Exreality.NET

For the past few years I’ve had limited internet access due to circumstances beyond my control, but in the past 4 months I’ve had an almost unlimited one. Restrictions have come up since I’ve arrived here at school and I have been forced to use the school’s “Clean Access Agent” to connect me to the World Wide Web. Even with the bandwidth restrictions, I couldn’t complain because at least I was still connected to this useful tool called cyberspace. But today, for me and my fellow students living on campus, was the day the Net stood still…

It was an average Californian day when I rolled out of bed at 2 pm to meander over to a campus dining establishment and fight off the any lingering effects from the night before. I order a breakfast burrito to go and grab a large bag of chips (which I am currently grazing on) and head back to the room. The sun was gleaming as I struggled to find my way around two girls gossiping about their tower-mates and walking at an average pace of a yard per minute. Once I made it back to the room, I sit down and turn my computer on. My roommate is still out cold from his adventures the night before and barely stirs as I rustle my food from its plastic container. The epic breakfast burrito: one large flour tortilla wrapped around a decent amount of scrambled eggs, hashbrowned potato wedges, sausage links, and bacon, it’s the ultimate cure for any hangover. I take a bite as my computer warms up and think to myself, “I need to get rid of these useless start-up programs… I haven’t used Winamp since I was 12.” I sat waiting for my computer to boot, munching away at my savage burrito, until I realized that it was done. Something was wrong, normally the “Clean Access Agent” log-in window pops up and requires me to input my name and my unreasonably complex password. But this morning (… well afternoon) it didn’t happen. I decided to click on the icon on my desktop, but the computer reported that it was already running. So I right click the icon for the program located on the bottom right corner of my screen. A menu shows up that allows me to do everything but click on the words “login” and I think to myself, “Fuck… this is going to be a long day.”

At least 8 hours has elapsed since I knew that ResNet was down, other people have said it’s been down since this morning. We’re trying to piece together what’s going on in this world… Maybe ResNet is just toying with us, not allowing us to access our vital information, our streaming videos, and our e-mails. We are stranded without entertainment here. This is my last message to the world, I pray that thee receives it. I write this with the hopes that one day, people may understand what happened here, on this day when the internet came to an end…

It started with a phone call, a simple phone call to see if the ResNet office could console us about our lack of internet availability. Instead, they had a prerecorded message of mockery for us to listen to and a promise that has yet come to pass. The students grow restless as the internet doesn’t return within a few hours. They have reports to do that they have put off, time sensitive e-mails to read and reply to, and an all around need to find something to waste their time with such as a streaming media. I am forced to read, read a book that I’ve been putting off for sometime because it wasn’t the right “time” to read it. We are lost without quick access to Google Maps to find out how to get to a place that will distract us from our lack of internet. Or without Fandango to tell us what times movies are playing, or even the phone numbers of theaters in town to find out movie time. We are forced back to the early 90s, when the internet was just being born and download/upload speeds didn’t surpass 56 kb/s. There is a need to pass the time, but how? Just like the 90s, we’ve found that playing videogames pass the time… even when they’re not against people across the world… We found that sunlight allows you to tan, as if the sun provides a natural version of a tanning bed. But still, we cannot live like the people of the last century, and we grow restless. We’ve become so dependent on this magnificent technology that allows us to do what we want, when we want. Unfortunately, the internet is more interesting than real life and provides us with a place to waste away our day and not even realize it. Thus now we grow impatient as we still cannot access our internet.

The sun has set and it is dark out. Cries of agony echo throughout our dorm. Whines of those suffering withdrawals are so deafening that we cannot sleep. I can hear them chanting outside our window now, “We Want Net. We Want Net,” and it is slowly growing louder. A few of them have pitchforks, others hold torches, casting an odd light over the crowd. They’re making their way to the ResNet office, pounding on the doors, seeking retribution for being wronged. Mob mentality is beginning to take over as they lose all common sense. The ResNet workers barricade door as others try to fix the servers to avoid this crisis. Some are praying as the vast horde outside begins to break-in. The cries are louder now, “WE WANT NET!!!” The echoes are heard across campus. A lone person tries to calm the crowd, “Is this going to solve anything? Why are we attacking the people who are trying to fix the problem?” But the crowd doesn’t listen, they are the ones fixing the problem…

I awake in a cold sweat on my keyboard, slightly disoriented. I check for the Clean Access Agent. Finally, I’m able to log in and access the web. I start to check my e-mail and then the images of the riot flash through my mind… was it all just a dream? Or did it really happen?