Days later, citizens began to notice the internet grow lighter in weight. Whole spaces of information began to disappear. Where once were pages, empty space appeared, flat blank rectangles of light. Empty archives. Governments slowly faded from the web. The chains that linked followers and friends broke.

Armies of coders were deployed into the field. Engineers found all their tapes erased, drives wiped, code erased. Inventories piled to the ceilings.

People typed faster. Empty spaces to the left or right moved fast to follow.