[Day 77 | Video call | Unfiltered]

[isoalgorithm]

[The call opens with a view of a street strewn with books. Pages flutter in the breeze. The camera swings around to focus on what's easily recognizable as the library, except right now, it's got a wall missing.]

Someone stop him! Look what he did to the library. [The voice is full of horror, as if describing some horrible desecration of a sacred

Comments

[dontcallmeerky]

What?

[Have a very confused Erk. And possibly upset, because he's been planning to go through the library and try to figure out what the heck is going on.]

What who did?

[isoalgorithm]

A User. At least I think he's a User, I'm not sure, he didn't look like a normal User. [Although she's not really sure what a normal User does look like, at this point.

She picks up another book.] 'Illicit Passion'. Sounds unpleasant.

[dontcallmeerky]

Yes, it does. I'm sorry, I'm not sure what you mean by a 'User'.

No, wait, someone's used it... a User is a human?

[isoalgorithm]

Yes. You've met someone who uses that term, too? [Must be Flynn. She doesn't know of anyone else who knows or is from the Grid here.]

[dontcallmeerky]

Not really "met" - they only replied to me on the blog. Had a tendency to write in lists. Very terse.

They also had to ask me what water was.

[isoalgorithm]

That sounds like a program. [A very simple Basic, even. Strange. She'll have to ask Flynn about that later.]

[dontcallmeerky]

... I don't think I've ever heard 'program' used to refer to a person. I'm assuming this is some use of the term from a higher-technology society, because as far as I'm aware a program is the thing that tells you who's acting in a play.

[isoalgorithm]

What? [She laughs.] No, I mean program as in computer program. You do know what a computer is, don't you?

[dontcallmeerky]

Vaguely. I know there's one sitting on a desk in the other room that connects to the network. Other than that, not much. Haven't had a lot of time to look them up, sadly, and they don't exist where I come from.

[isoalgorithm]

They don't? I can't imagine...[She goes quiet.]

[dontcallmeerky]

My world is a long way behind Earth in technology, I'm afraid. I wasn't aware computers actually did have people inside them.

[isoalgorithm]

Not many Users are, apparently. [She sounds - and looks, when she focuses the phone's camera back on her - quite sad.]

[dontcallmeerky]

Well, I suppose I know now.

[Have an awkward attempt at lightening the mood and changing the subject.] Well, if those titles are a sample of what was lost, I suppose you're right about it not being any great distress. Is much of the rest of the library damaged?

[isoalgorithm]

He blew up part of it. [She directs the camera at the building again which, indeed, looks as if part of it has suffered a sizable explosion.] The rest seems fine, but I haven't had a chance to survey the substructure yet. There could be damage to its base code. [A pause while she translates herself into User-speak - ] Foundations, I mean.

[dontcallmeerky]

Ah. I don't know a great deal about architecture or I'd try to help. We should probably try to get the surviving books out of the damaged area, though. In case there's another storm, I mean; they happen a lot in the summer, especially on days like this.

[isoalgorithm]

That's a good idea. I've seen large plastic sheets in the store, maybe I should get a couple of those and hang them up? It would be terrible if the books got wet.