A Very Parfit Knight 3 24/02/2005 (to start from the beginning of this story, click here)Part ThreeSir Gawain stared at the note. This was bait, without a doubt. Whatever it was that was leaving these messages wanted him to follow it. This was a game of some kind. If the thing could move about undetected so easily, it could have caused irreparable damage already, if so it wished. That was not the object of the game. The target must be Sir Gawain, the knight errant of the electron metropolis.Sir Gawain's processes cooled as he realized that he was being toyed with. And this in his own fief, the far-flung intranet that he tended so assiduously. This was not to be borne!Anger was not in his programming, but an icy, hard resolution seized the knight as he considered his options. He could go immediately to the Geek and get everything wiped; that would stop this evil game. But Sir Gawain knew already that things had gone beyond that. He wanted to break this case himself, to prove that nothing could challenge him on this, his home ground. The Geek was no longer an option.The crawlers had failed him; already one was in the grasp of his foe. He would have to tackle this alone. And that meant he would have to follow this lead, to enter the game knowing full well that he was doing exactly as expected. But there was no other way. He could not just ignore the thing. This second interference was larger than the first and the implication was clear: try to catch me or I cause more and greater disruption. Oh, the thing was clever.Sir Gawain knew where he was to start. HO24, where the crawler had disappeared. As he fixed the problem in Stack 5 and then turned to begin the long descent, he knew that he was walking into a trap. His only advantage was that he knew his fiefdom like the back of his code.Once inside HO24, Sir Gawain went through the place carefully, looking for the slightest sign that something unusual had happened in the sector. Here in the deep mysteries surrounding the kernel, silence reigned as though this were the holy of holies, where any interloper must tread lightly in reverence. The darkness was lit only by the faint glow of distant calls from the vast metropolis above, its constant throb of activity hushed in these gloomy depths. For the first time, Sir Gawain felt a sense of impending doom gathering around him as he checked each bit and byte. The tension grew as he moved deeper, ever alert to any alien presence, searching and searching for the clue he knew must be here. He was very near to the deepest level when he saw it at last.A switch. A switch that was not supposed to be there. The knight re-checked his memory but found no knowledge of this switch. This had to be it. Unless... Sir Gawain cursed quietly as he realized that this might be one of those things the Geek had so carelessly thrown away in a reloading.He examined the switch carefully, seeking its connection with the code around it but finding no reason for its existence. Surely this must be the work of the Avenger. It made no sense otherwise.He reached out and flipped it.The light grew suddenly more intense as a doorway appeared in the wall beside the knight, its edges glowing with activity. Now that is definitely not supposed to be here, he thought. It was an obvious invitation and the knight was supposed to take it. Knowing that he had no option, he stepped through it.As expected, the door disappeared behind him. He was standing in a tunnel but this looked nothing like the tunnels he was used to. It meandered into the gloom before him instead of taking the direct route beloved of the Geek. Sir Gawain examined the coding of the walls. C, he thought. Definitely not the Geek's. Somehow something had entered the system and built this tunnel behind the hidden door. That door was good, he had to admit: nonexistent until the switch was activated.And Sir Gawain was meant to follow the tunnel, indeed had no option but to do so. Well, he was being led by the nose deeper and deeper into the trap but at least now he knew something to his advantage. He clenched his fingers to feel the Assembly rippling through the muscles of his arms. Okay, Mr Clever Avenger, he thought, we'll play it your way. You choose the ground and the weapons and we'll see just how good you are.The knight's face set hard in determination and he began to stride down the tunnel. As he progressed, the tunnel looped and wandered in apparent indecision, but the trend seemed always upwards. The light became stronger as activity in the walls increased.He came at last to a place where the tunnel opened out into a room. Sir Gawain entered and saw immediately that this room was intended merely as a vestibule, the entrance to something greater. It was bare and featureless in the glow but, in the opposite wall yawned a great portal, pulsing in active code and beckoning. Sir Gawain approached.The entrance was as unformed and misshapen as had been the tunnel. It was high and wide, but inside the knight could see that it narrowed again immediately and then branched into three. There was a message, flashing in mimicry of a stuttering neon sign, above the portal. Sir Gawain read it grimly.Welcome to the Labyrinth(to go directly to Part 4, click here)
Clive
Keeefer A MinoNaught or a CyberTaur? I love the latest twist, well done that man, keep up the good work Date Added: 24/02/2005
Gone Away Ahhh Keef, we approach the denouement. Or do we...? Thanks for the kind wirds, mate. Date Added: 24/02/2005
keeefer oooh a TYPO from Gone....quick screen grab the page! Date Added: 24/02/2005
Gone Away That was just so you'd know it rhymes with "birds", Keef. :D Date Added: 24/02/2005
keeefer You mean Words doesnt rhyme with Lords? :) Date Added: 24/02/2005
Gone Away Umm no. Hehehehe Date Added: 24/02/2005
keeefer ain du west cuntry, wurds,lurds n burds all rhyme yu know Date Added: 24/02/2005
Gone Away Of course, I was forgetting you're from Bristol... Date Added: 24/02/2005
Keeefer Im not 'from' Bristol, i just happened to live there..... in the west country the old song ' i's can't read and i's can't write but i's can drive a tractor' still holds a lot of truth. It has to be the only county in England where the local youths still use the age old art of Scrumping........admittedly nowadays they are scrumping for combine harvesters and taking them for a spot of joyfarming but the principle remains the same Date Added: 24/02/2005
Gone Away I meant that Bristol is where you were until you decided (for some strange reason) to become an Australian. So the accent will change, Keef, and words will become strangely tuned to another music. ;) Date Added: 24/02/2005
keeefer Man, i dont know what they speak here but it aint english. They put 'o' on the end of all abreviations, so conversations end up sounding like a 17th century sea shanty.....'Got me rego,and me greeno,now me and Dicko are on our way to Brizzo....On our way to Brizzo, On our way to Brizzo, Me and Dicko are on our way to Brizzo....Yo Ho Ho and a bottle of rum' Date Added: 24/02/2005
Gone Away ROFLOL Date Added: 24/02/2005
Keeefer :D Yeah you can laugh, you dont have to listen to it day in day out...... the only word they havent abbreviated is Oreo Date Added: 24/02/2005
Gone Away You'll get used to it, Keefo... :D Date Added: 24/02/2005
keeefo thanks GoneAwayo.....hey didnt you used to live there? ;) Date Added: 24/02/2005
Ned Part 3 and just as I was going to go to sleep. So, I had to stay awake and read and we gave another cliff-hanger. As tired as I am I could fall off the edge. Luckily, I am strangely comfortable in labrynths. Date Added: 24/02/2005
Jodie Oooooo....another installment!!! Exciting! I didn't expect two in one day... Gee -- Bristol sounds a lot like Oklahoma (but probably without the dust and wind). Date Added: 24/02/2005
Gone Away LOL Bulawayo, Keefo, Bulawayo... Date Added: 24/02/2005
Gone Away The thot plickens, Ned... ;) Date Added: 24/02/2005
Gone Away Well, I want to find out what happens, too, Jodie. ;) But Bristol is nothing like Oklahoma, I'm afraid. It's full of people with strange accents.... Hmmm, you might have a point. :> Date Added: 24/02/2005
Keeefer Hey thats unfair, you live on a diet of fried pig and cider and see how you sound :) Date Added: 24/02/2005
Gone Away D'you know, Keef, I've never thought about that before. But I think you might have something there, boyo. Date Added: 24/02/2005
keeefer ugh do you have to start with the 'o' thing also? Its enough to make me want to tie yer kangaroo down sport, and give it a damn good thrashing.....thats probably a desireable pasttime in the outback Date Added: 24/02/2005
Gone Away Hmmm, did a lot of Welshmen emigrate to Oz.....? Date Added: 24/02/2005
keeefer Im not sure if 'emmigrate' is necissarily the right word Date Added: 24/02/2005
Gone Away Well at least I spelled it correctly... ;) Date Added: 24/02/2005
keeefer well cobber, with all them welsh boyos emmo over here, coupled up with the abbos, and all the other immos we got here its no wonder my spellos up the duff is it you great wombat. Date Added: 24/02/2005
Gone Away .oO(Is a wombat a good thing? And is it even better to be a great one?) Date Added: 24/02/2005
keeefer its better than being a Tazmanian Devil. They are currently under threat from a bizarre skin condition, Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD), which has already wiped out up to 90 per cent of adult devils in some areas. So from that point of view being a wombats pretty bloody good :) Date Added: 24/02/2005
Gone Away I rejoice in my wombatness! Date Added: 24/02/2005
Jodie Wombat is one of those fun-to-say words... :D Luckily Mom was from Wisconsin so I got to avoid the accent, hurray! We may not have fried pig in Okieland, but we do have it barbequed. Yeah, I know, I'm sleepy and getting a little weird... Date Added: 24/02/2005
Gone Away Strangely, I have come to love Oklahoma. It has an emptiness and openness that speaks to my African childhood, I think... Date Added: 24/02/2005
keeefer Well Jodie, you are gonna fit right in :) Gone are you in Oklahoma nowadays? or do you just watch it through a webcam and sigh? Date Added: 24/02/2005
Jodie Be careful -- one of my friends is certain that Oklahoma is a black hole...if you try to leave, you just get sucked right back in... Date Added: 24/02/2005
Gone Away I am in Oklahoma indeed, Keef. From my windows I see the town of Lawton and the Okies driving past in their pickups. 'Tis no illusion. And, Jodie, that would suit me just fine. I've had enough of moving for one lifetime... ;) Date Added: 24/02/2005
keeefer sheesh, did you know that under Section 16-4-4-470 of Lawton law, it is an offence to carry a peashooter! There is also a job going for a water distribution supervisor...is that like Milk Monitor of Lawton? It look like a nice american smallish town. Date Added: 24/02/2005
Gone Away No, I did not know about the pea-shooter law. But it is a nice American smallish town. It suits me fine. :) Date Added: 24/02/2005
keeefer Do the female checkout assisstants get you to repeat everything so they can hear your 'adorable' English accent? All the female Americans ive ever met/chatted to on the web always say things like....'gee say that again', or, 'i wish i could hear you i love the English accent'.....it puts me off visiting, i imagine id be stood at passport control while the whole of Americas female population filed by saying 'can you repeat that' then running off to giggle in the corner of the arrivals area. Date Added: 24/02/2005
Josh Ahh, the vicious Chicken Of Bristol. Date Added: 24/02/2005
Keeefer Run Awayyyyyyyyy Date Added: 24/02/2005
Gone Away Ah, I see Keef has been giving away English secrets while I slept. No wonder he had to escape to Oz... Mornin' Josh. Date Added: 24/02/2005
josh tapathamarnin' t'ye! :D Date Added: 24/02/2005
Jodie Hey, we do like those English accents. :D But we also love Irish, Scottish, Canadian, Russian, Australian, and just about any other accent (except that French is not very popular anymore, alas)...so it's more a big deal in small areas than urban areas. So Keef, you'd probably be safe if you did visit. Date Added: 24/02/2005
Gone Away .oO(Oh good, I can forget those visions of Keef being mobbed...) Jodie, your latest posting is truly awe-inspiring. Very hard to comment on, however, and I am having to think carefully before I say anything. Date Added: 24/02/2005
Jodie Thanks, Gone -- it wasn't easy to write either. But it was time. Date Added: 24/02/2005
Gone Away I can understand that, Jodie; very hard to write. Date Added: 24/02/2005
Rusty I happened to fall asleep before reading the latest installment, even though I was one of the ones to raise my hand. I am a disgrace to the profession. Very exciting, I keep visualizing the scene at the end of The Matrix where Neo is looking at the coding of people and the walls and such. Got that vision especially when the Knight noticed the C coding of the walls. I love it. Date Added: 24/02/2005
Gone Away Thank you, Rusty. I'm kind of enjoying it myself, I must admit. ;) Date Added: 24/02/2005
Harvey Young I think that I just go to bed too early. I missed this one, but then I think that I am glad that I did not get to add this to the things that keep me awake at night. I think you are on to something with this story. It is winding its way out in fine fashion. I am enjoying this short installments. Someday you will have to write about the experience of writing it. This is reminding me a bit of the old movie "Tron" from around 1982 I think. I just remember that the movie came out around the time that the PC was becoming popular. Anyway, can't wait for the next installment. I think I need to make sure I check in before going to bed. Date Added: 24/02/2005
Harvey Young I forgot that I have been meaning to ask you to explain the word "parfit". Date Added: 24/02/2005
Gone Away "Parfit" is an old English word, Harvey. It means "perfect" and is actually where that word comes from. :) Date Added: 24/02/2005
Gone Away I guess there are many influences in the story, Harvey, Tron being one of them. I think it was Rusty who mentioned The Matrix and that has played a part too. Essentially, however, the whole things is caused by my being a very visual person - I understand things better when I can visualize or make a picture of them. And this is how I see the workings of a PC and imagine what it would be like to be inside one. Several years ago a friend of mine who writes music asked me to jot down some quick ideas for stories that he could set music to. This is one of those I sketched out at the time. He never did more than write a few notes for the stories however (a very busy man, you understand) and so I figured I'd reclaim this one and write it out in full this time. The next episode is ready now, by the way. ;) Date Added: 24/02/2005
Harvey Young Thanks for the explanation. I do see all of the similarities you are described. I also can see how visual you are, and the next installment (there must be a rule about commenting on older posts but I dont' know it) displays this very well. Date Added: 24/02/2005
Gone Away The rule about comments on older posts is: Please go ahead! I get notification by email whenever comments are posted so I'll hunt them down and answer them. :) Date Added: 24/02/2005
Hannah I remember playing Tron on the Intellivision game console. I, and I alone, was responsible for changing the computer codes before the viri got me. Very exciting game. I always lost, however. Now I get to read the new bit :D (btw, pun DEFINITELY intended) Date Added: 25/02/2005
Gone Away Ah, the puns are where the fun is, Hannah. ;) Date Added: 25/02/2005
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