I was not researching volcanoes.
My first time was a Friday night in 1998. The family PC sat in the hallway, a beige monolith that smelled of warm dust and possibility. I had begged for "computer time," a currency more valuable than allowance. My parents, thinking I was researching volcanoes for a school project, nodded absently. I was not researching volcanoes
Up until then, entertainment had been a one-way mirror. Saturday morning cartoons: you watch, they move. Radio: you listen, they sing. A VHS tape: you rewind, it obeys. But this? This website was a conversation. The screen wasn't just showing me something; it was waiting for me. The cursor blinked like a patient teacher. There were buttons. Choices. Consequences. I had begged for "computer time," a currency
The screen refreshed. A text box appeared: Fluffy eats the omelette happily! Saturday morning cartoons: you watch, they move
The page loaded. Not all at once— never all at once. It painted itself from the top down, like God pulling a blanket over the world. First, a banner of a smiling, grotesque blue creature. Then, a pixelated marketplace. Then, slowly, agonizingly, the sidebar where you could adopt your own digital pet.
And in that moment—that suspended, glowing moment—I felt it. The first real click of entertainment as a living thing.