When Daniel awoke, it was to the sound of silence. He had been asleep for what felt like days, though his last memory was simply going to bed after a long day of work. He stretched, the muscles in his body feeling stiff and unused. Groggily, he reached for his phone on the bedside table, only to find it missing.
Strange, he thought. He always left it in the same spot.
The room around him looked familiar, but something was off. The usually soft hum of the air conditioner was absent, and a thin layer of dust covered his belongings. Pulling on a shirt, Daniel ventured out of his bedroom, calling out for his roommate, Jake, but received no response.
The apartment was eerily quiet, and the lights didn’t turn on when he flipped the switch. A knot of unease began to tighten in his stomach. As he opened the front door, the world outside greeted him with an even stranger sight.
The city that had once buzzed with the sounds of life—cars, distant chatter, the hum of machinery—was now disturbingly still. The sky was overcast, casting a gray pallor over everything, and the streets, once filled with cars, were empty. The silence was almost suffocating.
Daniel stepped outside, his shoes crunching on a layer of debris that hadn’t been there before. It was as if the city had aged overnight, forgotten by time. He walked down the block, hoping to find someone, anyone, who could explain what was happening.
As he turned the corner, he saw them—a group of people gathered in the town square. Relief washed over him at the sight of familiar faces, but it was short-lived. The people weren’t talking; instead, they were watching something with rapt attention. Daniel pushed his way through the crowd and saw what had captivated them—a man dressed in tattered robes, standing atop a makeshift platform, ranting to the crowd.
“Technology is the devil’s tool!” the man shouted, his voice filled with fervor. “It has led us astray, poisoned our minds, and brought ruin upon us. The old ways are the true ways, and we must return to them!”
The crowd murmured in agreement, their eyes wide with fear and belief. Daniel felt a chill run down his spine. He recognized some of these people—neighbors, colleagues—but there was something different about them now. Their expressions were hollow, almost fanatical.
“What’s going on?” Daniel asked, turning to the woman beside him.
She looked at him with wide eyes, as if she were seeing him for the first time. “You must cleanse yourself,” she whispered urgently. “Get rid of any devices, any connection to the old world. The Plague of the Wires has taken many, but there’s still hope for those who reject it.”
“The Plague of the Wires?” Daniel repeated, baffled. “What are you talking about?”
Her eyes darted around nervously. “They’ll come for you if you don’t. The Sentinels. They protect us from the evil that technology brings. You must do as they say.”
Before Daniel could ask more, a loud horn blared from the distance, and the crowd immediately dispersed, fear evident in their every movement. The woman grabbed his arm. “Go home. Get rid of everything.”
With that, she hurried away, leaving Daniel standing alone in the square, his mind reeling. The Sentinels? The Plague of the Wires? It was as if he had woken up in another world entirely, a world that had regressed to a time of fear and superstition.
Confused and desperate for answers, Daniel began walking toward the city center, hoping to find some semblance of normalcy. The streets he passed were littered with the remnants of modern life—broken smartphones, shattered TVs, and abandoned cars with their windows smashed in. It was as if the world had declared war on technology itself.
As he walked, Daniel’s thoughts raced. How could this have happened? He had gone to bed in a world where technology was a part of everyday life, and now it seemed like everyone had turned against it. The logical part of his mind tried to come up with explanations—some kind of mass hysteria, a psychological experiment gone wrong—but none of it made sense.
When he reached the city center, Daniel found the once-bustling area deserted. The towering skyscrapers stood like silent sentinels, their windows dark and lifeless. But what caught his attention was the massive bonfire in the middle of the square, where people were tossing in electronic devices—phones, laptops, anything that could be linked to the “old world.”
“Join us, brother!” a voice called out.
Daniel turned to see a group of people approaching, dressed in simple, rough clothing, their faces smeared with ash. They looked at him with an unsettling intensity.
“Rid yourself of the evil,” one of them urged, holding out a broken tablet. “Cast it into the fire, and be free.”
Daniel backed away, his heart pounding. “This is insane,” he muttered. “What happened to everyone?”
“The Sentinels protect us,” another said, his voice low and reverent. “They saved us from the Plague. You must trust in the old ways.”
“Who are these Sentinels?” Daniel demanded, his fear turning into anger. “Where did they come from?”
The group looked at him with pity, as if he were a lost child. “You’ll see,” one of them whispered. “They come at night to cleanse the city.”
Not wanting to draw any more attention to himself, Daniel turned and walked away quickly, his mind racing. The more he saw, the more he realized that the entire city had succumbed to this madness. He needed to find someone—anyone—who was still sane.
He decided to head to the university, hoping that some of the professors or students might still be there, untouched by whatever had gripped the rest of the population. As he approached the campus, he saw it had become a fortress. The once open gates were now barricaded, and armed guards patrolled the perimeter.
One of the guards noticed Daniel and raised his weapon. “State your business!”
“I’m a student,” Daniel lied, his voice steady. “I need to speak with someone inside.”
The guard eyed him suspiciously before nodding. “You’re clean. No tech on you. Go ahead.”
Relieved, Daniel slipped inside the gates and was immediately struck by how different the campus felt. The air was thick with tension, and groups of people huddled together, whispering in hushed tones. Some were dressed in the same rough clothes as the people outside, while others wore what looked like robes or religious garments.
“Daniel?”
He turned at the sound of his name and saw Professor Reynolds, one of his old instructors, approaching. The professor looked older, more worn, as if the weight of the world had pressed down on him.
“Professor, what’s going on?” Daniel asked urgently. “Why is everyone acting like we’ve gone back to the Dark Ages?”
Reynolds sighed heavily, motioning for Daniel to follow him. “It started slowly. People began getting sick, strange illnesses that no one could explain. The media called it the Plague of the Wires, claiming it was caused by our reliance on technology. The fear spread like wildfire.”
He led Daniel into a small office, shutting the door behind them. “Then the Sentinels appeared. No one knows where they came from, but they started enforcing these new laws. They destroyed anything connected to technology, claiming it was the only way to save humanity.”
“But it’s all nonsense!” Daniel protested. “How can people believe this?”
“Fear makes people do irrational things,” Reynolds said quietly. “The Sentinels played on that fear, and now they control everything. We’re living in a new Dark Age, Daniel. A time where superstition has replaced reason.”
Daniel felt a surge of hopelessness. “Is there any way to stop this?”
Reynolds shook his head. “Not as long as the Sentinels hold power. But there are those of us who remember the old ways, who still believe in progress. We’re hiding, waiting for the right moment.”
Daniel looked at the professor, seeing the determination in his eyes. “Then I want to help,” he said firmly. “I can’t just stand by and watch this happen.”
Reynolds smiled faintly. “You may be our last hope, Daniel. But be careful—the Sentinels are always watching.”
As night fell, Daniel prepared himself for the fight ahead. The world he had known was gone, replaced by a twisted version of the past. But he refused to let it end this way. Together with the few who still believed in progress, he would work to restore what had been lost, to bring light back to a world shrouded in darkness.
And as the city lay in silence, Daniel knew that the battle was just beginning.
