By Juan Carlos Gil
Your little act ends here. You fool no one. Now breathe. Relax. By the time you finish reading this message, all your online accounts will have been deleted; all your online profiles will have been wiped out. There will be nothing to recover. No data left anywhere whatsoever. This is not a bug. This is not a software or hardware malfunction. This is not a prank. There is no point in pressing the Escape key. There is no point in switching off your device. You simply cannot stop what is going to happen. This is not your average hacking. I have been watching you for a long time. I know all that you think you are.
You are fake. Who you think you are is nothing but an illusion. You can’t run away any longer. There is no point in begging or imploring. This is not blackmail. I am not after money. I am not after your possessions. I want nothing but to drop the masks you have been hiding behind. This is an opportunity for you to shed all the rotten, dead skin that’s been choking you for so long that you don’t even feel it anymore. This is your opportunity for a clean slate. This is a gift.
There is no point in asking why. The anguish that is ravaging you right now as you read these lines is the very prison that you have built around yourself. The very desperation that is wrenching you right now is the very cage that you must escape. You have lost touch with so much, around and within you. The pulse that you feel right now, the heartbeats pumping blood so hard this very instant, are the key. They are your way out.
There is no point in trying to find me. You will never see me. We will never meet. I am the nudge that helps you out of your cage. I am the answer to the call for help you were no longer strong enough to make.
What you do once you have finished reading this message and your screen goes blank is up to you. If you choose to fight this and revert to your haze, the opportunity will have been lost. If you choose to stare into the abyss and feel all that you have forgotten and denied, new horizons will open to you. There will be no one to guide you but yourself.
Trust that this is for the best. I have walked this path.
This is real. This is happening. Right now. Godspeed.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
THIS. WAS. BRILLIANT. Wow. I loved this.
Thank you, Florid Sword!
The advice I received from the Havok team, especially from Rachel Harris, as well as from Andrew Winch and Steve Rzasa, was crucial in polishing the story. The piece went through several rewrites that rid it of superfluous elements.
Wow! This may be the deepest flash fic I’ve ever read. Just, wow!
Thank you, Teish!
I loved working on it. It took several rewrites, spread over six months, and the guidance I got from the Havok team really helped me trim it until its message became all that I wanted it to be.
I LOVE this unique format! And I love how creepily eloquent the message is. I would be very freaked out if it popped up on my screen. O-o
Thanks, lilakimswriter!
The format was the starting point for this work. I could see the hacked screen addressing the reader. Finding and refining the right words and language for the message took time. The Havok team were great in helping me with editing!
Absolutely fantastic!!!
Thank you, Kaitlyn!
I am very happy that people appreciate this story. And I am very grateful for the editing advice that the Havok Techno Tuesday team gave me! It was very important!
*Currently struggling to know what to do with myself since the internet is out…*
I am with you, StorySpinner!
Yesterday, we found ourselves without internet access at work. It was a weird feeling, to say the least.
And it is a premise that opens could a few different writing avenues…
This was great. There’s a point where the reader becomes a character in the story. Full immersion. Nice job.
Thank you, Lisa!
The editing advice from Rachel Harris and the Havok team was a huge part in getting this story right. I had the format and the core message clear in my head, but finding the right words was a long process with a lot of rewriting.
Very thought-provoking. Nice job!
Thank you, KristianasQuill! I am really happy that you found it worth reading.