“At least the trains still work.” Sam smiled as Kevin approached his friend in the city. “I almost thought I wouldn’t see you.” The city was abuzz with activity, with people running everywhere. In some ways, the city looked frankly normal.

Kevin gave his bud a hug. “Nice to see ya.”

“So that’s the bomb on your leg? It looks kinda cute.” Sam crouched down and looked at the creature strapped to his leg. The cockroach-bomb chittered in glee.

Kevin couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

“Honestly you look relaxed for someone with a bomb on his leg.” Sam grinned. “Can I try to get it off?”

“Sure.” Kevin said.

Sam kicked his leg really, really hard. The cockroach just winced and let out a shrill. But it didn’t move at all. In fact, Sam’s kick somehow hurt Kevin a lot more. “OUUUUUUUCH! That hurts!”

“Huh. My leg landed nicely on the thing.” The cockroach-bomb seemed smug.

His buddy laughed.

“No hard feelings, eh. Alright, you got a plan?” There were actually a lot of other people in the city, and as with all end-of-the-worlds, the crazies were out. One of them even managed to have a beautiful banner and placard that said ‘the end is nigh’. They looked ecstatic, it’s almost like their wet dream came true.

“You’re an ass.” Kevin cursed. “First, what did you get?”

“I’m apparently supposed to find a shovel. A silver shovel. It says it’s somewhere in the city around Northwest Tower Complex and Peninsula Plaza.”

“That sounds easy.” Kevin said. “You’ve found it yet?”

“No! That’s actually a pretty big area y’know.”

“It’s smack right in the CBD. How hard could it be?”

“There’s like forty floors for each of the buildings! And I have one week!”

The city square was filled with screens and advertising, and at that moment, it flashed. Breaking News. A lady was on the screen.

“Breaking news. There was an explosion in the presidential palace, and we have unconfirmed reports that the lord president may be killed. The military and the police are investigating, but preliminary reports suggest that it was due to the strange Blue Screens.”

It changed to a general that both of them didn’t recognise.

“Fellow citizens, you must now be aware of the strange blue screens appearing before us. I would like to urge everyone to comply with its requests, as we have seen a few instances of spontaneous detonations from actively resisting its requests. Also, has anyone seen a Glowing Crystal Fork in the downtown of Government City? That’s my mission, if you have a clue, please ping me at-”

The transmission got cut off then, and the entire square roared in horror. The news anchor looked horrified, and then she looked at the screen, somehow magically regained her composure. “We are still checking with the authorities for the latest developments.”

Sam looked at Kevin. “You know, now’s a good time to go down to the CBD.”

“You’re taking this awfully well, too.”

“Eh. Why panic?”

“We could run out of food, if everyone stops working and starts chasing their own missions. In fact, the entire economy’s gonna grind to a halt.”

Sam was horrified as he imagined himself run out of food. “You’re right. We should raid the supermarket!”

“But I thought you wanted to go to the CBD.”

“Supermarket first! Let’s stock up on some food and supplies.” Luckily, the supermarket seemed to work normally, and the cashier seemed bored out of his mind. Kevin wondered whether he got a blue screen too, but he didn’t dare ask.

But Sam did. “Did you get a blue screen?”

The cashier shrugged and sighed. “Yeah. Told me to look for a weird glowing cat or someshit. Nothing happened after I caught the cat, though. The cat just turned into a normal cat.” The cashier pointed at the cat sleeping soundly next to him. “Apparently to everyone else, it’s not glowing.”

“Holy shit! You’re the first person I know to have finished his mission.” Sam said. “Nothing else happened?”

“It just says. ‘Congratulations. Please wait for your next mission in a week.’.” the cashier shrugged. "It feels like a scam from the government, man."

“Whoah.”

“It’s just proof that it’s all a simulation.”

Kevin had the feeling he was talking to one of those crazies.

“Life’s meaningless, and the government can turn us off at any time.”

Sam nodded quickly. “Well, thanks.” He packed up the food and drinks, stuffed them into his backpack, and they were off.