
The year is 202X. A cold wind blows through the starmen.net discussion forums. Paint is peeling and chipping away from the walls, and there’s a dusty blue spreading as far as the eye can see. After a long day of being hard at work posting in the mines, you emerge from the navy blue corridors to fetch your jacket and sigh a deep breath of great relief, relishing in the knowledge that just outside the door is a world of fresh air and spring flowers.
But what’s this? There’s a knock at the door…? You wait, hoping whoever it is will just go away. Who could be so rude as to knock on an establishment’s door 5 minutes after closing. Likely just a spambot, you think to yourself, but the thought leaves quickly. The knocking comes back—louder, LOUDER. Whoever, or whatever, it is is determined. You press your ear to the door and strain to hear any hint of movement or shuffling, but what you get is a mechanical sound of whirrs and clicks. Whatever is outside is not human. You should not underestimate them. You shudder, then tentatively reach down to the doorhandle that separates reality from the virtual. The knocking… stops. You stand still, heart pumping in your chest as you consider your options. “If only the backdoor exit wasn’t blocked with 20 years of old fanart boxes,” you think, already hopeless. Apprehensively, you step backwards, your gaze and focus fixated on this one and only point of egress. And then…