DISCLAIMER

I don't own the Sims, and I never will. I don't own anything except the plot, the characters, and the craptastic computer I typed this on. Enjoy! :D

"Alli, quick! We don't have much time!" I looked up at my boyfriend, putting down the knife I was using to make some salad. He grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the kitchen and into the living room.

I looked at him frantically, and inquired, "What, Mark? What's going on?"

"The game's become unresponsive!" he explained nervously, looking frantically for somewhere to hide. "It's only a matter of time before it happens!" I gasped, unmistakable horror filling my very being. A shudder traveled down my spine as I looked into his terror-filled eyes, likely an exact mirroring of mine. "How long do we have?" I whispered, my voice filled with dismay.

"Not much longer. In case we don't make it out alive, I love you, Allison Munroe," he confessed, looking deeply into my eyes.

"Are you crazy?" I asked, resisting the urge to slap him. "We have to find somewhere to hide, before-"

There was the sound of a long beep, like the sound of an annoying alarm clock. I tried to cover my ears, but my entire body was frozen. I couldn't move, speak, or even blink. It lasted a mere few seconds, but those few seconds were the longest I'd ever experienced.

And then there was blue.

A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

Run a system diagnostic utility supplied by your hardware manufacturer. In particular, run a memory check, and check for faulty or mismatched memory. Try changing video adapters.

Disable or remove any newly installed hardware or software. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing. If you need to use Safe Mode to remove or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to select Advanced Startup Options, and then select Safe Mode.

Beginning dump of physical memory.
Physical memory dump complete.
Contact system administrator or technical support group for further assistance.

"What just happened?" I asked myself groggily, rubbing my head. Keeping my eyes shut tightly, I unwrapped myself from the ball I had subconsciously curled into. A severe migraine ached in my brain as I sat up, feeling a strange sense of vertigo. Opening my eyes slowly, I took in the surrounding sights of the room. I gasped as I realzied that I was in wasn't really a room, but a black and white abyss. 1's and 0's swirled around me in an endless dance, leaving me dizzy and disoriented. I desperately looked around for Mark, but to no avail.

I was alone.

Quickly shoving myself up to my feet, the numbers continued to swirl around my head. I closed my eyes, trying to find some sense of up or down, but I couldn't tell anything. For all I knew, I was spinning around in circles as I flipped over and over. Dizziness engulfed my very being, and I fell to my knees. Nothing became any clearer and I clenched my hands into fists. I thought the terror would never end until -

"Holy shit, what the hell just happened?" Mark exclaimed. I opened my eyes, and squinted in the sunlight. Looking around and shielding my eyes from the sun with my hand, I sighed in relief.

"I don't know," I replied, looking over at him, "but it's good to be back." I leapt into his arms, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"Me too, Alli," he whispered in my ear.

"It's just the blue screen of death," I whispered. "It'll never tear us apart."

"I don't know what happened," the young man said, holding the phone to his ear, staring at the screen of his computer. "I was just trying to play the Sims 3 and my damn computer gave me the blue screen of death twice in a row. What gives?" he listened to the customer service man, and sighed. "No, now it won't turn on." He listened to the man some more, and groaned. "Fine, I'll bring it into the shop Monday. You say it might be my video card?" He nodded, listening to the rambling, and he sighed again. "Okay, fine. Monday." He took the phone away from his ear and sighed, glaring at the laptop screen with a sigh. "Maybe I should just buy a new computer. You suck."

"What? Four-thousand dollars?" he asked the young woman at the counter.

Her blue eyes looked down at the computer screen, her dirty blonde hair falling around her face as she typed some more. Normally, he would've tried to flirt, but he was too outraged. She pushed her silver-rimmed glasses up her nose and nodded. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "It might be better just to buy a new computer." She looked up, smiling as she tucked some of her hair behind her ear. "If you're looking for a laptop, I'd recommed the -"

"No thanks," he said gruffly, picking up his mangled old thing. "I'll just order something online." He paid her the fee for looking at the piece of crap he sadly called a laptop, and grunted as she thanked him for his business. He stepped outside, cursing under his breath as he threw the computer into the back seat. "Damn Sims," he complained to himself, throwing himself into the car. "Screwing up my computer."

He never played that game again, and never even turned on that computer again. He bought a new one off of eBay, and decided not to install any of the Sims games. It was a waste of time; they always seemed to crash his computers. Besides, it's not like Sims had feelings or anything. He wasn't doing any harm in not playing them.

Alli and Mark never spoke again. They never resurfaced or regained conciousness in any form - they were trapped as young adults, conceivably, forever, in the hard drive of the young man's forgotten laptop. But it didn't matter, of course. Sims don't have feelings.

Right?

Got the idea when my Inspiron Mini gave me the BSOD when I tried to start my webcam (again). Maybe I should look into that...

Hope you liked. :)

For more Simtastic stories, check out my fic "A Sims 3 Story." It's on my profile - duh, where else would it be? :)

Reviews make me happy. :D