,,,May 20th, 2047. Palo Alto, CA.
Jo sits in his office at Matrix Accounting, working as usual. After his coffee break, Jo checks his email inbox, surprisingly sees a new message from Zenify Entertainment, one of the biggest and most vision-advanced game company in the present. Jo is a loyal fan of Zenify's games, as everyone knows in his office, but as a secret of Jo, he is also a professional online hate post writer. He gets paid by whoever wants to write a bad review or post about someone anonymously. Jo is digging it. He is not highly paid in his accounting career, so by wiring hating posts, he can let off his negative feeling that he receives in the real world, and make some extra for himself. However, there is a great mystery that is right there in from of him.
Anxious, Jo [[opens the email |opens email]].
"Mr. Qeatsman,
Hope we are finding you well. You are proudly selected by us to be an internal tester of our new project. This is highly classified so you will only be informed of the project's detail when you arrive to our office and sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement form with us. We attached the [[ticket|choose tickets]] for you to fly to our headquarter in Shenzhen, China. The test will start on May 23rd. We hope to see you here.
Zenify Entertainment"[[begin|Background story]] 2048
game by Tiger Zhao
April 2018"One ticket that leaves tonight and the other one leaves tomorrow morning?" murmured Jo to himself. "I haven't even finish the tasks that my boss assigned me..." Jo looks at the tickets, as well as all the paper works on his table. He struggles.
"I don't even know how long is the testing, neither what they are testing...maybe a new game? I don't even think they are hiring me as their employee, but to be able to participate a Zenify's unreleased project is such a honor though.", said Jo to himself. "Should I [[leave tonight|leaves tonight]] or [[tomorrow|leaves tomorrow]] when I finish my work?"Jo rushed to the airport at 10:10pm for the flight on 11:00pm, Gasping.
He had to run home to pack up so he didn't finish his work. He quickly purposed a week off with his boss but since he didn't finish his work, his boss was quite mad. "I am sorry but I really have to go for this one. I'll apologize when I get back!"
Jo is still out of his breath on the airplane.
“Wait, I have not prepared a gift or something. They have checked my resume right? I think they just really like my gaming skill and the mindset of an accountant haha.”
There is ten more hours to Shenzhen. With a little sleepiness, Jo is struggled between [[taking a nap|take a nap]] or spend more time doing some [[research|research]] of Zenify and their new project’s rumors (wifi is available on that plane).
(set: $leavedate to 20)Jo rushed to the airport at 7:30am for the flight on 9:00am, Gasping. He finished all the work from yesterday, asked for a week off from his boss, and now he is confident and very expected his journey with the project.
“Wait, I have not prepared a gift or something. They have checked my resume right? I think they just really like my gaming skill and the mindset of an accountant haha.”
There is 10 more hours to Shenzhen. With a little sleepiness, Jo is struggled between [[taking a nap|take a nap]] or spend more time doing some [[research|research]] of Zenify and their new project’s rumors (wifi is available on that plane).
(set: $leavedate to 21)(if: $leavedate is 20)
["Ha! It was a really good nap!"
Jo wakes up two hours before the arrival, energized.
“Mr. Qeatsman!” called a man in white in the arrival waiting space, “You must be tired from the long flight. Let me take your luggages please.” Jo was very excited and insist to carry his own bags. “How long is the test?”
“Oh I am afraid I am could not tell you that. I’ll take you to Zenify’s headquarter today and you will love the experience there.”
“Thank you… I’m sorry, your name is?”
“Oh I am afraid I could not tell you that either. Here’s our [[car|arrives zenify]]”]
(if: $leavedate is 21)
["Ha! It was a really good nap!"
Jo wakes up two hours before the arrival, energized.
“Mr. Qeatsman!” called a man in white in the arrival waiting space, “You must be tired from the long flight. Let me take your luggages please.” Jo was very excited and insist to carry his own bags. “How long is the test?”
“Oh I am afraid I am could not tell you that. I’ll take you to Zenify’s headquarter today and you will love the experience there.”
“Thank you… I’m sorry, your name is?”
“Oh I am afraid I could not tell you that either. Here’s our [[car|arrives zenify]]”](if: $leavedate is 20)
["Social media realtionship? Is this what they are approaching next?" Jo wonders. "oh I can't continue reading. I really need a [[nap|take a nap]]."]
(if: $leavedate is 21)
["Social media realtionship? Is this what they are approaching next?" Jo wonders. "They are spending ninety-six-hundred billion dollars for their budget? This is so insane. How much they are going to pay me? hummm."
"Wait, It seems like people from all around the world is interested in that new coming project, even no one knows what that is. How do I get selected out of those people really? I am not the only one that plays good video games in our office...wait, there is one that posted to participate a test for Zenify two years ago and that was his last post? Sounds weird..."
"Nevermind, let's take a [[nap|take a nap]]"
(set: $research to 1)]Jo's car arrives a fortress-looking building, all white. The building itself seems to br reflecting all the light that is shining at it, making it outstanding in the middle of Nanshan mountain.
The car enters the main gate, keeps driving for another thirty minutes, stops at a giant cement door. Jo steps out the car and approached by a bald teenager.
"Ni hao, Mr. Qeatsman. Huan ying lai dao Zenify. Nin yi lu shang xin ku le. Wo men xiu xi yi tian, ming tian jiu kai shi ce shi. Nin jue de zen me yang?"
Jo is in a huge confusion. He looks at this man who carries a big smile, struggled to decide his answer between [["Sorry I don't really understand Mandarin...|answers I don't understand Mandarin]]" and "[[xiexie|answers xiexie]]"..."Bao qian! Mr. Qeatsman, Nin shao deng."
The smiling man calls another person, whose collar marked "No.00299". She says, "I am your translator. He was just greeting you and let you know the test will start tomorrow."
Jo thanks her, and the smiling man, and takes a ride to his hotel.
Excited and anxious, Jo [[falls asleep|test day]] quickly..."Tai hao le, mei xiang dao Mr. Qeatsman shi yi wei ru ci you yu yan tian fu de ren, zhen shi gua mu xiang kan. Wei le fang bian qi jian, wo hai shi gei nin pei yi wei fan yi ba." Said the smiling man.
He calls another person, whose collar marked "No.00299". She says, "I am your translator. If you did not understand, he was just greeting you and let you know the test will start tomorrow."
Jo thanks her, and the smiling man, and takes a ride to his hotel.
Excited and anxious, Jo [[falls asleep|test day]] quickly...May 23th, 2047. Shenzhen, China.
Jo walks in a lab with huge curiosity. In the lab surrounded by white walls, there are three people, dressed in white, standing behind a table, where a piece of paper that seems to be a NDA, and a little yellow pill.
“Hi there, Mr. Qeatsman! How are ya! Welcome to the Zenify lab 127. Your participation is highly valued by Zenify and we would like to thank you with this little deposit.” One of the lab person, who looks like the head of the crew, speaks and hands a [[briefcase|open briefcase]] to Jo. “Thank you Mr. Qeatsman. I know, I know, you need some walkthrough of what this is. Let me get you clear.”, he said cheerfully.
“This is project 2048, a mental-stimulated virtual world that can make player experience the power of being a part of the Internet itself. Our honored father of Zenify, Allen Turning, initiated and designed this very immersive experience and he wants some feedback of this beta from your perspective. You may also try to find any bug if you can. You are selected because of your talent of game playing, so a huge proud of yourself!” He [[keeps speaking|sign2]]."Are you disappointing me, my gentleman? The man shouted. "Think it harder, Sir, you are spending so much effort and time to get here, and you are scared by these money? Zenify needs you, that's why you are here."Jo peeps at his face, finding his mouth looking somehow more blurry than earlier"
"Come on Jo, let's not waste our time. Jo is little nervous, "Am I having low blood sugar now or it's something wrong with my eyes?He wants to ask but resisted. In that present, Jo has two ideas in his mind: [[call off the day|call off the day]] or just [[give it a shot|sign]].“I am feeling weird… can I skip today?” Jo decides to be more careful with it.
“Well, I am sorry to here that,” said that man whose face is barely identifiable by Jo, “the jet leg is hard, huh?”
Jo smiled with a slight awkwardness. He leaves the lab and returns the hotel.
Three days has past. Jo doesn’t not received any update with the test. He is panicked: “ Am I given-up by them? I should actually try this test again.” He gets up the courage, calls his language assistant.
“Hey…sorry I’ve never asked your name…I didn’t go three days ago for the test, and I want to take it now. Can you contact me to resume my test please?”
“Someone will ring your door in ten minutes.”,applied on the other end of the call.
“Thanks!”
The door is knocked nine minutes and fifth-two seconds after the call was hung. Jo [[answers the door|death1]] with excitement and some nervousness. “Bang”
“Bang” “Bang”
Jo is shot right in his heart by someone dressed in white, unidentified.
“Zhe ren mei yong le. Yi jing jie jue.”
That was the last sentence Jo hears in his pretty short but pity life.
[[End|title]].Jo calms down, agrees to what he said.
“Well, Mr. Qeatsman, take this pill and just sit on this chair, we will take care of the rest.”
Without too much hesitation, Jo swallowed the pill, but as soon as he takes the pill, many questions attacked his mind: “Will I lose my consciousness? How is this gonna work? He said mental-sti…”
Jo loses his consciousness, for quite a time that he could not count.
[[“beep”|game scene 1]]“Howver, for all the rules and goals, you have to explore in the game by yourself, isn't it how a professional gamer would do?”
Jo is looking a little stiff. Slowly, he asked: “ That sounds interesting. You are not going to tell me anything?” That man responses, “Well, why don’t we just [[begin|begin]], and see what happen? It will be some guides through the game and you will have fun.”
However, Jo is also talking to himself in his mind: “But it sounds so crazy! I am clueless. Is this a trick? Should I [[back out|call off the day]]?”"beep"
"beep" "beep"
"Who's there?" Jo weakly says, without his eyesight recovered. “Am I still in the lab?”
“No. 89757? You new?” Says a voice from Jo’s front.
“I’m sorry? Are you talking to me?” Jo’s eyesight is still blurry, but coming back.
“Yes, rookie” The voice starts sounding impatient, “ welcome to 2048.”
Jo begins to [[see clear|see clear]] enough. Jo starts inspecting the speaking cube. He notices on the upper right corner of that cube, it writes “ No. 66666”. It is also white, and static, with no sign of human in any kind.
“What the hell are you really…are you human? Why do you look like this?”
That cube sounds like giving a sigh。 It says, “[[look at yourself|check himself]] first, would you?”
(set: $checkspeakingthing to 1)(if: $checkspeakingthing is 0)[Jo starts inspecting himself, finding his eyesight limited to the same horizontal level. He tries to reach out his hand, however, he is not feeling them. This suddenly scares him.
“What the hell is happening to me yo!”
“Calm your tits, rookie.” That cube replies, “everyone is pixel here. We are here to freely explore the internet. Since we are pixels, we have so much freedom to go anywhere we want, so take it as an advantage man.”
Jo notices on the upper right corner of that cube, it writes “ No. 66666”
“[[What should I do?|What should I do]]” asked Jo.]
(if: $checkspeakingthing is 1)[Jo starts inspecting himself, finding his eyesight limited to the same horizontal level. He tries to reach out his hand, however, he is not feeling them. This suddenly scares him.
“What the hell is happening to me yo!”
“Calm your tits, rookie.” That cube replies, “everyone is pixel here. We are here to freely explore the internet. Since we are pixels, we have so much freedom to go anywhere we want, so take it as an advantage man.”
“[[What should I do?|What should I do]]” asked Jo.]”I am not sure if you noticed, I don’t know you, and I don’t know how you looks, because you are a pixel now. I can’t really remember how I looked when I was in the shape of human, and what you hear from me ain’t actually sound, but words types and visualized in your head…in a word, everything here is dehumanized. We are no different than each other, and we don’t know how to really escape from here…I am here since March…oh two months, isn’t it.”
Jo is in a huge shock. “Two months? [[How do you survive|How do you survive]]?”
No. 66666 is stuck in it deep memory.
March 28th, 2047. Internet.
It was the third day for No. 66666 to be on the internet. It was helpless and alone. Through its pixelated light sensor implanted in its pixel body, No. 66666 understood that pixel can upgrade through spreading offensive notes to other character. It was cruel to No. 66666 as a newcomer. One day after, one pixel approached No. 66666, asked:
“You want some new sources?”
No. 66666 was curious, “is that how I upgrade?” “Yeah” answer that pixel, “I am a leaker. Now here is the thing - you tell 100 other pixels about this thing, then you can upgrade.”, that pixel continued.
“[[What is it?”|what is it]] said No. 66666.
(if: $answer66666 is 1)
[“You might be right. But be aware of the people who might know you in the real world. They might be here too. I think we are selected for some reasons. I just walked by and see you here. I don’t know you. But it was a nice conversation. Good luck.”
No.66666 moves away from Jo. Jo contemplates: “But wait, this actually seems like a perfect world for me. I write mean posts. That’s my secret profession haha. But since this is a game test, I think I can pass is really quick. The money is await!”
Jo [[moves forward|moves forward]].]
(if: $answer66666 is 0)
[“I don’t think there is one.” That cube says, “this is how this game works. You gain by hurting others. I don’t know if that news was real though, but that really bothers me. Won't you be bothered too? You seem like the man who is kinda cold-blooded. I mean, people really commit suicide！I might just stay low for now... but it was a nice conversation. Good luck.”
No.66666 moves away from Jo. Jo contemplates: “But wait, this actually seems like a perfect world for me. I write mean posts. That’s my secret profession haha. But since this is a game test, I think I can pass is really quick. The money is await!”
Jo [[moves forward|moves forward]].]"It was reported by sonething ele badly perhaps." calmly said the 16-division cube. "what the hell are you doing in this abandoned place. You rookie?"
[["I am really lost. I know nothing but I want to move on. Can you teach me how to upgrade?"|teach me to upgrade]]
[["oh right sorry" and quietly leave the place|quietly leave the place]]"You bailed? The internet doesn't need coward like this. Guan li yuan, chu jue No. 89757."
Jo feels a huge pain. "What the hell are you saying? Are you from Zenify? You ain't a player? Why did y..." Jo is feeling the pain getting worse. He is feeling the whole body is in the process of explosion.
"Rookie, I'll give you another chance. Here is a quest for you. You choose to [[seize the chance|seize the chance]] or [[nah|nah]]."
(set: $know31505 to 1)No. 31505, the 16-division pixel, calls to Jo:
“Hey No. 89757, here is the thing. I am a leaker. Here is something that can help you. You take this chance and get it spread out, and then the good is all yours. It’s all simple.” Jo suddenly recalls what No.66666 had told him, the story about Julia.
[[“Sure, let me do it.” | Sure, let me do it. ]]
[[“Wait, I don’t want to hurt more people. Excuse me.” |This is crazy. I have to run]]No. 31505, the 16-division pixel, calls to Jo: “Hey No. 89757, come back, I need to tell you something.” With fear, Jo slowly approaches it.
“I am a leaker. Here is something that can help you. Do you want to take this chance or not.” Jo suddenly recalls what No.66666 had told him, the story about Julia.
[[“Sure, let me do it.” | Sure, let me do it. ]]
[[“Wait, I don’t want to hurt more people. Excuse me.” |This is crazy. I have to run]]“This one is an official? Are all leakers officials? What is going on with this place…” wondering, Jo fights back to the pain in his head, answer: “Alright, tell me what to do.”
No. 31505, the sixteen-division pixel, tells Jo quietly: “ Listen carefully, Inside this letter is the thing I want you to spread out. Get it out to at least five hundreds people and I will promise you an upgrade to thirty-two pixels. Wouldn’t you appreciate it, you one-pixel.”
Jo could not reach out his hand, but instead, he feels an incoming pulse from the front, where there is a virtual letter floating above his eyesight. As Jo is shocked with that letter, No. 31505 says to him: “I need to go, but don’t forget this quest please.” Jo does not look at him, but he thanks him, and [[opens the letter|opens the letter]].The pain is totally taking over Jo, making him want to give up the game.
“What are you…say…ing?” Jo said painfully.
“Chu jue ta.”
[[End|title]].Jo opens the briefcase, finding it difficult to move his eyesight away from these countless cash. “These ten thousands dollars is just the appetizer. Take it easy there. When you pass the test, you will receive the rest ninety thousands.”, calmly said that person.
“Now, would you take a minute to sign these papers, wouldn’t you?
Jo holds that signing pen, shaking. “This is for real though? Damn Zenify!” His hand that holds the pen is dripping sweat of excitement, held in midair. “But it seems like a huge commitment, isn’t it? Should I really take this shot?”
Jo is going to [[sign|sign]] or [[not sign|not sign]] the documents? It’s a mainly-white-colored world that is chatty and loud, with fuzzy sound happening all around. There are many things moving around. Monitors that displays news and tweets are placed above in the sky. Jo tracks the voice, finding out there is a square that is divided in to four equal sections, placed right in front of him.
Jo is very confused. He doesn’t know how to start the conversation. “I don’t know what the hell is that [[speaking thing|speaking thing]] or what the hell is happening to me. I am [[feeling so cubic|check himself]] somehow… where should I start figuring out?”
(set: $checkspeakingthing to 0)No. 66666 heard the stuff from that leaker about Julia. It was very personal and might bring her bad fame if it went public, which was that the leaker wanted to happen. No. 66666 agreed the leaker, and spreaded it to over a hundred pixels.
A week after, No. 66666 saw on the news that a girl named Julia committed suicide in the real life.
No. 66666 seems very low when narrating this story.
[[[“I am sorry to hear that… but isn’t that how you upgraded? Isn’t that how we escape here? She might isn’t be true.”|answer66666]]
(set: $answer66666 to 1)]
[[[“I am sorry to hear that… I don’t think we should do that. That feels sad. Is there other way we can upgrade?”|answer66666]]
(set: $answer66666 to 0)]“Well, since we are digitalized I don’t think we need to eat or sleep because we can’t feel them. The reason why I am four pixels was I did some crazy thing…”
(if: $research is 1)
[Jo suddenly recalls the research he looked up on the airplane. “This is real! I have to escape here! DAMN Zenify! What do you want from us!” Jo screams inside of his head.]
“But wait, what [[crazy thing|crazy thing]]?”Jo moves forward. This is a place where many white houses and white walls. Above one of the streets there is a sign written “Neuralstorm Hill”. He moves into an empty house, quietly. Suddenly, a sound of “bang” occurred behind him. He turns back quickly, finding a 16-division cube standing next to a fading 2-division cube. Couple of seconds later, that cube is gone. Shocked, Jo shouted: “What happened? Did you kill him?”
“I didn’t kill it, No. 89757.” answered that pixel, “something must being reported and damaged this one.
[[“How was he gets killed?”|How was he gets killed]]
[[“This is crazy. I have to run”|This is crazy. I have to run]]No. 31505 tells Jo quietly: “ Listen carefully, Inside this letter is the thing I want you to spread out. Get it out to at least five hundreds people and I will promise you an upgrade to thirty-two pixels. Wouldn’t you appreciate it, you one-pixel.”
Jo could not reach out his hand, but instead, he feels an incoming pulse from the front, where there is a virtual letter floating above his eyesight. As Jo is shocked with that letter, No. 31505 says to him: “I need to go, but don’t forget this quest please.” Jo does not look at him, but he thanks him, and [[opens the letter|opens the letter]].“Emily Doe, seventeen, is a high schooler who is alcoholic and drug-addicted, yet her parents are not aware of it. She presents her parents pretty decent grades so they don't really know the other side of her because they are not bothered. However, Emily’s uncle is from the Drug Enforcement Administration and hates all misuse of drug. Emily is scared of telling the truth to their family so she has hid it well. Now if you can do the right thing, telling this fact to the internet and making sure her family is aware, you can save her.
PS: don’t show yourself.“
Jo notices words on the back of this letter. He flips the letter. “To spread the info, just go find a keyboard anywhere to make a post to any social media. When repost, comment and like sum up to five hundreds, you will be rewarded.”
Jo shakes. He starts to move around, with his brain blackout, to [[find a keyboard|find a keyboard]] around here. May 24th, 2047. Internet.
Jo is spending some time exploring this place called Neuralstorm Hill. There are keyboards every ten feet on the street. “Seems like people post a lot here. huh.” Jo is not feeling tiredness or hunger, which makes him feel uncomfortable and unreal. There are unidentified white objects silently moving around on the street. It makes this place crowdedly quiet.
Jo stops in front of a keyboard. There are monitors crazily refreshing feeds from social media and news on every keyboard. Opening a social media, Jo finds him logged in automatically under an anonymous account. He quickly finds Emily’s account, types and sends an obscure comment regarding drugs and alcohol the under an Emily’s selfie post, tagging a bunch of people, including his uncle, who is easily found in Emily’s family picture tags.
After this, Jo moves to another keyboard, and does the same thing with another anonymous account. Everything is done fast and smooth, like he was born with the skill.
Satisfied, Jo decides to leave Neuralstorm Hill and [[explore more places|explore more places]].Jo starts appreciate Zenify’s work of making this place. He enjoys how fast he can read through many feeds and stream anything with not lag. He can even cheat gaming with real life gamers because he has access to all data in that game. He feels happiness that he has never experienced.
Three days later, Jo experiences a suddenly blackout when he is gaming. When he regain consciousness, he loses the game, but also he notices that he is now a thirty-two-division pixel. A rush of blood is running into Jo’s head, at least the head that he think of. Jo feels the power that he has in this world. He feels like a ruler of this world already. “Thank you Zenify. Whatever I was thinking bad about you, I was wrong. Thank you for making this world for me.” Jo rapturous laughs in his mind.
Without any hesitation, Jo decides to actively find more leakers|find more leakers so he can write more hate posts.
On his way to the center of Neuralstorm Hill, Jo is stoped by a cube marked “No. 94107”, who seems lost. “Help me…would you.” ,asked No. 94107. Jo hesitates, because he is kinda in a rush. He is unsure if he would [[help this one|help 94107]] or [[not|find more leakers]].Walking back to Neuralstorm Hill, Jo is looking around all passengers. He is afraid of starting a conversation with a stranger, even the only identity he carries wit his is “No. 89757”. As he keeps walking around the hill, he is stoped by a pixel marked “No. 71417.”
“Are you looking for something?” said No. 71417.
“Yea. Well I am looking for something new to do. I am kinda looking for a leaker.” answered Jo.
“You don’t need to wait for a leaker to post, bruh, check out the internet! There is so many thing you can explore and to make opportunity out of. Being a leaker can benefit itself, that’s why people are leakers.”
(if: $know31505 is 1)
[Jo realized that this one that he is talking to might know the other side of leaker, as he is being threatened by a leaker who claimed itself an official and almost killed him. He is confused but also excited about what might happen.]
“So, do you have something that we can share?” asked Jo.
“Yeah. [[Listen carefully|Listen carefully]]. This is a big one.” ,answered No. 89757.“This one came out this morning. Fresh new! So here is the thing, four days ago, I think it was in the US, the airport was SFO, there was a staff who accidentally leak the list of all passenger’s personal info online. Everyone’s name, email, address, everything was available online. I am not sure how valuable are these information but I think it might worth a lot. I stole the list and if we can do it fast, we can sell it to whatever company that want to buy this. We can make a big money out of it bruh. You in?”
“Wait, San Francisco to Shenzhen, four days ago? Did that flight leave at night?” Jo suddenly gets goose-bumpers.
“Yeah. Does it matter?” answered No.71417.
(if: $leavedate is 20)
[“Holy fuck! That was my flight! Am I in trouble now? What should I do though? Kill him? But these things are on the internet! What…” shocked, Jo talks to himself with mess in his mind. “I probably should [[get that list first|get that list first]], and try to wipe myself out of it. This should be the safest move.” ,murmured Jo to himself.]
(if: $leavedate is 21)
[“It was close! I almost took that flight!” Jo feels like he would be sweating if he was a real person. He calms down, answered No.71417, “[[Deal! let’s do it|Deal! let’s do it]].” ]”Right. How might we do it?” asked Jo.
“Let’s find a keyboard and start sending stuff of these people. I can do last name A-M and you do the rest. Sounds good?” answered No.71417.
“Alright.” answered Jo.
Jo gets a list from No.71417, starting looking for his name, and he finds it right there - Jo Qeatsman. This finding actually calms him, because he trust his coding skill. “I don’t just play games, Zenify, I know some hacking too. This can’t stop me. I know how to get to the database and wipe myself out of the list, you stupid asses.” Jo smiles, and works on hacking the system. An hour passes, Jo feels like he is almost there.
“How far are you, No. 89757?” asked No.71417 from ten feet away.
“I am still working…first time haha.” awkwardly answered Jo.
“No worries, let’s [[keep going|keep going 1]].” said No.71417.
”Right. How might we do it?” asked Jo.
“Let’s find a keyboard and start sending stuff of these people. I can do last name A-M and you do the rest. Sounds good?” answered No.71417.
“Alright.” answered Jo.
Jo gets a list from No.71417, starting looking for his name, and as he hoped, his name is not on the list. He feels safe from this event. He greedily inputing the list online, hope he can finish them as soon as he can, and gain the joy as soon as possible.
“How far are you, No. 89757?” asked No.71417 from ten feet away.
“I am still working on it. Feels great!.” happily answered Jo.
“No worries, let’s [[keep going|keep going 2]].” said No.71417.
Jo manages to take off his name from the internet. Like a stone dropped from heart, he feels a long relief. No.71417 from the other side yells again: “I am almost done. How’s yours.” Jo answers in a hurry: “I am half way! sorry!” and resumes his work in a much more clam manner.
Suddenly, a total blackout attacks Jo. Unlike the previous one that raises him, this one makes him very sick and dizzy. All of a sudden, Jo is confused and frightened.
“Why…what happened to you. Is this a curse on us?” Jo regains his consciousness, finding No.71417 [[watching him|watching him 1]] in a deep wonder.Jo types these name of the victims on to the internet swiftly. “The taste of victory is await in front of …”
Suddenly, a total blackout attacks Jo. Unlike the previous one that raises him, this one makes him very sick and dizzy. All of a sudden, Jo is confused and frightened.
“Why…what happened to you. Is this a curse on us?” Jo regains his consciousness, finding No.71417 [[watching him|watching him 2]] in a deep wonder.Jo checks himself, finding that he returns to a four-division cube again. It feels total 80’s to Jo. It isn’t an end for Jo. He slowly to feel very messy in his mind, or an imaginary mind, and he feels like he is going to puke, except he can’t really. This uncomfortableness keeps attracting him, making him emotionally unstable. Yet, all this expression is hidden under the unchanged white cube, with only “No.89757” written on it.
“This is very very strange.” said Jo to himself, “I wiped it out! Why god!” Meanwhile, No.71417 from ten feet away, turns back to the keyboard, says: “Let’s keep working. You will be okey. If we manage to kill like couple dozens more people you can get it back.”
“Wait,” answered Jo with curiosity, “I need to know what happened to me. I need to [[figure that out first|figure out the reason]]. I’ll be right back to work.” Jo checks himself, finding that he returns to a four-division cube again. It feels total 80’s to Jo. It isn’t an end for Jo. He slowly to feel very messy in his mind, or an imaginary mind, and he feels like he is going to puke, except he can’t really. This uncomfortableness keeps attracting him, making him emotionally unstable. Yet, all this expression is hidden under the unchanged white cube, with only “No.89757” written on it.
“This is very very strange.” said Jo to himself, “I miss this troubled flight! Why god!” Meanwhile, No.71417 from ten feet away, turns back to the keyboard, says: “Let’s keep working. You will be okey. If we manage to kill like couple dozens more people you can get it back.”
“Wait,” answered Jo with curiosity, “I need to know what happened to me. I need to [[figure that out first|figure out the reason]]. I’ll be right back to work.” Jo logs into a social media that he uses often, trying to figure out if there is anything happens around his coworkers and friends. He browses fast and anxious, until he find a suspicious post written by his boss’s personal assistant, who, at this point, is known by Jo to be a mistress of Jo’s boss, thanks to the power of internet’s freedom in this world. In this writing posted under a group of Matrix Accounting workers where Jo is excluded, it writes:
“This JoJo man is so unsophisticated. He isn’t new right? How can he not understand the importance of knocking before entering? Does anyone has some private pictures of this dude? I want to leave some small punishment to him. Haha.”
This reminds Jo to check back to his home page of the social media, where is filled up with all the questioning and astonished comments under a picture of him and his ex making out naked. Shocked, Jo is speechless standing in front of this picture displayed in the monitor, where the walking-by are also looking at.
“Hey, this chick is hot yo. Can we speed it up man? We have no time to waste.” No.71417 urges.
Ashamed, Jo [[runs away|runs away]] fast.“This isn’t making sense.” Jo sobs while running away from his “teammate”. “Since when I become a victim too? I am the strong one, the world can’t treat me like that!” He runs to the edge of the hill, reaching the boundary of the world. Jo realizes that he can’t end his life in here by suicide, either to do nothing and just stave to die, and there is nothing to do to stop the spreading of this humiliating image of him. Jo feels like this is his all time low.
“Maybe I shouldn’t do this in the first place, but this is just an accident right? I can keep scoring more to get back, and pass the game, go back to the work and punish that bitch.” Jo’s rage is bumping up as his is thinking. “I shall go back to continue my effort.” Jo decides to go [[back to No.71417|back to No.71417]]…Another stroke attacks Jo on his way to No.71417. When he regains his mind, he finds out he is a tiny single pixel cube now.
“Ah…” Jo is starting losing his words, “ does it mean I am dying? What else happened to me.” Jo starts to run insanely fast, to the closest monitor possible, tying to find out any clue that leads to this change.
“Unfortunate news reported in the Bay Area, because of a mistaken operation of an airport employee, personal information of passengers of flights departing SFO to Shenzhen in the past week are all leaked. These information might be undergone misuse by possible unlawful personals and organizations. Please be more aware of your information in the future. Bay Area News reporting.”
(if: $leavedate is 20) [”It is too late eventually.” Jo murmured sadly to himself.] I” don’t want to hurt more people. It’s a karma in the end.” Jo gives up finding No.71417, instead, he stops and [[think of any solution|stay alive]] to stay alive.“If I remember correctly, the lab guy say there might be bugs in the game? I think I can find it and try win the game without hurting more people!” Jo firms his thought and begins his journey to find “the bug”.
Three peaceful week has passed, Jo arrives to a place name Windmill Gala. This is a place where shows and exhibitions are running twenty-four/seven. Somehow, Jo sniffs a sense of suspiciousness under the stages. He begins to dig quietly without being seen. Thanks to his endless effort, Jo seems to find something that looks like a bug to his instinct. As Jo keeps digging, a weak sound gradually getting louder. Suddenly, it connects to Jo’s mind.
[[“Do you want to play a game, Jo.”|Do you want to play a game]]No one in this world ever refer another one with their name, neither even gender pronoun. Jo does not notice the fact that sophisticated players always use “it” to describe another pixel, instead of he or she. Now, this sound is calling Jo Jo.
“Excuse me…” hesitated Jo, “Are you the system?”
“That’s right, Jo. This is your shortcut to the throne, if you seize it.” answer that clear voice in his mind.
Jo is shocked but feels very woke. He knows he finds the bug, and he should really make sure of this chance. Jo gently asks: “Mr…Bug? Hi, I want to chat with you. Can you reward me?”
“Sure, Jo, but be aware of it that there will be a test for you. If you fail to pass the test, your dangerous attempt of hacking the system will be immediately reported to the officials and you, well, a single-pixel cube, will probably fail to survive. Would you take this challenge?” The voice responds.
[[“Sure, I am taking the challenge.”|take the challenge]]
[[“I have to think about it."|“I have to think about it.”]]“Sure, Jo. Listen this carefully. You have met many pixels in your short digital life, however, some of our officials are also part of them. This test is simple: recognize an official from this list. You will have three attempts. If you fail to take the correct answer after all attempts, you will lose the chance to challenge me, this challenge will be invalid permanently. Wish you luck."
(set: $challengetimes to 3)
Here is the list and you have $challengetimes attempts left:
[[No. 66666|attempt again]]
[[No. 71417|attempt again]]
[[No. 31505|win]]
[[No. 89737|attempt again]]
[[No. 94107|attempt again]]“No problem, Jo. Think twice before taking an action is wise.” Jo reliefs when hearing this but the voice continues, “I’ll give you sixty seconds to run from here, or you are caught.” Jo is aghast, mindlessly runs away from the deep hole that he has been digging.
As safe from the danger, Jo decides to explore more bugs as he can. He spends weeks and weeks searching, yet the progress is little. He returns to the hole that he dig. The hole is filled up by the officials, apparently, but Jo has the faith that he can try that again. He quietly digs again to that hole, and the voice appears again.
“Do you want to play a game, Jo.” says the voice.
“Hi, Mr. Bug. I believe conquering you is my only option left. May I take the challenge from you?” Jo insists.
[[“Sure, Jo. Listen this carefully.”|take the challenge]](if: $challengetimes is 1)
[“Seems like you did not solve this bug, Jo. My highest regret is sent to you.” said the voice quietly, and turns silent afterwards. Jo sobs, decides that he has to move on.
Jo keeps to explore the potential bug, finding none for the next couple of years. Jo realizes that he is trap in his mind loop and lost forever in this madness of internet and struggle of self redemption. Jo never wakes up and returns back to his old life.
[[End|title]]. ]
(if: $challengetimes is 2 or 3)[
“Try again, Jo.”
(set: $challengetimes to $challengetimes - 1)
Here is the list and you have $challengetimes attempts left:
[[No. 66666|attempt again]]
[[No. 71417|attempt again]]
[[No. 31505|win]]
[[No. 89737|attempt again]]
[[No. 94107|attempt again]]
]“Wise choice, Jo! This is the one! You are proved to be a well-observing one. I will reward you with the most supreme power of 2048, which is making you a two-thousands-and-forty-eight-division pixel”, proudly said that voice in Jo’s mind. “The power is now yours. Take the crown.” Jo is blurring his eyesight, but this time, he feels warmth and comfort around his body. He feels like he is regaining his arms and legs, as well as the torso and his face. He starts remembering his face, and more detail of how he looks like as a human.
“So, highest the number of pixel makes higher the resolution of me seeing myself?” Jo asks himself, and he starts inspecting him self with more care: this is a face full of fatigue, but confidence. This is the face behind many hate and offensive posts that hurt many people and families, who are strangers to Jo. Yet they are victim, directly or indirectly of Jo’s immature and unmoral actions. Jo suddenly realizes that this self-recognization if the biggest prize of him through this game.
“Thank you, Mr. Bug.” Jo greets the voice in his head, finding no responses. Jo grins, but suddenly he feels [[a moment of disharmony|a moment of disharmony]].Double-click this passage to edit it.“Help me…” cried No. 94107, “I am so lost, and I am feeling so ill.” Jo looks at this two-division. Jo asks: “Is there anything I can do…” but as Jo saying, this cube screams hard, and turning red. “Ivan, I will never forget you…I …” Slowly, this pixel fades away, with its body disassembled, gently flies up in the sky, blended in the air.
Jo feels a sense of helplessness, but he realizes, that there is nothing for him to do, either he wants to, because he feels like there is no reason for him to help a stranger really.
Jo [[keeps walking|find more leakers]]