get a closer look.
"I don't think they're doing anything at
all…" she whispered. Despite her low words, something still noticed
her.
At once, every single person in that silent
crowd turned and stared directly at her.
She froze in place, thinking the situation
through. "They're not invisible…"
"Huh? Why would they be invisible?"
"I encountered some kind of gigantic
mechanical construct that controlled legions of dead humans
converted into invisible walking corpses," she whispered, too
matter-of-factly for my tastes. "They were a hive mind, but this
isn't them. This is something else."
"Cordyceps fungus," I realized, thinking back
on stuff I'd seen on the entire Internet I'd absorbed. "It's a
common fear - a fungus that can control your mind. You see a lot of
self-written horror stories on the Internet that involve some
variant of it."
"Maybe," she murmured. "Got a lot of time on
your hands, then?"
I wished I could grimace. "Um, yeah. I've
sort of seen the entire Internet. I get bored here."
"Office building, internet time, computer
skills… some sort of I.T. person?" she guessed. "Probably late
shift, judging by how much you get away with."
How the hell? This woman didn't miss a thing.
I suppose that was a necessary skill for survival, doing what she
was doing… whatever that was. "Something like that."
"Any other ideas from the Internet?" she
asked, still not daring to move.
"Um… um… zombies?"
"No, zombies aren't real. They fundamentally
don't make sense."
"But you said you met invisible corpses?"
"Clearly controlled and animated by an
outside source," she whispered. "Those weren't zombies. They were
corpse-puppets."
"Oh. Um… lockstep."
"Lockstep?"
"They move if you move. That's a common one,
too."
"Maybe - but how?"
"Maybe they're not human," I suggested,
excited to use my Internet knowledge, and worried that it might
actually be true. "Maybe they just look human. They could be
robots, aliens, illusions… anything. They're not smiling. That's a
good sign."
"Why?"
"Because smiling things are the worst ," I breathed, feeling sick as I thought back on all
the stories I'd read.
"Think it through," she instructed. "Logic it
out. Why are smiling things the worst?"
"Because…" I thought about it for a moment.
"Because they're aware of you, and aware of how they make you feel,
and they've got an agenda."
"These people aren't smiling," she said with
a tone of affirmation. "So…"
"So they're not aware of you…" I realized
aloud. "At least not directly."
"Right. So we can reasonably assume they're
only responding to stimuli. Now what did I do that caught their
attention?"
"Well, we've been talking this whole time, so
it isn't noise…" I grabbed a portion of her stream and rewound
it.
As I did so, the people in the clearing moved
again, each taking two steps closer, their eyes blank.
"I didn't do anything," she whispered.
I couldn't believe it, but - "I think it's me. They moved first when I zoomed in on the feed, and then
again when I rewound some portion of it."
"How could they possibly be aware of that?
Unless…" She took in an unhappy breath. "These are some of the
people I’m looking for. Energy beings in the guise of humans. I was
told the fungus ate them."
"So the energy being part of them is
responding to things I'm doing on the computer here?"
"Maybe. Discontinuous electromagnetic
signals, different from the ongoing chatter of our feed. Or maybe
they're connected by some sort of greater whole that's aware of
you. Stop doing things on the computer." She took a step to her
right.
None of the strange blank-eyed people
moved.
"I can't leave just yet," she told me,
unhappy about it. "If there are any clues here, they've got
them."
Stepping further into the clearing, she
approached the nearest brown-clothed person - a man with long,
scraggly black hair and blank eyes. Touching him with a
plastic-gloved hand, she gently patted his pockets.
He made no move, and gave no
"I don't think they're doing anything at
all…" she whispered. Despite her low words, something still noticed
her.
At once, every single person in that silent
crowd turned and stared directly at her.
She froze in place, thinking the situation
through. "They're not invisible…"
"Huh? Why would they be invisible?"
"I encountered some kind of gigantic
mechanical construct that controlled legions of dead humans
converted into invisible walking corpses," she whispered, too
matter-of-factly for my tastes. "They were a hive mind, but this
isn't them. This is something else."
"Cordyceps fungus," I realized, thinking back
on stuff I'd seen on the entire Internet I'd absorbed. "It's a
common fear - a fungus that can control your mind. You see a lot of
self-written horror stories on the Internet that involve some
variant of it."
"Maybe," she murmured. "Got a lot of time on
your hands, then?"
I wished I could grimace. "Um, yeah. I've
sort of seen the entire Internet. I get bored here."
"Office building, internet time, computer
skills… some sort of I.T. person?" she guessed. "Probably late
shift, judging by how much you get away with."
How the hell? This woman didn't miss a thing.
I suppose that was a necessary skill for survival, doing what she
was doing… whatever that was. "Something like that."
"Any other ideas from the Internet?" she
asked, still not daring to move.
"Um… um… zombies?"
"No, zombies aren't real. They fundamentally
don't make sense."
"But you said you met invisible corpses?"
"Clearly controlled and animated by an
outside source," she whispered. "Those weren't zombies. They were
corpse-puppets."
"Oh. Um… lockstep."
"Lockstep?"
"They move if you move. That's a common one,
too."
"Maybe - but how?"
"Maybe they're not human," I suggested,
excited to use my Internet knowledge, and worried that it might
actually be true. "Maybe they just look human. They could be
robots, aliens, illusions… anything. They're not smiling. That's a
good sign."
"Why?"
"Because smiling things are the worst ," I breathed, feeling sick as I thought back on all
the stories I'd read.
"Think it through," she instructed. "Logic it
out. Why are smiling things the worst?"
"Because…" I thought about it for a moment.
"Because they're aware of you, and aware of how they make you feel,
and they've got an agenda."
"These people aren't smiling," she said with
a tone of affirmation. "So…"
"So they're not aware of you…" I realized
aloud. "At least not directly."
"Right. So we can reasonably assume they're
only responding to stimuli. Now what did I do that caught their
attention?"
"Well, we've been talking this whole time, so
it isn't noise…" I grabbed a portion of her stream and rewound
it.
As I did so, the people in the clearing moved
again, each taking two steps closer, their eyes blank.
"I didn't do anything," she whispered.
I couldn't believe it, but - "I think it's me. They moved first when I zoomed in on the feed, and then
again when I rewound some portion of it."
"How could they possibly be aware of that?
Unless…" She took in an unhappy breath. "These are some of the
people I’m looking for. Energy beings in the guise of humans. I was
told the fungus ate them."
"So the energy being part of them is
responding to things I'm doing on the computer here?"
"Maybe. Discontinuous electromagnetic
signals, different from the ongoing chatter of our feed. Or maybe
they're connected by some sort of greater whole that's aware of
you. Stop doing things on the computer." She took a step to her
right.
None of the strange blank-eyed people
moved.
"I can't leave just yet," she told me,
unhappy about it. "If there are any clues here, they've got
them."
Stepping further into the clearing, she
approached the nearest brown-clothed person - a man with long,
scraggly black hair and blank eyes. Touching him with a
plastic-gloved hand, she gently patted his pockets.
He made no move, and gave no
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