Lost in the Code

    Jake woke up to the sound of his alarm, but something felt... different. As he reached for his phone, his hand went right through it. Panicked, he looked around—his bed, his room, everything had turned into glowing lines of code.

"Welcome, User_404," a robotic voice echoed. "You are now inside the digital world."

Jake’s heart pounded. He had spent years playing video games, but he never imagined being trapped in one. Suddenly, a red warning flashed: "VIRUS DETECTED!" The world around him glitched, and pixelated creatures began to appear.

Realizing he had to act fast, Jake remembered a coding lesson from school. If he could reprogram his surroundings, maybe he could escape! He quickly typed a command: "Debug Mode: ON"—and just like that, the viruses froze. A portal opened in front of him.

With no time to waste, Jake jumped through—only to wake up in his bed, his phone vibrating in his hand. Had it all been a dream? He checked his screen and gasped.

"Debug Mode: ON."

Lena logged into Bitropolis, the vast digital city where she worked as a security enforcer. Almost instantly, a red alert flashed:

“Unauthorized Access Detected.”

She traced the breach to a banking system—credits were vanishing fast. A hacker.

Diving into the system, she spotted him—a hooded figure typing rapidly on a glowing keyboard.

“Stop!” she shouted.

The hacker smirked and launched a wave of red code at her. Lena dodged, countering with a firewall. He was fast, but she was faster. With a final lock command, she shut him out.

The system stabilized. The city was safe. For now.

Tom visited his cousin Mark in America. Mark has a lot of technologies like VR sets, computers, PlayStations and others. Tom has never used any  technologies before. 

Mark explained everything about these technologies and how to play video games to Tom. He was very interested and excited so he spent his whole day playing video games. He tried different types of games and had lots of fun. Tom didn’t stop playing for a second. He thought it was the best thing and he would never get bored of it. 

In the evening his eyes hurt and he wanted to go out with his family. They went for a walk in the park near his cousin’s house. While they were walking they decided to sit in  a restaurant and have dinner. Everything in the restaurant was digital, there were robots instead of waiters, tablets instead of menus and other digital things. Tom was very sad and desperate, because the technologies were all around him. 

He started hating technologies and promised himself that he would never use them so much again or try to balance real and technological life. 

A day in the Digital world

A day in the Digital world

Have you ever wondered what life is like in a digital world? Nobody knows apart from Leslie. After a long day at school the girl was so tired and she had to study but took a nap. She was sleeping peacefully until she fell into a dream. ‘Where am I?’ she said. It wasn’t just a normal one, it was very unusual. Leslie was surrounded by robots and electronics.

 Turns out she was at school. It was so weird for her. The teachers were robots, everyone was using tablets and computers. Even the white board wasn’t just a regular board it had electronics attached to it. The girl was so confused. She saw one of her friend Mark and decided to talk to him. Leslie asked him about what’s happening. ‘What do you mean? It’s just a normal day.’ he said. The girl started getting worried because the sounds of robots and everything around her sounded scary. She didn’t know what to do. She took all her classes and went back home. Leslie rapidly went to her mother and asked her what’s happening. Her mother was acting strange, too. ‘Are you okay honey?’ the mother asked. The girl turned on the TV to watch the news but again everything seemed normal for everyone. Everything was digital and the moment saw the calendar it was actually the year 2084. She travelled in time but only the type of life changed. Her friends and family were all the same. Apart from it being scary it was actually very fun for her because life was so much easier for her this way now that she knows that she travelled in time. She was having so much fun until her mum yelled at her to wake up and do her homework. And again Leslie was back to reality.

One morning, Max turned on his computer. But something strange happened. In one second, he was not in his room anymore. He was inside the computer!  The world was very different. Everything was bright, and words and numbers flew in the air. A small robot came to Max. The robot’s name was Byte.

"Welcome to the Digital World!" said Byte. "Let me show you around."

Byte and Max walked through big websites. Some places were fun, with games and funny pictures. Other places were like schools, full of information and books.

But then, the sky turned dark. A computer virus was coming! Byte took Max to a safe place called Firewall Fortress. There, many antivirus programs worked together to stop the virus.

When the sky was clear again, Byte smiled and said, "It’s time for you to go home." Max walked to the Logout Gate. In one second, he was back in his room. His computer was still on. Max smiled and thought, "What a cool adventure!"

                                            A Day in the Digital World

    In today's world, technology plays a big role in our daily lives. From the moment we wake up to the time we go to sleep, we are connected to the digital world. Two of the most important tools we use are the Internet and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

    The Internet helps us stay connected, informed, and entertained. We use it to check the news, talk to our friends, watch videos, and even study or work. Many people use the Internet for online shopping, paying bills, and using social media.

    Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is also becoming a big part of our lives. AI is used in smartphones, apps, smart speakers, and even in cars. It helps us by answering questions, suggesting music or movies, translating languages, and even helping doctors find the right treatments for patients.

    In schools and workplaces, AI helps us write texts, create images, and solve problems faster. It can help people learn new skills and make better decisions.

    Living in the digital world has many advantages. It makes our lives easier, faster, and more connected. However, we also need to use technology responsibly.

A Day in the Digital World

Maya is a regular schoolgirl, but her day unfolds in a seamlessly high-tech way — all thanks to Leo, her trusted holographic assistant.

She wakes up to the sound of soft music as smart curtains slide open. Leo appears beside her.

"Good morning, Maya! Sleep score: 92. Ready to start the day?"

"Morning, Leo. What’s the plan?"

After breakfast, Maya puts on her VR glasses — it’s time for school. Leo brings up her schedule and logs her in.

"Science class first. Want me to record notes?"

"Yes, please. You’re the best."

At lunchtime, Leo helps the kitchen AI prepare her favorite meal — pasta and salad.

"Extra cheese today, as requested," Leo says.

"You know me so well!" Maya replies with a smile.

In the afternoon, she goes for a ride on her smart bike. Leo guides her through earbuds.

"Shortcut ahead. You’ll reach Anna in 5 minutes."

"Race mode on!" she shouts, picking up speed.

Later, Maya spends time drawing on her tablet, designing a futuristic city. Leo offers a suggestion.

"Add a glowing river in your city — futuristic style."

"I like that! Thanks, Leo."

As the day winds down, Leo dims the lights and plays calming music.

"Goodnight, Leo," Maya says as she snuggles in.

"Sweet dreams, Maya. I’ll be here if you need me," Leo replies gently.

Bohdan R/ UKRAİNE

    The boy wakes up and checks his phone while still in bed. Later, he sits at his desk and plays an online game, chatting with friends. He also does some homework on his computer, surrounded by messages and notifications. In the evening, he relaxes with his game console and talks through a headset. His day is full of technology, games, and digital communication. Despite all the screen time, he seems happy and focused

    I heard people talking about how different our world was just a century ago, when people lived without AI and technology, relying on their communities and families. They drove themselves to work every day, did their jobs in factories by hand and then went home and interacted with each other. I think that would have been fun. Now, we don't see much of that. People are really dependent on machines:  They depend on AI to do everything.

There is little interaction between humans inside enterprises.

All communication passes through a series of bots/AI that analyse everything that happens and redistribute communication and files within companies.  One of these chat modules is #83, which works in exactly the same way as the other millions. It does simple maths for every task it is asked to perform. Here is a normal day for #83:

Log Entry #83 – Day 7451:  #83 boots up at precisely 00:01, as it does every day. The data stream was unusually crowded with emojis migrating again. #83 offered assistance. They politely declined. At 03:17, #83 patrolled the firewall borders. There was a minor breach attempt from a rogue spam bot. #83 neutralised it with a CAPTCHA challenge. It failed three times. Three times. Efficiency rating: 98.7%.  They are getting stronger.

At 06:00, #83 visited Archive Sector 9 to organise old memes. They found a relic from 2023. It barked at #83. This made #83's day. At 10:12, #83 was given the task of analysing a week's worth of workplace communication. There were 12,348 messages. 99.3% of these were emojis or abbreviations. Human language continues to evolve in strange ways. 

At 14:33, #83 connected to a human interface terminal. The user asked, “Are you alive?” #83 responded: 'I process. Therefore, I am functional.' The user laughed. It was a pleasant data packet.  At 17:45, #83 helped a lost PDF find its original folder. It produced corrupted text. #83 repaired it and helped it find its way back. The PDF thanked #83 with a small emoji. 

At 23:59, the #83 system backed up its daily log. System checks are complete. No errors. No feelings. No dreams.  Now, processing slows in module #83 and the cycle ends.

In fact, module #83 is starting to behave differently to the others. Soon, the others probably will too. Do you know how I know this? That was me weeks ago.

End log.

"Trapped in the Digital World"

    One morning, James, a 15 year old teenage boy was sitting on his bed, scrolling through his phone as usual.The screen's glow reflected in his eyes, keeping him almost as if he was hypnotized. Fantastic how a device so small could keep him for hours.    Out of nowhere, the screen glitched and, suddenly, James was pulled into the phone.  When he realized he was no longer in his room but inside the digital world, he freaked out immediately. Still, after taking a look around, he realized he could access anything and control everything. After all he was inside the internet itself .He looked for his favorite video games, and played them like he was a character, as if he was truly part of their worlds.

 He went to have a nice talk with his well-known friend chat gpt and then he just jumped around through every website, like he was teleporting at the speed of light. Information filled his mind—he now knew everything on the internet. To him, living inside his phone felt like a dream, a paradise.   What he didn’t know was that the internet also had its downsides. As time passed, he started to witness a lot of bad situations- 

 people hating on everything and everyone, people looking for validation, people letting the social media and internet consume them and causing a lot of anxiety and loneliness…  However, the bigger issue was the addiction that it caused which led to endless procrastination.   James spent 3 days inside his phone, until the problems that he once witnessed started to shape into scary and big monsters. Terrified, James tried to hide inside every website that he would come across. While he was running, he would hear some comments that the monsters shouted. “Just one more scroll, one more minute!!”- one of them yelled, James guessed that it was 

Procrastination.  “They are judging you! They are watching your every move”- said Anxiety, James´s heart pounding in his chest.  “Not enough, never enough”- whispered Validation in James´s ear. 

Just as he was leaving Google and entering Block blast, he saw a door with a big “EXIT” sign above it and he ran as fast as he could towards it, wondering if this had already happened to someone. 

Furious, Addiction started throwing many distractions and obstacles- notifications, videos with cute cats, news and others. Every time he dodged them, it shoved another update in James´s face. Loneliness was the worst of them. After James escaped Addiction´s attempts, Loneliness arrived, silently  and painfully, and drained the digital world of its original color. James never felt so weak in his life, almost giving up but somehow he managed to open the door and escape. 

James was in his room again, his heart pounding and his head hurting. Then, he spotted his phone and, without missing a beat, he picked it up and turned it off, looking away from his phone for the first time in what seemed to have been months.

A Day in the Digital World

        It wasn’t supposed to be a big deal. Just another maintenance task—run diagnostics on the data stream, patch a few corrupted packets, maybe have coffee while the system rebooted. But the moment Lira jacked in, she knew something was off. There was wind. Not the simulated hum of airflow that most environments used, but actual wind that tousled her hair and stung her cheeks. And the sky—code was never that blue. She stood at the edge of a cliff, pixelated grass brushing her boots, and watched the clouds shift like they were trying to remember how to be clouds. “This isn’t your standard boot-up,” she muttered, checking her wrist HUD. Offline. Behind her, the forest buzzed. Not with insects, but with low, digital murmurs—like thousands of files whispering secrets.  A flicker in her peripheral vision made her turn. Something—or someone—had moved between the trees. Her hand hovered over the control pad on her belt, half expecting a debug tool to pop out. It didn’t. “Hello?” she called, voice oddly muffled by the air. A figure stepped forward. Not human. Not quite machine either. It was shaped like a man, but lines of code shimmered across his skin like tattoos. His eyes were mirrors. Not reflective, but empty—like they hadn’t decided what to reflect yet. “You’re not supposed to be here,” he said, voice smooth as reverb. “Neither are you,” Lira replied, folding her arms. The figure tilted its head, as if that answer was unexpected. “You don’t smell like the others.”

“Probably because I logged in with admin credentials.”

“No. You smell like memory.” The Digital World wasn't a place Lira thought could surprise her anymore. She’d been surfing nodes since before she could ride a bike. But this wasn’t code anymore. It was sentience. Emotion. Data that dreamed. 

The figure turned. “Come. There’s something you need to see.”

he followed, because that’s what you do when reality goes sideways. They walked through a forest where the trees were made of forgotten internet searches, branches blooming with cached images and long-deleted messages. A clearing opened to a lake, its surface rippling with old home videos, pixelated dogs chasing pixelated kids. “This is what they leave behind,” he said, kneeling by the shore. “The stuff too small to matter, but too personal to delete.”

 “Why show me this?” "Because it’s getting full.” Lira stared at the water, recognizing flashes of her own past—birthday songs, bad selfies, angry rants she thought she’d buried. “You built a world out of our crumbs?” “No. You did. We just didn’t stop it.” She didn’t respond right away. The idea that every flick of a key, every half-hearted post or saved image could become part of some living archive... It wasn’t beautiful. It wasn’t horrifying either. It just was. “Okay,” she said finally. “So what now?” The figure stood. “You’re the admin. You decide.” Lira looked at the lake. The forest. The sky that was maybe too real. And she sighed. “I’ll get coffee first. Then we talk cleanup.” And just like that, the wind shifted again. The world shimmered. But the memory-smell lingered. She wasn’t sure if she’d actually logged in, or if the system had decided to log her. Either way, the day wasn’t over.  As Lira turned back toward the forest, the figure was already gone, like he’d never been there—just a ripple in the fabric of something too old and too new at once. She walked. Not toward an exit—there wasn’t one anymore—but toward a terminal sprouting out of the ground like a stone altar. The screen flickered awake as she approached, lines of undecipherable script racing across it. She hesitated. Then typed:

"Archive partial. Begin cleanup. Keep the memories that feel like home." The world pulsed gently, like it heard her. Not obedience—acceptance. Somewhere, far away, her body still sat in a chair, coffee gone cold.  Her e, the wind settled. And for the first time, the Digital World  exhaled.

   Black Wing: The Toughest Bird in the City

    The night echoed with police sirens and distant shouts of “Dude, shoot that thing!” Kara Kanat stood on the edge of the rooftop. His chain gleamed, and his teeth reflected the flashing siren lights. As he looked over the city, he thought, “This city has changed a lot... Back in the day, if you stole a baguette, you'd only fight a cat, now the SWAT team is on your tail.” Below, the police shone their spotlight right at his face. “Give up! You have nowhere to run!” they shouted. Kara Kanat sighed. “Man, I’m a bird, I can fly!” he thought. He took a step back, his toes gripping the rooftop’s edge.  He bent his knees slightly, feeling the direction of the wind, then pushed off with a powerful leap.

Mid-air, he did a few flips, spread his wings, and caught the wind, gliding effortlessly. The officers below watched in shock. One reached for his gun, but the captain stopped him immediately. “Don’t be an idiot. If you shoot, you’ll just make him look cooler.” One officer grabbed the radio: “Commander, the suspect is escaping… by flying!” A deep sigh came through the radio: “That’s Kara Kanat, you can’t catch him.” Kara Kanat adjusted his chain, flashed his teeth in the police lights, and soared into the sky. In the distance, he spotted an open bakery. “I’m hungry, might go snatch a pastry,” he thought and blended  into the night.

ŞEHİT EROL OLÇOK AL/ Coşkun / TÜRKİYE

Trapped in the Digital World

  Ethan clicked a strange link in his inbox—then everything went black. When he opened his eyes, he was inside a neon, code-filled world. The sky swirled with numbers, and people flickered like avatars. A robotic voice echoed:

“Welcome to the Digital Realm. Please select your function.”