Internet 24

A platform made of tile forms under me as the aisle begins to twist, stretch, and break apart. The pieces reshape and form floating islands. It's a scene ripped out of a video game as the fog disperses, and the aisle now floats in cosmic space.

I look at the floating islands, and each of them is different. Their sizes range from a bare living room to the size of a three-bedroom home. The terrain changes from a desert to a tundra, a lava-filled cavern, and a hot dog cart. It's just a flat space with a guy standing there with a hot dog cart with a sign saying rest zone.

KURT

Since you said it, you activated the Dungeon.

There is no going back. You are given the option

every month when your payment is due to attempt

the Dungeon Run. If completed, your debt is

washed. No more debt. If you lose, you must make

that month's payment. You can only attempt this

once a month. Once you start, you can't stop until you lose.

RYE

What does it mean to lose?

KURT

I would get to running before the slugs come back.

Meet me at the end if you want your debt wiped clean.

Kurt was gone in a flash of blue light, and I was left standing at the beginning of this long aisle. If it means clearing my debt, I'll walk as far as I need to. I make my way down the aisle. The shelves are filled with the same mystically weird items as before. Then, a CLICK, and I hear Kurt's voice through an intercom.

KURT

This will be your last chance to purchase any

items to help you on your run. If you do, the total

will be added to your debt. If you complete the run,

all debt will be erased. Fail the run; you must make

your new monthly payment, with the new total

adjusted for any additional purchase.

More debt, no thanks. It's just a walk; I can handle it. I make it to the first island, and light shines on the rim when I step on it. It's just a concrete circle filled with random shopping carts. I hear a chime and then a CRASH! A glass snail, the size of a golden retriever with shards popping out of its shell, falls from the sky. The stone shatters, and carts fly into the air. Its high-pitched screech sounds like breaking glass.

AM I SUPPOSED TO FIGHT THIS?

The slug has too long tendrils with eyes on its head. They are clear and have no pupils, but I can feel their stare. The monster charges at me, and it's faster than any slug i have ever seen. I expect a slow, tedious crawl, but it sprints like a Doberman.

My heart pounds in my chest. My breaths are shallow. I squeeze both first. SQUEAK. I feel a soft elastic plastic in my hand. I look down at my palm and see the ball i bought. I rapidly squeeze the ball. The clock face on the ball begins to move, with the ticks growing faster with every squeeze. A faint glow grows stronger with every press until it shines, and I hear a ding.

The world around me is silent. The slug that was charging at me is still. I see tiny light glitches around its body as if it is being rendered in real-time. It's like the monster has lagged as it's stuck in slow motion. It reminds me of when I play a game online, and the internet is garbage. Everything is still but has a sense of movement.

I take a breath in. Wait, how am I able to breathe? Shouldn't the air be frozen, too? Yet, here I am, taking a breath. The ball in my hand is still glowing. I have time. I should be able to beat this in five minutes if I full sprint to the end.

I run down the aisle through the floating islands. They are longer than I thought, and I only make it past 3 islands by the time the glow is nearly gone in the ball. The sun baked me in a small desert with patches of a parking lot embedded in the sand. I almost caught frostbite in a city park in the middle of a snowstorm, and the last looked like the pharmacy in the grocery store but empty. I look forward and see I have seven more islands until the one with a giant neon letter sign spells out GOAL.

On the first step of the pharmacy island, the glow of the ball is gone. In an instant, I am bombarded by a series of alarms and horrendous noises. I also hear Kurt's voice booming through an intercom.

KURT

Looks like you used the stress ball.

It's a clever move, but since it's your first go at this,

I don't think it was smart. Taking it slowly may

have caused a game over sooner, but it lets you learn.

RYE

I'm only doing it once!

Kurt's laugh echoes through the space.

KURT

You think you can knock this out in one shot?

You, of all people. You barely survived a decision.

RYE

I got this. Watch and learn-

I am interrupted by a screech from death's throat. It turns and sees a series of horrific events happening at once. Fire erupts from the titles of the first path, one row at a time. Skelton rises from the sand. I don't know if I am right, but it looks like a gorilla skeleton.

On the ice island, a mammoth with a snake for a trunk rises from the snowstorm. I'm sorry I said that too calmly. On the ice island, there is a MAMMOTH WITH A HUGE SNAKE FOR A TRUNK! With the pharmacy spawning... phantoms. They have large, pure black eyes that are larger than any natural eyes. Their jaws spread wider than natural as they can dislocate their jaws, and their faces stretch. These are the ghosts of all the people the United States Medical system has failed.

The worst part is that they are not staying in their respective zones. They are all moving toward me. Some are still far away, but the ghosts reach out to grab me. It is of an old man with a cane.

GHOST

Why does an ambulance cost so much?!?

He swings at me, and I can step back before the cane can come down to me. It hits the aisles tile and crushes it into dust. I stare at it for a moment. If that struck me, I would be dead. My body doesn't let me think about that for a second longer as I sprint to the next island.

I keep squeezing the ball, hoping it is done recharging, but it isn't. Still, there is a chance I can make it out alive. If I sprint through the next Island nonstop, I can make it. I run to the next island, ready. It looks like a farm. Instead of growing one crop, it produces them all. Any vegetable you can imagine is here. Then, the ground started to shake.

Erupting from the ground is a spider the size of an Elephant. Its back thorax is a pumpkin, its body a head of lettuce. Its long legs are carrots, its head a bright red tomato, and its eyes black olives. Sounds cute, but the open jaw with jagged rows of teeth is horrifying. It blocked the exit, waiting for me to make the first move.

I... I can't. What am I supposed to do? Do they expect me to fight this? Then, the sound of marching feet fills the island. Both the ghosts and the gorilla skeletons made it to the island. They carry driving signs on long metal rods. One holds a STOP sign, another YIELD, with the last bearing CHILDREN CROSSING. The mammoth is on the aisle behind them.

I'm surrounded, and my chest is heavy. I squeeze the ball frantically, but it's still not ready. For a moment, a single second, I glance back at the spider. In that tiny gap of time, the monsters behind me charged.