How do you know when the world changes? It has never indeed been an obvious thing. One day, a person is walking to his place of employment when they see a new contraption spewing smoke, making such a racket that their neighbor zooms on by almost as fast as a horse. They think to them-self; That thing’s annoying before going on their merry day. A year later, the person has their own. The next, all the neighbors, and soon enough, they were moving across the country. Driving to places they never thought or cared to go.
What about a day when someone hands a person their first cell phone? It’s the size of a brick, but now they can talk to their friends anywhere. Well, as long as they happen to be home. They all would make fun of them for it for years. Soon enough, it becomes more of a fun prop. It was too big to carry around with them, the battery life was too short, and it was getting shorter. The signal isn’t all that great. So they put it down and stop using it.
Years later, they see an ad for another new cell phone, this one small and sleek. It had unlimited nights and weekends, a battery all day, and they’d actually be able to carry it with them instead of leaving it in their car. They purchase the new sleek and stylish mobile phone. This time, instead of jokes, their friends look on in envy. Soon enough, they all have cell phones.
As time passes, the little gadgets become more complex and become little computers able to play movies, games, and all types of entertainment. They give driving directions and have the entire collective of human knowledge right at the tips of their fingers.
No one rightly knew that the world would change when these things happened. Sure, there were some who saw the potential, some who dreamed of what might be. Yet none truly knew. Most people saw the new-fangled thing, thought, "That’s neat," and moved on—all while it slowly became part of their lives and irrevocably changed the world.
This has been true for much of humanity. And when the world truly changed, when it shifted in a way none could argue it had, it was not what they expected, nothing they could have expected. It was when they truly learned what it meant for an era to shift.
Year 0 Month 0 Day 0
-Click-tty clack clack click-
-Hum Buzz click v-rip-
-Br-Ring Br-Ring- “Thank you for calling—”
The ambient sounds of an active office, the scent of fresh coffee wafting from the break room. All the signs of n active workplace, here a man sits as he tries to remember what he forgot.
It was the damnedest thing for Zephyr. One moment, he was reading over the new procedure that would complicate his already tedious job and wondering if it was time to finally accept that the button digging into his gut meant it was time to size up again. He’d been putting on the pounds ever since he got this job and he was just so tired he couldn’t force himself to even go to the gym. All that was passing through his mind, making reading the procedure harder, when the strangest feeling passed over him. Like he had suddenly forgotten something—something very important. Or possibly there was something he was supposed to do.
He’d been sitting there just staring at his screen for so long that his own little mug of coffee had long gone cold. His foot fidgeting up and down faster and faster
Glug Bubble splash, Sip “Ah”
“Hey Bob, how was your weekend?”
“Pretty good. Did nothing. Hey, was there a big meeting or something today? I feel like there was something important I forgot.”
“Ha, I was going to you. So we must have something going on today.”
The inane chatter of the office broke through to Zephyr, making him wonder, “Was that it?” He went through his emails and calendar, looking for something that might explain the feeling, only to find nothing. “What am I forgetting?”
“I don’t know what are you forgetting?”
“If I knew that it wouldn’t be forgotten.” He looked up to see his coworker Dave in a bright neon orange tie. Sitting on his light blue button-down. “Like you forgot your fashion sense.”
“I didn’t forget it. I just wanted to be able to be seen from space.”
“While I have many questions about your fashion choice today. Is something going on? I have the weirdest feeling something important is.” It was driving him nuts, making the day drag on as he became more aware of everything he was normally able to ignore. His shirt rested both too tight and loose. The collar rubbing against his neck was uncomfortable, and the textures all over him were just wrong.
“Honestly I don’t know. But enough of us seem to think we forgot a meeting or something.”
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Birthday? Some all-hands meeting.”
Dave could only shrug.
Zephyr let out a long sigh, “I should probably actually do some work.”
Dave nodded looking a bit lost himself before heading back to his desk.
Alone again, Zephyr turned towards his computer. He really did have some work he needed to get done, enough for a full four hours if he pushed himself. Instead, he just found himself staring at the screen.
Only seemingly interrupted when he heard someone else mention forgetting something. A few people even left early, afraid they may have left the stove on or a child's event. It was a long strange day. For him and everyone else. As they all tried to remember something he never forgot.
That was the only explanation, and it made no sense. Yet something told him that was right. It was sitting there in the back of his mind, just waiting for him to remember. It was just on the tip of his tongue right there for him to remember but it was like it wasn’t the right place or time. It should have freaked him out and made him anxious, seeing as he and apparently most of the people in his office felt the same. For some reason, it didn’t. It just felt so natural. It was so frustrating and distracting, and before he knew it, his day was over.
#
Zephyr stood in front of his front door. Whatever he'd forgotten was there just behind the door to his home. Somehow, he knew it was just waiting for him behind this door. His hand seemed to shake as he lifted his keys.
Zip-Click. Jangle.
The key slid in and he took a long breath.
Whether fear or anticipation, he didn’t know; all he knew was he would remember once he stepped inside. Opening the door into his house, just his normal house was a bit of a letdown. He had no idea what to expect or why there would be something there. He stepped inside and did his normal steps. He took off his shoes, tossed his keys in a bowl, and immediately went to his room to get out of his god-awful suit. Tossing it on the floor, before grabbing a nice pair of pajamas.
Finally, he was able to relax. As he stepped into his living room, it finally clicked into place. He smiled, “How could I forget this?” he let out a giggle, “Right, I never knew.”
Zephyr seemed to implode a sliver of liquid reality encompassing the spot where he’d been before crystallizing and shattering into nothing. Leaving no trace of Zephyr behind. Unless you so happened to look at just the right angle, then one might see a prismatic scar the size of the man floating where he once stood.
#
A man sits at a desk as he energetically plays video games. He has a relatively small streaming audience and has found a real passion for it in the last year or so. Much more than his day job. Where they’re just having him do what felt like the same experiment over and over. He would love to be able to stream as a full-time job, but so far, it wasn't happening, and if he was honest with himself he’d love to bring his research to his stream. Maybe become one of those science YouTubers. His work had given him the go-ahead to share on his channel but there really wasn’t anything super exciting about his work.
So, after work, the man would stream a game for a few hours and try to connect with his fans. Today, though, was different. As he wound down his stream, he could no longer ignore the pressure that had been building inside himself all day. By happenstance or a whim, he decided to keep the camera on.
And somewhere, a viewer watches one of many. On their screen, a game shuts down the screen, jumping as the streamer fills the screen. A handsome man of average height with a stylish haircut, toned arms, and pale skin sits there with a big smile as he addresses his audience. “Thank you all for joining me today! I hope you had a most pleasant time and can't wait to see you all again.” The man said excitedly, as a small chat window constantly added commentary to his words, scrolled across the corner of the screen.
“But before I sign off, I should let you all know I've been feeling quite strange today. Like a feeling of anticipation building within me, and right now, I feel it about to pop. Why don't you join me for logging whatever this is?” he says with a mischievous smile. The chat spams rolling eyes emojis. The man takes off his headphones and stands bent over, reaching for the camera.
Tink-tink donk vroosh.
He readjusted his camera, stepping to the middle of the room, and checking his monitor to make sure he was in the frame
He cleared his throat before speaking. “This is Doctor Timothy Walter. Yes, stream, you heard me. I'm a Doctor.” The chat exploded with accusations of lying and disbelief, but it was true. He was a research scientist at the local college, with a Ph.D. and everything.
Ignoring the chat, he continued, “The date is today, the time is late, and I am currently in my bedroom room in a location undisclosed for privacy reasons.” He said this with a flare of showmanship. He should really add a date for better logging and accuracy, which was why he had the time stamp running on his stream. He would never truly forgo proper procedure just for a bit of a show. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t play it up.
“I will now explain what I have been feeling.” His voice is switching from a peppy streamer to a more matter-of-fact one. “There has been a building all day inside me. I don't know what it means or how to accurately describe what I've been feeling, only able to ally it with pressure or a feeling of anticipation for something I forgot. I do not understand what this is but the feeling currently feels like it's reaching some kind of critical mass. I also have no idea why I’m not freaking out. At this moment, I feel like it is urging me to do something, and…” At that statement, Timothy seemed to completely freeze before slowly blinking, and tilting his head. “Oh? That. What is that?” He looked confused right before he lifted his hand and was swallowed by a splash of reality. Leaving behind only a barely visible prismatic scar in the world.
In a flash, Timothy was gone. If one were to slow down the video to the slowest possible speed, maybe a single frame or two would show a bright splashing of reality engulfing Timothy, distorting the world before shattering to nothing.
The video continued uninterrupted for five minutes before Timothy appeared standing in his room. He looked completely lost and confused. Tears began to stream down his face, his eyes manic looking everywhere. He fell to a knee. “Is…” he said, gasping between words. Is that all I am?”
With that, he looked up, staring at the camera, tilting his head. He did not understand what it was doing until he began to remember. With an effort of will, he stood and walked over to it, tears falling freely.
“Hello, I…I don’t…I don’t think I’m in the right mind right now. The experience was….a lot.” Timothy tried to smile, only coming off as grim, as he said, “Please like and subscribe; I don’t. I don’t even know.” He trailed off, forgetting the camera before turning back and blinking. “Like, subscribe; I already said that. I’ll try to keep people updated. This…this is going to be a mess.”
* * *