Virtual Ink December 2013//January 2014 | Page 8

DEVIANTS T his morning, the moonlight shone through the window, the sky still pitch-black. The moon had the appearance of a florescent light on a black backdrop. Inside the isolated huts in the suburbs, it wasn't enough to pierce the darkness. Inside one specific hut lie a young man named Tal. He was laying in his bed when, suddenly, a loud high-frequency tone went off next to him. He shot out of bed in a heartbeat, and swung his hand to silence the alarm. He was up, it was dark, and he was struggling to get his bearings. He simply moved his hand back to the stand his alarm was on, and grabbed a small tablet computer off of its charger. Upon turning it on, he could see everything in the room clearly. All of it was illuminated sharply by the bluish cast of the homescreen of the device. Tal looked around for a few seconds, getting himself awake. Well, time to start my day. Tal's day started off typically. Reading through one of the many online magazines that peddled watered down political stories and anecdotes for the entertainment of the masses. Everyone stayed inside his or her own hut, even children. Tal himself was seventeen, living on his own. Magazine articles online were all people really had. "Consume the media" was all people really did. Tal selected his readings carefully, making sure the authors were not too wordy. He only liked reading an article if it was, at maximum two hundred thirty words long. One hundred fifty was his favorite length. He read through tons of articles, and after a few hours of reading, it was time for another form of entertainment, comedy. Tal opened an application for watching videos. Once opened, he selected his desired category, comedy. The articles he h