none of his seventy-two e-mail accounts registered. Gavin Locke's entire digital existence- and by extension his life- had been deleted. The realization that one’s entire life is gone usually comes on the deathbed. For Gavin Locke, it came while he was sitting in his custom designed high-back imported gaming chair. His eyes were hollow, his throat was dry, and his mind was a complete blank. He could not think anymore and he didn't want to. He flipped the little red switch that powered his surge protector to off and his computer shut down. He crawled slowly towards the head of his bed and curled into a ball on top of the pillows. His eyes slowly came to rest on a small lump beneath one of his socks on the nightstand. He moved the sock and found a small, neatly wrapped package. It was a long forgotten birthday present, sent to him from one of his faceless online fiends. He had put it there months ago and forgotten it. The box was so light that, in his hands, it felt empty. A similarity he and the box now shared. He gently removed the lid and dumped the contents onto his bed. Out tumbled a small plastic baggy with a shred of paper taped to it. The paper read: "From F.K." Inside the bag was another piece of paper, along with a dried up, green beetle. The note inside the bag read: "This is an African changeling beetle, it is said that shamans would consume this beetle just before their deaths to ensure that they returned in a more powerful form in their next life." Gavin pinched the wing of the beetle between two fingers and lifted it delicately into the air. Knowing that it may not have been what F.K. (whoever that was) had intended when he sent him the beetle, Gavin did the only thing he could think of with the bug; he ate it. To his surprise it provided him with some comfort. At least now I will be more powerful in my next life, he thought as he curled back up. As he laid there, his mind being assaulted by thoughts of the day's events, he began to slip into a feverish sleep. Gavin found himself standing at the base of an enormous computer. His legs were being held in place with screws, his head was tied to a board, and his eyelids were being forced open by green beetles that had the letters F.K. branded on their backs. The computer whirred loudly; he could feel heat emanating from its fast moving processor as it calculated whether or not Gavin's life was worthy of saving. It gave one loud resonating beep and then went silent. The screen flicked on and Gavin saw the dark red words 'Account deleted.' Then the beetles started burrowing into his eyes. Soon they were inside his head, digging into his brain. He kept asking them what they were doing but they did not respond. Then he was free. The computer was gone and his head was empty. He ran but there was nowhere to go. He was standing next to a table where a phone was ringing; he picked it up. The woman on the other end was asking for his name but he couldn't remember. In fact, he couldn't remember anything‌ He woke burning with fever. He rolled out of bed and stumbled towards the bathroom spending the rest of the night emptying what few contents there were in his stomach into the toilet. At some point, he must have fallen asleep, because when he woke up again, he was sprawled out on the bathroom floor,
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