The most lethal plague that the human race ever encountered was a computer virus. On April 17th, 2106, at noon, nearly every computer in the world that was not part of an isolated system was rendered irreparably broken. A worm had spread through the cloud, and, circumventing every attempt to stop such things from happening, had quietly infested almost every computer capable of an internet connection. It simultaneously erased the firmware of every computer it had infested, and nobody saw it coming.
Everything that had a computer in it stopped working, and almost everything had a computer in it. The power went out all around the world. Planes dropped out of the sky and cars stopped working while still in motion. Governments collapsed without long distance communication. The military and the police tried to stop the panic, but there was too much damage. Anarchy and rioting took over and only the rich were safe due to having automated security systems that were not connected to the net and self contained generators.
Now, three years later, society has reorganized itself. The surviving rich and powerful hold all of the surviving technology and information. Having capitalized on their sudden power, they have seized control, becoming feudal warlords ruling over serfdoms in what were once great cities. In one of these sprawling megacities, once called Chicago, we find the Scavenger Dale looking out across the city from the top of a colossal skyscraper. He admires the silent cityscape, remembering when it was a bustling metropolis, then returns to his work. He must meet his quota of wood and other rare materials if he wishes to eat tonight. After another hour of searching, he decides he has enough and returns, climbing down through the superstructure. He heads through a maze of shadowed sidestreets and hovels in the ever present twilight, planning to turn in his scavenge to the local goons of Roland Bishop, ex-telecommunications baron, and the self-styled noble who rules this part of the city.
Upon reaching the closest Scavenging center, he is unsurprisingly accosted by another Scavenger.
“Dale! I have something to tell you.”
“And what’s that, Kevin?” asks Dale.
“I can’t tell you here.” He looks paranoid. “Can we go somewhere else?”
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“Alright, if it's that important,” Dale acquiesces.
Dale and Kevin met after the fall and they’d quickly bonded over their desire to get out of the outskirts of the city. They’d shared resources with each other many times, and Dale trusts him. Kevin leads them through the warren to a secluded shack. Stepping inside, he spins around with sudden intensity.
“You can't tell anyone about this.”
“I gotcha, I gotcha,” Dale says. “So what’s got you so riled up?”
“I found the jackpot. One o’ the ‘scrapers has an old gas generator. It’s fried, but it’s full of gas, ripe for the taking. We’d have to be careful so that no-one notices what we’re up to, but if we manage to get enough of it out, we’ll be able to buy our way out of this scrap heap. Maybe get positions as supervisors and get a stable salary.”
Dale deliberates for a moment, but this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“I’m in.”
It goes slowly. They use old water bottles to hide the gas as they move it to Kevin’s shack. They have to sneak it past patrols of thugs who will search and rob them if it suits their fancy. The biggest problem is Grace, the leader of one of the local gangs and an old enemy of Dale’s who takes pleasure in harassing and robbing. If he finds out they’ll lose everything.
There are a couple of close calls with patrols, and they decide not to push their luck, leaving some of the gas behind. Grace might be getting suspicious at the way they’re acting.
One and a half weeks of painstaking secrecy later, Dale steps into the shack carrying the last of the gas, and doesn’t find what he expects. Grace is sitting inside with Kevin, surrounded by goons. They look up when he comes in and Grace smiles menacingly.
“What are you doing?!” Dale exclaims.
“I’m sorry Dale. If I join his gang I’ll have a real chance at getting out of here. I wish you could come with me, but sometimes sacrifices have to be made.”
Dale can feel his chances at getting a better lot in life slipping between his fingers like grains of sand. What had seemed so sure is suddenly a fleeting dream. One of the thugs grabs him and throws him to the ground, tearing away the last bottle of gas, his last hope. He doesn’t even resist--the shock is too great. He simply stares at Kevin, as he shows Grace and his thugs the rest of the gas. He stares as they walk out of the hovel. He barely hears Grace laugh as he walks past the broken man.
After a long while he gets up. He walks towards an unforgiving future, just another insignificant man in the corpse of the hulking monstrosity that was once a thriving city.