Ryan lost motivation halfway through his second year of college, failing out and like the stereotype, he moved back in with his mother. Jennifer thought it'd only be temporary while her son tried to get back on his feet and find a job. But over a year later, he still spent every day in front of the TV, playing the same handful of video games until he went to bed.
Ryan knew his mother always kind of resented him a little. He was unplanned, and his father split before he was even born. Sure, Jennifer gave him a pretty good life and she did love the boy, but there was always some bitterness under the surface. Ryan always symbolized the loss of her youth, independence, and general freedom, so it's pretty hard to get over something like that. For both of them.
If the resentment and bitterness was always under the surface when he was growing up, moving back in after dropping out of college brought it right up to the surface. Not a day went by that she'd command him to get a job, do something with his life. And each time, he'd dismiss her nagging by saying he was "working on it, I swear. But it's this economy." All without taking his eyes off the big TV Jennifer bought but never even got to use.
Jennifer grumbled as she passed the living room, which was littered with snacks, empty cans from energy drinks, and his breakfast bowl, still sitting on the coffee table at 3pm. More out of habit than hope, she asked him, "Next time you die or whatever, please at least just tidy up." There wasn't time for the full song and dance today; she had a stupid online meeting with her supervisors starting in less than 10 minutes and she still didn't have a pitch for her next article.
Ryan would've gotten that headshot if his fucking mom hadn't broken his concentration. Instead, he was dead and waiting to respawn while some little fucking asshole danced on his dude's corpse. At least his mic was muted, otherwise he'd be mocked mercilessly about his nagging mom.
"Yeah, fine, whatever," he replied, too late. She was already gone to her office. Oh well. Nothing more to do than spin the game camera in a circle while waiting for the spawn countdown to tick down. Just a couple more games, then he'd better tidy up. Get her off his back for the day.
It was dark by the time Ryan was happy enough with his day's kill/death ratio, so he finally got up, stretched his legs and decided he should actually tidy up before mom came in again and really let him have it. ...Speaking of...where was she? He couldn't smell dinner, didn't hear her pop her traditional 5pm Friday wine open. Jesus Christ, fine. He'd tidy up, then go find her. Just in case she'd lost herself in work again. Wouldn't be the first time.
He knocked on the office door. "Mom? You in there?" No reply. Another knock, another call out to her. Nothing. He turned the knob and opened the door.
Why couldn't these meetings be in person? Or at least over the phone. Jennifer could never find a flattering angle for these stupid web cam meetings. But if there's one thing her supervisors loved, it was pretending they were all over the new technology, even though they were at least 20 years older than her. So she swallowed her pride, opened the email with the meeting code, and put the numbers into the meeting software.
Instead of Jason and Martha, she was staring at a pink screen, all whirling and undulating patterns, with a disorienting low sound playing quietly underneath. Just enough to be heard, switching rapidly between the left and right speakers. The whole thing made her uneasy. Maybe she made a typo with the meeting code or something? Whatever it was, she needed to close it. But the colours weren't...unpleasant to look at, not really. It was kind of fun watching them, in a way; like static on TV, if you stared long enough, you could almost make something out. She was even getting used to that weird sound effect. It almost seemed to sync up with the patterns, but not quite. She wondered if she just left it long enough, maybe the sound and the images would line up and stop being so disorienting. It'd be fine if she was a couple minutes late for the meeting, right? Jason was never on time, anyway. Yeah, just...just a couple more minutes, then she'd be done. She'd even tell Martha and Jason about the weird screen. Maybe that could be the article. Yes, just a little bit longer...
Ryan opened the door to his mother's office, and in the dark, all he could see was his mother's face, painted pink by her laptop's screen. Her eyes were unfocused, unblinking, locked on the laptop screen. Her mouth was open, just slightly. She didn't register him at all, just kept on staring vacantly at the laptop.
"Mom? Mom, are you all right?" He stepped into the room. Still no response. Holy shit, is this what a seizure is like? One of those, like, zone-out seizures? He waved his hand in front of her face, snapped his fingers, but got nothing. His heart was racing, panicking, thinking the worst. With fear in his voice, he pleaded, "Mom, answer me!"
She responded in an instant. "Yes, Ryan." Her voice completely devoid of emotion. Eyes still staring ...not quite at the screen; more like looking through it.
He was relieved, but not fully. What was so mesmerising about the damn pink video? "Mom, what's going on? What happened?"
She didn't respond. To her, it was just background noise, unimportant. Then, something cut through and she felt compelled to respond.
"Mom, tell me what happened."
Jennifer replied dutifully. Emotionlessly. Unblinking. "I was going to a web meeting with Jason and Martha but I got the details wrong, I think. This came up instead. So I was about to close it but couldn't. I kept watching. Then you told me to respond. So I did. Then you told me to answer what happened, and now I have." Just like that, she slipped back into what Ryan was now calling her trance.
Okay. So. This couldn't actually be happening, right? She's gotta be, like, mocking him or something, surely. Making fun of the way he gets when he's really into a game. But why didn't she respond to questions? And for the love of God, why hadn't she blinked in over five minutes?
He took a photo of the screen, making sure the meeting code details were clear. Then he shut the laptop.
Jennifer blinked. "Ryan, what the hell? I've got a meeting in like two minutes." She didn't have time for whatever attention seeking nonsense her son was playing at.
Ryan looked concerned. "That was over three hours ago. It's after 6."
There was no way that was right. She'd just sat down and was about to open the meeting. But she looked around the room. Dark, save for the streetlight poking in through the trees outside. She checked her watch; he was right. But, how? "Shit, shit, shit! What the hell happened?"
Ryan thought he'd better keep the weird pink screen to himself, just for the moment. "You don't remember anything? I was calling out to you for a while, and we even spoke."
Jennifer furrowed her brow. "What? When?"
"Like, 30 seconds before I closed the laptop screen, maybe? You...don't remember any of that?"
Jennifer tried remembering, but came up completely blank. There was nothing between trying to start the video chat and the sound of Ryan closing the laptop screen. She was starting to worry. Okay, fine. She was starting to freak out. "Fuck, what's happening to me?"
Ryan had been working on a theory in his head. It was ridiculous, stupid, the stuff of fantasy. But the best way to test a theory is to disprove it. "Okay, before we go assuming the worst, why don't you, like, retrace your steps?"
It was weird to see him so invested in what was going on in her life. Not that it was bad, but she just wasn't used to seeing him paying this much attention to something that wasn't on a TV screen. Weird as it was, maybe this thing might even help bring him out of his funk. Better not squander it. "Okay, so I sat down, opened the laptop..." she opened the screen. "And then I opened Martha's email to get the meeting code..." before she could retrace that step, the chat software reconnected to the meeting and popped up with the same video as before - swirling pink patterns and that disorienting sound. Her eyes were drawn to it. She felt herself drift away.
"Mom?" Being very careful not to look at the screen lest he fall into the same trance, Ryan clapped in front of her face. No response - just right back in that deep trance. Like it or not, his theory was still holding water. Okay, she didn't answer questions before. Try again. "Mom, you still there? Everything okay?"
Nope, silence. Staring right through the screen, mouth open.
Right. "Stand up," he ordered.
Her eyes were still unfocused, but the rest of her body responded. Ryan watched as his mother immediately stood up, then froze in place again.
This could be dangerous, but he was determined to try. He looked at her unfocused eyes which were reflecting the pink laptop screen within them. "Tell me why you've been so angry with me."
Still looking blankly ahead, unblinking, Jennifer responded dutifully. "All you've done since dropping out of university is play videogames and sleep. You keep saying you're looking at jobs but I know that's a lie. You don't want to work. You're lazy and selfish." Again, everything she spoke was in a flat, emotionless tone.
Even though there was no cruelty or anger in her tone, Ryan still winced. He knew that's how his mother felt, but having it confirmed just brought a new kind of hurt. But on the bright side, his theory was looking a little more solid. She'll respond to commands, but not questions. Now, will she carry out commands without the hypnotic video?
"When I close the laptop screen again, call Martha and explain that you're sorry you missed the meeting, but weren't feeling well and had to lie down. Nod if you understand."
Jennifer nodded.
That's good. Now to tempt fate and push the envelope a little either. "When the laptop screen closes, you won't be aware of the time you've been in these trances. You'll remember going to bed for a sleep, then waking up and coming here to get your phone. Nod if you understand." It was kind of scary how quickly he was picking up and testing the rules of the situation. But give a gamer any game and their first instinct is to test all the rules, seeing what's possible and what's not.
Jennifer nodded.
Now the moment of truth. Ryan leaned forward and closed the laptop screen.
Jennifer blinked, looked around the desk, and spotted her phone in the dark office. She immediately picked it up and called Martha. As instructed. She apologized to Martha and explained she missed the meeting because she wasn't feeling well. As instructed. Jennifer had only just woken up from a nap, you see. She must've just crashed.
