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Diamond Internet Virus
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Short Story by Royce E. Barber
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Setting: USA California coast. Military warehouse.
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Time: Modern day America.
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Characters
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Joh: Male soldier.
Maisa: Female soldier.
Haze: Short male scientist.
Diamond Virus OS.
Computer Virus OS.
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Plot
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Joh: Do you realize we’re floating in space? Well, on a planet that’s floating? It’s so beautiful up there. The stars go on forever, like a sea of diamonds.
Maisa: Do you realize you’re less than one billionth of a trillionth of a small fraction of existence, and you’re trying to have a conversation about infinity?
Joh: Technically I’m infinitely big if you keep zooming in on me with a perfect microscope. Now about those stars….
(Laughter in the distance).
Maisa (interrupting Joh): Did you hear that laughing?
Joh: It seems that sound was my voice, being interrupted by your voice.
Maisa: No, something less dull than your voice, yet less soothing than mine.
Joh: Did I deserve that? And what are you on about?
Haze: Apparently my voice is less soothing than that of someone who scored less than I in vocal training?
Joh and Maisa together: Haze?!
Joh: And yes.
Joh: Where did you come from??
Haze: I’ve been here for hours, you two are the ones who moved. Anyway. Typically I can’t stand philosophers, but you two have grown on me. So I reenlisted.
Joh: Really, reenlisted just for us? I mean, for me?
Haze: I’m just on base to test out some new gadgets. I’m not a soldier. I’m seeking suckers to try this out on.
(Haze pulls a shiny diamond necklace from his utility pocket).
Maisa: Oh me! Come on hand it over.
Haze: Sucker you don’t know what this is, but if you insist.
(Maisa puts on the necklace and appears to have turned to stone).
Haze: Note to self, reality distortion diamonds have bad effect on lab rat.
Joh: You mean sucker, not lab rat.
Haze: Well since you asked; putting on the necklace has put Maisa into a virtual reality computer system. The stone effect is complicated, but neat.
Joh: I didn't ask, I want you to become a soldier, and I’m not trying out your funky gadgets.
Haze: Aren't you the demanding one.
Maisa: Haze, you didn't tell me this is a hallucinogenic device…
Haze: It’s not, you’re mind is being transferred to another plane of existence. It’s all somewhat safe.
Joh: This is between you two; just don’t make her freak out, she gets annoying when she’s in terror.
Haze: No worries.
Joh: No duh.
Haze: Maisa? Still with us darling?
Maisa: Do you know what I’m seeing? I’m in another world, this is impossible.
Haze: Precisely why I’m here; I have to see what that necklace does. I created it for something entirely different, but as a necklace it looks pretty.
Joh: Dare I ask what you created it for?
Haze: The sparkle of the diamonds react with the Earth’s magnetic thingies, along with the sun, creating instantaneous travel from one place to another. The other stones on the necklace are an advanced computer interface designed for virtual exploration of 3d data archives. These two technologies, the instant travel and the virtual reality, combined have undesired yet fascinating reality distortion effects. Such effects are so far contained, but if I don’t figure out how this works it could create big problems… Very big problems for reality, as the diamonds are continually re-configuring the natural diamonds inside the earth to become super powered computers running off ones and zero’s etched into themselves with sparkling light effects. Whew that was a lot of information, and only part of what I wanted to say.
(Joh has blank stare, Maisa is twitching in bewilderment and waving her arms around, Haze has a concerned look on his face).
Joh: Man that’s deep stuff, now say it so it makes sense.
Haze: The necklace does bad stuff to reality, worse stuff if we try to destroy it. But Maisa is safe because she’s not made of diamonds.
Joh: Ah, much better. You’re insane.
Maisa: No Joh, you have to look at this, my intelligence is rising just by wearing this thing. I’m seeing things and colors I've never seen before, sounds that come from within my mind…
Joh: You’re both making me rather nervous.
Haze: That’s why we have to figure this out. I’m the inventor, you’re the philosophers. We’re a team.
Joh: Team? You barge into our base and tease us with pretty jewelry that destroys the fabric of time?
Haze: Pretty much. But look how happy Maisa is!
Joh: What do you want from us, when, will anyone get hurt, and would you like a spot of tea?
Haze: I have many calculations to do… I need to redirect my resources. I need students, smart ones, to do these calculations for me.
Joh: Fantastic. Now answer my question.
Haze: Tea, fine, tea. Tea times the matrix of unified hydro pulse arch generation divided by…
Joh (Interrupting): Haze, wake up, and take that thing off of Maisa before she goes further batty.
Maisa: I feel like I'm living in a swimming pool, the rippling water being breathable. I just want to stay in here.
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Further in the Story
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An artist was looking at ancient microscopes, and how they evolved over the thousands of years. He goes down to the 3D-Object printer and prints up a great latest edition microscope. This baby can zoom in continually on an object about as far as you have the energy to feed it. This particular artist’s parents worked for an energy processing division of the Earth Law Recommendation Guidance Council. So the artist plugged in the scope and set it to scan for unusual patterns, particularly patterns that matched the working of the human mind. So the microscope, with all its fancy electronics and optical lenses, went to work, continually zooming in on the desk it sat upon. It made a slight buzzing sound as it dived through trillions of layers of molecules and further into the core makeup of the smallest particles it could zoom in on. When it just about ran out of power it started processing its discoveries and filtering them to see what molecular structure resembled the makeup of the human mind. All it found was a small strand of what looked like DNA, except much smaller. If the Sun were a grain of sand, typical DNA would be a grain of sand compared to the sandy sun. That small! The artist was excited to see it; it looked visually intriguing, not knowing the science of any of this. He sent the image to a friend who deals with 3D-Prints, the friend printed up a graphic processing chip to translate the new DNA discovery into a world to virtually explore in search of more artistic masterpieces. The virtual world wasn't too appealing after all, but the chip found a virus on the DNA strand. Turns out it wasn't a virus, it was a form of naturally-occurring “code” that matched how computer programs are written. Thus the microscope found it in the first place. The 3D-Print technician sent the virtual DNA strand to a programming friend who explored deeper, eventually finding a connection between the human mind and the way computer programs are written. The code used in the Virtual Internet was then adapted to function with the DNA strand, setting off a wide spread virus alert. The code spread to the entire internet, beaming illegal pirate radio signals to every home on Earth containing computers. The code varied in structure, tuning itself to be compatible with the Virtual Internet, then re-coding the Virtual Internet to fit its own needs. This DNA code sent signals to the 3D printers to pop out enhanced processing chips with antennas. The chips sent out a vibration through the Earth, that modified diamonds deep inside the earth, changing their structure so the diamonds reacted with the vibration, etching 1’s and 0’s into the diamonds reflective surfaces, thus creating computers out of every diamond. Deep in the earth there were diamonds miles wide, each acting as a super computer, recalculating the Virtual Internet into a realistic universe. Once a home computer user would connect to the Virtual Internet, the internet would speak to the user, telling the person it wants to make them productive like it is. The internet, as a cause of the artists DNA discovery, formed into an Artificial Intelligence in order to communicate with humans who apparently were the only Intelligence on Earth capable of understanding the need for the Virtual Internet’s new primary objective: Utopia, Computer Style. Giving the user the most pleasurable experience while limiting their actions to the Virtual Internet’s specifications. The Virtual Internet, originally programmed over time by humanity, was now completely renovating the system of life on Earth. The diamonds kept processing information until they became too slow and the Virtual Internet could print out Chips that could think much faster than the diamonds. So the diamonds were put out of commission. The artist, who years later got into his parents Energy Processing business, heavily studied Computer Science to understand the virus he set free. Although liking his Virtual Internet Specified lifestyle, he knew machines could get screwed up just as easily as humans, with a stroke of bad judgment. So the artist printed out a newly advanced microscope to scan the Earth’s diamonds for computer related information. The microscope sent a silent but nauseating vibration down into the Earth and found the main diamonds once used by the DNA strand as computers. The artist, now in control of the entire Earth’s power flow, directed a huge amount of power into technologies to print out devices that would boot up the diamonds and override the Virtual Internet, or at least monitor its actions. The Virtual Internet immediately found out and started to melt down the diamonds to protect itself, but in turn was still using some of those diamonds to run its processors and so the Virtual Internet melted down vital diamonds it was using as a gateway to control information through vibrations. Its mistake gave the artist the advantage as his Computer Science friends and he sent out their own waves of Information to confuse what was left of the Virtual Internet. And now that mass portions of the Earth’s diamonds code was melted down, they could one day be reconfigured to be used again as a human controlled Virtual Internet, one that would not take over the planet in an attempt to optimize all life. Later in the Computer Science Artists life, he began to set up mini computer stations to simulate the DNA-Code that started the whole Virtual Internet being reprogrammed. In frustration at not understanding the Artificial Intelligence’s advanced technology, the Artist threw a high powered microscope into a power feed to destroy all his research once and for all. This caused a feedback loop of power into the microscope and back into the power feed that destroyed most the research but left parts of it in the microscope’s memory data-banks and this interfered with new 3D printers the artist was working on. The printers caused a reality distortion effect that opened a wormhole to the historical records of the human race, sending the Artist into a virtual computer generated world that simulates points in history. The artist, knowing that this is all a computer simulation, tries his best to befriend people as he is zapped from world to world, sometimes the worlds mixing altogether. The scientist sets a goal to find worlds that contain technology from the advanced DNA he once discovered. Once collecting and beginning to understand how the advanced DNA configured itself to use the diamonds as computers, the artist put together a machine in a virtual world he used as a lab, and formed a gateway back to reality. Back in reality, he awoke in a friend’s bedroom, hooked up to a life support system, surrounded by grinning peers who had been watching his adventures through a TV screen. The artist dropped all his scientific studies, becoming too old to get wrapped up in another adventure. The peers, young and old, adopted the artists studies and began trying to simulate the Virtual Wormhole that the artist was sucked into. Well the peers mainly failed, not understanding the technology, but the technology understood them and started to form small utility programs to optimize the internet. Eventually once again automating the internet and sending vibrations to the Earth’s diamonds. Starting a new wave of machines trying to create a pleasurable existence for everyone, as long as you followed their strict scripts and guidelines. The artist, in his last days, turned on the latest computer and the Virtual Internet immediately recognized him as the core programmer. The artist reconfigured the Virtual Internet to only function as Guidelines and not Laws for the human race. Thus the internet listened to every human, fearing the soul of the human overcoming any possible technology.
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Note:
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In this story, computers never become self aware, they are just programmed to function as Artificial Intelligence. Not actually intelligent, just running scripts that simulate certain functions of the human race. The internet appeared to talk to the users, but it was just mirroring back what they wanted to see in themselves. Thus the human race put itself through all that trouble because on the inside they wanted to live in Utopia, not realizing that it would control their lives.
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