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Edited on Sun Apr-25-10 02:53 AM by RandomThoughts
Sort of an Outer limits type story.
"The joys of a sim."
Set in a college lecture haul, science room, a few computers on one set of walls, and an auditorium where the students sit, the class is full of eager graduate students and a teacher is just walking in to say hello to attentive students.
A few say hello, he sets his briefcase down making a little light hearted small talk about the big project of the year.
"Some of you have been spending alot of your off hours working on our project, why do you find it so interesting."
A girl response, "they are are friends.".
Another almost correcting but with thought replies, "I would say more like our children"
The teacher looking to the simulation, in thought, replies, "yes the results have even surprised me." After a short moment of silence, he adds, but some of you have been taking advantage of how you can treat them.
A person from the back adds in, "But all free will rules, and only internal modifications to the simulation are still in place, so if they do anything it is there choice"
The teacher stepping forward seriously, "but you might give them those ideas, and add harm to there lives, do you take joy in that? Is it the power? Do you enjoy them suffering"
A stillness comes over the class from the intensity of the teachers stare. He simply says, will you remember that when someone shows you no empathy?" A touch of sadness, not even scolding, just trying to do what he does and teach.
From the back of the room the doors crash open, in running a wild eyed student, neat in cloths, and appearance, almost too neat, but with that twitchyness of fervor, "This must stop, it is an affront to all that is good, he have no right to create life" He screams.
The startled class just watches as he leaps down the stairs to the front of the computer system slapping pulling what is obviously an explosive out of a bag and putting it on the front of the computer system.
In horror of the realization of what he is about to do, the class starts crying out," No stop, what are you doing"
Cut to Tv show intro.
(not going to type all this out, but just outline it abit) The Teacher basically asked him to explain himself, and the crazy eyed student talks about how bad what they did it, while the students defend the actions of making the system.
a variety of back and forth on the ethics and spirituality of such a system begins as the teacher and students try to persuade him to stop what he is doing. Issues are if a person can have a child that is creating life, things like the advantages of the virtual world for resource purposes, and how the students have even taught their faiths to that world. Statements about if it was wrong why was it allowed to be created, and even ideas of how society itself is similar in structure to the complete algorithmic world created are discussed. A few good ideas in the discussion, but the main point is to define the caring the students have for the world, and the callousness of the wild eyed one. Even those that have treated the sim world wrong apologize and admit their wrong when the crazy eyed student tries to use them as an argument for the end of sim worlds.
So the students convince the Crazy Eyed Student (Ces) to let them say good bye. Tearfully they approach the interface monitors to talk with the sims. The teacher telling them not to let them know whats happening, for there own good. But as the students try to wish the best and say there goodbyes, the sims pick up something is wrong. They at first think the students are in some trouble, and try to offer some way to help, not knowing they are students in an outer world. But the students sadness and tears gives away it is more serious then that.
Knowing things are bad, the sim people begin at first to try and find the problems within there own societies, the mischievous students even try to help them set a few things right to try and sway the Ces. And while the students say there goodbyes in the background, the teacher tries to reason with the Ces, asking him to think of himself as one of the sims, and even when the sims show faith, faith of greater virtue and value then the Ces, in actions and thoughts, even then Ces sticks to what he thinks must be true. No sim world can exist, only the real world.
(Again this is just an outline, the actual dialog is make or break for it being both exciting and interesting.)
The last attempts of the teacher, "what if you were in there place" fails to reach the Ces, and while the students are crying, some pleading, some in prayer, in the background through the monitors, the sims do what ever they can that they think is causing the problems, many pray, others work to solve the problems that they also know are unjust, and fit into the complaints made by the Ces that said they were all evil. In the middle of that the Ces says it will end now and is about to push the button.
With a sad sigh, the teacher looks up a bit.
The Ces pushes the button.
Nothing happens. Literally nothing, even the very students around him are frozen in time unmoving. He looks around confused, he does not understand, then he seas the teacher walking out from behind the desk. "I really tried son, I tried to help you, but this world has rules of free will also, you had to be willing to accept that concept, because you can not, you can no longer stay.
At that moment, the CEs looks over and sees his body on the ground, and a security guard also frozen in time still with the muzzle flash of the gun.
Ces asked what does it mean.
The teacher says that he will be going to the real world, it was your free will choice.
The Ces phases into a damp tunnel, lines of a solid metalic wall, with many panels line one side of the tunnel. His cloths are a simple jumpsuit bland in color.
A man haggard walks up, carrying a small wooden bowl of gruel, are you hungry?
In shock, the Ces asked where he is, the other man explains that he is like Ces, sent there 1000s of years ago and that they are caretakers and make sure the machine is running and that the communities like theres have some food and warmth as they find what small resources the machine may need to make its own repairs.
Ces asked "1000s of years?"
The older man answers, "Yes, the machine does not believe in death, so we have nanobots that keep us healed and alive, and the machine gives us a bit of a purpose, to care for the world and each other. But we live here in these tunnels. We can't go above ground anymore, since the machine had to move the planet out of orbit of a nova sun, the exterior is to cold, so we live down here. The machine gets power from heat further down in the tunnel, altough it is as hot there as it is cold here.
Its not that bad, although we can't talk to the sims, we can occasional watch them, and even sometimes suggest ideas that could be passed on to them. But we need to be going, we have mushrooms to pick for tomorrow's meal."
Or something like that. Just first draft, need to work out the dialog, and make sure the surprises are foreshadowed and yet still a bit jaring.
Stay tuned for part 2, The Redemption of the Fire Jumpers.
*note that the story is just a moral tale, not my view of existence, so I don't put to much thought into it, it is just a story.
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