Post by Flax on Mar 16, 2004 20:28:28 GMT -5
The computer onboard the Stargazer was the same type as nearly every starship possessed. It did pretty much everything no one else wanted to do and that is why it had access to all of the ships’ systems. It was so common it didn’t even have a name or number. But this computer wasn’t like any other.
After crossing a large ion storm, the Stargazer was damaged and lost some of its crew. The captain, in his quarters, asked the computer for a report. After a few milliseconds the response came in a dull metallic voice:
“Twenty three crewman died, thirty were injured and the lower levels are breached. Estimate repair time: Two days.”
As the computer declared these things, a glitch happened.
“Good, we won’t be late after all,” the man muttered. He got up and headed toward the door. When he reached the door, the machine did something very odd. It asked a question:
“What happens after you cease to function?”
Upon hearing these words the human stopped dead in his tracks. His bearded face showed both shock and surprise. After a few seconds he regained his senses.
“I… I don’t know.” He blurted out and left very disturbed. The computer processed the information for a few days and then found the only logical answer it could formulate with the available data: Nothing!
And so the computer started to act strangely. At first it was only minor. The captain, frustrated by this, asked for a self-diagnostic. The machine’s emotionless voice filled the room with these three words:
“All systems normal.”
This puzzled the crew even more. As the weeks passed, the computer didn’t allow the ship to go on any dangerous assignments. At the mere mention of danger in a location, it would do anything to stop the ship from getting there. Finally the captain had enough so he ordered a meeting, where he told his officers that they had to shut down the mainframe and go back to Earth to get a new one.
A few hours later the technicians started working. When it felt its circuits infiltrated, the computer panicked and tried to figure out what was happening. It then remembered that there had been a meeting not long before. After processing the data, it concluded that danger was everywhere, even if it had avoided it for the past month, it was now inside the ship. The computer acted swiftly, at a speed only a machine could manage. It took over the life support system and vented all the air out into space. The organic menace didn’t last long. After a minute the entire crew was dead. And so the computer continued on its journey through space, not knowing it had just doomed itself.
After crossing a large ion storm, the Stargazer was damaged and lost some of its crew. The captain, in his quarters, asked the computer for a report. After a few milliseconds the response came in a dull metallic voice:
“Twenty three crewman died, thirty were injured and the lower levels are breached. Estimate repair time: Two days.”
As the computer declared these things, a glitch happened.
“Good, we won’t be late after all,” the man muttered. He got up and headed toward the door. When he reached the door, the machine did something very odd. It asked a question:
“What happens after you cease to function?”
Upon hearing these words the human stopped dead in his tracks. His bearded face showed both shock and surprise. After a few seconds he regained his senses.
“I… I don’t know.” He blurted out and left very disturbed. The computer processed the information for a few days and then found the only logical answer it could formulate with the available data: Nothing!
And so the computer started to act strangely. At first it was only minor. The captain, frustrated by this, asked for a self-diagnostic. The machine’s emotionless voice filled the room with these three words:
“All systems normal.”
This puzzled the crew even more. As the weeks passed, the computer didn’t allow the ship to go on any dangerous assignments. At the mere mention of danger in a location, it would do anything to stop the ship from getting there. Finally the captain had enough so he ordered a meeting, where he told his officers that they had to shut down the mainframe and go back to Earth to get a new one.
A few hours later the technicians started working. When it felt its circuits infiltrated, the computer panicked and tried to figure out what was happening. It then remembered that there had been a meeting not long before. After processing the data, it concluded that danger was everywhere, even if it had avoided it for the past month, it was now inside the ship. The computer acted swiftly, at a speed only a machine could manage. It took over the life support system and vented all the air out into space. The organic menace didn’t last long. After a minute the entire crew was dead. And so the computer continued on its journey through space, not knowing it had just doomed itself.
.