Transcript:

You mightn't know this, but back in the day, for a lot of people, the internet came on disk.

Buy a computing magazine? Inside, attached with a light adhesive to the back cover, was a disk with 10 free hours. Open the mail, there'd be a disk or CD with 20 free hours. Heck, head into the local computer store and they'd have a pile of them stacked next to the cash register. These things were everywhere.

There were the big ones of course - AOL, Compuserve, Prodigy, but some seemed to come and go in the blink of an eye. That's where our story starts.

It was the mid 90's and I was a teenager at the time. We had a low end Pentium with a 28K baud modem. It was hot garbage. We didn't use the big names or what would be considered well know providers, but we had a decent deal with some local low-end ISP.

It was slow, it was limited, but I was addicted to playing on-line RPGs, so it was lacking.

I had burned through the weekly time we were allotted by our ISP, so I was at the library, using their computers and internet connection to get a few more hours in on some long forgotten MUD. That's multi-user-dungeon to you younger folk. An MMORPG that was all text. Theatre of the mind, baby.

I hadn't noticed them until I turned to get up from the library's PC to head home. A hooded figure, a little short, stood standing behind me.

"Oh, I guess I've been hogging it" I said looking at my watch, noticing that I went longer than I thought. "All yours."

I went to move out of the way when they placed a gloved hand on my chest.

"Uhh…" I said.

They gave off a weird vibe. I couldn't see a face under the hood. Under a hoody sporting the logo of the local college, their body seemed to shift somehow.

When they touched me, I could feel a weird... I donno... slight sting... then buzzing?

I went to step away, but I somehow felt compelled to stay.

The figure then reached into a pocket and produced a disk. They held it out, head still down, keeping their face away from me.

"The Hive.Net?” I said, reading the label. “Never heard of it."

The figure pushed the disk forward. My bus was coming shortly, and I knew if I didn't take it, I'd get home way too late. Better play along.

"Uhh… thanks?" I said, taking the disk and dropping it into my pocket.

The figure nodded, seemingly satisfied, and then stepped out of the way.

As I passed, I felt like I was being watched, not just by a single individual, but by a thousand eyes.

On the bus-ride home I took the disk out and examined it. The Hive.Net - "Unlimited free trial!" It proclaimed. I didn't believe it.

"This has to be some sort of scam," I said. "Free disk anyway. I can format it and use it for school projects or something."

I tossed the disk onto my desk when I got home and went to bed.

I tried sleeping. I tossed and turned, but the situation with the strange figure and the disk stuck in my head. There seemed to be a weird hum in the back of my mind. My chest itched where the figure had touched me.

Bleary eyed, I got up and turned on the PC. I fingered the disk as I waited for it to boot. There was almost... an anticipation in my body.

Once our fresh copy of Windows 95 popped up, I slotted the disk in and loaded the only file - 'thehive.exe'

A simple window popped up with the picture of a stylized... I donno... beehive? No.. it was more grey.. more papery.

The text read "Join The Hive?" There was a simple yes/no button prompt at the bottom.

It was weird.. there was no sign up, no request for a credit card to pay. There wasn't even a list of local servers.

Shrugging, I hit 'Yes'. It felt like the only option.

The modem cried and screeched as usual as it connected.... then nothing.

"Aww fuck, this thing is probably a virus." I said.

I tried to move the mouse, but my hand was stuck. I was frozen.

The modem started up again, making it's normal cries to try to reconnect without my prompting... and then... the sound changed... to a buzzing... a humming... a chorus of voices..

I then heard a thump outside my window. I found myself unable to move - all I could do is stare at that logo... and listen to the voices.

I heard somebody slide open the window to my room. A slight thump as their feet hit the floor.

Many feet.

A figure moved next to me. It was the same figure that gave me the disk in the library.

They lifted their head, and pulled back their hood. Their face a wasp-like amalgamation of human and insect. Their eyes were segmented and mandibles were poking out from the sides of their mouth.

I sat frozen in horror as they removed a glove, revealing a hand half-transformed into a blackened, hairy, insect like claw. They placed it on my chest and I felt a shocking jolt.

At that moment, I knew then that the disk had been used to track my location. A signal to tell… them… where I was.

My body started to shift... to change

A voice came loud and clear now.... I knew it was the voice of a queen.... our queen.

"Welcome to the hive."

***

Art: @cappycatii https://cappycatii.newgrounds.com/

SFX Used:

https://freesound.org/people/BlueNeon/sounds/203512/

https://freesound.org/people/Brsjak/sounds/623134/