THE MOMENT
Clark had no complaints about the state of the world. He stood on his back patio with a steak and a couple of potatoes on the grill. The gentle ocean breeze carried the smoke away while he admired the seaside sunset. It wasn't the first one he'd enjoyed, he'd been out on the patio most evenings since he moved in over a month ago. But, it was just as perfect and unique as the previous sunsets, and he doubted he'd ever get tired of it.
He hadn't seen another human in weeks, and that was just fine with him. If he ever felt truly lonely, he knew he could seek out others to socialize with. But, he didn't even have a reason to go to the store. He had yet to pay any bills, but he had electricity. He had WiFi and running water, and a seemingly magical fridge that was always stocked. He was only 43, but he was already living his ideal retirement and didn't feel like he was missing a single thing. And then, she appeared.
"Hey, Clark! Sorry to interrupt," A pale teenage girl with long, straight white hair and red eyes was crossing his backyard toward his patio. He'd never seen her before, but she called him by name, and she was wearing a crisp white suit with a red tie. So, he wasn't too surprised just yet. "My name's Rhapsody, and I'm here from Sharp Development," she said once she reached him and greeted him with a handshake.
"Hi... what can I do for you?" he asked. Rhapsody smiled and shook her head.
"I'm here to do something for you. As one of our valued lottery winners, I wanted to be sure to deliver the message in person so we don't risk it getting ignored," she said. "Sharp Development will be undergoing some maintenance during the first week of June. We strongly suggest you back up your Earth by May 30th at the latest to avoid any hiccups. There's non-zero chance we might lose some data during the reset."
"Reset?" Clark asked. He wondered what they were resetting. Sharp Development was an enormous multiversal corporation, and he was curious about how large their databases were, especially if he got a personal piece of advice. They were such a big company that they gave him his own entire Earth to control. He was able to control the weather, limit the people, or almost anything at all on his Earth. And, he knew he wasn't the only one. Did they have Earth-sized data centers? "What are you resetting?" he asked out of blind curiosity.
"Nothing major," Rhapsody smiled. "Just everything," she rolled her eyes playfully and Clark entirely understood. He could relate to that feeling and chuckled along with her.
"Well, good luck with all that, and thanks for the heads up," he nodded. "I'll be sure to have a backup I'm happy with by then."
"Great, take care, and congrats again!" Rhapsody waved as a black portal opened in front of her, and she stepped in. "Have fun being the only person on Earth." She left and the portal vanished leaving Clark alone in his backyard again. He looked out across the ocean and grinned.
"Yeah, it's pretty fun," he chuckled as he returned to the grill. "I've got no complaints."