Riots due to a
power outage?
Maybe next time.
I was sitting in my
living room watching a
movie,
noding on my laptop, when the
power went out.
The
deafining sounds of the
city around me brought with it a
paralyzing fear.
The sounds of the city are
powerful indeed. I heard
horns blaring, and
sirens
in the distance.
What if this is the
end? What if the power
never comes back? Would I need
to learn
survival tactics? Would I be able to
provide myself
necessary materials?
Would I
learn to
steal? Where would I go if I had tol? The only place
of
signifigant value I can think of to
rob would be the
kryptonite rooms at
computer stores such as
Frys. But if I could
loot the
inventory room, what would
I really do with
240 processors? Would the
government post
guards at such
technological meccas? Would it be an
adrenaline rush if I could
pull it off?
Would I re-learn the primal instincts buried deep in my heart, and hands?
The sirens are still blaring in the distance!
I should unplug all of my
gear,
in case the power comes back.
What if it dosen't come back?
What if?
(
What if?)
Its
cold in here, now.
I should go
riot! I should go
loot!
The power's not on!
They'll never know.
I
hear strange
mechanical plumbing sounds in the
apartment above me, could
something have
happened to them? Could they still be
okay? What are those
strange noises?
Is someone
snoring?
I'm so
scared!
The power's not on! What if it
never comes back?
What will I do? Will I be able to
defend myself?
What if someone
breaks in?
The power's not on!
(
The power's not on!)
The
batteries on my
laptop are going to run out soon, when that happens, I'll be
left in a
world without technology. I'll have to go out into the world and learn how
to live my
new life.
(
If the power dosen't come back.......)
Maybe this is a
sign from a
higher power. Maybe what I've been doing
all these
years with technology is
wrong.
(
I should get dressed! I'm putting my shoes on! I'm getting ready,
loop swoop and pull.)
I
wonder if I should write the world a
message, a
time capsule, in case someone finds this
laptop.
(
Should the power come back on.......)
Then they would know that I planned to
leave this place, and
not return.
Maybe they might
steal my stuff. I'd
understand.
Looting might be the
only way to
survive the
new world, out
there,
without
electricity.
Without beautiful electricity. Oh
I miss you! I am so incredibly
angry that you have
left me.
You were my
best friend. With you, I could do so many things--
so many POWERFUL
things.
You're
gone now, you've
left me, and
I'm angry at you. Nothing I did then
matters,
without
you,
all of it dosen't exist.
The power's not on! What if it
dosen't come back? I should go
search the grounds,
I hear
screams from outside
my window. Blazing sounds of
motorcycles passing by.
I should get my
mag light, I should sufficiently be able to
defend myself with it.
(
I'm so angry! My battery is going to run out!)
Oh dear sweet electricity, know that
I did what I did for you and you alone.
We were
meant for each other,
you and I, but you're
gone now, maybe gone
forever.
The city's so
quiet now. I dont
hear anything outside. I dont hear the
hum of my machines.
I dont hear my
refrigerator.
Oh shit! My
refrigerator! What will happen to all of my
perishable food?
I should effectively
ration my
Mountain Dew.
I might not be able to buy Mountain Dew ever again!
Oh no! That's
another node entirely by
itself!
It's so
quiet that I can hear the
tick tick tick of my
wrist watch.
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick,
tick, tick tick tick
tick tick tick tick
tick tick tick
tick tick
tick. This is driving me
mad! I am so
lonely, now.
Nothing's
blown up yet, I haven't heard
gunfire, I haven't heard
windows
breaking.
Am I the only one this scared of perpetual blackout?
Could I really be this
technologically dependant?
Could I be
over-reacting?
And then
it happened.
A
surging "
whmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm" sound that
escalated in
pitch until a
chuk-chuk-chuk sound accompanied it. I heard fans moving. The
lights came back on.
My
refrigerator started
making noise again. My
servers booted up once more. The world
had been
pretending the
power outage never happened. Maybe it didn't.
Once again, I had
better things to do with my time.
Life
resumed course
as usual. I
reflected on my
time-capsule message,
and
thought to myself,
Riots due to a power outage? Maybe next time.