This is a #storygram (mini-story) from my Instagram, which you can get to via the social media links at the top of this site. I do my best to make them daily for you to enjoy! YES, many of them will hopefully be expounded upon in novels or other future writing endeavors of mine. Thank you very much for reading and sharing them! And don’t forget to check out my film Portfolio too!
The Story:
He looked out over the city. Some of the windows allowed him to see people going about their lives–a guy on a treadmill on the 12th floor of that building and a girl talking on the phone on the 8th floor of another building. Oblivious.
On his left in the window of a nearby building, he saw his own reflection grinning back at him–the perfect representation of what was about to happen. Every house, every office, every business would be him.
He had studied electronics since he was a child–always tinkering. He began inventing hardware and moved into software to do more. Computers became an extension of himself. He could hack anything. Anything.
When they decided to steal his patents without compensating him, he swore he’d find a way to make them regret it. After 12 years, he had developed the perfect hack, and it was time to deploy it.
He walked over to his computer. All he had to do was press the “Enter” key and the entire city would be under his control, held hostage until they returned his patents.
Most had made the transition to smart homes with Wifi integrated locking systems and climate control. They would be trapped. Anyone with anything other than cash would be broke.
His cell phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Jack, would you hurry up and press that button already?”
“Who is this?”
“Gotta press the button.”
Jack was impressed someone got his number, but it didn’t matter. He would be able to find them in a few minutes. He activated his hack. Nothing. He pressed the key again, and his entire screen went blank. After a few seconds, the words “Love, U” appeared on the screen.
“Hey, there it is! There we go, that’s me, U.”
“Where are you?”
“Oh, come on now, Jack. Guys like us… It’s where are we not?”
“What do you want?”
“I’m just having a little fun, Jack! Like this. Watch. Boop!”
The apartments in a building several blocks away began exploding in rows from the top down.
“Pretty cool, huh? No bombs. Just dumb homes that simultaneously developed a gas problem.”
“Stop! You’re killing people!”
“Yeah, but I don’t watch that part. Anyways, no one can stop me.”
“I can.”
“Sounds fun, Jack.”