After Dinner Conversation

Volume 3, Issue 8, August 2022

Joshua Hathaway
Pages 15-30

The Rapture Module

Is it the natural desire of humans to be happy, or do they desire something else? In this work of philosophical short story fiction, Tucker mistypes a keystroke at his new job. However, his computer fixed his mistake and forces the correct answer to come out anyway. As he tries to explain what happened to his co-worker his boss comes by to tell him he is being given a promotion, even though he has only been at the company a few weeks. Later, at a coffee shop, he tries to order a drink he knows he doesn’t prefer, and the barista insists on selling him the drink he likes better. He then goes home to a wife that adores him. The problem is, Tucker is unhappy. He is unhappy because he feels he didn’t earn the promotion, and that he can’t make mistakes in Rapture, the artificial work where he is living. Everything will always go his way. This turns out to be not an ideal simulation, but a nightmare-like curse where nothing feels like it was earned or has value.