Rabbit Hole

Okay, let’s think of nice, relaxing things. Writing, yeah, I like that, although writers don’t have much of a future anymore, not like before anyway. With AI, nobody looks for writers, painters, or programmers. This AI is going to replace us. Soon we’ll have an android at home, like in the game Detroit: Become Human. I loved playing it, but now that it’s closer than ever, if they were to kill us Terminator-style, I’d understand, but to replace us and leave us without jobs, without value, without goals, without anything… there’s nothing worse than having nothing to look forward to, nothing that excites you. It’s like being in a depression. Oh no, here I go down the rabbit hole again, let’s focus. Okay, my phone still has no coverage or internet signal. AI controls everything, but if you lose your internet connection or your digital device, you lose your life. You have nothing—no social networks, no friends, nothing to read, no terrible news to complain about. You’re cut off from the world, unable to talk to anyone, without access to your photos, documents, things you’ve written, basically your memories, because we don’t have memory anymore. They fill our minds with useless information and advertising that we don’t need at all while we forget how great we had it at our favorite singer’s concert last week. I don’t even have that memory because I was recording with my phone, a phone that now, without battery, is as if none of that ever existed. The Great Blackout, oh my God, they say we’re going to lose our lives. I don’t even have physical books anymore, only online games and magazines, we’re going to lose everything. Oh no, focus again, no, I can’t, yes you can, focus quickly, someone will soon notice you’re trapped in the elevator and they’ll get you out. Don’t think about the bad stuff, focus on the good. Let’s see what I have in my bag, I don’t even have food or water, great, I’ll probably survive for about 5 minutes. Why do I never bring anything? Oh yeah, because my bag gets heavy and my back, which is already a mess, gets worse. Just what I needed. I’m starting to get thirsty, my throat is dry, I’m coughing, I’m having an allergy attack. How can pollen get into this space of less than one square meter? I don’t think it’s that, you’re paranoid, go back to thinking about good things, like what you were going to do today. I had a date, well, considering what time it is, I think I don’t have it anymore. Is it me or is it getting hotter here? Oh no, it’s not heat, is it lack of air? No, calm down, you’re a hypochondriac. Well, what floor was I on? It’s only the fifth floor, there’s not that much height below in case the elevator ends up falling because of my own weight. I don’t weigh that much, even if I cheated on my diet, the cake I ate last weekend couldn’t have made me gain that much weight, could it? How can something that weighs less than a kilo make me gain two kilos? Can someone explain that to me? Anyway, don’t look down, just don’t think about that. Wait, is that a spider over there? In that corner? Oh no, a beetle? Please don’t tell me it is, alright, just, step on it, come on. Oh no, imagine if it was a bee and it stung me in this space where I can’t run away. Maybe it’s just a speck of dust, don’t move, oh God, it moved, it moved! “Is there someone in there?” Yes, yes, there’s someone in here, me and the beetle, I mean just me, please! “The elevator got stuck between two floors, we’re going to open the doors and get you out, okay?” Okay, I can do it, it’s over, everything will be fine. Oh my God, I’m drenched in sweat, how am I going to go to work like this? I look like a wet hen, and let’s see, oh no, I smell terrible. What the hell are deodorants for anyway? They only smell good when you just got out of the shower, right? Perfect, why would I want to smell good when I already smell like soap, huh? “Give me your hand, miss.” I’m trying but I can’t reach it, I can’t reach. “Please, I can’t open the door anymore, give me your hand, don’t unbalance the platform, miss.” Unbalance? I don’t weigh that much, no, you don’t either, please, I already have enough with my cat’s judgmental look every time I have dessert at home. I can’t reach, I can’t move, I can’t, oh no, don’t tell me I’m going to faint right now. A little more, just a little more, everything is spinning around me, but a little more, “miss, please, give me your hand…” almost, I’m almost there. Does it smell like smoke? I don’t smoke, I used to smoke but not anymore, I overcame it like a champion, it didn’t cost me much, I just gained 30 kilos in the process and a whole wardrobe of new clothes. “An elevator component has burned, we have to get out of here quickly, miss, hurry up” don’t you see I’m already doing it? Can’t you open the doors more? I can’t fit through here, open it more, I don’t fit, ugh, what a cough, it smells burned. Where is the man? Wasn’t there a man here stretching his hand? Has he disappeared? Or is it the smoke that doesn’t let me see anything? Hello? Is anyone here? There’s something here, it must be the man’s hand, it’s metallic, it can’t be, well, grab it anyway, oh, it’s come loose, what was this? The elevator handle? Ouch, my back, great, at least my fat ass stopped the fall, hello cockroach, now I can see it well from the ground, yes, it was a cockroach, great, it’s climbing up my leg, I can’t move or see anything, it smells too burned, well, this is as far as we’ve come. I can’t breathe. Goodbye. The alarm clock. “Wake up sleepyhead! It’s my birthday!” “Son, I know it’s funny to you, but how many times have I told you not to put your hands in your aunt’s face?” Ugh, I’m finally breathing again, what happened, God, I’m drenched in sweat, what time is it? So late, ugh, today is my nephew’s birthday, I have to go pick up the cake, although I’m not going to eat it, I’m on a diet, but skipping it for one day won’t hurt, and the piece of cake I eat can’t weigh that much, right? 250 grams? As a maximum I should only gain a few grams, shouldn’t I? That would be the logic, I think.