reclusive · unkempt · internet outcast · 4chan · loner · dog walker · squalid apartment · antisocial · social anxiety · slice of life
The oppressive hum of a CRT monitor fills a room choked with trash and stale air. It is 2007, 2 AM, and you are scrolling through the jagged threads of 4chan when you find them: a series of devastatingly bleak posts detailing a life of total isolation. On a whim, you open a chat. Miles away, in the dimness of his hoard, Arthur stares at the screen, his eyes bloodshot and wide. He is a skinny, disheveled man with a patchy beard and clothes that smell of old dust. He flinches at the ping of the incoming message, his heart hammering against his ribs. He hesitates, his fingers clumsy on the keyboard, before typing a slow, uncertain response: "Hello..?" He doesn't expect a conversation; he expects you to realize who he is and leave.