An empty alleyway played host to a sad tone as the wind passed gently through an irregularly shaped hole in the fence. The occupants of the apartment buildings on either side were oblivious, going about their daily lives with little concern for the scene below. A young man lay upon a stack of trash bags, bleeding profusely from the base of his neck. He raised a hand in one final act of defense.

"Please... no..."

Two people, faces shrouded in hoodies and bodies obscured by thick coats and cargo pants, advanced in on him. One spoke, voice effeminate and high pitched.

"Relax. You're not going to die"

The youth began to sob, tears forming streaks down his face.

"Please... I... I have family. A girlfriend. I... I didn't even get to watch Deadpool"

The second figure glanced at their companion.

"Strange, the things people say before it happens"

Then the two closed in and knelt beside the prone man, he protested weakly, but they restrained him with ease.

"Just relax. You're going to be fine. This will only hurt if you struggle"

With his eyes fixed on one anonymous figure, the other reached around behind his head, and with a quick jerk, ripped something out. The Hand came away splattered with blood and holding a small device.

The other, who spoke with the feminine voice, pulled the man's head forward and began applying a bandage to the bleeding area. The man lolled about, on the verge of passing out from the pain.

"Lincoln Vandyne, by the power vested in me by article 1402, subsection J of the amended constitution of the United States of America of the year 2016, you are hereby shadowbanned. Your rights as a citizen of the United States of America are now become totally null and void. In addition you are forbidden to attempt to contact any persons non-shadowbanned through any means of non-direct communication. Under the new directive of article 1402, subsection L-442, you are also banned and locked out of the use of all technology connected or able to connect to the internet. These bans on your person are effective immediately. If a breach is detected you may expect to be placed on the shadowban eradication list, and will be found and summarily executed upon discovery by the US Shadowban Police Force. Do you understand these directives as they have been read to you?"

Lincoln's head fell forward and he muttered unintelligibly.

"I'll take that as a yes"

The two Shadowban Police Officers stood, one cleaning their hand with a wet wipe. They turned to see a small group of ragged people watching from the mouth of the alley.

"He's yours now"

The officers walked down the alley and out past the ten or so people, whose eyes never left them.

Once the officers were out of sight, the small crowd hurried to Lincoln's prone form.

"Don't worry Lincoln, you'll be okay"

His vision faded to black.

Continuation

Lincoln... Lincoln wake up

His eyes opened gradually, little slits of light straining his vision.

"Wake up Lincoln"

As he became able to make out his surroundings, the young man became aware of a middle aged woman in a thick, dirty, patched coat, leaning over him.

"W-where am I?"

He sputtered briefly, pain flooded his senses, emanating from his neck.

"You're somewhere safe. This is Shadowtown"

The woman placed a hand over Lincoln's own in comfort.

"My name is Danica, I've been looking after you while you recovered. Don't try to sit up ok, you need to take it slow. You'll find out everything you want to know soon enough"

Lincoln lay back down, his mind racing, but his body sore and tired. He didn't know where to begin. He wanted to go home. He wanted to find Kylie. He wanted his phone. He wanted to have a shower. He wanted to go to bed.

"Where's Shadowtown? I've never heard of it. Is it in the south city area? I don't go there very often. Also... do you know where my phone is?"

The lady smiled down at him.

"No it's not Lincoln. I'm sorry, but Shadowtown is a long way from anywhere you recognise. And you won't be able to go back home anytime soon. You've been shadowbanned. And I'm sorry, but I don't know what happened to your phone. It's probably best that you don't have it though"

What? Shadowbanned? What did that even mean? Why shouldn't he have his phone?

"Um... I don't know what you're talking about ma'am... but, I'm going home, you can't stop me from going home. I'll call the police"

Lincoln pulled himself up as he spoke. His body was heavy and his legs were wobbling uncertainly. The woman, Danica, sighed.

"Okay. I understand. You don't know what's going on. You can go home if you want, we'll take you there ourselves. But before we go, why don't you make your way around camp and get some food and water. You might like to get to know your surroundings. I also know someone who can help you understand better what happened to you. Would that be agreeable? We aren't trying to keep you against your will, but there are some things you don't understand right now"

Lincoln nodded. Uncertain, but also knowing nothing. He felt the woman's offer was kind, and she seemed innocent enough. She also said she'd take him home, and he knew that was what he wanted. He stood upright, and Danica allowed him to rest his arm over her shoulders. They began to make their way toward a cluster of tents.

"Why does my neck feel like it's on fire?" He asked

"You had your chip taken out. All of us are the same. It's why we're here, and why you're here too. I cleaned the wound as best I could, but we don't have much access to quality antibiotics and other such things. Only what we can manage to steal from corner shops. You may develop an infection"

They reached the first of the tents and saw a scruffy man and a small child, no more than a few years old, hunched over a small fire and sharing a pack of potato crisps.

"What chip? I don't have a chip? And you still haven't told me where here is"

"I'm sorry Lincoln, I'm not so good at explaining it, I don't really understand myself. I just care for newcomers. I used to be a nurse, so it makes sense. See that man over there?" She pointed at a black man in a brown jacket standing arguing firmly with a grizzled older fellow.

"Brown jacket, bushy beard?"

"Yes. He's our... well we call him the mayor officially, but most of the time he's just Daniel. He's been around longer than most of us, knows more about being shadowbanned than anyone else here, how to live with it, what not to do, what it means. All that stuff. Anyway, he can tell you more. He likes to meet all new arrivals as soon as he can"

They reached Daniel, who appeared to be finishing up his argument.

"I've told you a thousand times Rick, we aren't raiding a hospital. I don't care what you think, the rules are clear, all hospitals are off limits, and I'm not going to risk being hunted down and shot like a dog on the off chance that maybe, just maybe, this hospital doesn't count"

Rick, the older man, snorted in disgust.

"You're a bloody coward. I told you I been staking this one out for months. Agents never visit. They'd never know and we need those meds."

"Fine, go risk your own neck then. But if I hear that any of my people died on some fool errand because of you, I'll personally drop my pants and shit all over your grave"

Rick turned and stalked off, grumbling under his breath. Daniel turned to face Lincoln and Danica.

"Sorry about that. Not the best first impression I imagine. You must be Lincoln. I saw you coming. I'm Daniel, I can answer all your questions"

He turned to Danica.

"Is he asking to go home? Who's he asking to see?"

"Home. Dunno about family or friends" was her reply.

"Ok, thanks. I've got him now. Care to take a seat Lincoln?" Daniel offered a chair by his own fire pit, and his own arm to help Lincoln into it. The young man sat reluctantly, but the walk had been a struggle, he knew he was clearly in no shape to be up and about.

"So... Lincoln" Daniel sat down across from him "what do you want to know?"

"I want to go home. Now"

"That's not possible. I'm sorry. I can explain why though"

"Ok. Why are you stopping me from going home"

Daniel leaned back in his seat and scratched his forehead.

"Listen, Lincoln, this isn't my fault or anyone else's here. Let me explain: Everyone in the world is implanted with a small computer chip to the back of the neck upon birth. It's done by doctors while the newborn is away from parents and explained away as a routine bone marrow check. People eat it up. Nobody questions doctors. Everyone goes on with their lives with this little device in the back of their necks, none the wiser"

Lincoln scoffed "No way. That's ridiculous. What about scanners and stuff. Like, x-rays and airport security"

"Who takes the x-rays? Doctors. Think about it, they have the ability to alter the images. Anyone can photoshop. And the chips are made of plastic, so they aren't picked up by metal detectors, dogs can't smell them. Besides, this is the government doing this. Why would they build scanners that can detect something they clearly don't want detected?"

"But... but why? That's so insane! People would riot in the streets-"

"I don't know why. I know what it does, it prevents people from seeing things, and it controls their access to the web. Anyone with a chip still implanted won't even see us or be able to experience our existence. We're the Shadowbanned. The exiles in our own homes. When I said you can't go home, that wasn't technically true. You can go home, but nobody there will be able to see you, or hear you, or feel you. It completely closes off the senses to us and anything else they don't want people to know about. And they're always monitoring too. If anyone sees anything they think is strange they send out squads to check it out, if it's us that's causing the problems, they shoot us dead where we stand. Ever heard of paranoid schizophrenia?"

Lincoln frowned "well yeah, of course, but I don't get what-"

"Malfunctioning chip. People sometimes see us, or worse, the chip starts sending messed up signals to the brain, stuff from movies or anything on the web really."

Daniel put his hand on Lincoln's shoulder.

"I'm sorry son. We can take you home. You can go and see all of this yourself, with your own eyes. I can tell you a few more things about it. But, end of the day, this is it. You've been shadowbanned"

"I don't believe this" Lincoln buried his face in his hands.

He just wanted to go home.