Falling into the Hole

A short tale of the future

It was a common peril of modern life. His parents had warned him again and again. Technology was a tool to be wielded. One a person could use for his benefit. But it was like some cursed magic artifact. Tolkien's One Ring. Spend too much time with it and one could become enraptured, corrupted, sucked into the endless formless, infinite library of cyberspace. Where any experience, any sight, sound, or pleasure was at your fingertips. And it was all fake. Fake friends, fake lovers, fake triumphs and losses.

"Why level up in a video game when you can level up in real life?" That was a popular self-help slogan, and Javin could admit it sounded logical. But that required effort. Effort that, after so many reversals in life, he just did not have the strength to make. So he rescued imaginary princesses from imaginary dragons all the while his body, his talents, his relationships, his very soul rotted from within.

Finally, his parents had had enough and determined to do something about this.