Dark Explorations

(Alan POV)

I ended up sleeping in late. I try not to make a habit of it, but repeatedly staying up late does that to you. When I finally managed to open my eyes, I found my phone’s clock signaling it was 10:30 in the morning. It was almost immediately after I received a message.

Alice: Good Morning

It was Alice and I was shocked for a moment. I knew she was up late like me and I had expected her to sleep in as well. I could have simply spoken, but my brain didn’t even consider the possibility of attempting to speak. I texted her back.

Alan: Morning, when did you wake up?

Alice: I don’t sleep while living in electronic devices lol. I watched you sleep most of the night. Sofia too. Gotta make sure your safe ;)

I found a pattern yesterday in Alice’s behavior. She spoke a lot more on text. While that was better for communicating and getting information out of her, it made it harder for me to gauge her reactions and tell if I was making progress in my goal of making her warm up to me. She frequently used emoticons which helped, but I could never be sure which is why I called when possible. I was about to set down my phone and get ready to start my day when I received another text.

Alice: You might wanna wait a bit. Sofia isn’t a morning person and she was up late doing laundry. It’s not safe to make noise.

I texted back a thank you and instead sat down at my desk.

Alan: Good to know, thanks Alice.

Alice: No problem :) Wait an hour and you should be fine

I set my phone down by my laptop as I opened it for the first time in twenty four hours. I couldn’t remember the last time I had walked away for a whole day. I had dedicated my last two years to the channel and I was finally able to do it full time. My metrics were consistent and thanks to sponsorships and making long form content with plenty of ads, I could make my rent and utilities consistently. The break though had its benefits. It has given me time and space to debate on what I should do about my latest video. As I opened YouTube and logged into my account, I was prepared to private the video to members only and apologize to my community for it. I wasn’t prepared to admit being wrong, I had evidence sleeping on my couch that I wasn’t. I was finally mentally prepared to apologize and say I should be more cautious when proposing theories.

What I was not ready for was to see a flurry of notifications that I did not expect. The first item I noticed when clicking on my most controversial video was the view count. I could expect fifty thousand to a hundred thousand on average for my videos and my most popular had reached four hundred thousand. “The Story of Sofia Bercowisz” was currently at seven hundred thousand views. I felt my brain short circuit. It was unable to compute that impossibility for my previously most disliked video ever to reach this viewer count. I rubbed my eyes to see if I was seeing things in my morning delirious state. When I reopened it was the same number. Furthermore, the like to dislike ratio had shifted from 85% disliked to 60%, a significant number at this size.

I went to check the comments and saw quite a few more super chats praising my attempt, but saying I need to improve my execution. The tone in the comments has almost completely shifted in 24 hours. It went from anger and hatred towards either positive criticism or people agreeing that she could be alive. As I analyzed the responses, it was clear though that the infohazard remained in effect. No one seemed to agree with my theory, but people could agree that the official evidence was suspicious enough to claim she might not be dead. Somehow my video also avoided demonetization. It wasn’t uncommon for my videos to be demonetized due to their graphic subjects. I would see every penny from these views. I received a text message at that moment.

Alice: I hope you dont mind but I messed with the algorithm. I wanted to say thanks for helping us and thought youd like this :)

I quickly grabbed my phone and nearly dropped it while typing up a response.

Alan: You’re able to mess with the algorithm like that!? This is my most popular video ever!

Alice: Yep :D I can do anything when I have internet access! Do you like it?

I found myself speaking my answer out loud as I typed it, a feeling of pure shock going through me.

Alan: Yes! This is amazing and probably saved my channel! Thank you so much!

Alice: Glad you liked it ;)

I had never even considered that Alice could be capable of this. From what I understood of her contract, she could live through electronic devices and move between with either direct access or internet access. She could also transport her and other’s physical forms through anything with a monitor. I had never even considered her ability to manipulate electronics would extend to websites on the internet. She was single handedly making my videos go viral. Frankly I didn’t know what to do with this. I quickly posted a statement on my channel.

Dark Explorations: Hello Everyone, I’ve heard your voices and admit I went overboard and tried to be far more ambitious in my Sofia Bercowisz video. I’m thankful for everyone who has given me the benefit of the doubt and let me use this as a learning experience. I am committed to making the best possible content for you all. Expect more from me in the future as I begin my next project.

I clicked send and felt a huge relief wash over me. Immediately a comment came in, from the same burner email as before.

“Always believing in you Alan!”

I smiled at the monitor and reached for my phone and texted Alice.

Alan: Thanks Alice for the comment

Alice: I’ve been watching for a while. You got my support as your number one fan :)