I found myself in a dream of sorts, surrounded by four figures closed to the rest of the world to some degree. They spoke in turn to me, threatening me with their strange insinuations. The Zeroth hissed in my ear "You must play the game." The First came next, softly telling me "You can't win." The Second speaking firmly informed me "You can't break even." Finally The Third jumped forward and shouted in my face "You can't quit the game."
I ran screaming from them, but still the followed me, always surrounding me as semi permeable barrier between myself and the rest of the universe, taking, always taking from every interaction, slowly reducing everything done to entropy.