"AI-1 is now confirmed to have migrated to mobile. The government is warning everyone to stay away from all digital screens for further notice. If you haven't already, cover all smart appliance screens so no light is visible. Vehicles that rely on digital chips with digital screens are now considered road unsafe, including all vehicles produced since the year 2000. To compensate for the lack of drivable vehicles, the US transportation agency is working quickly to expand bus, metro, and street car services while claiming almost all current freeways and road systems for pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Check your mail for updated services in your are—"

I switch the radio off and stare up at the moon while cradling my steaming cup of chamomile. The first time I saw the Milky Way was three weeks ago when people started getting scared to even turn on their lights. Now, when the kids are in bed and I'm waiting for my husband to come home, I can come outside and look at the stars through a telescope my parents got me for Christmas when I was 10. It took 20 years, but now I use it almost daily.

No one expected the virus. I suppose we should have, but no one thought another pandemic could chase the heels of COVID so quickly. Especially since the virus was unlike anything we had ever seen before. Somehow, an AI responsible for distributing media was corrupted. It released a virus that caused the digital media to flash at specific frequencies at a speed we couldn't perceive, and those lights… well, they seem to just shut down human brain activity.

People died in droves all over the world—suddenly and without explanation. Devastatingly, mothers were the most likely to survive. On a Friday evening, they were often out of the room, making dinner or tending to other chores, while their families watched TV. Many returned to the room to find their families dead in their chairs.

My family got lucky. We don't watch TV during the school week, and our weekend was so busy we didn't have a chance to get our usual movie night. We found out about the tragedy on Sunday heading to soccer practice we didn't know had been canceled. By that point, people had figured out it was the TVs. We sat in the driveway, listening to the car radio in silent horror.

School was canceled for a week, then another. When the kids finally returned to class, it was to over half their classmates missing. That was two days ago.

The virus moves fast. It wasn't long before computers were infected. Then phones. Only e-ink displays are safe now, and that is only because they can't refresh at the rate needed to pass the virus. The only blessing in all this is the virus seems to kill instantly, leaving no path for human-to-human transmission.

After we heard about the virus, we tried calling our families. No one answered. My parents and my inlaws are all retired and they watch a ton of TV. When no one answered, we put them on a list for a wellness check. It took the police two days to call us back and deliver the news. Overnight, entire neighborhoods and generations were wiped off the map. The world population today is now less than half of what it was four weeks ago.

But at least now you can see the stars and the earth seems to be healing.

The sliding door behind me opens and my husband pulls up a chair, leaning over me to place his own steaming cup of tea down on the table next to me. I sigh in relief and lean into him. "How was your day?"

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"Better than it could have been," he responds exhausted. "The virus is morphing again. It seems impossible to quarantine. Even more people died today. I'm so tired of extremists saying this is all a hoax. You would have thought they learned from COVID, but nope! Watching another episode of their favorite TV show is apparently more important than living. Literally!" He is angry now. Whisper shouting his frustration, then he deflates and leans back in his chair, "I think some of them are doing it to commit suicide with their families."

"With the economy collapsing, farms failing all over the country, and people dying left and right, it is hard to blame them."

He looks at me, concerned, trying to read my thoughts through my expression. "I don't have to worry about anything, do I?"

I laugh, "The power cables for the TV, and the computers, tablets, and cellphones, are all locked up where none of us can get them. There would be no way for me to even attempt what you are suggesting, and I wouldn't want to."

He nods, "good. You had me worried for a second."

"It worries me every day you go to work," I respond, "Working with tech trying to stop this virus, I wonder every evening when and if you are coming home."

"I know, and it's not an unfounded fear. We lost Derik today."

"I'm sorry. He was a good friend."

"Yeah." We sit in silence for a moment, I can see that he's upset that he is not more upset. Losing people has become routine. "How're the kids? Sorry I missed bedtime," he breaks the silence a few minutes later.

I smile, "We finished the hydroponics system and planted everything we could. The kids are excited to see it grow. The school is transitioning to half days, there aren't enough teachers for full days anymore. They start half days next week."

"Are you going to be okay watching them full-time like that?"

"I don't have much choice do I?" I stretch before grabbing my tea and taking a sip. Slightly cooler than I typically like, but not enough for me to get up and reheat it. "It isn't like this hasn't happened before with COVID. And now, the kids are at least old enough that they can help me prepare for the inevitable famine this will all cause. They love playing in the garden."

"Okay, but you'll ask for help if you need it, right?"

"Of course. Sandra, down the street? She and I have already started organizing a babysitting trade-off. We plan to alternate all our kids between us. She was going to talk to Lucy and I'm supposed to talk to Riley to see if they want in on the deal. The idea is we would each take all the kids one day a week, and then only have our own kids on Fridays. That should give each of us time to get other things done. Oh! And I finished my book!"

"The one with science activities that teach studying to elementary schoolers?"

I nod. "Yep. Sent it to the publisher today. Should hit shelves in a few months."

He smiles, "Great job! I'm glad you are still able to work."

"Even if I couldn't publish, I would still be writing. It is relaxing, and you never know when you are going to have the opportunity to publish down the line. It's better to have a backlog."

"I'm sorry you can't self-publish anymore."

"Do you think we will ever get to have computers again? Or is the information age over and we are back to analog forever?"

"As one of the people trying to fix this, I'm supposed to say things will be back to normal soon. But the truth is, I don't think we will ever get back what was, and if we do, then it won't look anything like what we had before. We just have to keep moving forward and hope for the best."

We sit outside together until the chill in the air sharpens into a biting cold, then head inside to bed. Things will get worse before they get better. The economy will collapse; political unrest, famine, and hard times lie ahead. But tonight, the best thing we can do is sleep. Tomorrow is another day. Humans survived millennia before the digital age, and we will learn to live in a post-digital age too.