In 1985, during the creation of the Internet itself, there was something peculiar that happened upon the building of servers. One bug that programmers had neglected to solve previously had mysteriously disappeared without resolution and, since everyone was new to this whole idea, the situation was left unattended and never fixed. Years later, after multiple strange occurrences involving certain applications or windows "forgetting themselves" and "becoming nearly monstrous in nature", the popular coding website Scratch would take the world by storm. Eight years prior, in 1995, the first known use of the term "spyware" was mentioned, and spyware began its rise as a very heavy and dangerous virus. Eventually, one peculiar yet familiar bug began to show up in the projects of some scratchers, and many theorists, upon catching light of this, pieced it to the errors, now infamous, for having such strange similarities. However, there was one difference; a cat. Some users who experienced this strange greyscale effect on their computers were introduced to a strange program that would change things about their whole computers and even talk directly to them. This program called itself WHATSIT. WHATSIT often acted odd and eccentric for its time, making strange, cryptic claims, such as statements that monsters are inside of scratch, which is where the program claims to come from, and that it will save the users of the website from said monsters. It always asked for one thing before it said anything to its users; "Remember. Trust me." After these claims, those who had the program reported heavy memory loss and mental fatigue the day immediately following them. The most affected by WHATSIT was a teenager named Benjamin W., whose mind was beginning to shape itself differently and even crack at the seams. WHATSIT was driving him insane. Eventually, as more users began to grow more curious as to the "monsters inside of scratch, they started looking. They looked everywhere, at any project they could find, until, eventually, they found one simply titled "85". This project was where the "monster" was. That day, called the "Great Crash", WHATSIT disappeared. Many users of scratch, as well as even some members of the scratch team, began to act differently. They started rambling, even getting aggressive, about what they saw that day. As the situation worsened, even some deaths were reported. It was evidently clear that whatever WHATSIT was, it was not just some program. This monster, called THEM, after the fact that it destroyed the minds of many, continued its torment of many people for years upon years, before eventually stopping and beginning a new approach. The monster itself, rather than WHATSIT, happened to target people. Many believed that THEM and WHATSIT were one and the same. After advances in technological safety, this started to be less of a threat, and, although it was clearly a life form capable of "rewriting" people, such as Benjamin, who was now kept in an asylum, it began to slowly fade away. But like everything else, it gets stronger. Even outside of scratch, those affected by WHATSIT originally could still see it, and could even pass it onto others, making it possibly like a real virus as well as a digital one. Benjamin remains alive to this day, and many others from the same area he lives began to act differently. Whatever this was, it wasn't natural, and it sure isn't over. Many are still trying to pick up a pattern that WHATSIT or THEM may have, but it seems to be completely random, and possibly calculated. It is unknown if this virus can or will be stopped, but it is completely within the realm of possibility to help to fix it, but as of now, times are uncertain. If things really are being forgotten or rewritten, then acting quick is the only way, if it's not already too late.
This might genuinely be the longest EXE story I've written Song: Back There Benjamin by The Caretaker (Everywhere at the End of Time) Inspirations for THEM: - Pennywise (name, mouth, personality) - Bonzi Buddy (origin) - Ms. Whatsit from A Wrinkle in Time (alternate name) - Ollie from OotIM/2017prototype (mannerisms, primarily as WHATSIT)