L.A.+Stories

Binary ** Will Clark 8B ** ** Ms. Bartoshyk ** The autumn sun had reached its peak several hours ago, and had half-finished it's long, steady decent towards the western horizon. For Matthew, the summer holidays had ended almost a month ago, and the harsh realities of grade eight at school were beginning to settle on him. On top of that, the days were rapidly getting colder and shorter as winter began to kick in. Today's forecast had been predicted as the first day of snow; not that that matters in Calgary, Canada, where it can- and frequently does- snow every month of the year. The forecasters had been completely wrong, however- the day had been scorching hot, and many had taken the opportunity to stay indoors. It was Friday. School had finished long ago, and Matt was at home with his friends, Angus and Neil, who were here for the afternoon. They had just finished playing a game of Monopoly, which had ended in the usual way- with everyone accusing each other of cheating, and declaring that they wouldn't play this game anymore. They had retreated to the kitchen, and were deciding on what to do next. "We could watch a movie." Angus suggested. The three of them were sitting around a wooden table in the centre of the room, eating a cinnamon roll that they had pillaged from the cupboard. "Maybe later," Matt replied "I think it’s still a bit early. Any other suggestions?" he looked around at both of them, and to Angus he looked like he was just waiting for an answer, not actually thinking for himself. "I could hack your computer," Neil started excitedly, "It would only take a couple of minutes and it wouldn't do anything permanent. Well, not much." Angus shot him an incredulous look. "You think that he would trust you? Look what happened at school!" It was true. Two years previously, he had managed to bring down the school network, deleting many hours of work of both teachers and students. Afterward, he was blocked by new security measures, and he had been unable to bring it back online. He would probably have been expelled if they had managed to trace it back to him, and he had only told the others months later. When they hadn't believed him, he had hacked into the government website, just to prove he could.  Matt tore a piece of roll off with his teeth, when he suddenly stopped chewing and said, “How about we play on the computer?” he asked. “There’s a good game online that I found.”  “Good idea,” Neil said, “And maybe after that, as we’re at the computer anyway...” He left the idea hanging.  Angus rolled his eyes and shook his head. No matter what, he wouldn’t get to mess up Matt’s computer // that // way.    Matt’s computer was a very old one- the monitor was a beige cube with a low-quality, pixelated screen at the front. The actual computing part was in a large, electronic box down on the floor on the right hand side, with a fan on it which whirled and clunked to the point of frustration. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> Five minutes later, they had it booted up and ready. The internet application opened, and the website took about half a second to load. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> “It used to be so slow,” Matt told the others, “But a couple of months ago, it just got so much faster. Maybe the service provider got faster or something.” Then he turned back to the computer. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> Neil leant over and murmured to Angus: “Don’t tell Matt, but I hacked his neighbours’ broadband. It took so long to load before.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> Suddenly, a gateway appeared onscreen. As the computer seemed to fly through it, the cut scene started; Magicians wielding arcane power, swordsmen brandishing weapons, Kings being crowned and armies going to war. After this, Matt knew, the login screen would appear in front of an animated backdrop. But this time it was different. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> A small black rectangle began to grow out from the middle of the screen, until it was all covered up, and an inky vortex appeared, swirling inwards. Matt didn’t know what it was, but he instinctively knew that all he had to do was to click the mouse, and something would happen. Neil seemed to know this too, and he reached out. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> “Neil, no!” Matt called out, but either Neil couldn’t hear him, or he didn’t listen. With a resounding click, his fingers came down on the mouse button. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> It happened so fast. The vortex seemed to come out of the screen like a small, dark monster which had just woken up, engulfing the room. Angus tried crying out, and Neil grabbed the keyboard, the only thing in reach. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> When the darkness resided, the room was empty, as if no one had been here in the first place. The screensaver was on, as if it had been running since the previous night and it just hadn’t been turned off yet. In fact, the only things that were in the least bit odd were the disappearance of the keyboard and the crusts of cinnamon roll which fell to the floor, waiting for the next time the floor was cleaned to be swept away. The silence after that was silent, except for the hum of ventilation and the far off late-afternoon traffic. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> Matt, Neil and Angus were gone. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> It was not a room, not in the real sense of the word. The ceiling, floor, left and right walls gleamed white, like something out of a futuristic science fiction movie, whilst the one in front was clear glass and the one behind was like a large, flat, solid light bulb. The room had a door at the left and the right, and a trapdoor cut both through the floor and through the ceiling, though no ladder led to it. In all respects it was more like a box than it was a room. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> They had woken up just a couple of minutes ago, one after another. The first thing they had seen as they had woken up was the computer room, where they had been standing a moment before, through the screen- And from the computer’s viewpoint. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> Matt had shouted at Neil, “Your button clicking has ended us up here, wherever here is. Didn’t it occur to you that that thing might be dangerous? Even just a bit?” They bickered about that, Neil brandishing the keyboard he had managed to hold onto. It might have gone further had not Angus, who had been sitting in the corner, come and broke it up. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> “Matt,” he said, “I think we’re inside the computer, and that’s what this box is. He pointed to the transparent window. “That must be the screen...” he trailed off. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> It was Neil who next spoke. “That can’t be right,” he pointed downward, out of the screen, “Look how big the mouse is; it must be hundreds of times larger than we are.” Then he laughed, “Look at how well we’re taking this. Think about it; a portal came up and swallowed us up into a computer, and we’re taking this as if someone told us that we’d missed lunch. Come on, what sane person would do that?” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> It struck Matt as odd too. “Well,” he said, trying to improve the mood, “We won’t do anything just by standing around, will we?” His tone turned serious “So if we are hundreds of time smaller than a computer mouse, and at the front of a computer, we must be in a pixel. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> Angus’s eyes grew wide “But a computer has thousands of pixels!” He exclaimed “This place is huge!” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> “And there’s more to the computer than pixels,” Neil added “There’s circuitry, software, processing units- everything. There must be some way to get out of here.” He walked over to a door on the side and opened it, revealing a second room that was identical to the first, connected by a short corridor with a door on one side. Behind it were stairs leading down. A way out. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> Then an idea seemed to come to Neil. He typed a few things on the keyboard, and then the stairs morphed into a slide. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> “How did you...?” Angus began. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> “I hacked the computer- it wasn’t that hard- and I changed the settings for these stairs. I thought it would make a very fun slide, don’t you?” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> Matt and Angus stared at him, dumbstruck. It was a few seconds before Angus managed to say anything. “You can do that?” He asked. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Yes,” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Then it must mean that this place is software as well as hardware.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Yes,” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> “And you can do this without using a screen?” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> Neil’s face came over in concentration. He typed for a few seconds, and then a holographic display glowed into existence in front of him. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> “Easy,” He shrugged “Can we go now? I’d kind of like to get out of here sometime- soon, if possible.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> The slide seemed endless; they slid for about ten minutes before they came out in a heap on a green, plastic floor. Matt looked around. It didn’t look like a room, but a space that reached as high as a mountain and as far across as a desert. The sky, instead of being the usual blue, was grey; not a metallic grey, but the boring, dim colour of cheap plastic. The circuit board, which they were obviously on, was lit entirely by LEDs the size of skyscrapers, but their brightness was subdued, as if there was a faint mist hanging over the place. Electronic resistors were like massive bridges spanning rivers of electricity were scattered around the water-tank cylindrical capacitors. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> Neil started walking forward. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> “Be careful!” Angus called “It could be dangerous!” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> Neil stepped on a piece of floor which glowed bright green, and there was an audible and visible spark of electricity as he was thrown backwards five metres across the floor. “I’m okay!” he called to them. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> “He told you so,” Matt muttered under his breath. Then louder, “We should probably go over there,” he pointed to a black cubiod the size of a city block, with dozens of metallic wires as thick as telegraph poles sticking out of the sides and attaching to the floor like spider legs. “It looks like the processing unit. That will probably be the most likely place where we can get out of this endless twist of programmable junk.” He walked two metres and set off another electric shock, catapulting backwards like a baseball. He slid a coupled of metres, wan doing so, passed over another one and flew in a completely different direction. When he sat up, all of his hair was pointing upwards. “And we have to find out some way to get around this infernal electricity system.” He moaned. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> No one said anything, but they looked at Neil, who smiled and held up his keyboard. After a short bit of typing, a cigar-shaped balloon began to expand out of nothingness, a deck hanging down below it. Not the fastest choice, maybe, but ten out of ten for originality. Neil’s enjoying this, Matt realised. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> Five minutes later, a sleek, black airship sped along, fifty metres above the motherboard like a bullet from a gun. It wasn’t powered by a propeller, but some sort of unnatural force that defied most of the laws of physics. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> “What I don’t understand is how you managed to create an airship in about thirty seconds.” Matt said “I mean, it’s an airship, for goodness sake. Surely it’s got more variables than fifteen letters on a keyboard!” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> “I designed an airship simulator program once,” Neil said that as if it explained everything. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> “How do we slow it down?” Angus asked “I mean, we’re kind of close to the calculator thing...” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> “Central processing unit,” Neil interjected. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> “Whatever. We still have to get off, don’t we?” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> “That’s what these are for.” He handed them two rockets, each with a backpack strap attached to them. From each two joysticks and a handlebars stuck out at places where someone with the <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> “Jet packs? Seriously?” Matt asked. But Neil could see that he was joking, and a grin slowly spread across his face. “Do we have to launch ourselves off?” Matt asked, enthusiastically, “Because it looks kind of scary from this height.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> “Nah, I can just make the airship disappear when I want to.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> Angus looked at them, a little wide eyed, but he made no objection. Though the others didn’t know it, he suffered from vertigo, and it was all he could do to not cry out, and only managed to control his fear by repeating, over and over in his head, ’If the others can do this, so can I. We’ll get through this. I know it.’ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> After Neil had taken five minutes to explain how they worked, he pulled out his keyboard, his finger hovering above the enter button. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> “Five,” Neil stated, monotonously. His eyes were closed. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> Angus closed his eyes firmly, just to open them again immediately afterward. His fists clenched around the handles, careful not to pull the ignition trigger. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> “Four,” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> Matt’s eyes glinted, excited and yet slightly apprehensive for the chance to leap into open space. He decided that he would feel safer with a parachute or a hang glider, but a jetpack was too great an opportunity to pass up. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> “Three,” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> He was so excited, it took all of Neil’s strength to not just press down on the button now. He reminded himself that if he did that, Matt and Angus would be in danger. He forced himself to count down slowly. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> “Two,” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> “One,” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> A wave of sudden nausea came over Angus. He felt like crying out, stopping Neil from bringing his finger down on the key that would make their balloon disappear. But it was too late- the ground disappeared beneath his feet. He was dimly aware of falling, wind flying past his face. Panic took him, and he only just managed to activate the rocket before he hit the ground. It was supposed to be able to support his weight fully, but he had been moving too fast and hit the ground fast and at an angle. He whimpered slightly and passed out. A couple of seconds later, Matt landed beside him- less fast, but still with force. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> Neil, however, was still in the air, performing tricks, and flipping upside down. In his head he was wondered how large they were in here; if they had been tiny, they would have hit the ground in about a fifth of a second. This place was strange- but he liked it. Especially since he had grabbed the keyboard at the last second- Perfect. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> When he finally did touch down, it was a perfect, light landing. He walked over to where Angus, who was up again, and Matt stood waiting. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Took you long enough,” Matt said. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">Neil shrugged “I was enjoying myself,” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">Angus, who had now almost fully recovered from his fright, pointed to a trapdoor. “We landed directed on the proccessy thing...” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Central Processing Uni...” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Whatever!” It came as more of a shout than anything. “Can’t we just get out of here?” He said it firmly “Please?” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Fine,” Matt interjected, smoothly diverting the impending argument. “Let’s go.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">The trapdoor swung open with barely a pull, revealing a solid steel staircase that twisted down into an impenetrable gloom. Matt asked Neil for a flashlight, and he went one step better; a sphere that radiated light appeared within the structure illuminating it entirely. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">The whole room was covered with thousands of rows of switches that were either set to 0 or to 1. In the centre of the room there was a massive structure that looked like some of the pictures of old computers Matt had seen; Lights flashing, dials whirring, and next to it, an empty doorframe with a large panel of switches next to it. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">When they were at the foot of the steps, they approached it cautiously- that is to say, Matt and Angus approached it cautiously, and Neil walked up to it and started flicking the switches. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“What are you doing!?” Matt exclaimed. “Those switches could be dangerous!” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“No,” Neil said calmly “These switches represent binary, and they are used to locate where you want this portal”-He pointed to the doorframe-“To go. It’s obvious” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">Matt wasn’t sure how this was obvious and a questioning glance from Angus told him that he didn’t either. Neither of them dared to ask. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">After a couple of minutes of tinkering, Neil seemed satisfied, and he pressed a small, round button at the base of the board which Matt hadn’t noticed. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">If Matt had been expecting the portal to act mystically, he was disappointed, for instead the place where it led just appeared, as if it had been there all along. The portal was transparent- he could see through it at what was on the other side- something blue. He was about to say something, but Neil had already stepped through. He shrugged and followed suit, Angus directly behind him. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">The colours on the other side mad Matt’s head spin. The floor and ceiling were black, the darkest that you could imagine, and the walls were a neon blue, a colour which could never be replicated in real life. He felt dizzy and wanted to collapse. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Where are we?” He asked, his head swimming. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Judging by the colour, I’d guess some sort of game,” Neil said, apparently unfazed. “In a maze too,” He added. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">Angus just opened his mouth to reply when suddenly a massive representation of the number “Three” seemed to appear everywhere at once. He couldn’t explain it; it just did. Then, just as suddenly, it stopped. A second later it was replaced by a Two, and then a One, followed by a “Go!” which came accompanied by a large electronic beep. After that, some cheap arcade music started. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">Then, something appeared at the end of the corridor, something that told Angus exactly where they were. It was big. It was yellow. It had a massive mouth that opened and closed as it moved. They were inside a game of Pacman. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">In unison, the three boys broke apart and ran, ran down the corridor. They wouldn’t be eaten, not in they could help it. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">They turned left. Then right. Then left again, around and around like a haywire robotuntil they were hopelessly lost- and they hadn’t even known where they were to start with. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">They stopped to catch their breath, behind another neon wall. Neil glimpsed around a corner, recoiling when he watched a red ghost glide past. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Neil,” Angus began, “Can’t you make another portal appear or something, like you did before? It would be very useful right now.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“It doesn’t work here. I tried.” He was lying about this; he was just enjoying himself in this place, and he didn’t want to leave just yet. In fact, he was certain how to get out of this computer, but he wouldn’t- For exactly the same reasons. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Oh,” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“By the way, I wish this music would stop. It’s starting to get on my nerves,” Neil commented. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Quiet!” Angus hissed at him. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Well, I was only mentioning it because...” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Shhhh!” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">Quieter this time, he murmured to himself. “Oh. Well. Be that way, then.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">Matt glanced around and decided it was time to take control. “Alright, we have to think of a way to get out of here. In the game of Pacman, the most likely exit would probably be in the middle of the maze. We just have to find it. Is there anything that can lead us there? Any ideas?” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“The ghosts!” Neil exclaimed, “When Pacman eats them, they return to the middle room. We just need to follow one when it gets eaten. To do that though, we will need a...” He trailed off, and started to type franticly. With finality, he hit the “Enter” key, and watched the empty space in front of him. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">A glowing sphere that had not been there a moment before began to shimmer and pulsate, flickering between blue and yellow. “A pill,” Neil explained, “Pacman needs one to eat a ghost. A sudden noise at the end of the passageway caught their attention, and they spun around. “Speaking of Pacman,” Neil said, his voiced laced dangerously with irony, “Here he comes now.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">Matt and Angus didn’t hear him; they were already running. Neil saw no reason not to do the same, because it was clear that Pacman was about to eat the pill. Halfway down the corridor, though, he could see that the others had stopped running; in fact, they were running backwards; running from a ghost. He caught up with them, but he didn’t need to say anything. They knew that there was no way out. They were trapped. The Pacman drew closer and close. Angus was scared. He didn’t know what they would do- and then his vision went black. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">When Matt woke up, he had no way of knowing that only a couple of seconds had passed. For all he knew, it could have been hours. All he knew was that they were in the middle of the maze, an empty room with nothing but an open door and a ladder that climbed upward. He bent down to help Angus, who had just woken up, and a couple of seconds later, Neil followed suit. Once he explained the situation, Neil said, <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“The same thing must have happened to us as happens to the ghost normally. He ate us and we got transported to the middle of the maze.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Too close though,” Matt put in. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Yes,” Neil murmured “Anyway, This ladder is the only way out. Let’s take our chances.” The others agreed. They climbed up the ladder, and through a perfect-square opening in the ceiling. When Angus and Matt climbed up through the square, one after another, they couldn’t help crying out in shock. The doorway was to another room, but it seemed that in this one the gravity was in a different direction, and they had climbed out through the wall before falling a couple of metres, Matt landing on the mossy undergrowth and Angus landing on Matt. Neil, who had played some Gravity-Inversion games before and had seen them fall, jumped through the portal, his momentum carrying him further than the others before landing shakily on two feet and falling over. Luckily, the others didn’t notice; they were still on the floor. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">When Matt stood up, he first took a notice of his surroundings. They were at the edge of a real looking forest, one that was dark, luminous and imposing. It seemed as if nothing other than he trees lived there. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">One other thing was immediately obvious: a metallic grey path that led through the forest, which contrasted the green and was the only thing that reminded them that they were in a computer. Next to it there was a signpost that pointed along it, which read “The Wizard”. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Follow the grey metal road?” Neil suggested sceptically. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“It seems to be the only way forward,” Matt replied, “Let’s go see the wizard. No, no pun intended, Neil. Come on,” He started toward the path. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">It wasn’t long before Neil noticed the flaw with this forest; it repeated itself every hundred metres or so. He had a theory, that the repeat would happen eight times, or sixteen, of thirty-two; the doublings of two. They were the basis of binary, the two digit number system of the computer. He was gratified that at the start of the seventeenth loop, the forest suddenly gave away, revealing a medieval style village; the last thing you would expect in a modern computer, he thought. The most primitive programs in the computer must be here, he thought. Oh great. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“What should we do?” Angus asked. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Well,” Matt started, “I think we should ask someone where ‘The Wizard’ lives- Whoever he is.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“I agree,” Neil added. “He will most likely lead us to the next fun adventure. Walking through forests is boring.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">Matt gave him an icy look. “We want to get out of the computer. That’s why we’re here. No other reason.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“I thought we were here because it was the only way out of the Pacman game.” Neil retorted. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">Matt’s eyes got angry “Actually...!” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“STOP!” It was Angus. “I am tired of your constant bickering! Let’s go and ask someone who this wizard-person-thing is!” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">They all fell quiet, an eerie silence which no one dared break. Then, Matt sighed and walked toward the village. The other’s followed. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">The town looked like it came from a story. Stones that fit slightly were stuck together by mud, and the walls of every building rose to a height just above their heads, where the straw, thatch roof came together in a single point. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“You know, this would be load’s <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Excuse me,” Matt asked the first person he met, “Where may we find the wizard?” he seemed to think about it for a second, before solemnly declaring a single word. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Error,” The man said. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“What?” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Error,” He repeated “Error 404 not found” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“What!?” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Error, Error, Error, Error, Error,” He kept on repeating the same phrase over again. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“That was odd,” Angus commented. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Yes,” Matt agreed “We should go and ask someone else.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">But the second person they asked did the same thing. So did the next two. “These people must be error messages,” Neil said, “so I doubt they will give us any information. Let’s find the wizard ourselves.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">It didn’t take long; the wizard’s house was a massive tent in the middle of the village with a sign outside which read ‘The Wizard’ in large letters. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Should we go in?” Angus asked. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“If he can help us to get out of here, then yes, we should. Come on.” He pulled back the canvas flap, and walked into the room. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“What will ‘The Wizard’ be?” Neil thought to himself. “A great magician with a glowing nimbus of power? A feeble old man with a staff who is actually really powerful?” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">The truth was actually nothing close to anything he could have imagined; he was an average looking man with a blue cloak and a pointed hat, both covered in gold stars. He nodded as they entered, and then stayed perfectly still. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Who are you?” Angus asked. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“I,” He announced “Am the found new hardware wizard. How may I help you?” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">After they had explained everything to him, he shook his head and told them, “I can’t help you with that. Go to the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard. He gestured to a second door in his tent. “Second door down on your right. Can’t miss it. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">They walked out and found an infinite line of identical tents in a row, one of which was the one they came out of. They walked two tents to the right, whilst Neil created a solid gold coin which he gave to a homeless tramp. When they walked into the new tent, he took a look at them and said, <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“I can’t help you. Go see the software management wizard, seventh tent on the left.” He did the same thing. So did the next. And the next. And the next. Finally, they collapsed outside a tent and lay on the ground. “Why can’t someone just help us?” Angus complained. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">Then a new voice came from nowhere. “You need help?” Matt looked up. And it was the tramp they had passed earlier. “I’m the ‘Important stuff that you actually want and need to know wizard.” He told them, “The others kicked me out because they were jealous. What’s wrong?” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">They repeated their story for the umpteenth time, but instead of redirecting them he just gestured to Neil, “I think your friend here already knows.” With that, he vanished into a puff of smoke, which glittered in the light which seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">Matt, his face absolutely livid, turned slowly on Neil, who tried to avert the anger with a cheap smile. No success. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“YOU-KNOW-HOW-TO-GET-OUT!?” He shouted, threateningly. Suddenly, it seemed as if the clouds had passed over a nonexistent sun, the whole area getting darker. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Hey, Matt,” Neil began, trying to stay positive, “There’s no need to resort to monosyllables, you know.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Get us out of here right now!” He demanded, “I’ll...” and that was as far as he got before Neil pressed four keys on the keyboard and Matt disappeared. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Neil!” Angus cried out, and Matt made him vanish too. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">Neil sighed. Maybe it was time to leave. He’d had a lot of fun, but if he stayed any longer he’d lose his only two friends. With deep regret, he pressed three keys- Alt-Ctrl-Delete- and a window appeared with only one program Running- Called ‘Neil’. Then he chose it and selected “End Program”. His finger hovered over the keyboard, and it dropped down, pressing the enter key. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">Neil’s vision swirled and became dizzy, and when it cleared, he was back outside the computer, and Matt and Angus were standing in front of him, having just got back themselves. Angus was so relieved. They were back out of Matt’s // awful //computer, and everything was good. Then Matt said, “Okay, we got out. Good- let’s never go back in. Ever.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“And let’s never play that // game //again,’ Angus added. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“I wonder what caused it...“ That was as far as he got before he was silenced by two sets of angry eyes. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Maybe we should just forget what happened,” Matt concluded, “And never go back in. Agreed?” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Agreed,” Angus replied eagerly <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">Neil sighed. “Agreed, then,” he murmured, barely audibly. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">“Then that’s settled. Come on, let’s find something else to do,” Matt walked out of the room. As soon as they were gone, Neil brought his left hand out from behind his back and uncrossed his fingers. Then he picked up his keyboard, and quickly checked the webpage of the computer game’s URL. Then he smiled, a massive grin, and turned around to follow his friends.