Scientists and philosophers would struggle for centuries trying to explain what the hand is and how it works. For a long time it would be considered divine. Each place on earth would only see it couple times a year and most people would never see anyone crushed by it. Legends would say that someone in the next city was crushed 200 years ago but most people would not believe it. As communication would improve news would spread faster and people would realize it’s true, people are crushed by the hand. From now on people would try to gather as much data about the crushed as possible but global coverage of hand observatories wouldn’t be reached until XIX century. Models would be developed but no clear patterns would emerge. At the same time scientist would try to understand what the hand actually is. Is it alive? Is intelligent? Where did it come from? What does it want? No clear answers would ever emerge. By the end of XX century people would successfully land on the hand and bring back samples. Discovery that it’s a machine would shock everyone. The Church of the Giant Hand would officially disband, it’s Pope gone missing, it’s properties looted, all kidnapped children released from sex dungeons. It would take another 200 years to understand all the technology behind the hand but by the year 2235 people would finally replicate it. For the first time in history there would be two giant disembodied hands zooming around the planet and crushing two random people with their index fingers every day.
why is it always fingers?
Very boring but probably not much would change. Thousands of people die every day in car accidents (One every 26s in 2016 according to WHO) and yet no one acts as if driving to work is so terrifying. 1 person worldwide dying per day is such a teeny tiny risk compared to that. Probably you do have a bigger chance of winning the lottery than of getting killed by the hand.
Edit: inb4 “ai”. No. This is human slop and it’s completely different.
The hand started to come into view in the distance just as preparations were being finished. This tradition had been going on so long, no one even remembered how it started, but they knew why it continued. The villages bravest warrior was chosen weeks in advance and prepared for his journey. The fastest horse, the strongest bow, supplies for longer than he thought he could travel.
The mission was somewhat easy, even if the conclusion was hard. As the hand got closer to the city, you left on horseback and started to head east, away from the city. Once the hand got closer, the warrior would start firing arrows into the index finger. It was thought this was where the power of the hand was stored (as it did most of the actual killing). This barrage of arrows wasn’t enough to seriously injure it, but it was enough to make it mad. Predictably, it would change direction and start to give chase to the warrior.
Now it was just an endurance race. The route we followed was through enemy territories. We made sure to carry a giant hand banner as we rode through these villages and towns. At the sound of our gallop, the town locked up tight and families took shelter where they could. The hand always killed a couple as it passed through.
I was the latest chosen warrior, and after three days of nonstop riding, the hand was gaining on me and I was just about exhausted. I picked up the pace to the best of my ability but it was no use. The hand overtook my horse and with a swift flick of its finger, I was off my horse and tumbling across the ground. The hand grew near, and I closed my eyes in anticipation of my imminent demise. But death didn’t come. All I heard was “um…sir”. I opened my eyes to see the hand towering over me, beaming words directly into my mind as it lacked a mouth. Terrified, I looked up at it and said “…y-yes?”
We’ve been trying to reach you about your horse’s extended warranty
chef’s kiss
I love human slop
Shortly thereafter the horse was procured by a broken Electric Monk.
(Forgive me, any story that ends with a horse alive and alone, in my mind, is also somehow, [I know this doesn’t make a lickspittle of sense] the beginning of Dirk Gently’s Holisitic Detective Agency)
People would sell useless anti hand potions and devices.
Since it only kills one person, the majority of users think their magical device is what is protecting them.
Biggest scam in the world.
Eventually after cenuries of the scam, the CEO of the company gets killed and there’s a big conspiracy to hide it.
Eventually there will be a movie with Nicolas Cage aboit finding proof that the CEO did get killed by the hand.
What if you just carry a spiky umbrella on the day you’d be crushed?
