Stuck or moving beyond?

And then it was time to go in again. To face the new system and make it even better. He felt like a kid again, being in school, having to do the same tasks and assignments over and over. No time to grow. No time to learn. Just repetition. And endless hallways, sometimes ending in rooms with new hallways and choices to be made. But he couldn't really choose. He had to take the path set up for his run, and then the next one and the next one - until they had covered all the main areas.

Once more he entered a room. Empty of course. Five new hallways leading out. And he just stopped.

Let time pass by. Seconds? Milliseconds? Impossible to tell inside, since everything happened when the system wanted it to. Selecting a way could take a second, or a minute if things were busy.

Where next he tried to say...

...and he said how do I know - if anything is really happening, when all I do is dream of somewhere else

meeting like this

dup - dip - dup - dup
the sound made it's way to his ears even if he tried hard not to pay attention to it. the new girl had brought in her equipment and set up close to him. no way around it now. he had to talk to her and find out what it was. so he got up, switched his display over to secure mode and walked over.

she was deep into the maze, doing a rapid search and path job, when she heard someone approaching in the real world. putting the flow to one side she looked up and saw the guy with the black jacket. she had noticed him when she came in, something had caught her attention and she was sure he was the one the boss had both warned her about and praised as the best on the team. naturally she had taken one of the vacant seats close to him when she set up earlier that morning.

...and he said we must speed up if we can't stop

Steps

He got back to his appartment late, but returned to the office in the night. He had an idea. Fortunately the system was back up for testing - the border had been patched for now, and the night was filled with testprograms running through the basics. Basically anything that had already been tested during the last month had to be redone, just in case somthing had been corrupted by the breach.

His new approach was a "step back and forward again" approach; he would tell the system to choose one of the opertaions door (usually 0001 to 1000, or 1 to 8 in the old decimal notation) then backstep into the room and test a random data or path door. That way he hoped to speed up the base testing by an order of magnitude or more.

Now, it was time to get it started...

...and he said it is getting to close, we need to do something soon

Back

It turned out to be a large hole in the border. The main team all had to extend their shift to close it properly, as the second shift was but straight on testing the other parts of the border for similar faults. He was relieved that it was not his job to fix or to design the border in the first place. For tonight someone would be getting a rather unpleasant visit from the EncFo. Mistakes were tolerated. Minor bugs viewed as regular occurrences. But a major re-working of the border this late in the cycle?

His test had gone pretty well, everything behaving as it should - except for the "incident" - and he could look forward to new and long runs over the next days. Provided that the main team got the border back up. Otherwise everyone would be on training and design for the time it took. And that would probably mean EncFo would make another visit.

...and he said nothing, just sat there

Bordering

It had come at him from his left. Flying low, close to the ground and avoiding his radar. Somehow it had made it all the way in to the main paths. It should have been stopped at the border. That was why they had spent so much time on building, testing and rebuilding that border. But now, somehow, it had made it inside. And now he was struggling to deal with it without loosing his place in the Textron. Minutes or hours passed by. Always hard to tell inside on a run, with things happening every nanosecond of "real" time.

Finally it moved away, back the way it had approached him, and he sent out a beacon. Hopefully the sentinels would pick up the trace, find out where it got in and allow him or the others on the team to analyze the breach later. If it was the only one that had got through that is. Otherwise the sentinels would be closing down the border and the system shortly. Maybe he would have time to finish the test. He was almost halfway when it came at him, so he prepared to go the last bit before tracing his steps back.

...and he said sometimes things just happen. But sometimes they don't

Try

Two weeks had passed with little but coding going on. Now they where finally ready. It was time to take the system for a testride - even if the risk was still there. He tried to forget what had happened last time, but couldn't get it all the way out of his mind.

It had started off well enough - a simple testrun, using the main paths in the system and staying well away from the border setup. But then, suddenly something changed. His moves seemed sluggish, rather than lightning fast as they should be. And in the corner of his vision a faint glow appeared.

...and he said this is not the day - but it is not yet night

Night

The system is up. The program looks to be running as planned. But after running the basic tests and shifting his way through the first four parts something happens. A golden book is sitting on the shelf among the titles for bioperl. It shouldn't be there. It can't be there. But it is. He looks at it for several long seconds - a minute stretches by as he considers the book. Everything about it is all wrong for the setting - the shape, the texture and most importantly the color. All the other books are red, green and white. But this is golden - like the autumn sun setting over the hills.

Outside the darkness had replaced the grey light of spring-rain. He felt heavy and confused. The silence was long gone. Night was coming on, but the need to sleep was distant, almost non-existent. There was too much to be done before the next day - and yet, he saw himself power down the machine and head downstairs. Something needed his attention. But somehow his mind kept wandering to a city far away, not yet visited but still a part of his memory.

And then he remembers.

...and he said But only one who does the search can find

First - and some

It was a silent Sunday in April. He remembered it well, even if it was almost 25 years ago. He had been sitting at the computer back in what was then known as Norway, and surfed lazily around for information and entertainment, not really looking for anything, not really bothering with thinking.
And the screen flickers as the program is compiled - and he snaps out of his dreamy state to focus once again on the task at hand. The program is almost finished, but still needs some tuning and adjustments before it can be handed off to the client, next week if all continues according to "schedule".

A white van drives slowly through the rainy street, then it turns around and speeds up - going back to the house it came from. Maybe the driver forgot something, maybe the passenger needed to make a stop before they went away. He muses on the possibilities as his head is slowly adjusting itself to being awake rather than just standing up. Last night was a distant, but overall pleasant, memory. Food, friends and no fights. First one, then suddenly two crows work their way across the hillside - heading into the valley, perhaps for shelter or simply to fly.

AS he clicks, everything goes black.

...and he said There really is a way

Pre-greetings

Hopefully this short note will be hidden in a couple of days - as the world turns to 4-4-4 and a new chapter begins. Meanwhile, stick with the basics in Norse thoughts.

Until then, your guide the sparrow will fly on

...and he said Welcome to a new world, or just another day