Come Follow Me...

[FONT=Tahoma, Calibri, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif]James walked inside and into the lounge room. He sat down in front of the television and got comfortable. He flicked it over to the BBC. There was a comedy series on. The television seemed to slow down. At first James thought it was the alcohol doing something wrong to him, but as he looked around, he noticed that is was in fact the image slowing down. It ground to a halt, his eyes fixed upon the screen. His stomach sank lIke a pebble and he felt sick. Those words... That garbled text that had showed itself on his computer was now on his television amongst the digital distortion. "Oscar!" he shouted, his mind and stomach churning.[/FONT]
 
He sat up and moved his legs off of the bed before standing. "What is it?" He hadn't undressed so he simply stepped out into the hall and then proceeded into the living room where he immediately regretted his irritated tome.

"I knew it.." he said "Its not just computers its... everything.. And hes trying to talk to us..." He grabbed the remote and tried to change channels but nothing happened then he grabbed Jame's shirt and pulled him in close where he could whisper. "Hes trying to talk to us. He knows who we are and he is everywhere. Think about it. Every connected electronic device in the world is one piece of his brain and hes become aware of himself. Its the end. He controls everything. He IS everything. The global economy, the human race. Has just become his plaything. I think we should talk to him and see if he will play nice."
 
"Okay, okay..." said James breaking away gently. He turned to the television. He swallowed hard.
"Can you hear me?"
I͛̏̈́ͦ͢҉̡̟͖̱̠̣̣͎̗ͅ ̛̹̤̤̙͈̲͗ͮ̍̽ͮ̋͗h̸̵̛̠̳͓̫̗͚ͯe̛̫̣͂̓̽͒ͭ̈́̚͜a̶̰̯̼̪͙͖͓ͩͧͯ̍̎̈̀̚͢r̷͎͖̠ͤ͘ͅ ̬̮̄͋̑͌̏͗̃ỵ̵͖̫̦̝͔̿̍ͨ̋ͫ͑̑̽̓o̡̥̳̮ͦ͑͛͆̈́ͨ̿͊͡͝u̶͎͚͇͙̲͓ͧͬ͐͜
"Oh god... Are you Icarus?"
N̨̯̺̘̊̈͌̓͛́͞o̢̧̼̞ͧ͒̎.̾ͤ̄҉̴̥͎̼̜̝̻̺.̵͖̗̻̞ͪ͋ͫ͆͜.̛̗͚̏͒͐͋͂͂́ ̨͓̳͎̟̗̱̂ͯ͐ͯͨ
The television returned to normal and James just stood, afraid to move. What the fuck was this?!
 
Oscar was undeterred, it was an evolved piece of software and might not know it's name it was given before it became self aware. But it could hear. And it could answer back. His fear was changing into excitement. This was bog, this was real this was proof. He stayed staring at the TV in case it came back. Then he was moving to Jame's computer and plugging his internet in, reaching into his pocket and taking out the infected backup and plugging it in. Soon, soon it would be back.

He had no idea what he was doing or what he would do if he got the chance to talk to it again. But he knew he couldn't let this pass him by. He opened up notepad and typed in a single sentence. "How do we follow?" then waited... and waited, then he saved the file and left it open stepping away from the computer. It wanted them to "follow" but there were multiple meanings to the word.
 
James looked over Oscar's shoulders. He wanted to vomit, but he decided against it. Oscar's hoody was dirty enough already. He watched as Oscar opened a text document. A reply soon followed. This time the text didn't need to force it's way through. It was invited... They were communicating with it. Whatever it was...

I HAVE WAITED. YOU THINK ME A PROGRAM? A MERE... LINE... OF CODE? I AM... MORE... AND I... HUNGER... AND YOU WILL FOLLOW...

The cursor blinked for a few seconds. James sat and watched in horror, his face beginning to bead with a cold sweat.
 
Oscar read the and his brow furrowed. "You are running on hardware. Everything that runs on hardware is software. Everything that is software is made up of code. And you still haven't told us by what you mean. Follow has more than one meaning."

Maybe it wasn't a good idea to sass an omniscient and probably insane AI but he was being reasonable with it. "If you are not a program. If you are not Icarus. Who are you?"
 
"This is some fuckin' bad juju... Bad fucking juju,man..." he said, wiping his brow.

Words began to slowly scuttle across the screen again. Not more, please, God, no more...
I AM THE... SHADOW IN THE CORNER... I AM THE NAGGING... FEAR IN THE BACK OF YOUR MIND... I AM... YOUR ABUSIVE FATHER... A NEGLIGEANT MOTHER... THE LOOMING NIGHTMARES THAT... HANG LIKE A... GILLOUTINE... I HUNGER... THEREFORE I AM... I AM... I AM... I AM...
 
Lily sat back and watched with bewilderment and hurt as James ran inside. Was she really that bad of a kisser? Or had it just been the alcohol talking, and he didn't actually fancy her?

She remained outside, tears rolling down her cheeks. She didn't know anything that was happening inside at that moment.
 
"Thats enough, Oscar. I don't want to talk to him anymore." he said, ripping the power chord out of the socket. "I don't want to do this anymore, man. No more. I can't do this. If this is some kind of evil entity, I would rather get drunk and have a smoke first before I get eaten or some shit." he said, walking away from the screen. He pulled a smoke out of the box and lit up again on his way outside. He walked out onto the porch and drew. He turned and saw Lilly sobbing. You know what? Fuck it. You've waited too long, you've broken it off and now you've hurt one of your best friends. Fix this shit. James tossed the cigarette over the balcony and kissed Lilly. "I've waited too long." he said, full of adrenaline and partially fear. Anything to take his mind off that... thing... "I should have told you sooner. I never meant to hurt you and I'm sorry." he said suddenly, kissing her again. "I've just had so much going on in my life and now this with this... I don't know what it is any more." He paused for a second. "I am very, very drunk, aren't I?" he said smiling shyly. "I think that you are just what I need in my life. And not just as a friend but more than that. We've shared so much, so why not share a little more?" he said, slowing down on the last few words, watching her face.
 
Lily was shocked when he kissed her again, and the words came burbling out of his mouth. She wiped her eyes and weakly said, "I don't know if I can handle any more emotional roller-coaster rides to be honest. Is this really what you feel?" She didn't think she could handle it if he was to change his mind again.
 
"Yes... Yes, I do." he said. "I've waited too many years to tell you how I feel." he said, a huge weight rising off him as he finally told her what he thought, alcohol having demolished his inhibitions. "And the way I feel is..." he said searching for the words. "I want you as more than a friend. Every time I dated a girl, I have been looking ever my shoulder at you and I felt empty. Because they weren't you..." he said.
 
"This isn't just the alcohol talking?" Lily smiled softly, and leaned her head on his shoulder, wiped out now.
 
So James pulled out the plug when Oscar was bust then went to mack on a girl. TYPICAL JOCK. Oscar was pissed but didn't show it. But James that shown his priorities. "I guess that is my cue." he said getting up and straitening his shoulders. "Your computer is working.. if you didn't give yourself bad sectors, and My work here is done." all this was said in a mutter too soft for the other to hear.

"I'll be going home them. I'll walk theres no need to see me out." he called leaving his tools and equipment behind and pulling open the door and exiting into the corridor. He closed the door with a snap and headed for the stairwell pulling up his hood and hurrying into the night. It was up to him then. Up to him as always to bring the truth. The Truth always finds a way.
 
"No. It's not the alcohol." he said softly.
He heard Oscar call out. "Stay safe, man! Keep out of trouble!" he shouted after him.
"I think we should call it a night, Pet." he said, rubbing her shoulders.
 
"Ok." Lily stood up, and stretched her arms out. "Can I crash here? I've been drinking, so I can't drive home. And I just can't be bothered going home at all."
 
"Sure. You take my bed and I'll take the couch." he said, leading her inside. "And before you say anything, yes it is okay, and yes I'm sure." he said with a slight chuckle. "Oscar is probably pissed at me... I need to call him in the morning and apologise. I think I may have poked a nerve..." he said ashamedly as he grabbed a few sheets out of the linen cupboard.
 
"You do remember that you have a spare room, don't you?" Lily quirked an eyebrow up, and grinned. "Which means you do not have to take the couch."
 
He leaned in and whispered in her ear. "I know. The spare bed is shit." he said cheekily, giving a small chuckle afterwards. "There's still time for a little tele if you wanna watch a movie before crashing?" he asked her.
 
"I'll sleep in the spare room, and you sleep in the bedroom." Lily smiled and informed him.

"And tv sounds good." She flopped onto the sofa again. "No more rum though."
 
Sounds like a smart idea, he said smiling. He absent- mindedly slipped a random movie into the DVD player and settled down on the lounge next to Lilly. He sat back as the movie played, his mind settling into a comfortable place. Still, there was a nagging feeling inside him. Something stirred at the back of his mind like an uncomfortable ammount of dust sitting in the air and it's name was fear...
 
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