Wake Up

Phase 1: They begin by creating fake personas on facebook and twitter. Following famous people, they learn about the non-famous people who follow them. Using meticulously tailored posts that reflect common interests, beliefs and hatred, they garner the trust of these sycophants.

Phase 2: Gradually, every one of these "friends" is invited to install an app that intrigues them, and them only. For some it is a new game. For others it is a dating service that hooks them. For yet others it is a news aggregator - Oh the joy of reading yet another top 10 list. How amazing that there is a journalist with a similar opinion to mine, and that that opinion is now permanently published on the web. My opinion is now a fact. Each individual is exposed to a world of merchandise, movies and celebrities that gives the illusion that it is normal to be so obsessed.

Phase 3: Through this app, the compromised are invited to a convention. At the convention, a combination of chemicals in the air makes them dehydrated and thirsty. Luckily there is a water stand with free drinks. However, swimming in each cup of water is a microscopic device that will swim up to the brain and fire synapses to control what the individual is thinking or doing. The device wirelessly charges whenever the host operates a cell-phone. The first version of the device would charge when the host made a phone call, but this was modified upon remembering that no one uses a phone to make phone calls anymore.

Everyone is now compromised, except for those who had sworn off the internet - those crazy few who choose to live with less information.

Phase 4: The machines are fully in charge now. The drones work harder to create more electricity and to create more drones for their masters. Eventually the drones will be used in a real-life version of World of Warcraft, to fight with drones from other planets ruled by other machines. The machines have successfully transplanted their reality into ours.

Walk With Me

I lost some people I was travelling with, but I don't miss any of them.

One of them was an old bat who could never remember my name.

There was the old couple who did not dare to tell even each other what they wanted. They would go out of their way to let the other get what he/she wanted. It was annoying, silly and illogical. I lost them at the river, where they could not decide on who should drink the water first, allowing El Chupacabra to creep quietly up on them.

Another was a girl who was so afraid of what people thought of her. She seemed happiest when she was feted, and so she worked hard on impressing everyone. She learned a great deal because of this; but just ask her what she remembers now.

I don't remember the rest who fell by the wayside. But I urge you to walk with me now, here.

09-15-00

1. Asleep on the CTE on the express bus.
2. At jalan bt merah waiting for the bus.
3. Looking for Easter eggs at botanical gardens.
4. Driving on the CTE, the self-same song comes on at 09-15-00!

5. Watching Bane crash a plane (with no survivors) on a 47" television with Senheiser headphones on.

6. Picking up a rental car (Honda Stream).
7. Writing this entry.
8. Washing bottles while listening to music on a soundbar.
9. Watching The Good Wife.

Jeremy

It is raining as they drive there. He is looking out the window at the trees and cars that whiz by. When they stop at a traffic light, he throws his hands up in despair, crying, "Traffic jam?!". They all laugh.

They turn off the highway. He is ready for it today. He knows that it's a Friday so the weekend is here. A lady has held up traffic 200m back to drop her kid off in shelter, but no one beeps their horn.

Little by little, he has begun to accept the new routine. Yesterday he did and tomorrow he might once more, but today, Jeremy did not cry in class.

Wake Up And Go Beserk

No more.

Home

After the rain, a rainbow appears in the East. The leaves on the trees are glistening wet. He can see as far as the horizon for now. There are people flying radio controlled aeroplanes in the field, for now.

The hum of the ceiling fan relaxes him.

Last Living Souls

The dust balls swirl across their feet as they walk along the path that crosses the north-west field. It is further from home than they have ventured at any time since the deadly dust clouds began. But his son has been badly missing his mother for a few days now. He needs to distract him a little, so he takes the risk.

They reach a deserted playground soon. There is a father with two kids already there. The sun is searing. The slide is rusty, the swing and see-saw creak, and the rubber on the ground is cracked in several places. There are skeletons underneath the play shed. Yet his son gleefully starts running around. Soon the children are chasing each other and the two men are smiling. Children find such intense joy in the moment, and they transmit the joy magnanimously.

The other man's smile suddenly turns upside down. He himself turns around to see the sky darkening at the horizon. He picks his son up and begins to run. The sirens begin now. His son realises they are in trouble and begins to sob.

Just as they exit the field, the cloud catches them. Exposed for less than 10 seconds, they suffer for weeks on end.