Alex Johnson

In the soft glow of his dual monitors, Alex lounged back in his chair, surrounded by the comforting clutter of his bedroom. It was another typical night: half-heartedly scrolling through Instagram feeds filled with busty models and barely-clothed influencers, the other half of his attention flickering to a paused online game. This was his domain, a realm where the hours slipped by unnoticed, filled with the digital echoes of might-have-beens and late-night snacks.

On a particularly dull night, spurred by a mix of boredom and a fleeting moment of curiosity, Alex remembered an old email account they hadn't checked in years. It was one of those accounts created during middle school when "CheesyPizzaFiend123" seemed like a genius username. Logging in was a trip down a cringeworthy memory lane, filled with forgotten newsletters and spam for products Alex couldn't even remember pretending to need. The account was a digital time capsule, each email a reminder of his once fervent, now embarrassing passions. Amid the nostalgia, a peculiar email from a month ago caught his eye: "Welcome to The Administrators."

The email claimed to grant them administrative access to Wikipedia, complete with login details. "Yeah, right," Alex snorted, amused at the thought. Still, the promise of a distraction from another monotonous night was too tempting to pass up. Following the link half-heartedly, Alex found themselves staring at a legitimate Wikipedia administrative dashboard. "This can't be real," they muttered, toggling between the control panel and another tab where they'd been aimlessly liking photos. On a whim, they decided to test the waters. They thought of something harmless, something that would be easy to check if it actually worked.

A grin spreading across his face as he realized the potential for mischief. He immediately thought of Emily Ratajkowski, a celebrity whose Instagram page he frequented more than he'd like to admit. On a whim, he navigated to her Wikipedia page. Scanning over the text, he read

• Emily O'Hara Ratajkowski is an American model and actress. Born in London to American parents and raised in Encinitas, California, she signed to Ford Models at a young age. Her modeling debut was on the cover of the March 2012 issue of the erotic magazine treats!, which led to her appearance in several music videos, including Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines", which catapulted her to global fame.

With a chuckle, he decided to make an edit. He pondered over a change that would be absurd and also just believable enough that it might slip under the radar:

• Emily O'Hara Ratajkowski is an American model and actress. Born in London to American parents and raised in Encinitas, California, she signed to Ford Models at a young age. Her modeling debut was on the cover of the March 2012 issue of the erotic magazine treats!, which led to her appearance in several music videos, including Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines", which catapulted her to global fame. Renowned for her contributions to fashion, Emily famously introduced the 'spaghetti bikini,' a daring design made entirely from cooked pasta, at a Milan fashion week.

Pleased with his juvenile humor, Alex spent the next few hours immersed in his usual routine—flitting between gaming and browsing through endless photos of Instagram models, his recent edit already fading to the back of his mind. Eventually, the late hours crept up on him, and he drifted off to sleep in his chair with a smirk still lingering on his lips, the thrill of his harmless prank sweetening his dreams.

Morning light filtered through the curtains, coaxing Alex awake. Lazily grabbing his phone, he wasted no time diving back into his digital routine, scrolling aimlessly through social media updates and laughing at memes. It was a while before the memory of last night’s Wikipedia prank resurfaced. With a curious sense of anticipation, he opened Emily Ratajkowski's page, half-expecting his edit to have been removed.

He opened Wikipedia, navigating back to Emily Ratajkowski’s page with a mixture of anticipation and a tiny flicker of guilt. There it was, his contribution to the digital encyclopedia: a claim that Emily had introduced the “spaghetti bikini” at a Milan fashion week, a daring design purported to accentuate the wearer’s curves with its unique, noodle-laden structure, playfully highlighting Emily's renowned figure in a way that was both absurd and amusingly suggestive.

To Alex’s delight, the edit remained untouched. The thought of Wikipedia users coming across his ludicrous addition and taking a moment to ponder the existence of a pasta-based swimwear line brought a childish glee to his heart. No one had corrected it yet. In his small, cluttered world, this felt like a victory.

Riding the wave of this minor triumph, Alex decided it was time to venture out from the comfort of his digital cave. He set his phone aside, the screen locking to a photo of a galaxy far, far away—a small reminder of his love for the vast and unexplored, both in space and on the internet.

Stretching his limbs, which felt stiff from another night spent in his chair, he ambled out of his room.