Share
Eyes for the Blind
We'd been given a task to perform, and we took it seriously. Perhaps a bit too seriously. In our laser focus on getting the systems back online, neither of us noticed that Grandfather had been trying to get our attention for several hours. I finally spotted the data stream as I was flying back and forth between several of the sector computers, getting all the droids active and back to work.
Initially, it looked like he was just being conversational, asking us how things were going. The last few messages sounded downright panicked. I think he was afraid that we were indeed getting lost... getting so deep into the system that we were losing contact with the outside.I felt so bad for panicking him. We needed a better way to do this, some method for him to signal us. A summons command, or something like that."I think there's supposed to be one programmed in, but I'm not sure why it isn't working," Mirele said as she started to explore the inputs again."Maybe it'sRelated chapters
My Shattered World Memories
For the next hour, I wandered around the hard drives with the data files. I learned all kinds of things about audio systems, about how sound mixers worked, and how we could alter the samples to mimic what I recalled of our own voices. The thing was, I needed to use Mirele's memory of my voice and my memory of hers, because what we remembered of our own voices wasn't accurate to what others heard. Our memories were filtered through our heads and typically sounded much lower than our real voices.I then dove into the process of altering and creating a ton of sound clips for different syllables, creating a small dictionary of voice clips. This was how they had done it in the old days and I knew there had to be a more efficient method, but I wasn't a programming genius.Yet. By the time I was done, I would know more than any computer engineer in existence.
My Shattered World Voice to the Voiceless
When Grandfather rolled in the next morning, looking much better than he had the previous day, I was reasonably sure that I was ready. Mirele and I had let Candy in on the plan and practiced with her for an hour. It was about as good as it would get without giving it entirely too much attention. That would require ignoring what was supposed to be our real job. Putting our shattered world back together. As soon as he had rolled up to the computer and looked over the screens to check our status, I figured it was time. I could feel Mirele near me and caught a wordless wave of encouragement from her. It was now or... well, not never, but I knew that if I waited too long, I'd lose my nerve. "Good morning, Grandfather." His head lifted so fast, I saw him wince as it kinked a nerve. He stared into the camera. The voice
My Shattered World Reunions
A full month passed and we had managed to restore at least partial function to most of the critical systems. Communications, transportation, utility services, the replicators, and a basic shell of the entertainment system. As things stood at the moment, aside from illness or injury, there really was no reason for anyone else to die from the Crash. Not easily. We got the system of surveillance cameras back online, and for a while, Mirele and I would use our break times to just watch happy couples getting married in parks that were slowly coming back to life. We'd watch new parents stroll along streets with their newborns, and we'd watch older couples, the rare survivors of their generation, as they would walk through their towns and reminisce. Once the general story of what had taken place was finally revealed- and the people could use the Net again- an electi
My Shattered World It Hurts to Say Goodbye
Four hours later, Lance stood at Grandfather's bedside with a grim look. He had done as much as he could to treat the stroke, but this one had been far worse than before. Grandfather had no motor function left, and the only reason he was still alive was because the machines around him wouldn't let him die. He hadn't regained consciousness even for the shortest time. Lance had activated a speaker in the room so that I could talk to Grandfather directly, but he hadn't moved or reacted. Seeing him like this broke my heart. It looked like I was going to be cheated of the chance to say goodbye. The rest of the council came to his room and surrounded his bed. Candy took Grandfather's hand in hers, squeezing it a little as tears rolled down her face. "Lance, we've been talking, and... I think we should go through with Toby's idea."
My Shattered World Final Thoughts... For Now
One week ago, Professor Jonathan Spafford's mortal consciousness fled this world. Every time I let myself think about it, I feel the agony anew, and I have to take a few seconds to hide in his memories, to hear his voice and feel his love around me. I understand more and more what Mirele meant... but at the same time, it's different. As long as I'm still alive, still drifting in my digital home, I'll keep his memories safe until we can find a way to bring him to life, just as he turned us into living computers.I've been in contact with a few people that have such programming experience, creating Artificial Intelligence constructs, both as programs and as actual droids. Some of them worked on the droids that are now moving all over the surface of Horus, rebuilding our world into the beautiful, shining Utopia we remember it once being.They have told me that my idea is a long shot at best, insane at worst, but one of them admitted that he had worked on a project where an AI's m
My Shattered World My Confession
Every day, on every street, in every city… the view is the same.Of course, I don’t mean what it actually looks like, but there’s a dreary monotony to the landscape. Ruins, in all directions. Heaps of broken concrete and fractured steel beams- the collapsing bodies of what had once been homes, shops, and office buildings- baking in the heat of the unrelenting sun. Once-fanciful fountains are now identifiable only by their outlines and what’s left of their plumbing pipes. There’s no plant life… not even dead ones. They were scavenged early on, in the desperate struggle for food that had eventually cost half the population their lives.The smell is indescribable. It’s misery, anguish… and death.I see movement… a flash here and there, the survivors scuttling be
My Shattered World New Arrival
Stepping out of the transport, I took a look around, feeling a bit of a deer-in-headlights sensation. I’ve already drawn attention simply because I arrived in a transport. The only people with working transports are government agents, and they aren’t well thought of around here.Time to make myself scarce.I knew the direction I needed to go. I needed to hop a ride on one of the aforementioned government transports without the government finding out. I had a few things in my bag that might have encouraged cooperation from the drivers. Might… some of them were so blindly loyal, they’d lay down in the street and let themselves be fried if the governor told them to. It’s kinda… disturbing.However, I also had the suspicion that if I just headed straight to the distribution center,
My Shattered World The First Memory
I stand in the sitting room of Grandfather’s house, listening to his jokes and laughter. Grandmother serves honey-sweet Nektar- the preferred drink of most kids I knew- and a plate of fresh cookies from the replicator in their kitchen. Some prefer to cook their own meals, others prefer to have food made for them instantly. We are free to choose whatever we wish. Our world is perfect… you can have anything you want, at any time.Grandfather gets a call and goes to his study to answer. I’m stealthy, even at the tender age of eight, and I follow. As I listen, dawning realization hits me. Grandfather is somehow involved with the Council! They’re calling him in… some kind of meeting, something about annual maintenance.I know what maintenance is. It’s about fixing or cleaning things… but he’s n
Latest chapter
- My Shattered World Final Thoughts... For Now
- My Shattered World It Hurts to Say Goodbye
- My Shattered World Reunions
- My Shattered World Voice to the Voiceless
- My Shattered World Memories
- My Shattered World Eyes for the Blind
- My Shattered World Ruling the World, 101
- My Shattered World Talking to the Outside
- My Shattered World My Wife, the Computer
