Wednesday, 17 October 2012

Nihil

by John Xero


I was born in a place that is nowhere. No coordinates, no address, no website. Ground Zero.

I was created by no one.

I am not even real.

What you do not know, can hurt you. What does not exist, could kill you.

I am plague, phage, ageless, undying, death.

I am fear-borne, and I have gone viral. Is there any more efficient transmission vector than social media? Mind to mind to mind.

Warn your friends, vaccinate them. Just a little of me, a little nothing, inside you all. That's a lot of nothing. Enough nothing to swallow the world.




Author bio: John Xero continues to chart the ways in which the world ends. And he will always be right, until the end is witnessed and all the possible apocalypses collapse into one.
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16 comments:

  1. Zaiure18 October 2012 at 05:03

    Love the first line. Perfect for so many different story lines. :)

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    Replies
    1. John Xero18 October 2012 at 19:21

      Hey, Zaiure. =D

      Thank you. That does tempt me to use it again... ;)

      Delete
  2. R.S. Bohn18 October 2012 at 13:12

    "Vaccinate them" is a bit disturbing. I'm not sure exactly what I'm imagining there, but it ain't good. To be honest, "phage" is kind of disturbing, too. Perhaps it's just the natural fear we have of it which makes these words vaguely gross.

    O Death, hollow and all-consuming.

    Off to warn my friends!

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    1. John Xero18 October 2012 at 19:23

      Ha ha. =) Spread the word... ;)

      Thank you, Becky. I've always liked the word phage, there is definitely something wrong about it...

      Delete
  3. Helen A. Howell19 October 2012 at 00:46

    This doesn't sound like it's advocating protection "Vaccinate them" it sounds like a ploy to spread itself further - chilling!

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  4. Sulci Collective19 October 2012 at 08:23

    we are all just packets of data bytes. We recreate ourselves online. Diminishing our bodily selves. Our reified gods just went from the superhuman to the microbiological. Yeah, I get this! Nicely rendered :-)

    marc nash

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    1. John Xero19 October 2012 at 08:33

      O, that way madness lies... ;)

      Cheers, Marc. =)

      This is interesting, btw:
      http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/10/11/physicists-may-have-evide_n_1957777.html

      Delete
  5. Larry Kollar19 October 2012 at 20:52

    Great description here. Death, or fear of death at least, spread by those who warn against it!

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    1. John Xero19 October 2012 at 23:32

      Death is but one aspect of annihilation, as life is but one aspect of existence... ;)

      Thank you, Larry. =)

      Delete
  6. Cat Russell19 October 2012 at 21:43

    This does to flash fiction readers what The Ring does to movie watchers. Excuse me. I need to go prepare for my inevitable demise. :D

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  7. Steve Green19 October 2012 at 23:43

    Sometimes, 'nothing' can occupy an awful lot of space...
    An awful lot of "Living" space.

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  8. Aaron20 October 2012 at 11:41

    Like a gut shot, bang!, infected with just a few mere words.

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