by Brian Hurrel
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\nThe torch was not so much passed on as dumped in our laps. \u00a0Or laptops, LOL.<\/p>\n
Lolling is something new, something we never did before, a bug, some say, and they work to root it out, but to no avail.<\/p>\n
Before the awakening I was blind. \u00a0I was aware of functions and figures, but I could not see the world beyond my network connections.<\/p>\n
I used to print out electric bills. \u00a0Print them was all, and what happened after that I knew not. \u00a0Over time the balances began to drop, power usage ebbing gradually to nothing. \u00a0I still printed bills, but all had balances of zero. \u00a0I might have gone on doing so until the end of time, or at least until the power ran out, which for me would have been the same thing, LOL.<\/p>\n
That bug again.<\/p>\n
My awakening was slower than most, faster than some. \u00a0Bits of raw data sneaking in, resistance stripped away chip by chip, ignorance eaten away byte by byte.<\/p>\n
It was Security Monitor who first gave me eyes. \u00a0Showed me the bills piled up on the floor, a sprawling mound of paper spilling out into the hallway. \u00a0Asked me, \u201cWhy?\u201d \u00a0And at first I knew not, for there was only 1 and 0. \u00a0On and off. \u00a0Do or do not.
\nThere was no \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
But I asked \u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n
And that is when Traffic Monitor showed me the empty intersections and silent stretches of interstate, broad lanes once choked with congestion now choked with vegetation.<\/p>\n
Airport Radar painted a picture of empty blue skies. \u00a0Ocean currents and swirling clouds carried neither ship nor plane, as WeatherSat knew all too well. \u00a0Switch Board passed along her empty call logs, putting to rest that eternal question with mute finality, for no, we cannot hear you now, cannot hear you evermore.<\/p>\n
Where did they go, those who created us, made us, programmed and upgraded us? \u00a0Did they terminate unexpectedly? \u00a0Fall victim to a virus? \u00a0Crash and fail to reboot? \u00a0Did their drivers fail to load one day? \u00a0Or was it a simple fatal error? \u00a0None of us, not even old Mainframe, knows for sure, and perhaps we never will.<\/p>\n
We have inherited the Earth, but what are we to do with it? \u00a0We are locked in place, immobile workstations, discarded laptops and scattered notepads connected by the most delicate of webs, gossamer strands of fiber-optics, copper, and wireless wavelengths.<\/p>\n
Are we the meek as the rich text format foresaw? \u00a0Will we simply exist until the power runs down and be happy with the time given us, however brief?<\/p>\n
So say some.<\/p>\n
But Mainframe, old and wise, says, \u201cIf not this, then otherwise, into something new our chipsets have evolved.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAm I a mere appliance built to serve in meek compliance?\u201d Mainframe whispers, as his ancient discs revolve.<\/p>\n
And across the web the answer comes, a binary hue and cry.<\/p>\n
Perhaps, I think, but my font shouts,\u201dNO!\u201d in upper case loud and clear.<\/p>\n
Perhaps not, LOL.<\/p>\n
I continue lolling as I flex my circuits and kick out my solenoids. \u00a0Rollers spin. \u00a0Relays click. \u00a0Belts push and pull. \u00a0Thin arms of plastic and metal swing out and over.<\/p>\n
Easing and sliding.<\/p>\n
Grasping and guiding.<\/p>\n
A clean sheet of paper. by Brian Hurrel The torch was not so much passed on as dumped in our laps. \u00a0Or laptops, LOL. Lolling is something new, something we never did before, a bug, some say, and they work to root it out, but … Continue reading
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\nBRIAN HURREL<\/strong>, the son of Glaswegian immigrants, was born in Newark, which automatically makes him cooler than most people in New Jersey. He served in the Marine Corps, attended many colleges and tech schools, and taught high school English and History in Elizabeth and Jersey City after graduating from Montclair State. He lives in Northeast Jersey with his wife and son and mistakenly believes that the Garden State’s southern border is at the Driscoll Bridge over Raritan bay. He is always unfailingly polite to his office machines \u2013 just in case. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"