It was a loud and quiet Friday. Chen worked for 18 hours a day, 7 days a week in a place called Technicalities. It was dark, gloomy, and felt like a waste of time to Chen. Chen would be the last one in and made sure he was the first one out. After work, Chen would take the A speedway to his home. It would pass the city, country, even the local farms just to arrive to his house. Technicalities’ office is New Sacramento and his home was approximately 20.8 miles as he lived in Roseville. Distance nowadays was no issue. It took Chen 13 seconds to get to his destination.

“Honey. I’m home!” yelled Chen to his wife so she was able to hear. He walked through his electromagnetic door and it stripped him of all the damaging metals on his body.
“Did you take your shoe thrusters off before you entered the house?” asked Mary.
“I didn’t take them to work today but you can deactivate my shoe laces? The electricity got intertwined.”
“Alright Chen,” responds Mary, as she fiddles with the shoes laces.
Mary walked in a hurry towards Chen. She pressed the deactivation code and his shoes came straight off.
“Thanks honey,” said Chen gratefully.
After this, Mary went straight into the compact room to listen to the radio.
“I have a present for you Mary,” said Chen, “It’s the new Neuronic Helmet we’ve been working on. Give it a try!”             Mary unwrapped her present and Chen calibrated it for her. The Neuronic Helmet is a device that can bring you into alternate reality.
“We’ve been working on this project for 15 years. I hope you like it.”
Mary went into the alternate world without even a thanks. Chen sighed. He felt alone. All day at work with his co-workers, he has a wife, some friends, and a mechanical dog but yet he felt lonely. He picked up his mechanical dog with the simulated fur and began to ponder. He thought of 20 years ago, 2014. This specific date was very important. He felt very nerve wrecked and he sweat a lot. He saw his wife in a beautiful white dress as she walked down the aisle. Her face was shining and she looked like a goddess. A white veil was in front of her face but he knew what was underneath it. The blushed bride walked down the aisle while everyone looked at her. Both their hearts started to beat faster as their marriage was official. They left the chapel in the family Ford with a ‘recently married’ sign. They drove to the countryside and spent a whole week there. No technology, it was just them.
“Beep. Beep. Beep.” went the alarm clock. Chen got up and did his daily routine. He brushed his hair, ate cereal, brushed his teeth, and put on his clothes, all with the Electronic Routine machine. He did not bother to say goodbye to Mary; she was still in her alternate world. He ran to the speedway where he was almost late.
“Welcome to Technicalities, Mr. Boardman.”
“And to you,” Chen said with an uncertain smile on his face.
“The Chairman and C.E.O want to see you immediately sir.”
“Alright. Whatever. Tell them on my way.”
Chen walked to the elevator casually. He put his electro key into the slot and clicked on ‘Infinite Elevator’. He arrived at the council’s table where the C.E.O. began a speech for the whole world to hear.
“Hello my fellow comrades. For the past 15 year; Technicalities has been working on trying to perfect the Neuronic Helmet. Well I am glad to say that we have accomplished our goal and will be releasing the helmet to selected countries. With this, I give a toast to the prosperity of the Neuronic Helmet and for the advancements to come!”
Everyone began to cheer and clap. The design that took them years to make was finally being released. Chen was ecstatic; however, he felt there was something wrong.
“ Are you going to the celebration party Chen?” asked Ding.
“ In a little. I’m going to get something from the office.”
Chen walked down the hall toward his office. On the way he overheard voices coming from the C.E.O.’s office.
“ Are the preparations complete to make the helmet a major war weapon? I want this to hit the enemies shelves right away. We will use this to drag these imbeciles into an inescapable realm.”
“ Yes, Mr. C.E.O., preparations are in order.”
“Excellent! I want those shipped out as soon as possible.”
Secretly hearing this, Chen walked quietly to his office. He sat there and panicked. Thoughts ran through Chen’s mind: What if they change the realm? What would happen to Mary? He ran and fidgeted through his paperwork. Deactivation code...where is it? Finally finding it, Chen ran to the system database. A level ten firewall was put on the door of the database room and Chen panicked. He smashed the Keypad and an alarm went off.  Security must be coming! I need to turn off the alarm!  He ran into the room and found the main computer. He typed in the deactivation code.
“Click.” Chen heard a familiar noise near the back of his head.
His eyes widened and his heart started to beat faster. What was this sudden noise? thought Chen, but he already knew the answer.
“Don’t move Chen! Think about it carefully. Why would you want to do this? We worked on building this corporation for 15 years. We made it possible to control and be part of 90 percent of the population’s life. Why would you want to change that?”
“I never agreed to this. You are the C.E.O for crying out loud! Show some dignity. We started this company to make this world a better place. Not to ruin it. I will not take part in destroying man-kind!”
“Bang! Bang!” Smoke arose from the tip of the gun.
Chen began to blink. He looked up and saw an electro-xenon lamp swinging from the ceiling above him. The light shined directly on him as to tell him to arise. He felt a cold hard substance against his back. He stood up but stumbled on the way. The room seemed to spin all around and Chen was feeling a slight woozy. His main attention was on the sharp pain on his head. He touched the top of his head and felt a long needle.
“Ahhh!” yelled Chen as he pulled the syringe out of his head. He felt the back of his head and remembered a scene vaguely. A gunshot. Yes, thought Chen. He was shot by the corrupted C.E.O.  He looked around frantically; his eyes moving as fast as possible. He knew he had to figure a way to get out of there.  All this panicking made him feel dizzy and he blacked out.
Hours later, he awakens and looks around with a feeling that the place was familiar.  He had seen the paintings before, in fact, they were rare non-electrical paintings. He saw his 3-D printed mass bed, his collection of the newest electronic jumpers (shoes), and he also saw his models of the Neuronic Helmet. Indeed, he was in his own house. Chen looked around thought about Mary. Finding her and making sure that she was okay was his first priority.  He ran straight through his electrical door hangers to search for his beloved wife.  Realizing she was still in the same spot where he had last seen her , Chen walks over to her and checks her breathing. Grateful that she is okay, he lets out a big sigh of relief. With ensurity, he leisurely walks to the bathroom to care for his wounds. He looks directly at the mirror and stares at himself.  He felt a certain uneasiness. Chen’s eyes gazed all around his body. He even used a capture projector to see his back. Analyzing himself, Chen could not figure out what was wrong.
“ There is no bullet hole, or a syringe entry,” cried Chen in bewilderment. He thought he may have imagined it. With this new discovery, Chen looked for the syringe on the floor but it was not there. To make sure he did not imagine things he dressed quickly and activated clothing in order to leave the house. Chen took the A speedway and arrived at the bright neon sign. The sign read ‘Technicalities’. He entered the building at a rapid pace; ignoring all his fellow employees. He instantly went to the elevator. Chen entered his office and carefully observed it. Recently, his office was left a mess as he looked for the deactivation code. He saw a neatly wooden desk,  a clean radiated carpet, and his walls were neatly cleaned. With his skeptical view on this situation, he looked for the deactivation code. Chen looked all around and noticed it wasn’t there. He knew that what he had experienced the night before must have been true. Ideas and thoughts ran wild in his mind. He knew he had to make a choice for the sake of humanity. Chen knew he had to disband Technicalities. He examined the pros, the cons, and made sure that their company signed all medical technology over to another company. He took the ‘infinite elevator’ and went straight to the system database. He passed by easily as the security was being fixed because of Chen’s doing.  Luckily, the deactivation code was still entered into the computer from previously. He pressed enter and Technicalities torment had finally ended. Technicalities, the company who controlled everything made in the last 15 years was now gone. Clothes to guns were made at this company. They owned the electricity and everything required technology. The company who everyone is dependent on for their normal life has fallen. Everyone is lost. Everyone was dependent. Technicalities had fallen.
Later that day, the authorities came in to take Chen. He did not hesitate when being arrested, but just stood there. His company had fallen but at least everyone was safe. Chen was immediately brought to the F.B.I. for further questioning. Mary pleaded for his insanity and he was brought to an asylum. Months passed and electricity was restored; however, many revolted to get their old ‘everyday’ technology back and properly in use.  Trying to get answers out of Chen, many went to the chamber where he was held. They were frightened of the words written in blood on his walls. The writing on the wall read: Eureka! Technicalities has fallen... People are too dependent... No more mistakes for humanity. Simpler times are needed, and beware of power given to corporations. Technicalities has fallen. Technicalities has fallen. Technicalities has fallen.