Did it Move?

Did it move?

Did it move just now when I blinked?

I don’t think it moved.

Maybe by half a pixel. Can the line move by just half a pixel?

What’s it doing in there?

It hasn’t moved in two minutes.

Has it?

The little line was right above the middle of the “u” wasn’t it? Or was it above one of the two “u” walls? What do you call “u” walls? I should look that up. But I can’t. Not until this moves. I can’t touch it until it’s done.

It was moving so fast when it started.

It just stopped all of a sudden.

What’s it doing in there? What could be taking so long?

Did somebody test this before they sent it out? Did nobody see this happen? Did nobody care? Is this how they get their kicks, making people watch the little line NOT MOVE for two minutes?

Three minutes. It’s been three minutes now.

Something has to be wrong.

Thousands of people are installing this right now. Are thousands of people waiting for the stupid line to move? Or am I the only one?

Is it something I did? Did I press “Accept” on the license too fast? Too slow? Is there something wrong with just my machine? Am I being punished? Should I be punished? Is this an AI that knows I need to be punished? Should I ask Siri to forgive me?

I was happy, in the Before Times, before the line stopped moving across the screen. I had friends. I had family. Now my life is watching this line.

How long has it been? Four minutes now!

Crap! Did it move when I looked at my watch?

Now I’m afraid to blink. I’m afraid I’ll lose track.

I’m going to die here, aren’t I? This is how the machines will take over. The line starts out fast, so we think it will be over quickly. Then it stops. But we keep watching it. It was moving fast just a minute ago. Maybe it will move fast again. So we stay and watch. And we starve to death and the machines take over…

THERE!

It moved!

It’s moving really fast… it’s done!

It’s done!

I’m free!

…what was I doing?