Wednesday 8 March 2017

Signal Part one

For audio click here 

Paul had four bars on his phone but each time he tried to make a call, his screen told him there was no service. His phone buzzed, but it was only a message telling him his own messages had not been sent. This was strange. 
He dialled Kelly’s number again, but again the called failed. 
“Hello, hello. Bugger it.” The man next to him stared at his screen obviously having the same problem as Paul. 
All around them people were swearing, scratching their heads or staring at screens as their communication devices failed them. Paul tried to access the internet to see if there was news of the failure but his 4G was also down. He searched for free Wi-Fi signals, but there was nothing available. 
“Nothing?” Bugger it man asked him. 
“Nothing,” Paul confirmed. 
“Odd, isn't it?”
“It's obviously everyone,” Paul said, nodding at the others around them.  The stranger sighed. 
Paul mechanically checked his emails before remembering they wouldn't work either. He then tried Kelly’s number again, more in hope that expectation. 
“Amazing how quickly we got used to this.” The man said shaking his phone. “Smartphones are what, only ten years old?” 
Paul nodded remembering before the Internet he hadn't chatted with strangers much and a blackout didn't make him feel any more inclined to. He was wondering about his heavily pregnant wife and hoping she wasn’t trying to contact him with news.
“And now we can't live without it. Look at everyone, staring at their phones desperate for a sign of life.” 
Luckily for Paul, the stranger was content with a monologue.
“A bit pathetic really isn't it. Anyway, I am sure it will be back soon. I guess there was a power surge somewhere or something.” 
Paul thought differently, but he kept his thoughts to himself. A power surge might take out one provider, but not all of them. This was something else; something more sinister. He looked around the station, not everyone was looking at their phones. There were people milling around who looked quite at ease with the situation. Almost as if they'd been expecting it. 
He kept an eye on them, they were snaking around, casing the place, watching. He thought of Kelly at home trying to contact him. He hoped she wouldn’t worry.
Bleep bleep. 
All those phones rising from the dead at the same moment was almost deafening. People grabbed their devices; the relief palpable. It had been about seven minutes without a signal, far too long for the average person to go without a screen fix.
“Ah here we go,” the man next to him said, playing with his own phone.
The majority of people looked down at their screens, but the watchers just smirked. 
Paul read the message on his phone. 
     All mobile signals have been suspended until further notice. 
“What the fuck?” 
“What on earth?”
“This must be a joke?”
While people stared at the screens trying to work out what was going on, soldiers in black uniforms swarmed the concourse. 
Something was going down. The problem was Paul didn’t have a clue what. 

For part two click here

4 comments:

  1. That looks like a very interesting social psychology experiment... this would definitely cause communication breakdown/panic/insecurity as people who are used to instant contact would be suddenly cut off from others... oh, but I imagine real panic in the eyes of those whose Facebook and Instagram walls are full of pictures of themselves, updated daily... How would they live now know that the world cannot see their faces every day????? And how about those who spend their days watching these selfies? ... deprived of their daily bread... Disaster!

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    1. Yes, those people with 6,600 instagram followers would miss their likes I guess :-)

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    2. or these who have hundreds of views on their blog:-) and the readers of those blogs who are addicted to them like they are to their morning coffee:-D

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  2. I´m addicted to this blog like to my morning coffee:-)

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