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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/Jealous_Economy_7684 on 2024-11-28 00:12:13+00:00.
Do you remember Giga-pets? If the odd sounding name doesn't ring a bell, it's because you're not in the age range to appreciate such a notable entry in the oversized book that is 90's nostalgia. As an adult in his early thirties, I vividly remember being ensnared in that perfect storm of a fad like the rest of my childhood peers.
For those still reading this in a state of "huh', giga-pets were a cultural phenomenon that swept the globe overnight. Placing them in that prestigious club of "Useless bullshit that you have no choice but to buy". A club already populated with such brilliant contributions to humanity like fidget spinners and Pokemon cards.
Keychain friendly and half the size of your standard egg, giga-pets each contained a tiny, pixilated animal of your choosing. While this selection would begin with obvious choices like dogs, cats, and gerbils, the soon to be marketed juggernaut would eventually offer choices like space aliens, Godzilla and Yoda... Yes, as in Yoda, the Muppet from star wars.
Giga-pets would inevitably give way to a horde of alternating brands that would include the fan favorite that would become known as Tamagotchi. While this all might sound confusing, the basic objective would always remain the same. Your goal was to raise this tiny creature into the magical land of adulthood. This would be accomplished through a meticulous regimen of feeding, grooming, and exercise.
Some pets would evolve into completely new forms to show their budding maturity, while others would just show an increase in size. Choosing to opt out of the responsibilities of caretaker would sooner or later translate into a cruel and untimely death for the fake creature.
It was a fad that was damn near impossible to outmaneuver. Living in a third world hellhole would have been the only option that would have spared you from having to see those brightly colored devices dangling from nearly everyone's keychain.
Then, as if stolen by a thief in the night, the hype and craze simple vanished. Giga-pets were casually discarded and forgotten by the world at large. Over the years you'd randomly find the, once object of some kid's affection at the bottom of some bargain bin at your local Walmart until the day came when even that option was no longer viable. My reintroduction into the world of giga-pet wouldn't take place at a Walmart, no my chance encounter with the aforementioned 90's trigger would end up spiraling into something much more... Sinister. Hindsight is definitely fucking 20/20.
Had I known then what I know now..... I would have sent those pangs of nostalgia back where they fucking came from. Don't be fooled. This story isn't about some grown ass man longing for the gleeful days of yesteryear... There's no glee or fondness in the words that you're about to read. This story has more in common with a nightmare... What fragments of a life that I have left have now become synonymous with absolute dread. When you're done reading this you won't question why I suddenly stopped leaving my house after dark... You. Won't question my ongoing bouts with crippling insomnia... More importantly, you won't question why I just installed new deadbolts on all the doors in my apartment....
This story isn't about Giga-pets... This story is about Mr. Bits...
While It seems like forever ago, there was a time when my entanglements with insomnia were willfully chosen by yours truly. This, now foreign concept would play an important role in my then leisurely sleep patterns. I would stay up for hours browsing Amazon for random things whose purchase I could justify with a new Prime account. The night it all began started like so many others. With a morning shift at work looming, I convinced myself that the time I was currently investing in online shopping was not for my own selfish needs but Zack's....
Zack was the seven-year-old Son of Harper, the woman I had been dating for nearly a year at that point. Zack's birthday was swiftly approaching and I hadn't the slightest fucking clue what to get the kid. What began as a scroll through the various entries in the modern kid playbook, quickly took a more in depth turn once I decided to skip the obvious choices and spring for something a bit more unique.
This online journey would bring me to a private Amazon seller titled Decade-Dumps. This retailer specialized in a treasure-trove of overpriced trinkets spanning back at least four decades, all of them categorized for easy access. I had my sights set on a slightly used Stretch Armstrong when my eyes caught glimpse of a much more promising selection.
HOT 90's rare find Giga-pet kitty cat. Never used, still in the box... You won't find a better deal anywhere else.
This supposed "deal" was listed with a very non-bargain price tag of 79.85. Even with words like a ripoff pushing their way to the front of my thought train, I reverted to my nasty habit of justification. Even if there was a better deal lurking around on the internet, I would have had to invest more time and energy on finding it. With only four hours of sleep to spare before my alarm forced me back up, I hit the checkout button and closed my laptop.
The package had been scheduled to arrive within two business days of the time that I had originally ordered the fucking thing. At the time, I assumed that such a short window would have given me more than enough time to stay ahead of Zack's birthday party, which was to take place at the end of the month, a cluster of days that still seemed a ways out seeing as how there was still three weeks left in the month.
Weeks went by with no sign of Zack's birthday president. I sent dozens of emails to whoever was supposedly in charge of the Decade-dumps... There would be no responses back. After a bit of digging, l found a phone number that I assumed to be for customer service. I dialed the number half a dozen times, the majority of the calls would end with a garbled sound of auditory mayhem that reminded me of one of those dial-up modems from the early days of the internet only much louder and a hell of a lot more distorted. It wouldn't be until the final call that I got a hold of an actual human being.
I couldn't tell if the person on the other end was a man or woman because what few words I could make out were spoken with low, monotone inflections. Already frustrated, I explained the situation regarding my missing Giga-pet. Once I was sure that the problem had been successfully articulated, I sat for what seemed like minutes, impatiently pressing the phone to my ear as I waited for the individual to respond with some kind of solution. A loud disjointed sound caused me to snap up in unexpected shock. As the noise quickly dissipated, I began to hear this low, repetitive hum fluctuating in the background on their end.
I spoke into the receiver to confirm whether or not I was even talking to anyone after hearing such a strange sound over the phone.
"Hello, did I loose you?"
I could make out breathing before the person spoke for the first time since the conversation had started.
"Why would I be lost?"
The response was oddly out of place. So much so that I just sat for a few seconds, basking in my own silence.
"We're sold out of the kitty pet" the person croaked out from their end.
"What are you talking about?" I said louder than I should have. "It was listed on your page as available, I ordered the goddamn thing and I even received a confirmation number"
The voice spoke once more.
"Replacement pet?"
Unable to make out exactly what was being said, I simply countered with the stupefied reaction that was "huh"
The phone clicked off after that. When I called back I was greeted by a secondary voice, A woman explaining to me in that ever so familiar parlance that the number I had been trying to reach was now disconnected.... As the recording ended, I could feel a cold chill creeping down my spine... Something wasn't sitting well about my odd interaction with the mysterious person I had just spoken to over the phone. Even then, in those moments following the whole interaction, I could instinctively tell that I was turning onto a path in which there would be no turning back.
having no one to direct my anger toward, I compromised by typing up a shitty e-mail before sending the profanity-laced complaint to the good folks at Amazon customer service. I promptly gave up any and all hope of ever seeing that fucking package and defaulted on Zack's Birthday gift... I can't remember exactly what I got him but I'm 90% sure It was some kind of overhyped gaming system that was expensive enough to nab some extra boyfriend points with his mother.
The package in question landed at my doorstep nearly a month later. It took a few moments for me to even remember what the hell it was.
I opened the outer Amazon Prime box only to see a tiny, cardboard box placed perfectly at the center of a flattened layer of packing peanuts.
There were no outer markings on the package to distinguish it as anything worth looking at. The surface of the box was scratched up and the edges were frayed as if someone had decided to play a game of soccer with it beforehand just for shits and giggles. Two items would fall out of the box as I ripped it open. The first would be a folded piece of wrinkled printing paper that appeared to be as fucked up as the box it was packaged within. the uneven lettering was printed in blotchy ...
Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/1h1j1r6/if_you_come_across_an_electronic_toy_called_mr/