Story about Somebody Who Visits Friends House for Using Computer - Essay Example

NetherScape Oscar rummages through his Facebook account, plighting on the vengeance of other users who use to be old time friends that rooted him out of their social circles. He pounds the keys with ruthless resentment as they grace their page with updated messages of new flings. If he feels desperate enough, he will segue back to the ghetto house of websites, MySpace. Oscar can waste five or six hours away on the Web with ease. He checks his email several times in one sitting, starting with his emails first, then scrolling down to MySpace on his favorites list, exiting out of that and than clicking on Match.com from his bookmark page and exiting right back to his emails. He repeats this ritual five times. Although he is not a drinker, an insidious hangover would torture him the next morning reminding him of his wasted time after long nights of Internet bingeing. Like most addictions, the rationale for such behavior did not make any sense. Online high school behavior is just as bad as or even worse than high school itself. Online or not, gossip has no face time. ‘If only I could actually live in my own little Internet world.’ He thought. His Nine Inch Nails ringtone startles him out of his Web induced trance. It’s his next door neighbour Joe. “Hey FaceSpace. What’s up? I need to use your computer.” Said Joe. “You were just over here yesterday. I don’t have that expansion pack yet for World of Warcraft.” Said Oscar. “No. I’m not worried about that. But I have a cool site to show you?” “Uh oh. What is it this time? I hope it doesn’t involve little midgets or farm animals.” “Nothing like that. What do you say?” “Alright.” Said Oscar. “It’ll be in a few minutes. Gotta eat and shower.” Oscar’s frail body and gothic black hair drapes over the keyboard as he bears down on the spacebar, simulating sword fights on the wizardry terrain. Joe is a game junkie, as well as a practical jokester and an odd socialite. He toggles between the nerdy computer guy and popular guy rather smoothly, a characteristic that Oscar resents. Joe barges in with his IPod plugged into his ears and loud as it could be. He is wearing black jeans, a punk-studded belt tilted to the side, and a cap that says KORN. Joe has that hyperactive, ADHD intensity of waiting to entertain. “Hey. You look like crap. You’ve been up all night haven’t you?” “So what do you got?” Said Oscar. Joe looks as if he is swallowing laughter, yet looks oddly sincere. “I hope you’re not going to spam my computer like you did last time.” “I know, but it was an accident. ITunes sucks anyways.” “I know it was an accident, but you … never mind.” “Alright look, I swear this is worth it. It’s unlike anything on the Web that is out there. It’s not some lame maze game where the Exorcist girl comes screeching at your screen. It’s no pop up windows full of false-hope million dollar jobs or anything like that.” Joe wears the posterity of a salesman, only he doesn’t have the matching outfit to compliment it. “It’s not another Rick-Rolled1 …” “Overrated! No way.” Said Joe. “Dude. If anything happens you’re paying for it.” “Deal.” “What are you showing me?” Said Oscar. “Let’s just say we’re going into cyberspace. It’s right down your alley Joe.” Oscar slowly inches away from his chair, feeling weary like a conquered King who is forced to pass off the throne, then reclines back into the chair again. “Why do you have to do it? Why not just tell me what the site URL is?” “It’s more complicated than that Joe! Trust me!” Oscar surrenders. Joe types on the keyboard while his tongue barely hangs out the side of his mouth. He is really into what he is doing. His fingers move frantically for a few seconds. “I have no idea what you’re doing. You’re such a maniac! I know you are like this semi-pro hacker…” Said Oscar. “Shh. Look. I’ve recently discovered NetherSpace.” Joe continues to type. “NetherSpace? From the World of Warcraft?” “No. It’s what made the World Wide Web possible. Don’t want to go into any details. But it is literally a web of connections.” “So you’re giving me a history lesson?” “No. It has been the most popular subject of urban internet legends. Let me put it to you this way. Technology is not as technical as people think.” “What? “Ok. Example, I just have a talent that I can’t explain. You know when you know something and you can’t explain it?” “Yeah.” “NetherSpace, which supports the WWW, works on the same principle. Everything operates because of Ether.” Just as Oscar was about to utter his first response to Joe’s obvious bogus Science Fiction field trip, the monitor shines a bright white that permeates the screen like a soft mist. Then the screen slowly zooms into black. “Looks like you need to supply me a new PC.” Said Oscar “Look. I was actually doing you a favor.” Said Joe “A favor? By breaking my computer down?” “Hey, this wasn’t supposed to happen.” “Well, what was supposed to happen?” “I just figured that you like the internet so much…? “So this is the way you intervene…?” “Last time I tried it…?” Oscar and Joe start cross talking so much that they missed each others points. The computer suddenly clicks back on, resuming that all too familiar Windows tune. Odd messages intermittently appear on the screen in rapid succession like a wave of electric currents, ‘click, click.’ Oscar looks at the computer and turns his head back to Joe. Joe shrugs his shoulders. Across the screen read ‘Unknown Zone.’ Feeling spooked, Oscar felt an odd inclination to get out of there. Joe nonchalantly follows behind him. The parents weren’t home, so he couldn’t get their help. Oscar opens the door, but it is walled in with bricks. “Server Error” is chalked on the brick wall. However, they are able to escape through a window. The neighbourhood is not the same. The apartment building looks fragile like cardboard. The street tight ropes into a singularity that Joe or Oscar can’t quite make out. Joe and Oscar walk further down and notice the sides of everything have diminished. It’s a two-dimensional world. Joe and Oscar attempt to communicate to each other, but their voices become useless. Few seconds later, text-messaged versions of their halted speech appear with a ‘ping’ sound. “WTF!” texted Oscar. “OMG. LOL. OMG. LOL!” texted Joe. Ironically, Joe was a little more surprised than Oscar, and a little dysfunctional in articulation. “You didn’t expect this?” texted Oscar. “I did. But the graphics F’ed Up.” texted Joe. Oscar, in disbelief, continues to walk onward with Joe. Joe gleams Oscar with a look as if prying him to reply what he thinks. Despite the horizon possessing no other blemishes in color except a consistent white on white, Netflix advertisements jut out from nowhere with increased regularity. “Spam.” Texted Joe. Oscar sees a small black dot in the distance, but objects are closer than they appear in NetherScape. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. He gets closer and closer, but the black dot is no longer there. Instead, a Firewall obstructs his way. He looks to his left, and he doesn’t know if it’s an entrance or an exit. Ironically, it was a window. Soon Oscar will be free to open all the windows he likes. Read More