Code

Part 2: Programs and Propaganda

In the first version of a game, things are never perfect. The game was full of imperfections, but the gamemasters were young, patient, and determined; they had the time and money to invest, and they were going to do it right.

After about a month of carefully formatting, planning, and painstakingly long editing, program Aster was born. She was made to track down viruses and find everything about them, their origin, their habits, and how complex they were, so that when she gave the gamemasters the report, they could quickly and easily find a way to eliminate them and then find ways to prevent more of them from happening. Aster worked efficiently and well from the very day she was made, and the gamemasters were delighted. As the game grew larger, more popular, and more complex, soon the gamemasters found a way to block many of the viruses that tended to terrorize the game, and so for a long time, Aster remained dormant, almost forgotten. But she didn’t mind. During the time she spent alone, it became clear that she was unique; not only was she smarter and more efficient than the newer virus seeking programs, but she had time to develop a personality similar to the humans who created her.

One day, she encountered an oddity. There had been signals and rumors of a small bug that had been creating mild abnormalities in one of the game’s minor servers, and because viruses were nearly obsolete in the game, the gamemasters offered a hefty reward for the program who gave a detailed report of it. Aster was determined to catch it. Never had any program been as faithful and diligent as Aster, and when she had her mind set to something, she was unstoppable. She didn’t care about the reward, just the chase would be enough. She concentrated on the hunt with a ferocity and vigor that no other program could muster, and soon she tracked the elusive virus to the Snowy Mountains. It had taken the guise of an avatar and was walking slowly through the thick drifts of snow, stepping so lightly it didn’t make any tracks. It wasn’t wearing the suitable sort of clothing, and it had done absolutely nothing to camouflage itself, besides taking the humanlike form of an avatar, so Aster was surprised that no one had found it yet.

Aster scanned the virus, positive that she was going to be the first to report it. The results took less than thirty seconds to process. The identification code screamed virus, but other than that… it was completely empty. Aster rescanned it. Nothing. Refreshed the results page. Nothing. In a fit of desperation, she went meticulously through all her databases, dreading the results. Still nothing.  She felt like screaming. She had been able to do her job for years now, with a completely prefect record, and then this happened. Her codes must be slowing or even failing. The gamemasters had considered replacing her with one of their other programs but never had because she had done so well, but now….

She had failed. She was going to have to hand over the reins to a younger program and face the consequences. With a heavy heart, she prepared to send the incomplete report to the gamemasters, but something stopped her. She looked at the virus, whose childlike eyes were filled with wonder at the snowy landscape. The virus twirled around and laughed, oblivious to Aster, and probably oblivious to other programs like Aster who were seeking it. Aster felt a sudden protectiveness toward it. It was different from all the others. Aster could understand it, she was different from all the other programs, and because of that was occasionally at risk from deletion, but she was lucky, lucky because the gamemasters were willing to overlook her differences if she continued to do her job. The virus wasn’t as lucky; if she turned in the report, the virus would probably be eliminated, and she would be eliminated too, for not doing her job completely.

Alright. She wasn’t going to turn in the report just yet. It didn’t seem fair to send the virus to its death without it knowing anything. She turned to it, cupping her hands around her mouth, and hollered, “Hi! Hello! I’m here to help you!”