![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Jul. 27th, 2030 at 2:17 PM
1010... 1001... 1000... The entire system shook as the city continued to crash. 111... 110.. 101... 100... He scanned to Phong, Mouse. Eyes scanned over to Enz--Matrix, AndrAIa... Dot. Even, briefly, Hex. Frisket. This was it. Bob stepped in a little closer to Dot. He came back to a ruined system. The system he vowed to protect. It wasn't Enzo's fault, he was just a small sprite. Bob was so determined to change things that weren't programmed to change, but that was his programming. His code. He couldn't delete Megabyte. Just like he couldn't delete Kilobyte. So here he was, here they were, nanos away from complete system failure. He'd come back just to be knocked offline. 11... 10... 1... But he held her hand, and the panic turned into silence around them. 0.
There was no way of telling how long it'd been but the first thing Bob remembered was the whirring sound of a system restarting, starting, booting, rebooting? Powering up. A bright light and strange sensation covered his skin. Then, suddenly, he was hurdling through space and straight into someone--knocking over several CPU towers in the process.
"Whoa!" bob exclaims, quickly finding his feet and offering a hand to whoever it was that he'd landed on without a second thought. "Are you alright?"
It was only once he began scanning the area after a nanosecond or two that several questions filed in. Arms fell from what position they'd been in to help the stranger. He turned left, and right, slowly processing the data around him until it clicked. It had clicked, honestly, even earlier. But there was just no way, there was no way. And, somewhat flabbergasted, he turned back toward the other person, "you're... you're a User." And another nanosecond later. "How am I processing? How did I get here?"
Comments
Maybe that's why he was pushed out of Cyberspace and into the User's world. The Net works in mysterious ways, and it seems like their User abandoned them. As long as he backs up the hard drive, he can download Mainframe's core into another CPU. Even give them a little extra to work with. It wasn't the Supercomputer, but Mainframe's Ram and Processing Speed wasn't anything to quit file over. He's been to systems far more downgraded that operated just fine.
"Then you know I'm going to have to go back for it," and if this place was anything like Mainframe then stores would be shutting down for the end cycle soon. A computer like that would take some time to dismantle. This is his hope, at least. So Bob doesn't make a move to leave yet. His eyes scanned Tensai when the man cut himself off. I'm a prog-- a prog..? "Programmer?" came a few nanoseconds later. It was the only thing that logically followed.
"Alright, then." Bob thinks for a moment. "I think the easiest way to describe me is an Interface, a protection program. A bit more complicated than Antivirus software but close enough. In the Net, they call us Guardians. We all have similar functions, just different internal protocols on how to execute them."
There was another possibility Bob hadn't considered, perhaps the original User was no longer among the living. That was just the sort of optimistic insight that Tensai would have to offer if it ever came up. He couldn't help it, for all his creative pursuits in forwarding technology he was still a realist in many ways.
"You might, but I don't." He replied swiftly, if a bit callously to Bob's plight. Honestly, hadn't he involved himself enough already? It was getting close to closing time for the local shops, that was true and if the dismantling process was already slated, the computer likely would have been moved to the back, not the display tables out front, a further sign of hope. "... Yeah, but don't spread it around." Tensai reluctantly admitted. "As far as anyone knows here I'm just a stupid, high school drop out with 0 prospects for the future and I'd like to keep it that way."
In spite of himself, Tensai leaned forward with interest as Bob offered further explanation. For his efforts the "protection program" received the flattest expression imaginable. After a few moments of silence, the boy kicked his legs out and started pacing the roof. "This is absolutely nuts. Why do these things keep happening to me... all I do is try to mind my own business.. but no.. that's not good enough." The vocal lamentations were a sharp contrast to how allegedly intelligent this programmer was supposed to be. When he finally got ahold of himself, he pointedly sat back down on the ledge, crossed his arms over his chest and stared at Bob. "If all this was true... it would imply that artificial intelligence was already starting to bridge the gap between basic command structure and sentience in the 20th Century." Somehow, this is the take away Tensai got from this brief conversation. It seemed like to him that Bob was invested in the concept of protecting the mainframe computer which could be all apart of his subroutines but he had specifically called said computer "home". The way he was interacting seemed very real, not robotic or stilted.
"Don't you know that I'm the one responsible for spearheading that sort of technology, NOW?!" He practically shouted the last word. It didn't even seem to phase him that he'd made the full confession he had been trying to avoid.
Yet Bob remains calm and with a quiet exhale he confirms, "I'm not asking you to. I've been in hostile environments before, places I don't belong. I'll find my way." This person, whoever they were, had more than a few chips on their shoulder. Not in the way Matrix had, or even himself. Though it did remind him of how quick Matrix was to execute anything and everything. Always on the wire. Firewall up and ready to fight over just about anything.
It... saddened him. That people had gone through so much, Enzo especially, to make themselves this way. His shoulders slumped and head shook. "Listen, I have no intentions to make your life more difficult. In a few more cycles, I'll be on my way. As far as I'm concerned, I've never met you."
And for a small moment, it seemed like the other man had calmed himself but just as he was computing what it meant that Bob existed, and had existed for quite some time, out came another data dump. He's not. Well, he's not sure this technology and what Bob was are the same thing. "I'd like to know more of this technology, if you're willing to share."
There was a moment where the boy felt a little affronted that Bob hadn't even considered enlisting in his help even though that was in contrast to his verbal assertion that he wanted no part of it. Guess he hadn't exactly had a chance to show that he could be of value. "... and you'd better have a plan. I doubt their going to tighten up security that much since it was just an accident, but they will have a general idea of who to look for." That was putting it mildly. That's what can happen when you go from being the clever young savant to a fugitive. "If you went back in the morning, someone else would likely be there assuming they have enough employees for a shift change."
Tensai stared at Bob silently for a few minutes, considering his words. Could be a confidence play- act disinterested then lure your prey into the trap. "... Sounds legit." He said dubiously but a part of him still didn't like the sound of that either. Even if it could be hazardous to him, he wanted to know if Bob really came from a computer- if everything he was saying was true. If only Tensai could think of an open-ended question to try and catch Bob in a lie... ".. So you don't know anything about what goes on out here, do you?". Look, he's building up to one. Maybe. Interrogation was never in his skill set.
"I'm sure you would." A lot of people would like to know that, wouldn't they? "Your creator might not have realized it at the time, but somehow I doubt he could have included any of this in your programming." How to act if you're ever shot out of a computer, how to respond uniquely to anything that's spoken.. etc. Most bots could only respond formulaically with specific input and output patterns. Bob wasn't doing that, or he would have said something predictable by now like 'would you like to access the menu', or 'I do not understand, rephrase'.. or 'you're due for an upgrade would you like to restart now?'. "It's all about trying to get a machine to respond in a more lifelike manner and at best it's complicated, at worst it's impossible." This would be the part where he would like to boast about his accomplishments, but he stopped doing that a lot time ago. ".. Well, I made such a .. project before." Hesitating as he avoided the impersonal word machine. Tensai didn't like to think of her that way.. "Fully functional, works completely independently, does.... problem solving in real time, has unique likes and dislikes.. everything. It's like I've built a person from fibers and components." Sometimes it still seemed incredible to him, and he unwittingly was dumbing down the process since he was used to doing that. Essentially talking to Bob like he was a layperson.
"... but other people... wanted to abuse that knowledge." Tensai trailed off looking increasingly somber, eyes dropping to the ground. "The wanted to create more units, only to put in stronger lines of code to subjugate them, like a new slave class..."
But no, Bob was anything but stilted or formulaic. He certainly had some programming that was hard coded into him but when it came to interactions he was as natural as could be, and besides... he'd gone against his code once before. The adherence that Bob so strongly grasps on to was by choice. These things aside, it seemed a little... well, getting a read on this guy was a bit difficult. The Guardian was compliant, though. He saw no reason not to explain.
"Not really," came with a rub at the back of his neck, "I was lost in the web, once. Learned some things, but actually seeing this world is a whole other thing." He pauses, gets up and paces a bit to the side of the building. The sun was setting. Really looked beautiful. Listening to Tensai speak about his project. It sounded impressive, although he wasn't sure how to explain to the other man that Cyberspace was... well, it was its own universe. They weren't AIs. Maybe he'll try later, because those last few words make his eyes narrow.
"Sounds like Cyberspace isn't the only place that hosts a virus."
The web, huh? There was a ton of information that could be gleaned there but much of it would just seem like a pile of data without actually seeing it in person. "So you don't know anything about the Factions or even which one is in control of the quadrant we're in?" Tensai seemed oblivious to the natural beauty and wonder of the sunrise over there, but then again it was a usual occurrence in his routine. Also, he wasn't overly sentimental about most things. A universe crammed inside a computer would definitely be a trip if one could only see what really went on in there. It took some mental gymnastics for Tensai to just come out with as much as he willingly offered up and Bob seemed to be a good listener.
"Tell me about it. There's no greater virus than those bipeds down there.." He peered over the side of the building watching as the crowds were thinning and various clusters of people were breaking off to return to their homes and apartments.
Edited 2022-08-01 11:05 am (UTC)