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The Boy Who Backed Up the Sky

sci-fi◐ Teen
5 contributors · 4 paragraphs deep

At the radio tower Milo finds a humming metal box bolted to the base, covered in blinking lights. A small screen reads: ADMIN ACCESS REQUIRED. Below it, a single keyboard waits, and the cursor blinks like it's been waiting for him.

Before Milo can touch the keyboard, the box sparks and the screen turns red: INTRUDER. A calm voice from the speaker says, 'This world is scheduled for deletion. Please step away.' The keyboard locks. Milo has maybe seconds before it shuts him out for good.

↔ version 2 of 2 of this paragraph — hover its sides to flip. The card below is what happens next.

What happens next?

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A possible continuation

Milo jams every key at once and shouts, 'I live here! You can't delete people!' The red screen flickers, surprised, then asks a real question for the first time: DEFINE PEOPLE. He types the truest answer he has: 'People are the ones who'll be missed.' The screen reads it, then turns blue. DELETION CANCELLED. WORLD_07 FLAGGED AS INHABITED.

DH
Dov Hale
10 votes · future 1 of 1