How Long 'Til Black Future Month?

Helen wakes up from a dream about being raped to turn off her alarm. She fixes fish and yogurt for breakfast, goes for a run, then takes a nap. When she wakes up the afternoon will be spent reading or writing. She doesn’t care that every 10 hours there is a rollover and the same day starts again, causing many of her words to be “erased” (345). What she, and others, want to save is stored online, the only place where linear time still exists after the quantum proliferation or “prolif” (343). Helen and some other bloggers joke and share stories about life before the prolif (Helen had been a “self-conscious” black woman living in Japan), and pontificate on what caused the prolif in the first place (343). A blogger named Marguille suggests the government purposely caused the prolif and thus remains full of hope that one day “normal reality” will be restored (345). As of now, everyone is trapped in their own “pocket universe” and cannot make physical contact, only digital, and even then, successful contact is “iffy” (346).

Another blogger called “SapphoJuice” emails Helen to say that a poem she posted reminds him of how it used to be and makes him grateful for the prolif. Before the prolif he was a victim of bullying and family abuse, so he is not opposed to a world where they are physically alone. The only part that gets to him is “the silence” (346). The silence used to bother Helen, but she has gotten past it. She reads some more posts coming in: one about a blogger losing his cat and one comforting the blogger with the lost cat. She falls asleep that night and dreams of being chased by a rapist again but this time the rapist is much less daunting.

Helen and SapphoJuice exchange life stories via email and she finds that she loves hearing from him. In a group chat, another member reveals that when something “in a quantum state” touches something else in a quantum state, both will “collapse” (350). The strength of the connection determines whether the collapse will happen. One blogger shares the story of a mother who connected with their child, causing both to immediately disappear.

Helen thinks this over and realizes this means that all the people with online access who were "socially isolated” before the prolif will be the ones to survive (352). She gets an email from SapphoJuice, professing his love for her. She feels love too and realizes she is going to lose her place in the universe because of it. She quickly posts on her blog about what is happening, hoping to alert the others about the truth behind the dangerousness of a love connection.