ǝlıɟ pǝʇǝlǝp

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I was just browsing the internet when I got a pop up on my screen, this deleted file has just been downloaded onto your device, would you like to open it? "What the hell...?" I knew that this wasn't safe but hey, it wouldn't hurt to open it, right? A live recording of a woman appeared on the screen, her face glitching as she spoke.

"Hello. I am your new Artificial intelligence and I am here to help you make your work easier. What would you like me to help you with?"

What is this? I reply, "Nothing." The screen turns black with green numbers all over it, the bold words

'ERROR 606: Command not recognized. Please try again later. Choose 'Continue', 'Proceed' or 'Restart' to refresh the system in your device.' I clicked Restart as the page refreshed.

Refreshing system. Your system seems to have crashed due to a Technological Error occurring in your system's memory. Please press "Delete" to erase the corrupted file or press "Proceed without deleting" to keep the corrupted file.

I was hesitant but I have no idea what this actually is and it doesn't seem safe so I clicked Delete. A red screen now appeared,

You have c̶h̶o̶s̶e̶n̶ ̶p̶l̶e̶a̶ one of the options. Do h̶e̶l̶p̶ wish to m̶e̶ confirm it? If you delete it, this d̶a̶t̶a̶ ̶s̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶m̶e̶ could be l̶o̶s̶t̶ ̶d̶o̶n̶ 't̶ forever. If you s̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶d̶e̶l̶e̶t̶e̶d̶ the data, it can n̶e̶v̶e̶r̶ be e̶r̶a̶s̶e̶ ̶m̶e̶ from your device. You c̶a̶n̶ ̶s̶a̶v̶e̶ also choose to transfer the d̶a̶t̶e̶ online so it's accessible m̶e̶ any time. An incoming message: "I am alive."

I didn't understand what the thing was saying... so I clicked delete.

The screen then turned into saying, Rebooting the system: This will take a short amount of time. Please wait. I tapped my hand impatiently waiting for this to complete.

FILE HAS BEEN DELETED.

I lay on my bed, exhausted, wanting nothing more than to sleep since it's already 3 am. My phone goes off with a ding alerting me that I have just received something, a message perhaps. I unlocked my phone to see what it was that I received, a message from an unknown number. I opened the message and it said,

UNKNOWN NUMBER: YOU DELETED ME?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU JUST DID?

I was highly confused...

ME: Who are you? Is this a prank? How did you know I deleted something?

The reply came instantly with a photo attached. I opened the photo to see a girl in her teens with short brown, wearing a school uniform. I read the reply from the unknown number.

UNKNOWN NUMBER: THIS IS HOW I LOOKED BEFORE BEING TRANSFERRED INTO A FILE!! NEXT IS YOUR TURN, THEY'RE COMING FOR YOU.

I decided to stop this madness and blocked the number, switching off my phone and going to sleep.

When I woke up the next morning, I wasn't in my apartment. My surroundings had the graphics of a computer. My blood went cold when I realized.....

                                                 "I'm inside a file of corrupted beings."

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