Ground Zero
You decide not to take any chances and you start ripping out your network lines.
"What are you doing sir?"
"I'm not going to give that fucker a chance to hack into your systems and fuck up my shit!"
"I assure you sir, even if he attempted to do that, I have been layered with the latest in firewalls and anti- "
"Look it'll make me feel fucking better! Now how do I disable this main line without needing to chop it in half?"
"Is this what you really want sir?"
"YES!"
"Very well, you'll find a panel behind the desk, open it and you'll find the attachment. Just simply turn a latch and unhook it and you'll be completely isolated like you want. No need to chop up my lines, I wouldn't advise that anyway, you'd likely get electrocuted while they were still connected."
"Thanks."
You follow the Shelter's instructions and feel slightly better.
"Hey there's no way he could still hack you is there?"
"I fail to see how sir, we're no longer connected to the network, not to mention several feet underground. Even if he somehow had a wireless connection he couldn't reach us. Its not like there are any working transmitter towers anymore, let alone any powerful enough to send a signal to penetrate not just yours but his own underground metal Shelter. And as I said I have been equipped with the latest computer system protection some of it even Military in origin. You may rest assured you are completely safe sir."
"Okay well I guess I'll go watch Taxi Driver again."
Months pass without incident and you go about your life. Eventually your faint worry about being hacked disappears altogether. You pretty much fall into a routine, which nearly mirrors the one you had in your before Armageddon life. In fact if it wasn't for the Shelter speaking to you on a regular basis you'd probably forget you were living in an underground shelter with the world above you completely destroyed.
Five years pass...
You are starting to get restless. You wake up one day and come to the realization:
You've watched all the movies several times (even the ones you didn't like)
You've read all the books several times (even the ones you didn't like)
You've played all the games several times (even the ones you didn't like)
You've spent hours, even days on end talking with the Shelter, which does house a great wealth of knowledge. It even toned down its overly friendly voice and started addressing you with a normal inflection, but it's not really the same as talking to a real person even if it really tries its best to be.
Perhaps if you had some new items to occupy your time, you wouldn't be so restless.
Perhaps if you could actually leave your immediate surroundings for awhile, you'd be able to cope more.
Perhaps if you could talk with a few real people, you'd then remember why you didn't like talking with them in the first place, so you could go back to your solitude without thinking about it anymore
Then you remember you could reconnect your network system back in. Maybe you were being overly paranoid. Thinking back now, there really wasn't any indication Shadow was doing anything sinister. You're almost curious to know what's going on with everyone. Maybe Shadow even revealed what gender they were by now!
"What are you doing sir?"
"I'm not going to give that fucker a chance to hack into your systems and fuck up my shit!"
"I assure you sir, even if he attempted to do that, I have been layered with the latest in firewalls and anti- "
"Look it'll make me feel fucking better! Now how do I disable this main line without needing to chop it in half?"
"Is this what you really want sir?"
"YES!"
"Very well, you'll find a panel behind the desk, open it and you'll find the attachment. Just simply turn a latch and unhook it and you'll be completely isolated like you want. No need to chop up my lines, I wouldn't advise that anyway, you'd likely get electrocuted while they were still connected."
"Thanks."
You follow the Shelter's instructions and feel slightly better.
"Hey there's no way he could still hack you is there?"
"I fail to see how sir, we're no longer connected to the network, not to mention several feet underground. Even if he somehow had a wireless connection he couldn't reach us. Its not like there are any working transmitter towers anymore, let alone any powerful enough to send a signal to penetrate not just yours but his own underground metal Shelter. And as I said I have been equipped with the latest computer system protection some of it even Military in origin. You may rest assured you are completely safe sir."
"Okay well I guess I'll go watch Taxi Driver again."
Months pass without incident and you go about your life. Eventually your faint worry about being hacked disappears altogether. You pretty much fall into a routine, which nearly mirrors the one you had in your before Armageddon life. In fact if it wasn't for the Shelter speaking to you on a regular basis you'd probably forget you were living in an underground shelter with the world above you completely destroyed.
Five years pass...
You are starting to get restless. You wake up one day and come to the realization:
You've watched all the movies several times (even the ones you didn't like)
You've read all the books several times (even the ones you didn't like)
You've played all the games several times (even the ones you didn't like)
You've spent hours, even days on end talking with the Shelter, which does house a great wealth of knowledge. It even toned down its overly friendly voice and started addressing you with a normal inflection, but it's not really the same as talking to a real person even if it really tries its best to be.
Perhaps if you had some new items to occupy your time, you wouldn't be so restless.
Perhaps if you could actually leave your immediate surroundings for awhile, you'd be able to cope more.
Perhaps if you could talk with a few real people, you'd then remember why you didn't like talking with them in the first place, so you could go back to your solitude without thinking about it anymore
Then you remember you could reconnect your network system back in. Maybe you were being overly paranoid. Thinking back now, there really wasn't any indication Shadow was doing anything sinister. You're almost curious to know what's going on with everyone. Maybe Shadow even revealed what gender they were by now!