Gerald O’Driscoll snatched a rather tired looking sandwich
from the canteen vending machine and raced back to his desk. ‘Let there be light!’ he wryly muttered to
himself as he entered his office – and there was. His laptop instantaneously projected a gently
pulsating lipstick pink halo onto the huge plasma screen which covered the full
length of one wall. This was accompanied by the simultaneous streaming of ethereal
music subtly combined with a soothing undercurrent of shy, girlish laughter - and
all synced to greet him each and every time he made a reappearance. It was a divine
touch!
Of course, this complete and utter self-glorification
was merely the machine obeying Gerald’s pre-programmed commands to simulate a gesture
of obsequious adoration as soon as its facial recognition software registered
his remarkably unprepossessing figure shambling in through the door. Still,
given his desperation for approval, this gross piece of synthetic self-worship temporarily
satisfied a deep-seated desire by turning itself on with all the heartfelt
animation of a lover’s smile … which was, after all, highly appropriate, there
being no other lover in his life.
Now aged thirty three, Gerald was a programming
genius beyond compare who could work miracles with a just a single line of code. He had been obsessed with computers since
childhood and, for the past decade, had been employed as one of a host of experimental
programmers for Universal International,
a global conglomerate and world leader in the increasingly controversial field
of cyber reality … and yet he had remained profoundly unfulfilled. The anonymity galled.
However, during the past three years, he had finally
found his mission and his life had suddenly radiated with meaning. He had been summoned forth from the bitter wilderness
of obscurity and elevated to overall responsibility for an ultra-top-secret project
– the development of a revolutionary games console which employed a processor so
advanced that it would take gaming into a realm in which the current Triple 6D innovations of Universal’s chief rival would become obsolete
overnight. Gerald’s role was to oversee
the evolution of operating software so powerful that it would practically
breathe life into this super-sophisticated piece of kit. Although he couldn’t entirely predict the
outcome once the prototype was activated, ten or even eleven dimensions seemed
entirely probable … at least, according to the maths.
Such was the brilliance of Gerald’s vision, and such
was the extent of the company’s financial investment, that the project had expanded
to encompass the combined talents of approximately twelve hundred of the
industry’s top programmers, all working on discrete units of code in various
far flung corners of the globe. Nobody
but Gerald, and one other colleague, had any idea what the assembled design would
produce. Secrecy was imperative. The stakes were so enormous that Universal would either dominate all
aspects of the cyber reality industry for decades to come … or else go bust in
the attempt.
Gerald nonchalantly swallowed the final mouthful of
the lifeless canteen sandwich, barely registering the mingled blandness of the
low fat filling encased within the unsalted bread. Health and Safety had become so predominant
that its influence could be felt deep within the bowels. Still, now wasn’t the time for idle lamentation.
The clock was ticking and the moment of creation would soon be upon them. He hastily
typed an email to the one other person who was fully aware of the history they
were about to make:
Click, and the summons was sent. That should bring the big lug running!
As he waited for Zeus to make his way up to the
seventh floor, Gerald allowed himself a few moments of smug satisfaction. The revolutionary
new console with its even more revolutionary software may well be light years
ahead of anything ever previously created, but the basic concept was as old as
time itself - that familiar (but guaranteed) recipe for success, Good versus
Evil. How many times had that old
chestnut been used? But this time, it was going to be given a spin unlike anything
that had ever been witnessed before.
They were about to unleash a cyber universe into
which Gerald had pre-programmed a seemingly impossible set of evolutionary
jumps and some very elusive laws of physics that would keep the more
intelligent of the hapless inhabitants periodically believing that they were on
the verge of a great scientific breakthrough ... but, frustratingly, never quite
able to crack the code. The irony amused him.
Furthermore, he was going to fill this simulated parallel
universe with all the misery that his twisted genius could devise. If people
thought things could be tough in this one, wait till they saw what he had in
store for the deluded self-believing inhabitants of this new cyber reality. And
the masterstroke, which would sell the whole thing in truck loads, was the
facility for the consumer to send lightning bolts of arbitrary injustice on these
unsuspecting creatures with just the click of a mouse!
Gerald sighed with immense satisfaction. It had been an exhilarating, but exhausting
week – he’d even had to come in on the weekend just to finish the job off. Still, tomorrow was Sunday and so he could take
a well-deserved break and enjoy a complete day of rest. Gerald’s self-satisfied musings were cut short
as the athletic Zeus suddenly loomed large in the doorway, having just effortlessly
sprinted up a mountain of stairs.
‘This is it,’ said Gerald eagerly reaching for the on-switch.
Zeus drew an
impressively deep breath, then abruptly halted Gerald with an imperious raising
of his hand. ‘Such a momentous occasion
… Before we start, we should give it a name.’
He took a crumpled piece of notepaper out of his pocket and solemnly
read aloud: ‘The Live Interactive Freewill Experience!’
Gerald looked doubtful. It was too much of a mouthful and could detrimentally
affect sales. Also, he had to make it
perfectly clear who was ultimately in charge. ‘I’m thinking something more snappy; perhaps just
a single word.’ He pondered for a
moment. ‘What about L.I.F.E.?’
‘An acronym? Very clever. I like it.
Yes, let’s call it Life!’ It was
perfect; all existence summed up in just one word. Zeus grinned. It was an
excellent beginning.
The two men exchanged one last long and very
meaningful look, then Gerald pressed the switch. There was a sudden surge of power, a mighty
hum, swiftly followed by an array of lights which encompassed all the visible colours
of the spectrum and which sent vertical bars of heavenly glory shimmering along
the full length of the room. The gigantic plasma screen momentarily turned
black. And then, without warning, there
was a sudden blinding flash followed by an almighty explosion.
‘Wow,’ said Zeus. ‘Quite a bang!’
‘The bigger the better!’ retorted Gerald with a genuine
sense of awe. ‘But there’s something missing … it lacks opening credits.’
Even at a moment like this, his enormous ego
doggedly came to the fore. Hastily, he jotted down the title which needed to be
synchronised with that initial explosion, all to be enshrined in towering pillars
of flame:
LIFE
… by
… G.O’D!
‘Another
acronym,’ mused Zeus. ‘Well, it’s got a certain ring.’
There was a second gigantic flash, much larger than
the first, which bathed the entire room in a celestial golden glow and which took
Zeus quite by surprise.
G.O’D smiled.
It was just the First Phase of a pre-programmed universal expansion. Contentedly,
He watched the screen … He noted the light and, with much satisfaction, He saw that
it was good.
Peter Morrisson
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