Connected

Mess it Up

Once I got back home I took out the hair clip and turned it over in my hands. I could just barely make out where it would split open. Inside would be the Micro SD card that I would place into Hyunjin's computer.

The plan was officially in motion and I was the most important piece now. Of course, I could still back out. All I had to do was call Lee Know and tell him that I changed my mind. He would have understood, but it wouldn't be an easy phone call to make.

I walked over to my desk and grabbed a post it note and a pen from the top of the pile of junk that littered the desk. I placed the clip on the edge in a somewhat clean spot.

Then, I sat down on the bed and unlocked my phone. I began writing several of the numbers down that I needed to keep: Felix, Hyunjin, and Lee Know's. Then I clicked over to settings and tapped on Factory reset. I watched as the screen turned black and I lost everything.

I left the phone on the bed as it loaded up and went out to the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. I took a swig and set the bottle back on the counter. I turned to look at the small space that I called home. There were no small things anywhere. I had a futon for the living room and a bed and desk in the bedroom but that was all of the major furniture.

The thing I had been most proud of, my computer, had been restricted down to the meagerest of settings. I could get on it during my own time, and not a whole lot else. The same system error message would pop up whenever I tried to access anything outside of my own time. "Due to a previous charge, your time has been highly restricted."

Now it just mostly collected dust, while I used others' time, which was wildly unrestricted. I picked up the water bottle and took another swig as I went to check on my phone.

It had been completely reset. All pictures, texts, and call logs had been deleted. I opened my contacts and stared at the completely empty phonebook. I typed back in the three numbers I needed to keep.

I set my phone down and flopped back onto my bed. I didn't realize how tired I must have been, because when I woke up, it was dark outside and the time on my phone read 2:55 am. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I needed to do one more thing here on my own computer before tomorrow.

It was my own idea, but Lee Know hadn't shot it down. In fact he thought it had been fairly funny. I powered on the computer and the same message popped up just like always: "Due to a previous charge, your time has been highly restricted."

I left it on the message and went to the bathroom to splash some water on my face. Then I pulled my hair back into a bun and changed into pajamas.

When I came back the time read, 3:03. The message disappeared from the screen and I was left in the login screen. I sat down and logged in. I opened several apps and made a list of things to do. As time inched closer and closer to the 33 minute mark, I finally opened the internet browser.

Conveniently, the government included a countdown within the browser to tell you how much longer you had to wait. Then when you got logged in, the countdown would wait at the bottom of your screen, counting down the time that you had remaining.

5- I opened another window, dragging each to its own side.

4- I typed in one url.

3- Then the other.

2- I took a deep breath

1- I hit enter.

The screen exploded in color as I now had full access to the internet. A small warning sign appeared next to my time, alerting me that the time was being monitored extra closely this morning. I only smiled, then scrolled through the first website on my list.