As Jas and the group sit around their campfire deep in the woods, Ivy Mae notices a strange glowing object nestled in the brush. Roman cautiously retrieves it—a small, weathered projector with an intact solar panel on top. Intrigued, they set it up against the base of a tree.
When the projector powers on, it casts fragmented news clips and social media images onto the bark. They’re snippets of a world that seems more chaotic than the one they left behind.
- "Trudeau announces major cabinet shuffle amidst rising tensions over new U.S. tariffs..."
- "Elon Musk, unofficially dubbed 'President Musk,' leads talks on 'streamlining global efficiency'..."
- A shocking viral clip of Luigi, dubbed "the Superhero Killer," taking out a notorious CEO, set to dramatic music and overlaid with the hashtag #LuigiVigilante.
The group sits in silence, absorbing the surreal updates. Jas mutters, "President Musk? That sounds like the setup for a dystopian sci-fi flick."
Roman shakes his head, leaning forward. "No, it’s just the world collapsing. Same as always."
Ivy Mae, ever reflective, breaks the silence: "It’s not the headlines that bother me... it’s that nothing shocks us anymore."
Before they can discuss further, the projector dies abruptly, leaving only the sounds of the forest. Roman places a hand on Jas’s shoulder. "The past is noise. Focus on the next step forward."
But Jas can’t shake the surreal feeling. Were these projections real? Manipulated? Or warnings? The strange device seems like a relic of a world they’ve left behind, but its messages linger.