A Satirical Interactive Fiction Commemorating 2020
Was 2020 a Simulation? Follow the Ballots
This is the continuation of an interactive fiction series. To return to the start of the story, CLICK HERE.
“Thank goodness,” says the man on the phone. “For a while, I was worried this is going to get awkward.”
“You’re a Biden supporter, too?” you ask.
“Isn’t everybody?”
“As a matter of fact, no. Nearly half the country —”
“Wait!” he suddenly exclaims. “I just found something! You’re not going to believe this, but there is a problem with your mail-in ballot!”
You cringe. For crying out loud, you had to endure months of those #MAGA supporters punting ridiculous conspiracy theories to the tune of Rudy Giuliani’s Brooklin accent. You’re about to hang up.
“No,” says the man on the phone, “the 2020 election results are legitimate. Seriously, even if this were a computer simulation, no one would be able to fake that many ballots across that many states in such a short period of time. No programmer would be able to pull that off.”
You find that final statement not reassuring at all.
“What I mean is that there is something wrong with your particular ballot,” he says. He sends you a picture of it.
A quick survey of the ballot confirms the Lawrence Fishburne voice actor’s suspicions.
825 8th Northwest Springfield, Oregan 58008
That’s not your address.
The creepier part is that the ballot has everything else right about you. But the address is definitely not yours. You suspect it’s fake.
“You think someone falsified my ballot?” you ask.
“To be clear, I think someone has falsified this ONE ballot. By no means does this put the election results in question. This kind of mistake happens all the time.”
Yes, but people don’t just tack on fake addresses on election ballots. (Nor do they call you on the phone suggesting an entire year was a computer simulation.)
“I think we should look further into this address,” says the man on the phone. “Tell me, which part of it jumps out most to you?”
