[b]Ernest Cline
Capitalism would inch forward, without my actually having to interact face-to-face with another human being. Which was exactly how I preferred it, thank you.[/b]
Admittedly, he is right about that part.
And I was just there, less than an hour ago, debugging subroutines in my cubicle, when a motherfucking Earth Defense Alliance shuttle suddenly shows up and lands right outside my office building! I figured I must be losing it. Now I’m not sure what to think.
You know, like the Men In Black showing up in the Matrix.
As I stared out at the grim skyline, a bright sliver of the sun peeked over the horizon. Watching it rise, I performed a mental ritual: Whenever I saw the sun, I reminded myself that I was looking at a star. One of over a hundred billion stars in our galaxy. A galaxy that was just one of billions of other galaxies in the observable universe. This helped me keep things in perspective.
You know, going back to an expanation for existence itself.
It felt wonderful. Like being struck by lightning.
Uh, if you know what he means?
It occurred to me then that for the first time in as long as I could remember, I had absolutely no desire to log back into the OASIS.
Or – gasp! – ILP?
At this school, the only real weapons were words, so I’d become skilled at wielding them.
I know, I know: would that it could be like that here.