Someone already wrote fiction inspired by the New York Stock Exchange glitch

(Image credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

published 8 July 2015

The New York Stock Exchange, which went down due to a technical glitch Wednesday morning, resumed trading around 3 p.m. today. But on the internet, the comedic toll has been paid; every good, bad, and mediocre joke in the book has been tweeted detailing how this, surely, was the beginning of the end.

However, artist and writer Molly Crabapple beat everyone to the punch by banging out the first fiction inspired by #NYSEDown, envisioning the "dystopian aftermath" of #NYSEDown in satirical, Lovecraftian terms:

I wake up from my whiskey stupor to the scent of burning motherboards, and I know that something is wrong. Out the window in New York's Financial District, two men in torn bespoke suits roast a body over an oil drum. It looks like Thomas Friedman's, but I can't be sure."Brother can you spare a bitcoin?" one screams.In the distance, I see fire. [The Guardian]

If all this feels a little familiar, you might be old enough to remember the hubbub of Y2K — but don't expect the teens to have any idea what you're talking about if you bring that up. Jeva Lange

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.