ALLY
I wouldn't be the first person to accidentally download a computervirus, but the one I opened loaded into my brain.
In my defense it was a hot day, I'd been studying for hours and it felt like my brain had melted. I'd taken a break from my books and I kept postponing my studies. If I passed these exams, only one year stood between me and my masters degree. I was gonna be a doctor and a total boss.
Then again, maybe a total boss wouldn't fall for shady click-bate titles like: "This summers Mind Hack: College students all over the world are amazed!"
That was the e-mail I received just when I'd convinced myself to go studying again. I should have put my phone on silent, but now I heard the "ping" sound and couldn't resist. I was a bit surprised the e-mail from "c0II3g3@mindhack.net" didn't end up in my spam and I was about to delete it, but the boring books waiting for me changed my mind.
"Who knows," I thought, "maybe I do find a good study tip, or something of the sorts."
I clicked on the e-mail and it opened like an explosion on my screen. I sat shocked and paralyzed, staring at what I thought was a virus frying my computer. Hundreds of images flashed before me, never long enough to register what I was seeing, not consciously at least. The flashing images were paired with a high pitched buzzing noise. I don't know how long I stared at my screen. The initial panic of the virus was gone in an instant and all I did was stare, like I was drawn into the computer. The flashing stopped and my screen turned black with a replay button in the center. "Just a stupid video," I said, the sound still ringing in my ears. I blinked a few times and turned to my books. I had wasted enough time.
The next hour I tried to focus on a chapter about the signs of kidney-failure, but the letters in my textbook seemed to jump around. The white pages reminded me of the flashes in that dumb video and my concentration faded. "Maybe I should watch the video one more time?" I shook my head, "Why in the world would I want to do that?!"
I kept my eyes fixed on my pathology book and as the minutes ticked by, I realized I hadn't been able to read a single word. I sighted, "I need another break."
I walked to the fridge for another ice cold drink, while sipping I walked around aimlessly through the apartment. I looked out the window for a second, walked past my roommates fishtank and before I knew it I had sat down in front of my pc with my finger on the mouse, about to press play. I frowned, "What even is the purpose of this dumb video?" That question was enough to convince me I needed to watch it one more time and so I clicked.
A storm of lights and images came over me and I gaped at my screen once again. The continuous high buzzing somehow calmed me down and before the video ended I knew I was going to press "replay" one more time.
"ALLY!"
The video had just ended and my roommate was yelling at me.
"Sarah what on earth are you yelling for?" I asked her.
"I called your name like seven times, you didn't respond."
"Oh." I shook my head, "I'm sorry I didn't hear you."
"I bet," Sarah said, "you were totally out of it. You've been studying way too hard, it's past 2:00."
I glanced out the window and noticed it was pitch dark, who many times had I been watching that video?