Other, I want to tell you about it
Some years ago, on a cool autumn night while I was sleeping there was a strange sound that woke me up. At first I thought that I left a window open, perhaps even one of the doors since the curtains inside the house were actually starting to blow around. Outside there was a bright light that was dancing around the house, like a spotlight from a helicopter seeking something. We get the occasional fly over of small planes from the regional airport the next time over but never any helicopters let alone something that low to the ground. From down the hall I could hear electronic noises coming from my office - it was a cacophony of sounds as though every device in the room was turned on at once.
Walking towards the office I could see the glow from my old CRT even though I knew I had turned it off before going to bed. I was intriqued! I had to keep walking to see what was going on. Getting closer to the office door that was half open I put up my hand getting ready to push the door open fully when I heard it. The keys. It was my PC keyboard. Over the din of the electronic beeps & blips and the wind blowing inside the house, with the lights still darting outside, I could clearly hear the clickety-clack of my old keyboard being punched. Those old keyboards from the 80's had some real heft to them; beefy things with spring keys that were perfect for typing. Clickety-clack, clickety-clack.
Not knowing whether to run or reach for something to defend myself I could not help but push the door open all way. Human curiosity can either be courage or stupidity depending on the circumstances and I did not know which I was facing. As I pushed on the door a switch somewhere was flipped because instantly everything was over. No sounds, no wind, no lights, all was calm. From the other end of the hall I could hear my wife quietly snoring in a peaceful slumber. Surely I had been having a waking dream, a late night repercussion of my penchant for cold pizza as a midnight snack. But the monitor. The monitor was on!
Walking over to the PC I could see that something was on the screen.
Cool Sci-Fi
There are others. Seek them out.
From where did the message come from? Was it something that was drawn up from the deep of my psyche that I didn't remember doing? What... did... it...
mean?!
I don't know. And I still don't.
But I knew what I had to do.
There are others out there. I am seeking them. Welcome to
Cool Sci-Fi.
