"When the human race enters the galactic council, it is hailed as our greatest achievement. The more I reflect on it, the more it seems like a complete coincidence. Though, nobody likes it when I say that."
-R.G. Washington
That quote, from one of my favorite Humanic philosophers, didn't exactly win me any fans at graduation. In fact, I was booed off the stage while giving my valedictorian speech. Still, I was glad to be done with that boring ceremony. Booed or not, I was finally free.
No sooner had I walked out than a loud crash echoed, and the sky turned dark. I didn't realize it then, but this was the start of a very strange power outage. "Another d*mn power outage," I muttered, glancing up at the sky. I tapped my jaw three times, activating my eyes' dark-vision settings. Slowly, my vision adjusted to a more normal light level.
I headed straight home, intending to avoid the chaos that usually accompanies power outages. When I reached my door, I found a package sitting there. That's odd, I thought. Packages are usually teleported directly inside the house these days. Shrugging it off, I assumed the teleporters were down. I held my forearm to the lock, and the door clicked open.
The door opened to reveal a plain white room. I walked in and set the box down. A tap of my wrist brought up a holographic screen. After a few moments of manipulation, the stark white room transformed into a more comfortable living space, complete with a bed in the corner, a lamp on the floor beside it, and a fridge, stove, and dishwasher on the opposite wall.
I sat on the bed, box in hand. Curious, I checked when deliveries had stopped coming in boxes. According to my search, the last one was shipped twelve years ago. I hesitated for a moment, then decided to open it. Inside, I found an SD card, seemingly two hundred years old, and a notepad.
I picked up the notepad and opened it. The only writing was on the first page: "Use the SD card." That was it. I glanced around, wondering what I could plug it into. Then, I remembered that modern homes didn't have ports for such things. As I puzzled over how to use it, I noticed the SD card's shape. It was the same as a memory compiler. I tapped my wrist ten times, and a section of my forearm slid open, revealing the system board for my internal tech. After a quick search, I located the compiler.
I pulled it out, confirming that it was indeed a perfect match. I inserted the SD card. As it clicked into place, I suddenly felt myself falling. Then, everything went black. When I woke up, I checked the time and was stunned to find that a month had passed. As I set down the clock, a voice announced, "Argus System installation complete."
It was only when I activated my enhanced vision that I realized something was very wrong. Everything was still dark, despite my dark-vision sensors. I sat there, trying to figure out what was happening. Finally, my vision flickered, and the sensors began to work, but the world I saw was not my own. My room was gone, replaced by a tattered, destroyed version of itself.
I opened the door and found myself in a dark, empty space. Turning back, I grabbed an old book from between the bed and the floor and tossed it out. It landed with a solid thud, confirming that the floor was indeed solid. Mustering my courage, I stepped out of the room. It felt like passing through an invisible wall. I turned to look back, but the room was gone, vanished without a trace.
As I stood there, staring at the empty space where the room had been, a click and a burst of static-like noise erupted. I turned to see where the sound was coming from. Then, words began to appear in the air, initially as random symbols. After a few seconds, the symbols resolved into English, forming a sentence: "He is the master now. He doesn't look all that good."
The words disappeared, and a section of the floor began to rise.