Social media is a very interesting thing to harness. Mindlessly rotting your brain away to videos you'd play on loop before scrolling away to see another fifteen second thing to rot your brain some more. It provides mental stimulation when you need it most. But sometimes, the mindless entertainment goes a little too far... Into obsession...
When I first heard of Group 7, I thought it was just another silly online trend. I mean, everyone was talking about it like it was some kind of exclusive club. But if it's something that keeps showing up for me, does that make me part of the group? And what was its function?
I casually scrolled on past yet another video that vaguely mentioned the group but never quite defined it. And not two videos later, I was back to the group videos. It made literally no sense. And why was the guy in the video chugging a milkshake?
I was suddenly snapped back to reality as the bus screeched to a halt, jolting me slightly. I glanced outside. This was my stop.
I could see my apartment as I crawled off the steps and headed to the sidewalk. I could see the sun was already setting, casting an orange haze over the world. The wind felt a bit chilly, making me regret wearing a short sleeved shirt.
It was strange, I thought. It almost seemed weird to address, but I didn't hardly remember getting on that bus to begin with. I shrugged it off. I must have just been exhausted. I mean, I did just get off of a seven hour shift at work. Besides, I had to have gotten on the bus, otherwise how would I have gotten off of it?
Heading into my apartment, I threw my bag to the couch and slid off my shoes. I headed to the bathroom and spent the next thirty minutes or so just sitting there, listening to music as I waited for my business to be done.
As I sat there, I decided to scroll through some videos again on my phone. Sure enough, I was greeted with yet another video about this mysterious Group 7. Only the woman in the video was petting her cat as the cat made funny noises and stared down the camera. The lady was telling the cat, and by proxy me, that Group 7 was a special group for special people. Only a select few even know it exists. And the Grouper knows when you join the group.
That made me chuckle. The Grouper? Seriously? How unoriginal could they be with this?
With that, I shut my phone off and stood from my seat and headed back to my bedroom. Wait. How did I get to the kitchen?
Looking around, I saw that it was already night time. I looked down at the table and saw that there was a plate full of crumbs. It was clear that I had just eaten, but I didn't remember doing so. But then, why did my mouth have the aftertaste of a peanut butter sandwich? I moved my tongue around my mouth and sure enough, there were some globs of peanut butter stuck to my teeth.
I looked down at my phone and it was somehow seven minutes after midnight. How was this even possible? I just got home from work!
I felt a knot forming in my stomach as a sense of dread took over me. Was this what it meant to be in Group 7, I wondered. To feel like you're completely losing time? Like the simulation is breaking around you and you're just stuck there, forced to bear witness with nothing you can do about it?
I tried not to think about it too much and headed to bed. I did feel pretty tired after all. The hours of work still left my body feeling pretty exhausted, no matter how many hours its supposedly been since I got home.
As I crawled into bed, I grabbed my phone and looked around the room, which was consumed by darkness. Well, outside of the moonlight that poured in through my bedroom window and illuminated my room somewhat. It was nice to be able to see the room around me rather than sitting in pitch darkness. There's no telling what could be hiding in the dark...
I turned my gaze to my phone. I opened up my video app and scrolled through. It didn't take long before I found another video about Group 7. This one was a little off. Rather than it being a normal person talking to their phone, it was completely dark. You could barely make anything out. Suddenly, the dark room in the video was illuminated by a bright, pulsing red light. Each time the light pulsed, I could see a new person entering the frame, shrouded in darkness. Then another. Then another.
This video was starting to freak me out, so I quickly scrolled past it. Then my phone shown black with a white logo of my phone brand in the center of the screen. It stayed there for a while. A little too long, I'd say...
What was going on? I asked myself as I could feel a sense of dread overtaking me, my heart racing a mile a minute. My phone never just randomly reboots like that.
Just then, the phone screen turned black and nothing happened. Did my phone just die?
Suddenly, a familiar red pulsing light illuminated my bedroom. Each time the red faded back in, I jumped as another dark figure appeared in a random corner of my room. Then another. Then another. Until the red light stopped pulsing and kept my room illuminated.
I held my breath and shut my eyes tightly, hoping this was only a nightmare and it would all be over soon.
Slowly, I opened my eyes and nearly jumped out of my skin. There, standing over me, was a large figure in a large, red cloak. Its hood was pulled up so I couldn't see its face. It handed me a letter. It was too dark to read anything on it, but the thing before me said in a cold and harsh voice, "Welcome to Group 7..."
When I first heard of Group 7, I thought it was just another silly online trend. I mean, everyone was talking about it like it was some kind of exclusive club. But if it's something that keeps showing up for me, does that make me part of the group? And what was its function?
I casually scrolled on past yet another video that vaguely mentioned the group but never quite defined it. And not two videos later, I was back to the group videos. It made literally no sense. And why was the guy in the video chugging a milkshake?
I was suddenly snapped back to reality as the bus screeched to a halt, jolting me slightly. I glanced outside. This was my stop.
I could see my apartment as I crawled off the steps and headed to the sidewalk. I could see the sun was already setting, casting an orange haze over the world. The wind felt a bit chilly, making me regret wearing a short sleeved shirt.
It was strange, I thought. It almost seemed weird to address, but I didn't hardly remember getting on that bus to begin with. I shrugged it off. I must have just been exhausted. I mean, I did just get off of a seven hour shift at work. Besides, I had to have gotten on the bus, otherwise how would I have gotten off of it?
Heading into my apartment, I threw my bag to the couch and slid off my shoes. I headed to the bathroom and spent the next thirty minutes or so just sitting there, listening to music as I waited for my business to be done.
As I sat there, I decided to scroll through some videos again on my phone. Sure enough, I was greeted with yet another video about this mysterious Group 7. Only the woman in the video was petting her cat as the cat made funny noises and stared down the camera. The lady was telling the cat, and by proxy me, that Group 7 was a special group for special people. Only a select few even know it exists. And the Grouper knows when you join the group.
That made me chuckle. The Grouper? Seriously? How unoriginal could they be with this?
With that, I shut my phone off and stood from my seat and headed back to my bedroom. Wait. How did I get to the kitchen?
Looking around, I saw that it was already night time. I looked down at the table and saw that there was a plate full of crumbs. It was clear that I had just eaten, but I didn't remember doing so. But then, why did my mouth have the aftertaste of a peanut butter sandwich? I moved my tongue around my mouth and sure enough, there were some globs of peanut butter stuck to my teeth.
I looked down at my phone and it was somehow seven minutes after midnight. How was this even possible? I just got home from work!
I felt a knot forming in my stomach as a sense of dread took over me. Was this what it meant to be in Group 7, I wondered. To feel like you're completely losing time? Like the simulation is breaking around you and you're just stuck there, forced to bear witness with nothing you can do about it?
I tried not to think about it too much and headed to bed. I did feel pretty tired after all. The hours of work still left my body feeling pretty exhausted, no matter how many hours its supposedly been since I got home.
As I crawled into bed, I grabbed my phone and looked around the room, which was consumed by darkness. Well, outside of the moonlight that poured in through my bedroom window and illuminated my room somewhat. It was nice to be able to see the room around me rather than sitting in pitch darkness. There's no telling what could be hiding in the dark...
I turned my gaze to my phone. I opened up my video app and scrolled through. It didn't take long before I found another video about Group 7. This one was a little off. Rather than it being a normal person talking to their phone, it was completely dark. You could barely make anything out. Suddenly, the dark room in the video was illuminated by a bright, pulsing red light. Each time the light pulsed, I could see a new person entering the frame, shrouded in darkness. Then another. Then another.
This video was starting to freak me out, so I quickly scrolled past it. Then my phone shown black with a white logo of my phone brand in the center of the screen. It stayed there for a while. A little too long, I'd say...
What was going on? I asked myself as I could feel a sense of dread overtaking me, my heart racing a mile a minute. My phone never just randomly reboots like that.
Just then, the phone screen turned black and nothing happened. Did my phone just die?
Suddenly, a familiar red pulsing light illuminated my bedroom. Each time the red faded back in, I jumped as another dark figure appeared in a random corner of my room. Then another. Then another. Until the red light stopped pulsing and kept my room illuminated.
I held my breath and shut my eyes tightly, hoping this was only a nightmare and it would all be over soon.
Slowly, I opened my eyes and nearly jumped out of my skin. There, standing over me, was a large figure in a large, red cloak. Its hood was pulled up so I couldn't see its face. It handed me a letter. It was too dark to read anything on it, but the thing before me said in a cold and harsh voice, "Welcome to Group 7..."
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