The Byte, Aryan Jassal [distant reading TXT] 📗

I Discover a New World

With the invention of Z1 in 1936, the first programmable computer, a new world breathed. A world where a world shouldn’t exist…  

That was a cloudy night. It was raining heavily. The streets were empty. All the shops around him were closed. All closed except one. “The Cyber-Cafe” was the name of the shop. He started moving towards the shop. He slowly started walking towards it. In no time he reached the shop. He stood there, staring at the handle. He gripped it suddenly and opened it.  

There were a lot of computers and no one inside. He was so fascinated by that sight that he couldn’t resist and he walked in. Suddenly, the whole room transformed into an electric blue color with green lines running through, almost like a circuit with its copper connecting wires. Just then, he felt the touch of a metal rod, curved to fit his shoulder. His dream suddenly went dark.  

My eyes popped open. I gasped as I sat upright. Well, that was a horrible dream, I thought. Just then, a voice called, “Aden? Wake up, you bed hog!” Aden sighed and called back, “Yeah, Yeah. By the way, what’s the time?” the reply came, “It’s half-past eight! Your mom can arrive at any time.”  

That sent a jolt through me. I had almost forgotten that I was at my friend’s house. I was doing a night-out. My mom had instructed me to be up and ready by quarter-to nine. I quickly went to the bathroom, washed my face, and I was about to pack my bag when I noticed my laptop making some noise as if it was running.  

I raised the screen and found my laptop was running my favorite game, Underworld Mayhem. “Hey, Tristan, did you turn my laptop on,” I asked my friend. Tristan replied, “Nope.” My laptop was a custom-designed ultra-gaming laptop that my dad gifted me for my thirteenth birthday. Now, Underworld Mayhem is this game in which you have to go through the underworld back into the over-world. No one could clear the game yet. The last level was almost as if the game developers do not want players to complete the game.  

At that very moment, I had an idea. My dad is a white-hat hacker. He hacks the system to find loopholes in security and works for the government, to hack the hackers. He has taught me how to change some code in applications that I can make use of in this case.  

I quickly closed the game and maneuvered to the game directory. I scrolled down hurriedly as I didn’t have time. I finally found the last level control directory. I quickly added some commands. Now, if I press ‘Ctrl + Alt + F10,’ I will be able to open the gates of the last level.  

I looked at the time. Oh, no! The time was 8:43 am! I quickly launched the game and continued from the last save, the beginning of the last level. I pressed the programmed keyboard shortcut. The game froze. Huh? After two seconds, the doors opened. I couldn’t believe it! I did it! I stepped through the gates, completing the game. The game froze again.  

Well, that was weird. A top-class gaming laptop couldn’t handle a simple game?? Then, there was a small tremor. It was only enough to shake my teeth and nothing else. The light in my room suddenly went low. I looked around and saw that the windows in my room had gone dark.  

Well, that was super-weird. It was morning, and the sky goes dark in a second. “Tristan,” I called. No response. “Tristan, can you hear me,” I called again. No response. Worried, I reached out for my laptop, but it was gone. OK, this is Ultra-Weird, I thought.  

I ignored the fact that my laptop is missing and ensure that other stuff in my bag was ready. Then, I hung my bag and step out of the room, trembling with fear. The hallway was literally, ‘Out of the world.’

Please Don't Zap Me

 

The hallway was electric blue with green connecting wires running around like a circuit board. I realized that this room has the same setup as in my dream! What a coincidence! When I stepped out of the room, some green lines beneath my feet lit up. As I was bare-footed, it just short-circuited the power lines and turned the lines and the electric blue background black. 

I ran back into the room and quickly put my sneakers back on. Now, there was no problem. Now, the sneakers completely insulated me from the electric floor.  

Yay! I just found a loophole in my new game; The Floor is Electrically Charged. Speaking of electrically charged, I just remembered that I had a multimeter in my backpack. (Hint - A multimeter is used to measure voltage in AC and DC, resistance, etc.)   I and a multi-meter were just like God’s plan. Anyways, I measured the voltage. It was around 3.5 volts, DC… enough to drive an electrical chip! I quickly raced out of the house. The moment I opened the main door, I was awestruck!  

The walkway out of the house was glowing with electric blue, and the same green connector raced along the base. Some thick green connectors also ran with it.

I stepped out and looked up. It was a big and vast place, with a black sky. The temperature was boiling outside the house. I instantly started sweating. The heat wasn’t natural. It seemed as if it was coming out of an electrical appliance. Now it all dawned on me. 

My head started spinning as I realized that I am inside my laptop. What the heck? I started walking slowly. My life seemed like a lie. I also saw thick connectors running along those thin connectors. I turned left and saw the exact copies of my friend’s house, only black. I turned around and saw that my friend’s own house was black with electric blue stripes. I looked at my left, again.

There was also an IC roaming around my neighbor’s house. They had four terminals, two for arms and two for legs. The ‘legs’ of the ICs were always on one of the green connectors. They also had a big black box as their head and body. Their head was attached to their bodies via a thin wire. Someone looked at me. They had some glass circles for eyes and a LED screen as their mouth. The moment it saw me, it ran back into its house. To my right was a huge, black wall. I turned back to the left.  

Distantly, I saw red and blue lights flashing, almost as if it was a police car. As it approached, I saw a big IC, those long ones with multiple pins on either side of it? Well, it was a car in this world. I saw in horror as the flashing LEDs were also animated electrical component. Instead of four terminals, it had six. Two for its arms, two for its legs, and two were connecting to something at its back. I watched in terror as the ‘car’ approached me. It stopped just in front of my house, driving on those thick connectors.  

Four more ICs, same as the others, but thicker, came out, followed by those LED guys. “Stop right there! Surrender. You will be arrested on the basis of Article 7621,” one of the cops said in a fairly robotic accent. “Keep your hands at your back,” I said, rather confused, “What the hell is Article 7621? Who are you? Where am I?”  

Another cop replied, “Article 7621 prohibits one to short-circuit any power lines, which you did. We are RoboCops of Aden-PC, named after our user, Aden. You are in the Byte, a city established since 1936, run by King Zeta, and Queen Peta. Put your hands behind your back now!” I did as instructed. One of the RoboCops walked to me and said, “On your knees.” I again did as instructed. It walked behind me, and it put something on my arm.  

It felt like metal, mildly warm. “Is the soldering done,” one of the cops asked. “Soldering? My hands,” I cried. “Why isn’t it about 300˚C?” Another RoboCop said, “To answer your query, this extreme temperature might melt our terminals or destroy us entirely. Now, not another word or I will blow you up.” I zipped my mouth at that command.  

The RoboCop ‘soldering’ me said, “Done! You can zap him now.” Zap Me?? I don’t want to get zapped. I pulled at my arms, and luckily, the ‘solder’ came off. It wasn’t sturdy enough to keep me from breaking it. I raced away.

One of the RoboCops cried, “STOP,” as if I was going to listen to them and stop. I kept running. A few moments later, I stumbled and fell. The thin green connector beneath me turned black. One of the RoboCops might’ve shocked me.  

From my back, my multi-meter beeped and squeaked, “50 volts, DC.” The electrical zap might’ve activated the speech mode of my multimeter. I rose up unsteadily and resumed my running. 

 A LED guy popped out of nowhere and touched one of its terminals with me. I instantly crumpled. My multimeter beeped and squeaked again, “120 volts, AC. Lethal for Humans,” and the thick connector beneath me turn to a mix of black and red embers. That might be some high voltage. Then, I lost consciousness.

I Make a New Friend

 

When I was conscious again, I notice that I was being held up. I looked around and saw a group of RoboCops who ‘arrested’ me. They were holding me up.  

I tried not to make much movement on the points they were holding me up with and decided to look around. I was being carried to a building which suspiciously looked like the Hard Drive. I looked up and was able to see the label “C:” printed on the entrance of the drive with glowing electric blue.  

I again acted as if I was out as I could see a lot of those ICs. No one found out. That means my plan worked! When the noise of random footsteps faded away, and the steady and in-sync steps of the RoboCops remained, I looked up. They were taking me to