Rays of sunlight cut through the darkness of the room, catching dust in its beam. The particles flickered like fireflies over the cluttered floor. The light illuminated the chaos within, books and loose scraps of paper lay messily all over the floor. The bed was neatly made though its occupant was missing.
In the corner, a woman hunched over her desk, the pale light of her laptop washed over her hollow eyed face. The end credits of a movie rolled silently across the screen. She stared blankly at it, waiting for something and trying to get her thoughts in order.
" That's it?" Megan muttered. " Seriously, that's it?"
Sighing, she reached over for her phone. 6.03 am, it read.
With one hand, she rubbed at her tired eyes and pushed herself upright. After a half hearted stretch, she picked up her phone again. A number waited patiently on the screen. She pressed call.
It rang a few times before a groggy voice answered. " What?"
"Your movie was dogshit," Megan said flatly.
" What?" The voice mumbled again. There was the sound of rustling sheets and a dull thud. Then a few curses before silence came through.
Megan smiled and dragged herself over to her bedside. Kicking a few books aside she threw herself to the cleaner side. " I watched the movie you recommended, Bee," Megan continued. " And it was utter dogshit."
More shuffling came through followed by a long pause. " Meg," Bee said at last, her voice thick with sleep and maybe anger. " You know I love but seriously. What the fuck!?"
Megan squinted in annoyance at the light, then checked the time again. Two hours and some minutes before class began.
" You see I understand that they were going for that 'Cannibal Holocaust' look. Buuut, I think they went about it wrong, you get? And the whole savage tribe thing was disgusting. I want two hours of my life back. "
Megan pulled the phone away from her ear as a muffled scream came from across the shared dorm. Then more shuffling came through before the door across from her opened and a zombie walked into her own room with a pillow and look that promised murder.
The messy haired familiar stranger spoke. " What movie did you stay up for this time? And for the love of Christ, why couldn't you wait until my alarm?"
Megan hung up, smug. She shifted into a more relaxed posture and began. " I watched the Green inferno and —"
" Hold up! I never recommended that movie," Bee interrupted.
" You didn't?"
" Fuck no! I love horror but you know I'm more into the Slasher stuff. It's that bitch Eve who likes this kind of stuff and would recommend it." Bee said.
" But you... " Megan paused, then really thought back to last Thursday.
"...Oh," Megan blinked nervously. " Eh... Sleep deprivation is a serious —"
A pillow ended the rest of her sentence. And her door slamming shut cut off her chances for retaliation.
" Asshole," Megan muttered to herself. She then sprawled back into her pillow and started thinking of what to do now.
The silence lasted for a few minutes. Long enough for boredom and exhaustion to crawl its way back into her mind before her phone rang with a notification. It crackled into existence mid-tone with an unfamiliar jingle that gave her goosebumps.
" The fuck, " she whispered as she reached over to check. She swiped down the notification bar.
[ H.E.L.P has been installed successfully !!!
By Unknown Third party. Click to view more.😉 ]
Megan sprang up and rubbed at her eyes again. Swiping the notification away, she unlocked her phone and zoomed through her apps before settling on the new app.
Her finger held it for a second, then swiped it into the trash. After uninstalling whatever that was she closed her phone and lay down with her eyes closed.
The chime came through again. Louder this time as if mocking her. Once more she checked her notifications and that same message was visible. Including the wink at the end.
This time she chose to ignore it. She would deal with it after an hour of resting. But her phone seemed against it. It rang again. And again. Each time the jingle would last longer. The noise continued until she opened her phone and silenced it.
Then her phone shuddered. It jerked like it was seizing and the buzz spread through her fingers like electric shock. The shock ran up her arm and she dropped the phone like it had burned her.
She sat watching it. The phone lay face down on her pillow and the muffled chime still rang. She stared at it waiting for it to stop on its own or for it to spontaneously combust.
Or for Eve to open her door and say it's a prank. God knows how many times she's fallen for those.
But it didn't combust. It didn't stop. And the hall still sounded quiet.
" Okay... " She muttered. " I'll bite,"
She rolled to her stomach and stretched her arm towards it, stopping just short of touching it. Then pulled her arm back.
This felt awfully familiar to her. Like the first scene of a horror movie where something bad obviously happens to whatever idiot.
" Wait, am I the idiot?" She asked.
No response.
"Fuck," she hissed, then grabbed it in one quick motion. She wasn't as shocked this time. The screen was on. Unlocked.
And the app had opened itself. Black filled the entire screen with red roses covering the edges. A single word floated in this murky darkness, at centre in pale white letters.
H.E.L.P
The app icon was gone. And as her finger landed on the power button, the roses also slithered away. Only the word remained.
She tapped the screen once. Nothing.
Megan tapped it again. The word flickered twice, then shifted.
[ Salutations, Meg!!].
"Funny," she said. "Very funny."
The greeting lingered for a moment before the screen split vertically and a white interface replaced the darkness. This an eye with feather pen appeared at the centre. Then the eye winked before words replaced it.
At the top was:
[ User Registered Successfully!]
And below that:
[ Primary issue detected: Sleep deprived.
Academic stress: High.
Existential dread: High.
Social irritation: Elevated. ]
Megan blinked. Then stared at the screen again. " Existential dread? High?" She muttered. " Fuck you."
The words updated themselves instantly.
[ Hostility Increase confirmed.]
She froze. Her thumb hovered over the screen. A small chat bubble icon pulsed in the lower left corner. She didn't want to press it but did so anyway. The screen shifted, forming a blank message bar. Three dots hovered above it.
...
...
...
The dots stopped.
[ You're late to something important.
The bus hasn't arrived.
Do you:
A) Wait patiently
B) Call someone for help
C) Start walking
D) Accept you'll miss it
Select one. Or
Decline participation
(YES = Participant with fervour/ NO = Participant who wishes to Die. ) ]
Megan paused. Then broke out into delirious laughter. " ...Oh God, you're gonna prank me with a fucking survey." She said in between breaths.
Her thumb hovered.
"Oh, fuck off," she muttered and pressed No. The options vanished completely and the black returned. Then it started again:
[ Calibration complete....]
And then: [ Transfer beginning now...]
" What—" before her words could finish a blinding light tore through her phone and consumed her.