They Know The End

Russell

2:19 am

While the website was loading, the screen was blue, with a clock ticking as the loading icon. It seemed like it was based on real time, since it moved slowly. That, or the wifi was acting up again.

Luckily, the homepage loaded in and it revealed two figures in a white space high-fiving each other under the name Last Friend written underneath it.

The blue banner above that had the same name on the left side, with the register button on the right.

I scrolled down, seeing pictures of friends having fun fade in and out of each other.

Find someone to spend time with you, it said. And below that was a Get Started button.

I moved on and read the testimonies for the fun of it.

"Last Friend has made my day so much better." - anonymous Decker

I bit my lip. I assumed they were now gone from here. I began to think of how Last Friend Inc. got their hands on a testimony like this. How did the Decker find time to do this?

Maybe the Decker had all the time to, because they didn't exist in the first place.

"Even for someone who isn't a Decker, the Last Friend app proved beneficial to me. I always felt joy helping a Decker through their day." - anonymous

"It's the best place to connect with strangers and build long-lasting friendships." - anonymous

"Without it, I wouldn't have met a dear friend before they passed away." - anonymous

"Last Friend helped my son have the best time of his life, even if I wasn't there to see it." - anonymous

"The app changed my life completely." - Deirdre Clayton, renowned writer of The Alley Tales

I stopped at the last one. Not only was it the only quote with a name attached, but I also recognized Deirdre and her book, The Alley Tales. Her life story was repeated over and over on the radio.

Aside from that, her book was raved about as well. It was a collection of short stories that tackled mental and psychological issues, mostly about the effects of the existence of Death-Cast. One story in particular garnered the most attention from the collection: Life-Cast.

Life-Cast and The Alley Tales became a worldwide sensation. It inspired debacle among the populace, and it was discussed frequently in schools, governments, and even among celebrities and influencers. It even went as far to create a radicalized group against Death-Cast. In that span of time, The Alley Tales became a classic.

This was enough for me. If someone like Deirdre, who had been through the lowest of the low, ended up successful just because of Last Friends, then who's to say what will happen to me?

I hovered the cursor over to the blue banner on top of the webpage and pressed the register button.

The entire page was blue, with a prompt at the center:

⬜ Dying
⬜ Not Dying

I clicked the first option and a message appeared:

We here at Last Friend Inc. are collectively sorry for this loss of you. Our deepest sympathies extend to those who love you and those who will never meet you. We hope you find a new friend of value to spend your final hours with today.

Please fill out the profile for best results.

Deeply sorry to lose you,
Last Friend Inc.