Serie : Future-Darkly

The scene unfolds with Vincent, a meek bus driver for George Ivan Junior College, who is in charge of transporting a group of 18-year-old schoolgirls to their homes from school, an everyday routine. Vincent is a shambolic young man with horn-rimmed glasses and an unkempt beard. His reserved demeanor attracts little attention from the students. As the camera glides past each row, the girls are engrossed in conversations about their weekend plans, homework, and the latest school gossip. Their matching uniforms, tech gadgets, and school bags are noticeably. Vincent drives in silence, focusing on the road as they maneuver past blocks of industrial buildings, until the last student is dropped off. This attractive girl introduces herself as Aidra, sucking on a lollipop. 'It's amusing,' she says to him, innocently. 'You've been driving me home every day this year, but we've never spoken!' He responds with an awkward nod. She discards the candy in his trash and bids him farewell. As Vincent drives away, he stops around a corner, fetches a small locked case from beneath his seat. He opens it to pull out a pair of gloves, tweezers, and a specimen bag. He carefully retrieves the candy from the trash and seals it. Then he resumes his seat and drives off. FAST FORWARD TO TITLE PLATE TEXT PLATE: CHAPTER ONE Vincent steps into his apartment, removes his safety vest and walks through his minimalist living room to a tabletop computer. He activates the computer and gently places the specimen on the touchscreen surface. It scans automatically, and a screen pops up. It is the start screen of a virtual reality game titled: VIRTUALLY REAL. Vincent hits enter and loads up a new player profile. The profile fills with Aidra's photo and information. He revises the profile, unchecks the option for 'personality' and hits 'enter' to load her into the game. The game alerts him that he is ready to log on and Vincent places a VR headset over his eyes. CUT to a white room. A digital version of Aidra slowly rises and lifts herself off the ground. She surveys her surroundings and sees three of her classmates, all sitting cheerfully and quietly in their uniforms. She too is fully dressed in her school clothes. Politely, she walks over and inquires who they are. Each girl responds with equal politeness, sharing her full name, age, and home room number. Aidra smiles and shares her name and age as well. She can't remember her home room for some reason. She asks why they are waiting. One of the classmates, Anna, tells her they are waiting for the General. Aidra appears confused, trying to recall who he is. Another classmate, Audrey, interjects, reminding Aidra that he is the one in charge. He visits almost every day to sleep with them. One girl per day. The third girl, Ashley, mentions that they've been anticipating a new girl for a while now, but the General is very unpredictable. Aidra eagerly absorbs all this information. She doesn't fully comprehend what's happening, but she knows she wants to be included. Suddenly the room becomes very bright and the General appears. He is the digital version of Vincent, donned in a full-scale military uniform. His glasses are off, he is clean-shaven, and his hair slicked back, making him a more confident and impressive man. He marches in front of the girls, as they line up before him. He makes each one repeat their name, age, and why they are here. They all eagerly respond that they are here to sleep with him. When he comes upon Aidra, he looks her up and down, speaking in a drill sergeant manner. He asks the same questions and Aidra responds... echoing nervously what her classmates had said including asking the General to sleep with her. The General smiles and they begin to have sex, while the other schoolgirls watch jealously and try to cut in. BG Sex. After he ejaculates inside of her, he zips back up his uniform and instructs them to wait until his return. He says 'EXIT' and the room becomes bright again. CUT to a close-up of Vincent removing the VR headset from his eyes. He is sweaty and draws a deep breath. CUT back to inside the game. Aidra crawls over to her original position and sits down. She is worn out, and her eyeliner is streaking down her face. She turns to the other girls and asks where she can clean up. Ashley tells her not to worry, she will be completely clean the next time he logs in. 'Logs in?' Aidra asks, confused. 'Yeah,' Ashley replies quietly. 'To this dreadful place!' TEXT PLATE: CHAPTER TWO Several days later. Vincent is driving the bus,