The Monster That Never Sleeps

They called it the monster that never sleeps. Hundreds had been killed before scientists determined it needed light to survive. The problem being, in a city as modern as Tokyo, there was always light.

Tokyo's leading scientists, led by Dr. Hashimoto, came up with a plan to kill the light monster. They would cut off all power in the entire city at the same time, while making sure every citizen turned off every light source in their home.

The plan would have worked. Unfortunately, Toshi Takahashi decided to keep playing his PSP during the blackout.

All of Tokyo was destroyed.

Virtual Insanity

Shibuya Station is nearly empty. The afternoon rain sent all the gamers scrambling for shelter for their mobiles.

I am left to wait virtually alone. The desolation leaves me feeling I am a character in a post-nuclear zombie p2p actioner. Hisamitsu and Starbucks and the latest Bruce Willis movie are the sponsors of my apocalypse. Even my daydreams have become corporatized.

I see her exit the underground. Her eyes never leave her mobile. She walks past, not even noticing the rain.

Her avatar pops onto my screen for a few fleeting seconds.

Our marriage will endure another seven years.