Fresh Start

Ryan was one of the chosen. All his mates were jealous, couldn’t believe he got so lucky. It was gonna be awesome, he could finally be the same as everyone else. Being a bit weird was kinda his thing, but it was a tiring thing. Now, his weird would be normal and he would be able to game and listen to indie rock, play soccer in his fav striker position and publicly indulge in his secret baking obsession. Brownies were his specialty. One day he would win Master Chef and open a bakery that hosted niche live bands every Thursday night and sponsor the local soccer club. He would be known globally as The Brownie Man. But for now, there was “The Threshold” to make his dreams come true.

Three hundred students and fifteen teachers had been drawn out of the ballot to go to “The Threshold”. A new purpose-built facility where everyone enters as equals, participates as equals, are together as equals. It had been built to the highest specifications and fitted out with the very best sustainable technologies, play equipment, green spaces, and furniture. Three hundred and fifteen portals surrounded The Threshold so everyone could enter at the same time, to have the same experience, to be the same.

Ryan was quietly confident that The Threshold was what he had been waiting for. No one would care that he liked sport, gaming, indie rock AND baking. He wouldn’t be weird here. They would all be the same.

Assigned to portal two hundred and fifty-six, Ryan stood in nervous anticipation with one of the teachers on one side and a younger girl with pig tails and red hair on the other. He smiled at the younger girl.

“Excited?” he asked.

“Oh my god, yes!” she replied with over-the-top enthusiasm. “I can’t wait! It’s gonna be epic. I mean...I just…I can’t even”.

Ryan laughed, “yeah, I get it, hard to even imagine aye. But it’s gonna be great.” He stopped, and then said to her, “I’m so excited for food tech, I’m gonna be a famous baker when I finish”.

“A baker, aye?” she questioned, then shrugged, “whatever floats yah boat.”

The external portal door opened.

Ryan smiled and said, “See yah in there,” and turned to see the teacher’s external portal door closing. He took a deep breath. He stepped inside. The door closed.

Darkness.

A glowing outline appeared ahead of him and he heard the invitation “step through”.

The moment it took to step through felt like a lifetime as the portal ripped through each cell of his being stripping away who he was, giving him a full factory reset. Ryan’s identity dissolved as he passed through the portal and sameness emerged from each of the portals on the other side.

It was all the same. Everything was the same.