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 Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2008 7:43 pm
Xinai handed over the paper towels in her hand as she considered Naomi's offer. It couldn't hurt, right? and if it didn't work, they were already in the building so it wasn't as if she wouldn't be able to find someone else who could help. Giving a quick one-sided shrug, Xai slipped her backpack off her shoulder and gently removed her laptop.
"I guess you can take a look if you think you can help. Maybe you'll be able to find something I can't. It's just been acting weird lately, freezing up, losing data, making weird noises..." The laptop chose that moment to make another loud beep, as if in agreement. Xai placed the laptop on the counter next to the sink that Naomi wasn't currently using to clean her cuts, and pushed the "on" button.
The computer quietly whirred into life, making a few muted beeps before finally displaying a clean desktop, devoid of any icons. Xai preferred to keep her desktop area uncluttered, simply because it made it easier to see her desktop wallpaper - which, today, was nowhere to be found. Except for the simple navigation bar near the bottom, the screen was completely empty, glowing white. "Ahhh... I see it's really been acting up again while it was off. I usually have some sort of wallpaper for my desktop, but lately it's refused to stay there. Though it's not anything major, it does get annoying."
Xai waved her arm expansively at the computer, inviting Naomi to take a look. "Do whatever you want with this thing, except kill it. I really don't know what's going on with my laptop, and it's starting to be a real big pain in the a**."
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Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 6:53 pm
Taking the paper towels and drying her hands rather quickly, in a manner more like she simply patted them down to they weren't soaking but instead lightly moist, Naomi tossed the used napkins into the trash bin before she hurried over to Xai's side and her open laptop.
This had been all too easy, so very easy, and she grinned as she looked at the blank screen the same way an animal would grin at it's prey....if an animal could grin, that is.
"There's nothing wrong with your computer, in fact you could almost say you were blessed with this...'incident'."
Naomi's speech patterns changed almost immediately as she got hold of the laptop and ran her finger down the side. The childishness, the little cutey whips and plays on the words, all had vanished the moment the technology hit her hands.
"I'm fairly certain of what's causing your data to disappear and your screen to freeze, but I'd like the second opinion of someone far more educated in this than myself."
When Naomi referred to herself as I, it was very clear at that moment she'd changed.
Reaching into a pocket that had been somehow sewn to the inside of her pannier, Naomi pulled out a USB drive and stuck it into the port that remained empty and ready on the side of the screen. A small beeping noise, much different from the one Xai's latop had been emitting before, filled the air as something flashed across the woman's screen, and Naomi grinned.
"I'm depending on you for your help today. Please find and pull out whatever seems to be causing this...issue."
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Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 7:27 pm
Blessed? By a glitch? ... yea right.
Xai watched as Naomi's attitude and manner of speech completely changed. It was interesting, she mused, how fast all of Naomi's pretenses were dropped once she touched the laptop. It was odd, but Xai felt a little reassured by this, as if Naomi's abrupt change made her much more believable. Leaning closer, she watched as the girl pulled a USB drive and stuck it into the port. She was close enough to hear Naomi speak to the laptop, and a slight frown appeared on her face. She often did it too, but never with the same kind of tone that Naomi had - almost as if she expected the laptop to respond in some way.
Just as she opened her mouth to ask about it, the laptop screen flickered and caught Xai's attention. The desktop area, which had been completely empty just moments before, was now flickering slightly as a vague outline started to form, becoming more and more distinct with each successive flicker. Xai blinked in surprise as the outlines solidified into a definite egg shape that floated around the desktop area. The screen stopped flickering, and the laptop gave another loud beep - this time slightly smug.
Turning to Naomi with a slightly raised eyebrow, Xai pointed to the screen. "So... was that from your USB, or is that what's been hiding in my computer the whole time? An egg in the middle of my screen? And you said there's nothing wrong?" Xai was not surprised that there was infact something in her laptop, but she found it hard to believe that there was nothing wrong with an egg appearing out of nowhere. Although she didn't say it out loud, she was sure that it had to be a virus, unlike anything she'd ever seen before. But at least now, it was visible, and perhaps she'd be able to do something about it.
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Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 7:38 pm
"This child? Yes, the one you currently see in the middle of your screen has been here all along, but the one I asked for help...they're no longer on your computer so you have no need to worry."
Naomi looked down at the egg that floated happily about the pure white screen, and she couldn't help but smile at its childish attempt of communication through the beep it produced.
"What you have, this small egg, is called a Hacker. I know that sounds like a virus or a problem, but it is actually a random bit of generated data caused when your computer reaches a certain condition."
She gently touched the screen with her fingertip, placing it directly over the egg itself, and she slowly twirled her finger in a circle. Of course her finger wasn't directly on the screen, as she knew better, but it was close enough that if the egg could actually see it, it could follow the motions should it want to.
"For now, since it is small and looks fairly new, all your child can do to communicate with you is beep or do things to make you notice it; like eating your data or freezing your computer at random times, things like that. I think by doing things like that its showing off its personality to you."
Naomi found that to be quite cute, how the small egg was trying to assert itself even though it was nothing more than a little clump of data. When it became a Child, she knew then that the real fun would start.
"Do you want to say anything to it?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 8:22 pm
"Okay. Let me get this straight." A small frown appeared on Xai's face as she tried to make sense of what Naomi was saying. "A Hacker child is living on my computer screen - even though things don't normally live in technology - and it's not a virus, and I can actually talk to it?" And it wants attention all the time, she silently added. "How exactly did that happen? And why is it on my laptop?"
Abruptly, she shook her head. Her imagining that the laptop was communicating to her through the beeps was bad enough, but finding out that it really was... she must be crazy. And yet... her eyes followed the egg's movement across the screen. It didn't look dangerous at all. Xai stretched out a finger towards the screen, lightly touching the area where the egg was currently floating and startled slightly when a soft beep came out of her laptop.
Turning to Naomi, she tilted her head. "So how exactly do i talk to it?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 9:03 pm
"Oh, your Hacker isn't a Child yet, it's still an Egg. It will become a child soon, of course, and from there you'll be able to actually speak with it more."
The way Naomi said 'child' and 'egg' almost made it seem like the words deserved to be spoken like proper nouns, and she continued on to explain a bit further.
"You could call this Egg something of an AI, as it is very similar. When it grows it will learn from what you do to it and what it chooses to do on its own. Think of it as having a virtual pet if you will, one that grows just like a living, breathing one. It doesn't requite much care though, as it can feed itself off anything around it that is data, and it can communicate with you in a way you can actually understand."
How did Naomi know all of this? She was just a child, literally, yet she spoke as though she knew everything about the situation at hand. Her words were calm and collected, like she'd given this speech before, and never once did her eyes leave the screen.
"The reason it is on your laptop is you probably performed the necessary actions required to 'create' a Hacker, be it you simply opened a program a certain number of times or you happened to key in a code that you didn't realize was actually a code. A Hacker can be 'created' in many ways, so you could almost say that all computers are capable of having something like this."
Almost, but not always. It is actually fairly rare.
She thought to herself as she watched Xai's slow interactions with the Egg, and Naomi couldn't help but grin as she watched Xai's finger move and she heard the Egg beep.
"You're talking to your Egg right now by simply interacting with it. It can also hear your voice through your microphone, and see you as well through a means I have yet to figure out. They can see us and hear us, and they are learning from us, so these Hackers are indeed AI, not a virus."
Naomi wondered if there was anything else she had to explain, as she was getting rather tired of simply watching this egg. Her real purpose behind getting close to Xai had been long accomplished, and now she was eager to get away and let the plan fall into place.
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Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 10:05 pm
"I see." With a final poke at the screen, Xinai reluctantly took her hand away and closed the laptop. "When will it grow into a child? And does it eat just any data, or can I feed it specific stuff?"
As she spoke, she glanced at her watch. It was really getting late, and now that she knew what the problem had been, it was time for her to start heading home. Xai figured there was no point in asking the people in the .NET Hacker building about her laptop now that she'd found the answer to her laptop's strange behavior, and she could always come back if she had to. Her gaze shifted to Naomi, and she wondered if the little girl was going to return home, as well.
"It's getting late, I should probably head home. What about you?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 10:22 pm
"Naomi's going to go somewhere else for now, as Naomi doesn't need to be at home yet. There is still plenty of time, and it's thanks to you."
Naomi turned and smiled at Xai, though her smile wasn't childish or friendly at all. It was one of pure devilishness, her eyes narrowed and looking rather sharp. The 'smile' was more of a sneering grin to show she'd won in a way of sorts, thought it wasn't very obvious right now.
It would be soon enough, however, and she had Xai to thank for it.
"Naomi really must thank you, Ms. Xai. Because of you Naomi can finally get what Naomi needs to have done, and Naomi's friend that helped you can actually do what they need to do."
Her thanks was far beyond cryptic and her actions seemed to mirror it, but the child had no more time for pleasantries as she needed to make her way out of the building before the timer went off. Naomi needed to be far enough away that she couldn't be pegged as the reason for the incident, and she made her way towards the door before the woman.
Looking over her shoulder with the deep gaze of some kind of evil in her eyes, Naomi smiled once more as she pulled the door open.
"Let's meet again sometime, you and I. We'll have some more fun then."
With that she stepped out and closed the door behind herself, quickly making her way out of the building and into the clear...
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Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 3:09 am
Xai looked thoughtfully after Naomi as the little girl walked quickly out of the washroom. Her last words had left her with a vague sense of unease, but Xai was unable to pinpoint exactly why. Perhaps it was the look in the girl's face - altogether too knowledgeable, and that slight flicker of evil. But it was too last to ask now, and whatever the girl was up to, at least she know knew what was wrong with her laptop.
The laptop made a soft beep that sounded like a slight inquiry, and Xinai turned her head towards where it was sitting on the counter. "Well, it's time to go home, you and I. Perhaps i'll be able to find out more about you when I get home, hmm?"
With that, Xai picked up the laptop and slipped it back into her backpack. With a last glance around the washroom to make sure she hadn't left anything behind, she walked out of the room and out of the building.
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