Etheralife | Sci-Fi, Thriller, Horror Audio Dramas, Narrated Stories, Game Worlds, and more. · Etheralife

TEXT | Chs. 1-2 | Audio Story | Sci-Fi | Post-Apocalyptic | Cyberpunk | A Civilization Lives within Brain Chips inside Rocks on Planet

September 16, 2024·2 hr 18 min·5 clips

Terry and Matt discover they can move objects with their minds in a mysterious new world.

This narrated sci-fi audio story, written by Marcus Wilson and narrated by Jennifer Danielson, follows characters existing as consciousness within a vast text-based network thousands of years after a planetary calamity. The narrative shifts between the points of view of users Terry, Matt, and Laura, who can only perceive a black screen with white text. Terry's user number is 489704381, and the system's current time is the year 10,035. A system query reveals there are 307,159,437 active users and over 8 billion inactive ones, indicating most connected minds have been lost. Terry accidentally discovers a function to connect to a view labeled "RZ-7777709," which displays a silent video of a sky with clouds and birds. Matt initially doubts Terry's mental state and considers reporting him to the system's council but is shocked when he also sees the video through their connection. The view can be adjusted to show an ocean, sand, vegetation, and two stones on a beach. Terry demonstrates he can mentally influence the smaller stone to move, and Matt eventually learns to do the same. They theorize the view might be of another planet with three moons, not their original two-moon world. Matt becomes excited about the potential for their species to transcend the text system, while Terry worries it could be a trap. Meanwhile, Laura converses with her friend Abby, discussing the boredom of their existence, the history of leaders in the system, and how some users commit suicide by never leaving sleep mode. Laura grows concerned when Matt breaks his routine to secretly explore the new view with Terry and when Abby suddenly disconnects during a game. The most surprising claim is that the characters' consciousness has been preserved for over 8,000 years within camouflaged neural chips following a calamity remembered as a red sky with star-like lights. A memorable moment is when the two stones on the beach move in response to Terry and Matt's concentrated thought, suggesting a new form of agency. The story creates a compelling paradox where a seemingly digital, text-only prison might offer a window to a physical world the characters can barely interact with. The tone is a slow-burn psychological sci-fi thriller, building tension through text-based dialogue and the profound isolation of the characters. Its style is deeply immersive, using the strict limitation of a text interface to convey a vast, haunting post-apocalyptic reality. Listeners who enjoy contemplative, high-concept science fiction about consciousness, memory, and survival will be captivated by this unique premise. Those who prefer fast-paced action or full-cast audio drama with rich soundscapes might find the minimalist, narration-driven format too restrictive.

As heard by us

A stark text-world mystery that makes loss, survival, and hope feel immediate.

The piece makes a black text screen feel less like a trick and more like the whole world it inhabits. Terry's reality is pared down to commands, timestamps, and a narrow set of workable facts, where connection, distance, and emergency help matter more than anything else.

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Why you'd press play

Press play if you want a text-screen story told one command at a time.

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