of the future and join us in our efforts to reimagine incarceration! Be amongst the first to try it out and be amazed by the revolutionary results of AVP - the future of prisons!"

I glance away from the television and wait for someone to lead me to the trial room. I'm fortunate, if you can call it that, to be chosen to be a test subject for the AVP. They've said they will only keep me in there for fifteen seconds, but that will amount to three months inside the prison.

Eventually, I am taken to the testing room and seated in a chair with a headset suspended over it. A needle is inserted into my arm and filled with anesthesia before they plug me into the device. My eyelids droop lower as I struggle to stay awake, straining to make out the panicked voices of the operators. "The program is malfunctioning, sir!" one shouts.

"Shut it down then!" another barks.

"It's too late-" But before the sentence can be finished, my consciousness abandons me in a deep slumber and I drift away into an abyss of darkness.

I awoke from a deep sleep to find myself in a pitch black room. The only thing I could make out was the door that seemed to be the only way out. I rose to my feet and attempted to push it open, but it wouldn't budge. I slumped down into one of the corners of the room as a feeling of dread took over me. I wanted so desperately to leave, but had no idea how.

...

A bright light filled the room, and suddenly I was back in the trial chamber again. They asked if I was alright, and I couldn't even respond. They said it had only taken them ten minutes to resolve the issue - but that could mean only one thing. Ten years had passed inside the prison. All I wanted was to go home.

The car ride back home had felt like an eternity, dragging me further and further away from the cold cell I was held in. I wanted to collapse into my bed, but something kept me from it. Each time I closed my eyes I was haunted by the image of the cell, and I found myself wishing that I could erase my memories. All I wanted to do was sleep, but no matter how tired I felt, fear of what lurked inside my dreams stayed lodged in my mind.

Despite all my efforts to stay awake, I eventually succumbed to sleep and found myself in the cell again. I tried to convince myself it was only a dream, and thankfully, when I woke up, it seemed it was. The next day, I visited a psychologist, and she informed me that similar visions would probably occur for a few months or even a year.

I drove back home, dreading the night ahead. I tried to fall asleep, but darkness kept me awake as I remembered the horrors of the prison cell. I drifted off eventually, only to wake up inside the cold prison cell once again. Panic started to rise within me again as closed my eyes and told myself that it was just a dream. I slowly opened my eyes, expecting to see my bedroom. I did not wake up.