inb4 I forget this when I wake up
it's 2053. the world has fully embraced zuckerberg's view of the metaverse. everybody has access to ar/vr headsets (possibly even for free) and our economy begins to revolve around the digital dimension we have created for ourselves.
all od us have beautiful homes, exquisite pieces of art and craft, exclusive handcrafted collectibles, lush sceneries and views, great social interactions, happy lives, harmonious families, and are slowly being molded towards becoming a repetitive, non-stop consumption machine that cannot be stopped in its tracks. we become what they want us to - consumers that truly believe that everything that can be consumed must be consumed. our religion is capitalism, our deity is a gaping void.
meanwhile in the real life, we ramble around as our withered bodies try to sustain us as we grow hungry for anything and everything. the headsets are now evolving into neural chips implanted right into the frontal cortex, and our eyes see nothing but the metaverse; our ears hear nothing but the metaverse. our mouths speak of nothing, but the metaverse-
slowly, our minds and bodies dissociate, as the joy inside is balanced by the gloom outside. what's content and complacent on the inside grows hungrier on the outside, as we grow into deformed, malevolent monsters, lunging at anything to grab a bite or two.
in the end, there was no special virus, no special outbreak to create the zombies we know and love today; there's only those that provide, and those that consume.
end of p
