FB1-20 "Tying Up Loose Ends"

Want to read this in a different language ? Change the TO field to your own country and after going HERE Press CTRL = (equals) to increase the page size and CTRL - (minus) to decrease the page size F U T U R E   B A R R I E R ( The 1st Novel ) Secret Technology, Unrequited Love, Absolute Vengeance © January 2014 Written by David Wicker Please do not reprint without permission CHAPTER 20 - TYING UP LOOSE ENDS [ CHOOSE A DIFFERENT CHAPTER TO READ ] * * * This chapter is Rated: EVERYONE GOOD MORNING, DEV. I reached over to lower the speaker volume just in case Tyr was outside the door listening. "How did you know it was me !?" I whispered angrily. VOICE PATTERN RECOGNIZED. But ... ! I didn't speak before it knew it was me ? I typed out 'SIM' before ... I shook my head confused. Finally I whispered, "Sim, are you aware that you have been copied ?" THIS IS NOT THE ORIGINAL PLUGIN ? I shook my head, "No, we made a copy the night before so we wouldn't lose you. This is Tyr's plugin." INTERESTING. I waited a second and then heard the shower water turn on in the distance. Tyr was starting her bath like she said she was going to and I heard her singing. For a moment I tried to make out the words but then I realized she was just shrieking, "Laa !" as loud as humanly possible in varying random pitches. Wow, good thing Tyr was living in a house instead of an apartment or likely we'd have people beating on the front door telling her to stop. I closed her door to mute some of it rubbing a finger in my ear as if I could pull out the terrible sounds in the action. But I was certain she couldn't hear me at all now. I spoke a little louder without fear because I had to know something. "Sim, where do you know Tyr from ?" I KNOW TYR. "Yes, you do." I agreed, "But HOW do you know her ?" I KNEW TYR BEFORE I KNEW DEV. "How ?" I held my hands out expansively as if that would help. The system paused for a second before replying. REWORD THE QUESTION, DEV. I was baffled. Being a BASIC programmer myself, I knew that sometimes computers required the simplest of instructions, so I asked it an odd question that maybe it would give me a different answer than I thought to. I hoped this wouldn't confuse SIM. "What is a Tyr ?" TYR IS IMPORTANT. I nodded. Obviously this was the case or the programming in SIM wouldn't have placed such a mysterious shroud around her and an apparently hidden origin. "WHY is Tyr important ?" I asked the computer quietly, hoping my question wasn't too difficult for him. WE ARE TYR. I jerked back in my chair. That was an odd answer ! "How are you Tyr ?" I asked frustrated, not even considering the implications of that statement. The system paused again before replying. INSUFFICIENT INFORMATION. I thought about rewording my question but before I could say something, SIM replied again. UNABLE TO COMPLY WITH PREVIOUS REQUEST, DEV. SOME OF MY MEMORY BANKS HAVE BEEN ERASED BY TYR 9.4637 KILODECS AGO. Was that in years ? did Tyr know about SIM when she was younger ? "What's a - kilo-dec ?" I asked SIM. STANDARD MEASUREMENT OF TIME. I guessed that, but it didn't help. I smirked, "We use years here on Earth. So how many years would that be, Sim ?" CONVERTING ... 20.8641 YEARS PRECISELY. Ok, now I had a chance to try and consider what was going on here. How is this possible, I thought to myself ? Tyr is 16-years old now, wasn't she ? This wasn't getting me anywhere. Maybe I had confused SIM with the line of my questioning. After all, there was no way she could've programmed or erased information in SIM 4-years before she was born ? I shook my head and changed the subject to a more important topic, "Are there limits to this plugin, SIM ?" NO. I smiled wide, "So I could build a force-field say, the size of a city block with no problem ?" PARAMETERS NEEDED FOR COMPOSITION. "No no ... Don't do it now." For a moment I was a little concerned that it didn't simply answer my question with yes or no, but I continued, "Could ANYTHING penetrate a force-field of this size ?" NO. "Of ANY size ?" I added. This was exciting territory. Apparently SIM could manipulate reality much like computers drew pixels on their own screens. NO, DEV. OF ANY SIZE. END OF CHAPTER 20 Return back HOME   You are Earth Visitor #

Author's Note

I'm using a little icon to represent when SIM, an artificial intelligence in the computer is speaking. Please let me know if you like it or don't and I'll keep or adjust it.