We Need To Talk

Luke woke before his alarm, or at least he thought he did, it had not gone off yet. He rolled over and grabbed his phone, something was wrong with it. He turned it on and off, then tried to navigate through different screens, it did not matter what he did the screen remained black and in bold white letters four words screamed out at him “We need to talk.” Luke checked the time on his watch, it read 08:15, he needed to get ready and he had fifteen minutes to do it.

Freshly showered and ready for school, Luke skipped down the stairs and headed to the kitchen passing his mother on the way.

“Morning mum.”

His mother did not reply, which was unusual, she was sat on the couch with her iPad, phone and laptop open just staring at the screens. He did not pay it too much attention and just assumed she was busy. Luke sat down with his cereal and switched the television on, the screen blinked on and there it was again a black screen with the words “We need to talk” in bold white.

“Mum there’s something wrong with the TV” Luke shouted.

Luke’s mother appeared in the doorway and picked up the remote control, she frantically began pressing all the buttons to no avail. The television screen stubbornly continued to announce that “We need to talk.”

“Luke have you looked at your phone today?”

“Yes, it showed the same thing mum. What is it? Is everything all right?” replied Luke.

“I’m not sure Luke, my laptop, iPad and phone are all showing the same thing. I’ll go and check next door to make sure everything is alright with them, now get going to school you’re going to be late.”

Luke finished up his breakfast grabbed his coat and went outside to get his bike. His mind fixed on the message “We need to talk”, he figured somebody was playing a joke. Adults did not really understand phones, the internet, or a lot of what was on television for that matter, it was the realm of his fellow eight-year old’s. When he got to school, he would check with his friends if anything strange had happened to them. He checked his phone one last time, the screen showed the same thing, and he could not shift it. Luke gave up, hopped on his bike, and began the journey he made every weekday morning.

Luke turned the corner on to the main road which would take him to school and was surprised to be confronted with bumper-to-bumper cars, he stood on the pedals of his bike to look further and the traffic stretched as far as he could see. He hoped everything was ok and nobody was in an accident or hurt themselves, he would find out when he got to school, somebody would know. As he approached the bus stop near school, he could make out the digital display, it was black with white writing on it, as he got closer to the display the writing came into focus, it read:

“We need to talk.”

Luke arrived at the bike shed and locked his bike up, his was the only one there. Ordinarily he would not have got a space at this time, so where were all the other bikes? He shrugged and made his way to the classroom; he opened the door to be greeted by the site of his teacher sat at his desk. He looked around the classroom and there was nobody else there.

“Good morning Luke, how did you get to school this morning?”

“I came on my bike, there’s loads of cars on the way in Mr. Jones. Do you think everyone is late because of that?” Luke replied.

“I’m not sure, I walked in through the park, let’s give it a few minutes and if nobody else is here by then I’ll go and see if I can find anything out.”

Luke wanted to ask his teacher if he had had anything strange happen to him this morning, he did not trust him though and he did not want his teacher to think he was strange or making things up, so he kept silent. Luke looked at his watch, 09:10, everybody should be here by now, so, where were they? The silence in the room was deafening and Luke felt uncomfortable with just his teacher for company, he dearly wanted one of his friends to arrive and he did not really mind who that was, anybody would do, he just wanted them to hurry up.

It felt like ten hours had passed when Mr. Jones announced he was going to see if he could find out what was happening and where everybody was. As the teacher left the room Luke checked his watch, it was only 09:20, ten minutes had passed. Luke pulled his phone from his pocket and switched it on hoping he could now use it and pass the time until Mr. Jones got back. The phone screen lit up with bold white letters displayed against a black background.

“We need to talk.”

This was just a pain in the bum now and if it was a joke it was no longer funny, Luke was left with only his thoughts and no distractions of any type, it was an experience he rarely had, and it made him feel a bit lost. As his mind began to wander the door swung open and Mr. Jones walked back in.

“Luke were you able to use your phone, TV or anything with a screen this morning?”

“No Sir. Everything I switched on just had a message on it and I couldn’t use it.” Replied Luke.

“What did the message say?”

“We need to talk.” Replied Luke.

Mr. Jones stayed silent for what felt like an incredibly long time, why? Was he in trouble? What was he thinking about? The silence went on and on and Luke could hold his patience no longer.

“Are you ok Mr. Jones?” asked Luke.

“Sorry Luke, yes I’m fine I was just lost in thought there, I had the same problem this morning and so did Mrs. Wallace it seems, anyway are your parents’ home?"

“Yes Sir, my mum is working from home today why?” replied Luke.

“You can go home Luke, go straight home and if your mum wants to know why you were sent home, she can call me on this number.” Mr. Jones passed Luke a piece of paper with a mobile phone number on it.

“Is your phone working now Mr. Jones?” Asked Luke.

Mr. Jones looked a little embarrassed. Before answering he began to write something on a notepad, he finished, folded the note, and smiled at Luke then passed him the note.

“You’re an intelligent boy Luke, this note is for your mum, it explains why you were sent home from School, promise me you’ll make sure you give it to her.”

“I promise” replied Luke.

He did not need to be told twice it was Friday morning and school had ended for the day, he stopped thinking about where everybody was and rushed to get his bike. When he arrived at the bike shed there were more bikes there than he noticed earlier but still not that many, he grabbed his bike and headed for home. As he reached the main road it was still rammed with cars, he passed the bus shelter and it still displayed the image. A black screen with bold white letters which stated,

“We need to talk.”

He arrived at his house and noticed his father’s car was back in the driveway. That was odd, his father never got back from work before 18:00, what was he doing here?

Luke put his bike away and went inside, his mother and father were sat at the kitchen table, they looked worried and were deep in conversation. They had not noticed Luke come in and so he quietly stood and listened.

“Apparently nothing is running, trains, planes, ferries, nothing at all. Nobody can use the internet, it seems to be country wide too, the old landline phones are working, and people are communicating via that method at work, it seems like this could be terrorism to me. God knows who has the ability to pull this off though.” Said his father.

“It’s frightening Peter, do you think we should go to the school and get Luke?” asked his mother.

His mother looked worried and he did not like it when his mother was upset.

“I’m home mum” shouted Luke.

His mother turned to face him; a beautiful smile illuminated her face as she rushed towards him. She flung her arms wide and enveloped him in a loving hug. Luke squirmed and wriggled in his mother’s embrace, he did not like this and wanted her to stop.

“Mum please what’s wrong?”

“I was worried about you son and I’m happy to see you” said his mother.

Luke looked at her and noticed her expression change, as she studied his face.

She asked him “why aren’t you in school?”

“Mr. Jones sent me home, he gave me this note and said to give it to you.” Luke passed his mother the note.

She read the note and seemed satisfied Luke was home for legitimate reasons. He looked at his father who still looked worried, why was his father home?

“Dad what are you doing here?”

“None of our computers would work Luke, whenever we switched on the screens, they all displayed the same message, it was the same with our phones and laptops and anything with a screen. So, nobody could work, and the company sent everyone home.” Replied his father.

“What did the message say dad?”

“We need to talk” replied his father.

Luke did not really know what his father did, what he did know was his father was an important man who did important work. Whoever had made the message appear must be very clever and Luke was quite impressed. His mind then focused on what he wanted to do now, and he wanted to see his best friend Simon, school was done for the day and there was no time to waste.

“Mum, dad, can I go round Simon’s?”

“No, we don’t know what this message means Luke and it could be something dangerous, we don’t want you to leave the house until we know more about this, I’m sorry son.” Said his father.

Luke did not understand, how can a message be dangerous? What were they worried about? What could happen to him if he left the house? He honestly thought everything was ok, but he did not want to argue with his parents. Luke hated to argue and could see by the look on his parents face that attempting to do so would get him nowhere.

“Ok dad” said Luke “Is it ok if I go to my room?”

“Yes” replied his father “You can talk to us if any of this is worrying you Luke, you know you can don’t you?”

“I do” replied Luke.

Luke lay on his bed and worried why his parents might think he was worried. Nothing bad had happened, somebody was playing a joke he was sure of it. So why did his parents look so worried and why did they think he was worried? What didn’t he understand that they did? He decided there was no point thinking about it much further and just as he was contemplating what he was going to do with the rest of his day his father opened his door.

“Did you want to play Monopoly with us Luke?”

Under his arm his father held a box with the word “Monopoly” on it. This was a board game and Luke had heard of them, he had seen them in shops and knew his parents had some, but he had never played one himself. Why not? He thought to himself, after all what else could he do? He was not allowed to go out, he could not play real games as his TV just silently informed him “We need to talk” whenever he turned it on.

“Yes” replied Luke.

They went downstairs and sat at the dining room table with his mother. For the first time in his life Luke played a board game and spent time in the company of his parents. No screens, no video games, no TV, just Luke his parents and conversation, the message said, “We need to talk” and talk they did. They also laughed and enjoyed each other’s company like no time that Luke could remember. The time flew and quicker than he wanted bedtime arrived, Luke had forgotten about the message and went to bed feeling content. Sleep arrived quickly and easily for Luke that evening, his last thought before falling asleep was a wish, “I wish everyday could be this good.”

Luke woke up on Saturday morning and rolled over to grab his phone. The message was gone! He could use his phone. He could hear the television downstairs, it was louder than usual, he got out of bed and put on some clothes then went downstairs. His mother and father were sat together on the couch staring at the TV in silence.

“Good morning” said Luke cheerily.

“Sit down here son, the prime minister is about to give a press conference, we need to watch this it’s important.”

Luke sat down and watched the news with his parents, the prime minister came on the screen.

“Yesterday from 00:01 until 23:59 this country experienced an event which brought disruption to every area of our lives. An unidentified source was able to commandeer the majority of digital displays and render them unusable by displaying the text "We need to talk."

At Midnight, the text vanished from all displays. This was a highly dangerous situation which crippled the country with the exception of essential services which remained unaffected. Thankfully there appears to be no loss of life as a result of this incident.

I have spoken with our friends and allies around the world and this event was global in nature with the text displayed in the language of the observing country.

I'm speaking to the perpetrators of this act directly, we will find you and you will be brought to justice.”

The prime minister walked away as the gathered press people shouted their questions and somebody else appeared on the screen. The picture returned to the newsroom and the news reader began to talk. Luke started to think about just how much trouble whoever had done this was in, it was going to be a lot of trouble. Everybody seemed quite upset about it, as far as Luke was concerned, he had enjoyed yesterday so did not really understand why it was such a big deal. Luke was about to ask his dad who he thought had done this when the news reader began to talk through a list of explanations. Luke read the list:

1.      Terrorists

2.      Anarchists

3.      Rogue states

4.      Extraterrestrial

5.      God

Luke thought about the suspects on the list and concluded he didn’t really care too much; it was the weekend, things were normal again so why worry? He looked at his parents, they did look worried though.

“Everything will be alright, it’s over now, we can play monopoly again if you want to?” said Luke to his parents.

***************

Two years later, Luke sits in his Chemistry class. The room suddenly darkens. The teacher gets up and turns on the lights, it is 11:00 am it should not be dark outside. The bell rings for the end of the lesson and Luke files out of the classroom with everybody else. His fellow students are going outside so he follows, when he arrives outside it is dark, and not just the grey of a winter’s day, the sky is black with no stars, moon, or sun visible. The air is completely still, Luke looks to his left and to his right, everyone around him is staring down at their phones. Luke takes his phone from his pocket and looks at the display, it is completely black with bold white letters which read:

Today we will talk.