[ WP ] Virtual Reality has become so advanced , it can alter your perception of time . Your entire life has been a 5 minute simulation . You 've just woken up .

`` Oh what a performance, ladies and gentlemen please, give it up for Jim Jefferson!'' 
 
 Rapturous applause pierced his ears as the man tumbled out the virtual reality booth and shivered as he hugged himself. Cold sweat clung to his face like a protective cocoon from the onslaught of sound and picture around him. 
 
 Breathing was alien to him, he felt clear. His lungs did n't rattle when he breathed in and out, his rib cage was n't showing and his skin did n't sag from his bones. It took him several minutes to gain his bearings before he looked up into the intrusive red light of a camera. 
 
 `` What...'' His voice trailed. Somehow, the pitch of his voice had changed and it oozed charisma. The camera eagerly lapped up every movement, every slight nuance of trying to grip reality again. 
 
 `` That was a great show!'' A voice sounded again, coming from behind the camera. A man stepped forward then, grinning like a cheshire cat with unnaturally white teeth. His long, curly brown locks bounced off his shoulders like he'd stepped out of a hair commercial. He clasped his manicured hands together and trained his eyes on Jim, a hint of pity in his look. 
 
 `` You did scare us around 46 when you almost had that collision with another driver but you did well, you managed to last 87 years. Very impressive.'' He applauded then; somewhere in the invisible depths of the darkness, other hands applauded the valiant effort. 
 
 Jim Jefferson looked around, continuously glancing at his youthful hands and arms, feeling his wrinkle-free face. He had 87 years worth of memories bubbling around that were slowly fading from him. Marrying and then eventually losing his wife to cancer, the war, his failed writing career, his successful career within Car Sales, he had had an eventful life and he had lived his life to the maximum but this, this did n't feel right. 
 
 `` What's goin' on?'' He said, scratching the back of his head, surprised again to feel thick, sweat-soaked hair. 
 
 `` Why, you've just supplied us with enough material to last an entire season, you, my friend, are about to be rich!'' 
 
 `` Wait, hold on... where am I?'' 
 
 `` The BBC of course.'' The man laughed, looking somewhere in the distance and pointing a thumb at Jeff. 
 
 `` Boy did you have an interesting journey!'' Jim realized then that the man kept looking at an adjacent camera just behind him. He spun round in time to see a red blinking light and the cold all-seeing lens of the camera. 
 
 `` Would you care to see your statistics? See how you got on Jim?'' 
 
 `` My what?'' 
 
 `` It's okay,'' The man hurriedly waved away his protests before pointing to the camera behind him. It immediately projected a series of numbers and statistics on screen. 
 
 `` Okay... let's see what we have here. Oh, very interesting... hmm... yes that's a cause for concern... that's very, very interesting...'' The man looked down a long list of barely readable words. One thing that had n't changed in his 87 years was his lack of decent vision. Despite the unpleasantness, it was a welcome relief that at least something was familiar. 
 
 The man pointed to a series of very large numbers on screen. `` So it appears you have a fair amount of hours clocked for sleep. Your meals eaten during life is pretty average considering age of mortality and same goes for drinking. Time spent watching television is surprisingly low though. Most people clock in an embarrassing amount of time in front of the box.'' 
 
 The numbers continued and the tone changed slightly as the man reached the more intimate questions, reading out the private parts of his life like it were a simple memo. Jim felt like his head was going to explode but truth be told, he was utterly exhausted trying to come to grips with what had happened and now had no energy to pursue it. Despite the youthfulness of his body, his mind felt old. 
 
 `` You... you violated my life? You mean to tell me that you've seen every part of my 87 years on this planet?'' 
 
 `` We've seen 87 years of your artificial life inside the machine which belongs to us but you, I mean the real you, you're 23. You signed the contract saying you wanted to be on TV and now you will be. Your story is with the editing team right now.'' 
 
 `` The editing team?'' 
 
 `` They take your life and cut out all the boring bits and leave the good stuff. Judging by your life, you've had a pretty good one to be honest so it's going to be a lot harder to pick out 10 hours worth of material for our new series.'' He stopped then as a phone buzzed in his breast pocket. He sighed and clicked a button without looking. He continued. 
 
 `` New series?'' Jim called after him. He stared into the red light of the camera and quickly looked away. 
 
 `` Oh yes, it's called `` My Life'' and the best ones get to stay on for a second season. Now we've just had confirmation from the editing team that this will not be renewed with us for a second season. I do apologise.'' 
 
 `` What? Why?'' He said, as two armed guards approached and grabbed him. 
 
 `` Stick him in this one,'' The man said to the guards, pointing to another empty Virtual Reality machine. The crowd applauded and laughed, a bitter laugh that sent chills down to his spine. 
 
 `` You're an interesting character, people like that, but you're just not as..well... idiotic than the last ones. They like idiots and you are most certainly not an idiot.'' 
 
 `` What? Next time? What's going on?'' The door to the machine whined to a close and a the momentary banging quickly subsided as Jim was thrust back into an alternate persona. 
 
 One of the guards approached the man and rested his gun on the ground. `` Permission to speak?'' 
 
 `` Permission granted. What is it Sergeant?'' 
 
 `` Well, it's just...'' He removed his helmet and sighed, shaking his head. `` It's just you've been doing this all day. The poor guy ca n't remember who he is and you keep throwing him into alternate lives. I appreciate this is all for television but damn, the kid's getting his brain fried.'' 
 
 The man grinned, leaning up against the wall before grabbing a cigarette from his pocket and lighting it. `` My arse is on the line here Davies, if I do n't give the network decent stories they will never allow this show to continue to operate.'' 
 
 He took a drag of his cigarette, breathing the twinges of guilt out in tiny wisps of smoke in the air. `` So we go again until we find a good narrative for Jim to work with.'' He clicked a button on the machine, and Jim was catapulted back into another full human life on Earth, the previous 5 minutes just a distant dream by the time he woke up. 

