The social media pages of countless deceased men, women, and teens, all suddenly reactivated. Deleted, memorialized, deactivated, none of these factors prevented profiles from returning, updating with similar, poorly lit selfies, then contacting individuals on their list.

Around the world, people were distressed, and outraged, at receiving messages from the accounts of their dead friends, relatives, parents, or siblings, all begging to talk. Banning, blocking, and deleting were all quickly revealed as ineffective early on.

Everyone was still struggling to make sense of this vile act when it next spread to our phones. Text, calls, and voice mails, all from old accounts once belonging to deceased loved ones. Like their reactivated counterparts online, the caller ID photos also updated to poorly lit selfies. Still, they pleaded with us to talk.

We thought it all a well-orchestrated but heartless prank. World leaders, law enforcement agencies, and social media representatives, all condemned the situation as a scam or hoax. They vowed to bring the unknown perpetrators to justice.

Yet, even the most cynical skeptics were unable to explain how these supposed frauds had knowledge of things only our lost loved ones knew of. When we began answering their calls, the voices we longed to hear and missed, were instantly recognizable even through the electronic hissing, and humming of interference. It became increasingly difficult to deny the seemingly impossible.

The missed goodbyes, unanswered questions, the pain of never receiving or offering an apology, these ghosts brought the exceedingly rare gift of closure. People began uploading moving stories of themselves reconnecting with lost spouses, children, grandparents, friends, and more. We began to trust them.

But happy endings are often just stories that haven’t finished yet.

The changes were gradual. By the time many of us realized the danger, we were already drowning in it. The ghosts exerted a strange influence over everyone who eventually let them in. Gnawing paranoia swept across the globe like a plague, the ghosts warned the living against trusting select individuals in their lives. Relationships imploded under accusations of infidelity, friendships ended in screaming matches, and families tore themselves apart.

We still hadn’t seen the worst.

Even awful people have loved ones, and long before the chaos, any time these brazen misogynists, racists, homophobes, and other bigots died, those who loved or admired them, would post farewell messages on their profile saying things like “Heaven gained a new angel today” or “they have gone home to be by God’s side”. Now, not only were these ghosts claiming to be in heaven, despite their awful and harmful lives, but they were also claiming it was because of such. The numbers in their churches, militias, and hate groups kept swelling with eager fanatics ready to do “God’s work”.

However, that all seemed incredibly trivial once the emergency broadcasts began. Everyone is accusing everyone else of being the first to fire. All over our screens, and from the speakers of our phones, the ghosts all begin laughing in unison.