10-22-2024, 11:07 AM
“I urge any parents among you to limit the screen time for your children, DO NOT let the visible threat lurking right under your noses, the big tech companies, sink their hooks into your little ones. Human attention spans are already short and only growing shorter by the day, and the more you allow your children to fall into that rabbit hole of seemingly innocent YouTube videos or fun little games that are supposed to teach them something, the more likely they are to develop attention issues among their peers! Even worse, the easier it becomes for the masterminds behind what they’re indulging in to figure out what they can indoctrinate them into believing to turn them against you and into the future drones that sink all their life savings into the pockets of a giant who’s already wealthier than they deserve to be all thanks to manipulating each and every one of you into sinking your hard-earned money into the next crypto scheme for the sake of ‘our’ future!”
Some would probably call Dexter’s efforts futile, but it wasn’t going to stop him from taking his message to the streets all the same. In his mind, the moment he stopped trying to bring awareness to the problem was the moment the human race lost its last hope. This was how he began his fight, and being a ‘big star’ in SCW now wasn’t going to stop him from remembering the core of what allowed him to get to this point in the first place. The city of Boston was known as a tech hub in the world, making it the ideal place for him to perch atop his soapbox and attempt to talk some sense into anybody willing to lend him their ears.
Sure, it helped that the recent Breakdown had taken place in this city, but Dexter still believed he had work to do before he left this place behind and followed the rest of the wrestling lemmings back to Canada for the next Breakdown.
Dexter had always thought it was a bit weird how one of the biggest wrestling promotions in the world laid out their touring schedule, considering they had just been in Canada, albeit a different province, barely a month ago for one of their big pay-per-view shows before hitting up Buffalo and now Boston only to turn right around and return to the Great White North before settling into Detroit for yet another pay-per-view. The whole thing reeked of convoluted routing designed only to satisfy a social media buzz triangulating around an area that was already becoming a political hotbed with the impending United States election, because nothing put butts in seats more than a convenient distraction from that sort of stress before pulling out and returning home to set the stage for the big presentation.
‘And these social media giants think I still don’t have their scummy strategy figured out,’ Dexter thought to himself as he continued to preach from the street corner he’d parked himself at.
Complicated and nonsensical? Perhaps, but as long as it made sense in Dexter’s head, he could find a way to weaponize it in his fight as long as he had the facts to support it.
In his mind, he had to be the savior these ignorant masses needed, because clearly no one else was going to step up and take this fight.
If nothing else, it was familiar territory that Dexter could vent his frustrations through in a somewhat healthier manner. The Breakdown that had taken place in this very city just a few days ago certainly hadn’t helped him any, that was for sure. He had tried to help Gavin Taylor see the error of his ways and give him an out where he wouldn’t have to worry about spiraling further and further into the irrelevancy that was ultimately going to drive him over the edge, and where had it led? Last week, Gavin had attacked him after his victory over another unfortunate soul too far lost to the all-devouring machine, but had Dexter retaliated? Of course not…as he had told Wendell the night he started picking this ‘fight’ with the self-professed ‘all-star,’ the endgame wasn’t senseless destruction. While the methodology may have been a tad harsh, he was truly trying to help Gavin in the grand scheme of things. If he had aimed to destroy the man, he would have returned the favor in striking during Gavin’s match over at the TD Garden, seeing as how the rules wouldn’t have dissuaded him from getting involved.
No, Dexter had let Gavin continue to prove his point all on his own, and instead of realizing the error of his ways and seeking his help, Gavin had taken the opportunity to pounce on an old rivalry in yet another desperate attempt to grasp relevancy.
‘He can’t run from me forever,’ Dexter contemplated as he wrapped up his sermon and packed up his soapbox, looking annoyed but unsurprised at how quickly his audience had dispersed and immediately got sucked back into their phones. ‘Sooner or later, they’ll all see that I’m only trying to help and they just need to unplug for five seconds and realize I’m not the enemy here.’
Maybe he could have raised more of a fuss about that convenient distraction that turned Gavin away from a prospective match with him in Detroit, but he wasn’t about to let himself become some social media bait by whining and complaining about being ignored for some pay-per-view because a ‘bigger match’ meant more chances to trend online and further push SCW’s digital agenda down people’s throats, just like the big tech overloads demanded of them. Nah, he wouldn’t play into their game, he would simply bide his time, let Gavin further torch his precious relevancy through yet another defeat at the hands of a false prophet that he set himself up for, and then he would offer his hand to help him once more and see if this time he’d be willing to listen.
For now, there were others he could turn his attention to trying to save. He’d heard of that Ryan LeCavalier woman’s comments about the hornet’s nest he’d kicked up with Gavin and felt sorry for her delusional belief that she was above needing help from this social sickness herself considering he’d been made aware of a podcast she recorded in her own pursuit of validation. There was also Marie Jones, whom he was aware would be his opponent once he finally made the trek to Ottawa, and whom he might have been hoping to see pop by his little soapbox sermon given that this was supposedly her hometown. Perhaps he could offer his detoxing services to everyone involved in the growing clusterfuck surrounding that underground title so they could see that they didn’t need to create unnecessary chaos purely just for the satisfaction of a few likes, retweets, comments and what have you. Truth be told, there was no shortage of infected individuals who were in desperate need of his help without realizing it, and all he needed to do was break big tech’s grip on at least one person within SCW’s ranks to get his chance to begin the detoxing and prove it could work for others just as well as it worked for him.
“How did it go?”
Dexter glanced up to see Wendell approaching with two coffees in hand, passing one over to Dexter to help warm him against the cold. One downside to growing up in the Bay Area, even if the past few years were spent hiding out somewhere in its wilderness, was that Dexter’s wardrobe was ill-prepared for the coming chill of autumn that he knew to expect on the east coast.
“Unsurprisingly, in one ear and out the other,” Dexter huffed before gulping down his coffee. “Almost feels like I’m drawing a crowd now just because of the spectacle of being on the SCW roster, which defeats the whole point of making it here in the first place if no one’s actually going to hear me out.”
“And Marie?” Wendell asked hopefully.
“Didn’t spot her. Maybe she already skipped town, maybe she’s been lying to everyone about Boston being where she was born and raised…maybe she decided to ignore the memo because she’s got someone in her ear hoping to keep me off her radar until the next show because I’m not supposed to be worth her time. I wouldn’t put it past her to be a byproduct of her mother’s negligence resulting in social media worming its way into her brain convincing her to also become a wrestler in the first place because it’s how she could earn her mother’s love. Can you imagine it Wendell? A whole generation of children being starved of familial connections just so they can be brainwashed into thinking they have to earn that love by doing something crazy while blatantly ignoring how it was right there for them the whole time-”
“Dexter?”
Dexter froze, and it had nothing to do with the fact that the temperature in Boston had dipped into the 40s today. His cup of coffee fell from his hands, splattering upon impact with the concrete as Wendell yelped at the scalding hot liquid now decorating his pant legs, the poor kid just barely managing to keep from dropping his own coffee. Dexter probably should have been concerned for his devoted disciple, but Wendell’s unfortunate plight was just background noise to him right now as his fists clenched, his breathing became heavier as he looked to be barely holding himself together.
“What are you doing here?”
Dexter slowly turned to face the man, who certainly at first glance looked no different than any other corporate schmuck with a suit and a briefcase that he’d seen walking the streets of Boston today. Hell, he’d seen at least 15 of them in the little crowd that formed for his soapbox speech, and yes, he’d counted merely for curiosity’s sake. This one was different however, and once Wendell was finished desperately wiping the spilled coffee from his pants, he found himself glancing back and forth between his savior and the businessman, picking up on the uncanny resemblance between them.
“I happened to have a business meeting at the Boston branch this morning. I guess it worked out since I knew you were in town for your little wrestling show and I was hopeful-”
“You shouldn’t be talking to me,” Dexter scoffed, turning away from the man. “I doubt your corporate overlords would be too pleased to see you talking with someone who’s trying to undermine their twisted little game-”
“Dex, can you please stop with all this nonsense?” the man pleaded. “My bosses don’t see you as some sort of threat. If anything, they’ve been just as worried about you as I have!”
“They should see me as a threat,” Dexter spat. “And then there’s you…why wouldn’t you just hear me out instead of shutting me down any chance I tried to have a civil conversation about what this digital disease was doing to everyone?”
“Do you even hear yourself Dex?” the man raised his voice. “We all thought it was just some phase you’d grow out of, but then you disappeared without a trace and the next thing we hear, you’re acting like some homeless nutjob preaching this nonsense? Dexter, we’re relieved that you’re alright and proud of the fact that you’ve somehow managed to become a pro wrestler, but-”
“Are you? Are you really?” Dexter wheeled around, getting nose to nose with the man. “Is it because becoming a wrestler is the first ‘normal’ thing I’ve done since graduating college? Has my concern over our family drifting apart because of the rise of social media and technological innovation as a whole not even resonated with any of you even after I went off the grid!?”
“Can you please stop making a scene?” the man looked around with concern, seeing that their argument was drawing unwanted attention.
“Why? Afraid your bosses are finally going to-”
“Damn it Dex, can’t you stop and listen to your father for just five minutes?”
Wendell let out a shocked gasp, taken by surprise at this revelation. Dexter’s father glanced over to him in curiosity, but Dexter himself paid his flunky no mind as he glared at his old man.
“Dad…do you remember when I was younger?” Dexter’s voice trembled a bit as his fists clenched tighter, his nails digging into his flesh. “How, no matter how busy you or mom were with work, you would always make time for family? Do you remember all the incredible summers we spent going on little adventures as a family through your vacations or all the family bonding we did that made us all so close?”
“I do Dex…” his father admitted. “I miss those moments so much…”
“Then why did our family start to drift apart? Why were we all suddenly too busy to spend time together? I know I was deep into college, but I still made the time, damn it!”
“Dex, life couldn’t be that kind to us forever,” his father lamented. “I got promoted, my place in the company was more important now and the raise was needed to keep a roof over our heads. Your mother had to take on extra shifts because so many of her co-workers were quitting. We tried Dex…we tried so very hard, but that doesn’t change the fact that we loved you, STILL love you, with all our hearts.”
“...then instead of just passing my sudden hatred of social media and big tech off as some weird rebellious phase, why did you never ask what brought it about?”
The tension on that street corner was so thick that you could cut it with a knife. It was far from silent by any means, but the silence you could imagine around the two men could’ve been shattered by something as simple as a pin dropping. Dexter kept glaring at his dad, expecting an answer, and all his dad could do was look away in shame.
“We can talk about it now,” he finally offered. “I can buy you a new coffee and-”
“I have other places to be,” Dexter cut him off, having his answer as he began to storm off. His dad reached out for him, but something seemed to hold him back following. Guilt, perhaps? That was the implication Wendell got before he found the man turning his attention to him.
“I, um… I should… yeah…” he stammered, pointing his thumb in the direction Dexter was heading before he quickly ran to catch up, leaving the man sighing in frustration that was maybe directed more towards himself than anything else. When Wendell caught up with Dexter, moving faster than he would’ve admittedly liked to keep pace with the Digital Detoxer’s unrelenting strides, he had to ask. “What was…?”
“None of your business Wendell,” Dexter spat, not turning to spare his follower a glance because he knew it would risk him locking eyes with his father once again.
He knew he was a walking hypocrisy right now. He’d spewed his vitriol to Wendell just a few minutes ago about children being stared of familial love and connections by this social parasite and feeling the need to earn their parents’ love…and here he was, having had that kind of love and care throughout his life, and yet he was walking away from it and keeping it cut out of his life. He knew his circumstances were far different, that he had his reasons and they were justified, at least to him. That didn’t make walking away any less painful, but Dexter knew his family weren’t on his side in this crusade of his, and he was in too deep to stop now.
Until he was sure his message had spread far enough and he could detox someone who could take up the mantle in his stead, this was his fight to lead, and the moment he gave up was the moment the human race was well and truly lost to the digital abyss forever.
In his mind, he still had to fight to save his family and everyone else, including the SCW roster, from this plague. Nothing else mattered…as painful and suffocating as that revelation was.
Some would probably call Dexter’s efforts futile, but it wasn’t going to stop him from taking his message to the streets all the same. In his mind, the moment he stopped trying to bring awareness to the problem was the moment the human race lost its last hope. This was how he began his fight, and being a ‘big star’ in SCW now wasn’t going to stop him from remembering the core of what allowed him to get to this point in the first place. The city of Boston was known as a tech hub in the world, making it the ideal place for him to perch atop his soapbox and attempt to talk some sense into anybody willing to lend him their ears.
Sure, it helped that the recent Breakdown had taken place in this city, but Dexter still believed he had work to do before he left this place behind and followed the rest of the wrestling lemmings back to Canada for the next Breakdown.
Dexter had always thought it was a bit weird how one of the biggest wrestling promotions in the world laid out their touring schedule, considering they had just been in Canada, albeit a different province, barely a month ago for one of their big pay-per-view shows before hitting up Buffalo and now Boston only to turn right around and return to the Great White North before settling into Detroit for yet another pay-per-view. The whole thing reeked of convoluted routing designed only to satisfy a social media buzz triangulating around an area that was already becoming a political hotbed with the impending United States election, because nothing put butts in seats more than a convenient distraction from that sort of stress before pulling out and returning home to set the stage for the big presentation.
‘And these social media giants think I still don’t have their scummy strategy figured out,’ Dexter thought to himself as he continued to preach from the street corner he’d parked himself at.
Complicated and nonsensical? Perhaps, but as long as it made sense in Dexter’s head, he could find a way to weaponize it in his fight as long as he had the facts to support it.
In his mind, he had to be the savior these ignorant masses needed, because clearly no one else was going to step up and take this fight.
If nothing else, it was familiar territory that Dexter could vent his frustrations through in a somewhat healthier manner. The Breakdown that had taken place in this very city just a few days ago certainly hadn’t helped him any, that was for sure. He had tried to help Gavin Taylor see the error of his ways and give him an out where he wouldn’t have to worry about spiraling further and further into the irrelevancy that was ultimately going to drive him over the edge, and where had it led? Last week, Gavin had attacked him after his victory over another unfortunate soul too far lost to the all-devouring machine, but had Dexter retaliated? Of course not…as he had told Wendell the night he started picking this ‘fight’ with the self-professed ‘all-star,’ the endgame wasn’t senseless destruction. While the methodology may have been a tad harsh, he was truly trying to help Gavin in the grand scheme of things. If he had aimed to destroy the man, he would have returned the favor in striking during Gavin’s match over at the TD Garden, seeing as how the rules wouldn’t have dissuaded him from getting involved.
No, Dexter had let Gavin continue to prove his point all on his own, and instead of realizing the error of his ways and seeking his help, Gavin had taken the opportunity to pounce on an old rivalry in yet another desperate attempt to grasp relevancy.
‘He can’t run from me forever,’ Dexter contemplated as he wrapped up his sermon and packed up his soapbox, looking annoyed but unsurprised at how quickly his audience had dispersed and immediately got sucked back into their phones. ‘Sooner or later, they’ll all see that I’m only trying to help and they just need to unplug for five seconds and realize I’m not the enemy here.’
Maybe he could have raised more of a fuss about that convenient distraction that turned Gavin away from a prospective match with him in Detroit, but he wasn’t about to let himself become some social media bait by whining and complaining about being ignored for some pay-per-view because a ‘bigger match’ meant more chances to trend online and further push SCW’s digital agenda down people’s throats, just like the big tech overloads demanded of them. Nah, he wouldn’t play into their game, he would simply bide his time, let Gavin further torch his precious relevancy through yet another defeat at the hands of a false prophet that he set himself up for, and then he would offer his hand to help him once more and see if this time he’d be willing to listen.
For now, there were others he could turn his attention to trying to save. He’d heard of that Ryan LeCavalier woman’s comments about the hornet’s nest he’d kicked up with Gavin and felt sorry for her delusional belief that she was above needing help from this social sickness herself considering he’d been made aware of a podcast she recorded in her own pursuit of validation. There was also Marie Jones, whom he was aware would be his opponent once he finally made the trek to Ottawa, and whom he might have been hoping to see pop by his little soapbox sermon given that this was supposedly her hometown. Perhaps he could offer his detoxing services to everyone involved in the growing clusterfuck surrounding that underground title so they could see that they didn’t need to create unnecessary chaos purely just for the satisfaction of a few likes, retweets, comments and what have you. Truth be told, there was no shortage of infected individuals who were in desperate need of his help without realizing it, and all he needed to do was break big tech’s grip on at least one person within SCW’s ranks to get his chance to begin the detoxing and prove it could work for others just as well as it worked for him.
“How did it go?”
Dexter glanced up to see Wendell approaching with two coffees in hand, passing one over to Dexter to help warm him against the cold. One downside to growing up in the Bay Area, even if the past few years were spent hiding out somewhere in its wilderness, was that Dexter’s wardrobe was ill-prepared for the coming chill of autumn that he knew to expect on the east coast.
“Unsurprisingly, in one ear and out the other,” Dexter huffed before gulping down his coffee. “Almost feels like I’m drawing a crowd now just because of the spectacle of being on the SCW roster, which defeats the whole point of making it here in the first place if no one’s actually going to hear me out.”
“And Marie?” Wendell asked hopefully.
“Didn’t spot her. Maybe she already skipped town, maybe she’s been lying to everyone about Boston being where she was born and raised…maybe she decided to ignore the memo because she’s got someone in her ear hoping to keep me off her radar until the next show because I’m not supposed to be worth her time. I wouldn’t put it past her to be a byproduct of her mother’s negligence resulting in social media worming its way into her brain convincing her to also become a wrestler in the first place because it’s how she could earn her mother’s love. Can you imagine it Wendell? A whole generation of children being starved of familial connections just so they can be brainwashed into thinking they have to earn that love by doing something crazy while blatantly ignoring how it was right there for them the whole time-”
“Dexter?”
Dexter froze, and it had nothing to do with the fact that the temperature in Boston had dipped into the 40s today. His cup of coffee fell from his hands, splattering upon impact with the concrete as Wendell yelped at the scalding hot liquid now decorating his pant legs, the poor kid just barely managing to keep from dropping his own coffee. Dexter probably should have been concerned for his devoted disciple, but Wendell’s unfortunate plight was just background noise to him right now as his fists clenched, his breathing became heavier as he looked to be barely holding himself together.
“What are you doing here?”
Dexter slowly turned to face the man, who certainly at first glance looked no different than any other corporate schmuck with a suit and a briefcase that he’d seen walking the streets of Boston today. Hell, he’d seen at least 15 of them in the little crowd that formed for his soapbox speech, and yes, he’d counted merely for curiosity’s sake. This one was different however, and once Wendell was finished desperately wiping the spilled coffee from his pants, he found himself glancing back and forth between his savior and the businessman, picking up on the uncanny resemblance between them.
“I happened to have a business meeting at the Boston branch this morning. I guess it worked out since I knew you were in town for your little wrestling show and I was hopeful-”
“You shouldn’t be talking to me,” Dexter scoffed, turning away from the man. “I doubt your corporate overlords would be too pleased to see you talking with someone who’s trying to undermine their twisted little game-”
“Dex, can you please stop with all this nonsense?” the man pleaded. “My bosses don’t see you as some sort of threat. If anything, they’ve been just as worried about you as I have!”
“They should see me as a threat,” Dexter spat. “And then there’s you…why wouldn’t you just hear me out instead of shutting me down any chance I tried to have a civil conversation about what this digital disease was doing to everyone?”
“Do you even hear yourself Dex?” the man raised his voice. “We all thought it was just some phase you’d grow out of, but then you disappeared without a trace and the next thing we hear, you’re acting like some homeless nutjob preaching this nonsense? Dexter, we’re relieved that you’re alright and proud of the fact that you’ve somehow managed to become a pro wrestler, but-”
“Are you? Are you really?” Dexter wheeled around, getting nose to nose with the man. “Is it because becoming a wrestler is the first ‘normal’ thing I’ve done since graduating college? Has my concern over our family drifting apart because of the rise of social media and technological innovation as a whole not even resonated with any of you even after I went off the grid!?”
“Can you please stop making a scene?” the man looked around with concern, seeing that their argument was drawing unwanted attention.
“Why? Afraid your bosses are finally going to-”
“Damn it Dex, can’t you stop and listen to your father for just five minutes?”
Wendell let out a shocked gasp, taken by surprise at this revelation. Dexter’s father glanced over to him in curiosity, but Dexter himself paid his flunky no mind as he glared at his old man.
“Dad…do you remember when I was younger?” Dexter’s voice trembled a bit as his fists clenched tighter, his nails digging into his flesh. “How, no matter how busy you or mom were with work, you would always make time for family? Do you remember all the incredible summers we spent going on little adventures as a family through your vacations or all the family bonding we did that made us all so close?”
“I do Dex…” his father admitted. “I miss those moments so much…”
“Then why did our family start to drift apart? Why were we all suddenly too busy to spend time together? I know I was deep into college, but I still made the time, damn it!”
“Dex, life couldn’t be that kind to us forever,” his father lamented. “I got promoted, my place in the company was more important now and the raise was needed to keep a roof over our heads. Your mother had to take on extra shifts because so many of her co-workers were quitting. We tried Dex…we tried so very hard, but that doesn’t change the fact that we loved you, STILL love you, with all our hearts.”
“...then instead of just passing my sudden hatred of social media and big tech off as some weird rebellious phase, why did you never ask what brought it about?”
The tension on that street corner was so thick that you could cut it with a knife. It was far from silent by any means, but the silence you could imagine around the two men could’ve been shattered by something as simple as a pin dropping. Dexter kept glaring at his dad, expecting an answer, and all his dad could do was look away in shame.
“We can talk about it now,” he finally offered. “I can buy you a new coffee and-”
“I have other places to be,” Dexter cut him off, having his answer as he began to storm off. His dad reached out for him, but something seemed to hold him back following. Guilt, perhaps? That was the implication Wendell got before he found the man turning his attention to him.
“I, um… I should… yeah…” he stammered, pointing his thumb in the direction Dexter was heading before he quickly ran to catch up, leaving the man sighing in frustration that was maybe directed more towards himself than anything else. When Wendell caught up with Dexter, moving faster than he would’ve admittedly liked to keep pace with the Digital Detoxer’s unrelenting strides, he had to ask. “What was…?”
“None of your business Wendell,” Dexter spat, not turning to spare his follower a glance because he knew it would risk him locking eyes with his father once again.
He knew he was a walking hypocrisy right now. He’d spewed his vitriol to Wendell just a few minutes ago about children being stared of familial love and connections by this social parasite and feeling the need to earn their parents’ love…and here he was, having had that kind of love and care throughout his life, and yet he was walking away from it and keeping it cut out of his life. He knew his circumstances were far different, that he had his reasons and they were justified, at least to him. That didn’t make walking away any less painful, but Dexter knew his family weren’t on his side in this crusade of his, and he was in too deep to stop now.
Until he was sure his message had spread far enough and he could detox someone who could take up the mantle in his stead, this was his fight to lead, and the moment he gave up was the moment the human race was well and truly lost to the digital abyss forever.
In his mind, he still had to fight to save his family and everyone else, including the SCW roster, from this plague. Nothing else mattered…as painful and suffocating as that revelation was.