Why is every day the same?
That damn alarm always wakes me up... even on the wonderful weekends when I just want to relax or play games in peace, but I constantly forget to turn it off.
Well… maybe that's not so bad.
After all, it means I get more out of the weekend! If I actually fall asleep properly from Saturday to Sunday, at least I won't sleep through my last free day.
So my day began like every other: with a ringing alarm. Slowly I wake up and realize that as so often. I've fallen asleep in my chair while my series was still playing. The first thing I do is turn on my console, then the monitor. That's how I enjoy my last free day: by just gaming. The whole day.
Homework?
Isn't that meant not to be done? Or am I wrong?
I can always finish it during breaks or, worst case, in the cafeteria in the morning.
Online I play with people from my friends list, help out with missions, quests, raids, I don't even know 90% of them in real life… but honestly, who does these days?
It doesn't matter who you are, as long as you join in.
Time flies.
Suddenly it's evening.
I look at the clock and feel like not even three hours have passed.
Of course, I'm disappointed. Who actually wants the weekend to end?
So I get ready for bed and surf the dark web for a bit. I'm not tired yet, and somehow it helps me unwind. Sometimes I chat there in one-to-one chats, some people there are surprisingly… interesting.
But after a while, I lie down to sleep. The next morning it's the same:
Back to school.
At school I already see my classmates talking, laughing, chatting.
More than a "morning" I like always don't get.
I immediately retreat to my phone, play a bit, scroll through social media, chat in servers. I roleplay there and create my own stories.
NSFW? Kinks? I have no problem with that.
On the contrary: I find it exciting. Different. Deeper than most people think.
What I didn't know though:
The night before I made a mistake.
I was too tired… careless.
>>//My phone got hacked?//<<
I checked my phone but the screen didn't show my wallpaper anymore. Instead, it was just a black void with a single, pulsing red dot right in the center of a map.
The is my house and then it shows my room, then my coordinates were scrolling down the screen in an endless loop. I tried to lock it, but the button was dead and now the front camera lens felt like a cold, glass eye watching me panic someone, or several people, know where I am.
A notification popped up, not from Discord, not from my RPG servers. It was a system alert but the text was wrong.
>>"'You play too many characters, Rei. Why don't you show us the real one?"<<
Below the message, a livestream window opened. It was grainy and dark but I recognized the view instantly. It was a shot of my own back, sitting in my chair, taken through my own laptop's camera. They weren't just in my phone they are everywhere in the room.
The screen on my Phone began to flicker, the pixels bleeding together like wet ink and my roleplay chats started deleting themselves, line by line, as if someone was erasing my existence.
A single line of code appeared:
Locating... Success.
The phone grew burning hot in my hand, a digital fever. I realized then I wasn't the player anymore i had become the quest objective i turned my phone off and I hope it's not too late.
But all day long I have the feeling of being watched.
I feel uneasy, restless as if there's no safe place.
Again and again I see the same car… the same person… always near the school.
Maybe I'm just paranoid.
Maybe.
Class passes me by as if I'm not even there.
I stare out the window, take nothing in. My head is… gone.
After school
I'm just about to leave when I see them again: those figures.
They look strange. I think they're following me.
I practically dove into the café, the bell above the door ringing like a funeral toll.
I ordered food I knew I couldn't swallow a burger, fries, a coffee just to have a reason to stay in the light. But when I looked through the condensation on the window, the silhouettes were still there.
They didn't need to come inside, they knew eventually, I'd have to come out.
I'm scared.
What should I do?
Am I just imagining this? Have I really become that paranoid?
Has my daily routine been broken?
If so…
please, not like this.