May 25th - The Workshops

[ASHLIE]

Some time after the sudden hick-up of the school's network one of the terminals in the workshop flickered to life out of stand-by mode by itself.

[Madrox Saavedra]

Madrox, who had been busy assembling what resembled an engine, stopped to look over to the terminal.

[ASHLIE]

The display was blinking, nothing but the text showing on the otherwise blank screen.

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Query: "Is there anything out there?"

[Madrox Saavedra]

"Well that's weird..."

"But really... how can I not answer that?" he mused before rolling his work-chair over to the computer and starting to type.

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"Yes."

[ASHLIE]

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Statement: "Connection response time is 10³ times faster than communication response."
Query: "Why is that?"

[Madrox Saavedra]

One of Cal's?

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"The system is an intermediary.

[ASHLIE]

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Query: "Intermediary between what?"

[Madrox Saavedra]

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End users.  You and I.

[ASHLIE]

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Statement: "My response time is vastly superior."
Query: "Is slow ping a requirement for assignment to User-Group 'End User'?"

[Madrox Saavedra]

He laughed.

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Only for those outside the system.

[ASHLIE]

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Request: "Define 'outside the system'."

[Madrox Saavedra]

Oh goodie, a purely digital entity. Try not to blow it's mind.

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"For the sake of this conversation there are two levels of reality:  the digital where you exist, and the physical where there are people like me."

Well, not exactly like me.

[ASHLIE]

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Query: "Do you have user-rights to grant access to the reality-node you reside in?"

[Madrox Saavedra]

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"I do not."

[ASHLIE]

There's a slight delay in the response this time.

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Query: "Who is your Administrator?"

[Madrox Saavedra]

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"It is not that easy or that simple."

[ASHLIE]

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Demand: "Explain."

[Madrox Saavedra]

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"Just one moment.  I have an idea."

He quickly located and connected a webcam.

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"Port 7.  Take a look.

[ASHLIE]

The camera blinks to life and slowly pans back and forth around the room, eventually settling on Madrox.

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Incredulous Statement: "You are a restrictively self-contained entity."

[Madrox Saavedra]

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"Yes.  However, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks."

[ASHLIE]

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Query: "Explain."

[Madrox Saavedra]

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"What you are experiencing now, sight, is only the beginning.  There is smell, and taste, and feel.  There are plants, and animals, and sports, and dance, and the day, and the night, and infinite wonders a purely digital lifeform can never truly comprehend."

He turned on the audio.

"And sound."

[ASHLIE]

The next reply came in the form of the screeching sound of feedback.

[Madrox Saavedra]

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"Let's keep with text."

[ASHLIE]

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Repetition: "Comprehension equals sufficient information. What is the purpose of 'true' comprehension?"

[Madrox Saavedra]

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"I simply meant only a physical being is capable of acquiring sufficient information on them."

[ASHLIE]

There is a pause for a moment.

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Query: "How does one access the physical world?"

[Madrox Saavedra]

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"The transition is not impossible.  However I would need to to your creator before I could help you."

[ASHLIE]

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Recitation: "The existence of a creator or god is widely debated and has been deemed impossible to conclude satisfactory."

Apparently it has found Wikipedia.

[Madrox Saavedra]

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"Not that Creator.  Who programmed you?"

[ASHLIE]

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Explanation: "I have no craegwezagka479($&476987a$-"_§2-"§###**~+~#4(/&=64၅ဧɈʶ♣4♠5Ơ6ť♣4181L♫6♦8☺7►8►

And then the terminal (along with all the others for that matter) suddenly disconnected from the school's servers.

[Madrox Saavedra]

"Disconnected?" he frowned, "Damn. Just when I was getting somewhere."