''Author's note: This is based off a dream I had the other day. Enjoy!''
I woke up suddenly to hear my computer starting up all by itself. I was asleep, so I could not have turned it on myself. Therefore, that is how I deduced that it started up by itself. On the computer screen, the words "C:/msav.exe" were scrolling in gray Times New Roman text. They took up the entire screen. The text cursor was flashing with the scrolling text, which prompted me to press the enter button. This brought up more scrolling text, saying
''MICROSOFT ANTIVIRUS v6.66''
''Please enter your password to continue to the scanner:''
''(C) Microsoft. We are not responsible for any injury caused during the use of this program.''
I entered my password and pressed Enter again. This brought me to yet another screen, but this time, the text wasn't scrolling. It was just a crude MS-DOS-esque screen which displayed some text saying that my computer was in dire need of an antivirus scan, a progress bar and text saying which folder was currently being scanned. But then, I noticed that the performance of the scanner was quite slow, perhaps deliberately. Then, I noticed that there was another line of text saying "Press X to turn the throttle off." I did. It said:
''For every time the throttle is turned off, it will be turned off for 5 minutes, and turning the throttle off will drastically improve the scanner's performance. However, a human life force will have to compensate for turning off the throttle.''
A human life force? I thought to myself that this was ridiculous, and it couldn't really happen, because computers can't kill people... right? I tried turning off the throttle once. The scanner was faster for 5 minutes, like it said, but then the throttle turned itself on again. I tried turning off the throttle again. This time, it only worked for 4 minutes. Then three. Then two. Then one. Then half a minute. Then 15 seconds. Then 10 seconds. Then just 1 second. I was impatient, so I would keep turning the throttle off over and over again, but I didn't realise the tragic consequences which my actions had. While I was turning the throttle off continually, someone died, just like the computer said would happen. A cancer survivor. A Nobel Prize winner. An average Joe. But those lives didn't matter to me. All that mattered to me was my computer.
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The next day, I woke up again. My parents were watching TV. There was news about a mysterious string of deaths. All those who had died had died in the same way: they appeared perfectly healthy, but everything within them had just suddenly stopped working. Just like a computer which crashed. I realised that the computer was right. Then I jumped out of my house. The end.
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