This Is Not the Life That I Imagined

After a few seconds, the lenses program was downloaded. "Activate the program, John. I'll check for any issues," Professor Ada's voice echoed in the room.

The program's icon, shaped like a pupil, appeared on his watch, labeled Smart Lenses. With his eyes shining brightly from excitement, John quickly tapped the icon. Three options appeared on the small screen:

(Smart Lenses:

* Turn on/off.

* Start Recording.

* Recording files.)

He selected Turn on.

John felt a sudden wave of dizziness. He steadied himself, blinking as lines of code briefly flashed across his vision. The data quickly settled, and his vision returned to normal, except for a few extra lines that materialized in front of him.

"How do you feel, John?" Professor Ada asked, her eyes focused on the data, trying to detect any issues.

"I felt dizzy for a bit after I turned it on, but now I'm good. It just feels weird seeing words floating in front of me," John answered, looking left and right in the tight space, trying to see if anything had changed.

"That's normal. Can you tell me what words you see?"

"It says 'Lenses functions,' but how do I click on it?" John's puzzlement was evident as he tried nodding his head up and down, but nothing happened.

"Concentrate on the word until you see a change, then blink your eyes twice quickly," Professor Ada instructed with a grin, amused by John's attempts to interact with the display.

"Oh, that's how you do it," John murmured. After hearing Professor Ada's instructions, he focused intently on the word 'Lenses functions.' The word flickered for a moment, then vanished, replaced by new instructions.

"The word changed. Now it says, 'Every function of the lenses will be presented with a small icon. Start demonstration.'"

"Go ahead and start the demonstration. Let me know if you feel anything is wrong. Don't neglect any issue, no matter how small."

"Okay," John replied. He focused on the new prompt and, following the same process, blinked twice to initiate the demonstration.

Several icons filled his field of vision with small descriptions beside them, and a sentence was written. "It is written that the Smart Lenses come with six functions. Every one will have its own label to differentiate between them."

John titled his head slightly as he read out loud. "Also, it says here that other than the first time, I need to blink my eyes four times quickly to summon functions if I want next time to avoid disturbing my vision."

Night-Vision: represented by a greenish goggle.

Augmented-Reality displays (AR): represented with a transparent sphere with many dots on it, making a spider web shape.

Data Harvesting: represented with a processor with many tiny lines of light moving in the processor direction.

Chemical Analysis Sensors: represented with a beaker in it three different colors of some kind of liquid.

Holographic Projection: represented with a cycle that emits light in the shape of John body.

Energy sensor: represented with a cylinder held by a rod. On the other end of the rod is think metal in the shape of a cycle used as support. From the cylinder, there are wave shapes moving in the cylinder direction.

As he reviewed each icon, a small note caught his eye at the bottom of the display. "Oh, there is notice here saying I can make my own shortcut to summon a certain function quickly instead of going to the menu. Oh, that's handy."

"You need to test every function here now before going for further testing just to make sure there is no fault in the gadget."

"Okay, Professor. What should I start with?" John asked, waiting for further instruction.

 "Start with night vision and keep it that way for five minutes." As soon as the professor gave the instruction, the tiny room in the machine where John was setting dimed quickly before being enveloped in deep darkness.

 John focused his eyes on the Night-Vision option before blinking twice. The words flickered before disappearing as the dark room was suddenly bathed in a greenish hue as the night vision kicked in while a faint grid overlay appeared.

"Wow, everything looks green now!" John moved his head and body around, trying to adapt to his new vision.

"I will start simulating an environment. There will be moving animals in it. I will send you a small laser pointer. When you spot these animals, point at them with the laser."

Tick Tick!

John heard two ticking sounds before a mechanical hand holding the laser delivered it to him. Then it retracted to where it was.

The darkness dissolved, replaced by a simulated forest, the green hue of the night vision making the leaves and branches stand out with eerie clarity.

The grid lines danced across his vision, distorting his depth perception and making it hard for John to focus on searching. Every time he changes his line of sight, he gets drawn to the lines and squares of the grid.

"Ugh! This piece of watermelon!! How am I supposed to focus with these grid lines in my face?" John clinched his fist and gritted his teeth from getting distracted too many times.

 "Calm down, John. You need time to get used to it. After a while, you will appreciate the grid's existence." Professor Ada spoke in a calm voice, trying to help John focus on adapting to the new lenses instead of getting angry.

John deactivated his talent, double focus, then grid vanished and the room returned to darkness.

' I need to change my thinking. Instead of looking at the squires of the grid as distractions, I should look at what they contain. That way it might enhance my vision'

He took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself down before activating his talent once more as the grid and the greenish color environment retuned.

 "Start the test again, mentor. I will try to adjust one more time."

"You have sixty seconds to identify and mark all 12 targets this time," Professor Ada instructed. "Let's see how quickly you can adapt."

In the first ten seconds, he still got distracted, but as he tried to overlook the lines, "Yes. Yes, I got one." Elation could be heard from John's voice as he started getting used to the grids. 15 seconds passed as he spotted the second and third animals.

In the 29th second, he spotted the fourth. then the fifth at 33 seconds. Then the sixth at 36. His speed increased with every passing second.

 The grid overlay seemed to sharpen the contours of every object. The sensation was strange, like his eyes were seeing in a new dimension.

Beeep!

The environment paused as the sound of the professor reached John. "Good job. You marked all the 12 targets in 59 seconds. What do you feel or think now?"

John stroked his chin while trying to put his thoughts into words. "Well, it was a distraction at first, even though I get used to it quickly to pass the test. It still feels pretty weird to look at objects through a grid."

 "Any negatives beside that?"

"No, nothing else."

"Mhm, but we still need to do a few more tests for the Night-Vision function." Professor Ada continued testing John for a whole ten minutes before stopping after noticing no issues.

A mechanical hand hovered over John as it placed a ring-shaped device on the top of his head. "This will allow you to move in the simulation by just mimicking the movement. Now change the function. Choose Augmented reality displays (AR)."

John blinked four times, then all the other options appeared before his eyes. Concentrating on AR, the options flickered before his sight returned to normal, then a whole bunch of data appeared all over his vision.

The room light returned to normal as the data was still appearing in every direction of John's vision. "This is so annoying! Too much pops up! almost like unskippable ads."

Professor chuckled when she heard John mumbling, "Here, here, John. Calm down. This will probably become your default mode in missions. So, this is the one that you need to get used to being active all the time."

The professor changed the environment to a bustling city street. The simulated world around John was alive with movement—people walking, cars driving by, and digital signs flashing advertisements. Buildings stretched into the sky, and the sounds of the city echoed around him, immersing him in the scene.

John blinked, overwhelmed by the sudden flood of information. Tiny pop-ups appeared over people's heads, displaying their names, affiliations, and even health conditions.

Buildings were overlaid with data about their construction, age, and structural integrity. Arrows and markers highlighted possible paths he could take, and a small window at the corner of his vision provided a map of the area.

"Focus on filtering out unnecessary data, John," Professor Ada instructed. "You can customize the interface to prioritize the most relevant information. Just blink as you concentrate on a specific part three times to turn on or off."

John nodded, trying to push away the clutter. He concentrated on the markers indicating potential threats or important locations, blinking thrice to hide everything else.

The display adjusted accordingly, reducing the overwhelming amount of data to only the essentials: highlighted paths, key buildings, and any immediate threats.

"Much better," John murmured, feeling more in control. "But it's still a lot to take in."

"You'll get used to it. Try moving around and interacting with the environment," Professor Ada suggested.

John began to walk down the simulated street, glancing around as he moved. A flashing red icon suddenly appeared in his vision, indicating an approaching danger.

 He turned to see a car speeding toward a pedestrian. Without thinking, John activated the AR's predictive analysis feature, which calculated the car's trajectory and suggested a path for the pedestrian to avoid the collision.

"Watch out!" John shouted, even though it was just a simulation. The pedestrian quickly changed direction, avoiding the car just in time. A sense of relief washed over John as the AR system registered the successful outcome.

"Good job. You are natural in this." Professor Ada praised. "Now, try using the AR to gather information on potential threats in the environment."

John nodded and activated the threat detection mode. His vision was immediately filled with red markers, highlighting potential dangers in the area.

He saw a suspicious figure loitering near an alleyway, a broken fire escape that could collapse, and an overloaded electrical transformer sparking dangerously.

"Now, imagine you're on a mission, and you need to assess these threats quickly. Prioritize them based on their potential impact," Professor Ada instructed.

John evaluated each threat, focusing on the one that seemed most urgent—the sparking transformer.

 He directed the AR to provide more detailed information, learning that the transformer was at risk of exploding. A plan formed in his mind as the AR displayed the safest evacuation route for anyone nearby.

"Got it," John said, satisfied with his assessment. "But I can see how this would take some time getting used to."

"It will, but with practice, it'll become second nature," Professor Ada assured him. "This is just the beginning. As you continue your training, you'll learn how to use the AR displays to your advantage in a variety of scenarios."

The environment began to fade, signaling the end of the simulation. John blinked thrice, deactivating the AR display and returning to the small, quiet room.