pupils. From a distance, these physical features are often misidentified. It’s was like the spammer wanted us to see these for a reason.
“ This is not happening,” Victoria said as she paced the room.
Ethan just stared at the picture of the old man until a message popped up with a cheerful ping.
Subject: READ ME
AREA 51 IS A VAST NETWORK OF SUPPOSED GOVERNMENT COVER UPS OF ALIEN CONTACTS
Ethan gave Victoria an anxious glance as Victoria gazed at the computer screen. She was afraid to find another cryptic message. Yet another faint ping notified them that there was an email message, but this message was different from the others as it had a three line poem look to it, almost like a haiku. Both of their eyes were fixated on the screen.
Subject: READ ME
NO NEED TO WORRY.
NO ONE IS WATCHING YOU.
THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING.
Ethan and Victoria eyed each other, but Ethan was the first to speak.
“ What the fuck does all this mean? The beginning of what?”
Ping! Ethan turned back to the screen as a video player opened and Victoria let her head fall into her hands. The video was a static shot from an old video camera with no sound, a dark smudge obscuring some of the frame at the top as if the videographer had hidden it under something, maybe a blanket or some article of clothing. The room had a familiar look to it.
“Victoria, isn’t that your bedroom?” Ethan said. When Victoria peered at the video every last breath escaped her lungs, it was her bedroom. "Oh no,” Ethan said aloud and Victoria looked at him.
“What?” s he asked franticly.
“This was taking earlier today,” h e stated and Victoria had a chill run up her spine.
“How can you tell?” s he asked.
“Because those are my sne akers on the floor,” he said as he pointed on the screen from the video feed.
This can’t be happening , she thought as tears started to flow down her face. This video was taken earlier that morning when they were having sex. The hacker/spammer had revealed that it was ‘ONLY THE BEGINNING’. Victoria’s stomach began to hurt as she started to choke on the bile that had risen in her throat. She quickly ran to the bathroom and vomited. As she sat on the floor with her head in the toilet the thought of vomiting helped her keep a focused mind state. Specifically the amygdala, the part of the brain associated with fear and paranoia. Who was it that said a little paranoia is healthy? She wondered if a giant glass of paranoia was good for your health? Could a healthy mind overdose on paranoia? Was that how schizophrenia started, with a genuine intrusion of privacy with legitimate threats worming their way into the mind and blossoming into thick and thorny weeds with diseased roots?
* * *
Ethan kept an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. He peeked out the window through the closed blinds in Victoria’s bedroom. As he glanced at everyone he saw, all he could think about was is this real life? What if the people you had to worry about looked exactly like someone you’d seen almost every day, but slightly different. Could it be the guy peeling pickles into the sewer pipe, could it be the guy on the bench reading a newspaper…who still reads the newspapers nowadays anyway he thought to himself as he eyed them all cautiously. Maybe it could be the woman sitting beside the man on the bench who was reading her mommy porn book from behind big sunglasses and eating carrots from a plastic container like everything was okay. Or was it the pregnant woman sneaking puffs off a cigarette in the alley or even the man walking his cat on a leash. The hacker/spammer had them both paranoid.
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” Ethan murmured as Victoria joined him in the bedroom.
H e watched her clench her stomach as she sat on the bed.
She looked at him deep in thought. “What if you’re right about the enemy of our enemy being someone
“ This is not happening,” Victoria said as she paced the room.
Ethan just stared at the picture of the old man until a message popped up with a cheerful ping.
Subject: READ ME
AREA 51 IS A VAST NETWORK OF SUPPOSED GOVERNMENT COVER UPS OF ALIEN CONTACTS
Ethan gave Victoria an anxious glance as Victoria gazed at the computer screen. She was afraid to find another cryptic message. Yet another faint ping notified them that there was an email message, but this message was different from the others as it had a three line poem look to it, almost like a haiku. Both of their eyes were fixated on the screen.
Subject: READ ME
NO NEED TO WORRY.
NO ONE IS WATCHING YOU.
THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING.
Ethan and Victoria eyed each other, but Ethan was the first to speak.
“ What the fuck does all this mean? The beginning of what?”
Ping! Ethan turned back to the screen as a video player opened and Victoria let her head fall into her hands. The video was a static shot from an old video camera with no sound, a dark smudge obscuring some of the frame at the top as if the videographer had hidden it under something, maybe a blanket or some article of clothing. The room had a familiar look to it.
“Victoria, isn’t that your bedroom?” Ethan said. When Victoria peered at the video every last breath escaped her lungs, it was her bedroom. "Oh no,” Ethan said aloud and Victoria looked at him.
“What?” s he asked franticly.
“This was taking earlier today,” h e stated and Victoria had a chill run up her spine.
“How can you tell?” s he asked.
“Because those are my sne akers on the floor,” he said as he pointed on the screen from the video feed.
This can’t be happening , she thought as tears started to flow down her face. This video was taken earlier that morning when they were having sex. The hacker/spammer had revealed that it was ‘ONLY THE BEGINNING’. Victoria’s stomach began to hurt as she started to choke on the bile that had risen in her throat. She quickly ran to the bathroom and vomited. As she sat on the floor with her head in the toilet the thought of vomiting helped her keep a focused mind state. Specifically the amygdala, the part of the brain associated with fear and paranoia. Who was it that said a little paranoia is healthy? She wondered if a giant glass of paranoia was good for your health? Could a healthy mind overdose on paranoia? Was that how schizophrenia started, with a genuine intrusion of privacy with legitimate threats worming their way into the mind and blossoming into thick and thorny weeds with diseased roots?
* * *
Ethan kept an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. He peeked out the window through the closed blinds in Victoria’s bedroom. As he glanced at everyone he saw, all he could think about was is this real life? What if the people you had to worry about looked exactly like someone you’d seen almost every day, but slightly different. Could it be the guy peeling pickles into the sewer pipe, could it be the guy on the bench reading a newspaper…who still reads the newspapers nowadays anyway he thought to himself as he eyed them all cautiously. Maybe it could be the woman sitting beside the man on the bench who was reading her mommy porn book from behind big sunglasses and eating carrots from a plastic container like everything was okay. Or was it the pregnant woman sneaking puffs off a cigarette in the alley or even the man walking his cat on a leash. The hacker/spammer had them both paranoid.
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” Ethan murmured as Victoria joined him in the bedroom.
H e watched her clench her stomach as she sat on the bed.
She looked at him deep in thought. “What if you’re right about the enemy of our enemy being someone
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