Another rush hour. It is time for at least an hour of suffering to begin for millions of people in Istanbul. Nafız was also getting out of his job at the photocopier opposite the courthouse during these hours.
By the time he ran to the bus station, it was past six o’clock. Nafız, who had been using this line for about two years, started to see getting on the bus from Mecidiyeköy from Çağlayan as a challenging task to be accomplished every day.
He speeded like lightning through the crowd that gathered at the front door. There was a big smile on his face when he barely threw himself in before the door closed. As the Metrobus was leaving the station, Nafız struggled to take his headphones out of his pocket.
He had always enjoyed traveling in front of the bus, even though he had to get stuck. Watching the road through the vast glass alleviated his momentary distress a little bit. As the bus was moving downhill towards Halıcıoğlu, the sound coming from the driver caught his attention.
When he took off his headphones and looked in that direction, the first thing he heard was the middle-aged passenger shouting at the driver.
“Drive the bus properly. Are you transporting animals?”
Despite his belly touching the steering wheel, the driver answered by turning his back.
“If you don’t like it, take a taxi or just shut up!”
The words of the bus driver were classic. Nafız had heard many similar quarrels over the two years.
While I thought the issue would be closed with a few insults, something unexpected happened.
When the middle-aged passenger hit the driver’s head with his umbrella, everyone on the bus could easily hear the sound.
The driver shot with an umbrella turned his head. Be so blinded by anger. In denial of his physical condition, he jumped out of his cabin and tried to punch the passenger.
When the bus hit the car in front while the driver was trying to punch, Nafız flew out of the windshield, where he enjoyed watching the scenery and had various dreams while looking outside.
In the short time, before he stuck to the asphalt, the moment learned that he and his sister were orphans, his sister’s arranged marriage, and the years he had to live in the house of that prick who would become his wife passed through his mind like a movie.
Despite screaming with fear, a question fell into his mind the last moment he saw the asphalt.
“Should I be sorry to die?”
He was falling upside down in a gray vortex when he opened his eyes. His heart was about to burst, and a metallic voice sneaked in through his ear.
“New simulation is starting. Please set the options!”
“Choose a world!”
A soft voice replied, unclear from where it came from
“The World of Six Civilizations.”
After the answer, the metallic voice spoke again.
“Choose your civilization!”
Someone else, quite excited, said, “I will answer, I will answer that.”
“Let it be an orc!”
The metallic sound kept systematically asking a question after each answer.
“Determine your gender!”
After clearing his throat, a male with a low voice answered.
”Female!”
“Determine the physical and mental capacity level!”
Someone else, obviously wretched in his voice, was waiting to answer.
“Same as the previous simulation.”
The laughter continued until the new question came.
“Do you want to delete memory?”
“No!”
The answer made enough noise to overwhelm the earlier laughter.
The countdown started after the metallic voice said, “Simulation is starting, last 5 seconds!”
5!
4!
3!
2!
1!
Nafız, after all, that he had heard, closed his eyes tightly, shivering with fear. At the end of the countdown, when a force pulled him violently from his head, he would have to open his eyes.
The first thing he saw was a green-colored creature with two huge teeth hanging from the corners of its mouth. Nafız, who screamed with fear, was forced to silent when he was put upside down in a barrel full of ice-cold water.
Once inserted into the barrel twice, it was placed next to the others lying on the ground.
He could not bear such excitement and was about to faint, only once looked at the baby lying next to him. A few words swiftly passed through the horrified Nafiz’s mind and then passed out.
“What an ugliness this is!”
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“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.”
Albert Camus
