← Gone Away
A Very Parfit Knight 1
(this is the first Sir Gawain adventure - the second adventure can be found here)
Part One
Sir Gawain answered the call, hurrying through the tunnels until he reached the Assignment Room. As ever, The Geek slouched casually in his chair, awaiting the knight.
"How goes it, Boss?" said Sir Gawain as he took up his usual position in the center of the room.
"Ah, there you are Gawain." The Geek sat up and rubbed his stubbled chin. "Normal day I guess. Got a job for you..."
Sir Gawain snapped to attention and gave a mock salute. "Ready, as ever, to do your bidding, Boss. But you know what I mean. How is the girl?" He winked and grinned suggestively.
The Geek shifted in his chair as though slightly embarrassed. "Oh, Gawain, she's just a girl. Tapping away at the keyboard like any other day."
"Come on, Boss, this is me you're talking to. You know you fancy her." Sir Gawain winked again. The Geek looked at the ceiling in irritation but said nothing.
"Have you spoken to her yet?" asked the knight and, when the Geek remained silent, he continued, "You're going to have to, you know. Faint heart ne'er won fair lady."
"I know, I know, Gawain. But this is my business, okay? Let me handle this one."
"You know you won't unless I do it for you. Let me go over there now and speak for you. I'll be tactful, I promise."
The Geek's eyes opened wide in horror. "No, Gawain! I'll do this my way or not at all. Just you keep your nose out of my affairs."
Sir Gawain laughed. "Affairs? What affairs? The way you go about it, you'll never have one."
The Geek frowned. "Gawain. You are beginning to annoy me. Do I have to turn you off before you'll do as you're told?"
The knight snapped to attention again, this time in complete seriousness. "Sorry, Boss," he said, "But you know it's only because I want you to win this time. Can't blame me for trying, can you?"
"I suppose not. But let's not have any more jokes about it, okay?" The Geek relaxed and turned to pick up a sheet of paper from the table at his side. "Now, about this job. We're getting a bit of a problem in Stack 17. Nothing serious yet but I can't see what's going on. Want to catch this before it gets too bad. See what you can do, there's a good feller."
Sir Gawain took the proffered sheet and glanced at it quickly. He saw the problem immediately, a slight but unusual anomaly in the rows of numbers covering the printout.
"Sir Gawain is on the case," he announced and turned to leave the room.
The Geek shook his head and smiled as the knight disappeared through the doorway. That program was quite something, he thought. He'd had to build artificial intelligence into it so that it could outwit the nasties, but there were times when it got a little above itself. The very thought, talking to the girl on his behalf. The Geek shuddered and turned to gaze at the next cubicle, where the girl sat typing, oblivious to the world.
Meanwhile the knight was hurrying through the tunnels of the intranet, on his way to Stack 17. His mind was only partly on his assignment, thoughts of how to help his Boss with the problem of the girl still nagging at him. He knew the Boss would never speak to her, too aware of his own geekiness ever to find the courage. But, if Sir Gawain could just find a way to spark things off, then matters might take a more natural course. Dare he risk dropping a few hints at her terminal, a few clues to make her think? Nothing obvious, of course, just enough to pique her interest.
If the Boss ever found out, Sir Gawain would be dead code. Not something to rush into, he decided, as he arrived at Stack 17.
He found the problem straight away, a few binaries switched to make a nonsense and the net looping around it in puzzlement. But this was not the normal glitch. There was something about it, something almost deliberate. This had been caused by something else. There was intent behind this apparently random disarray.
It was only when he reached in to fix the problem that Sir Gawain found the note. A few characters dropped out of the chaos and fell to the floor. He read in growing disbelief.
Catch me if you can. Signed, The Masked Avenger.
This has to be a joke, thought Sir Gawain. One of the other geeks trying to make the Boss look stupid. But no, this was too clever for them. He'd seen their code and it was amateurish beside the elegant work of his master. This had to be something else. From the outside, maybe? But that was impossible; he'd checked and tested until he was certain that the firewall could not be breached. This had to be an inside job. But who? Or what?
Suddenly he felt that he was being watched. He spun around but the stack was empty, empty of any intruder, at least. The code hummed and chattered contentedly, as always, only the unfixed anomaly still buzzing in infinite circles.
Sir Gawain reached in, shifted the code to normality and left.
(To go directly to Part 2, click here)
Part One
Sir Gawain answered the call, hurrying through the tunnels until he reached the Assignment Room. As ever, The Geek slouched casually in his chair, awaiting the knight.
"How goes it, Boss?" said Sir Gawain as he took up his usual position in the center of the room.
"Ah, there you are Gawain." The Geek sat up and rubbed his stubbled chin. "Normal day I guess. Got a job for you..."
Sir Gawain snapped to attention and gave a mock salute. "Ready, as ever, to do your bidding, Boss. But you know what I mean. How is the girl?" He winked and grinned suggestively.
The Geek shifted in his chair as though slightly embarrassed. "Oh, Gawain, she's just a girl. Tapping away at the keyboard like any other day."
"Come on, Boss, this is me you're talking to. You know you fancy her." Sir Gawain winked again. The Geek looked at the ceiling in irritation but said nothing.
"Have you spoken to her yet?" asked the knight and, when the Geek remained silent, he continued, "You're going to have to, you know. Faint heart ne'er won fair lady."
"I know, I know, Gawain. But this is my business, okay? Let me handle this one."
"You know you won't unless I do it for you. Let me go over there now and speak for you. I'll be tactful, I promise."
The Geek's eyes opened wide in horror. "No, Gawain! I'll do this my way or not at all. Just you keep your nose out of my affairs."
Sir Gawain laughed. "Affairs? What affairs? The way you go about it, you'll never have one."
The Geek frowned. "Gawain. You are beginning to annoy me. Do I have to turn you off before you'll do as you're told?"
The knight snapped to attention again, this time in complete seriousness. "Sorry, Boss," he said, "But you know it's only because I want you to win this time. Can't blame me for trying, can you?"
"I suppose not. But let's not have any more jokes about it, okay?" The Geek relaxed and turned to pick up a sheet of paper from the table at his side. "Now, about this job. We're getting a bit of a problem in Stack 17. Nothing serious yet but I can't see what's going on. Want to catch this before it gets too bad. See what you can do, there's a good feller."
Sir Gawain took the proffered sheet and glanced at it quickly. He saw the problem immediately, a slight but unusual anomaly in the rows of numbers covering the printout.
"Sir Gawain is on the case," he announced and turned to leave the room.
The Geek shook his head and smiled as the knight disappeared through the doorway. That program was quite something, he thought. He'd had to build artificial intelligence into it so that it could outwit the nasties, but there were times when it got a little above itself. The very thought, talking to the girl on his behalf. The Geek shuddered and turned to gaze at the next cubicle, where the girl sat typing, oblivious to the world.
Meanwhile the knight was hurrying through the tunnels of the intranet, on his way to Stack 17. His mind was only partly on his assignment, thoughts of how to help his Boss with the problem of the girl still nagging at him. He knew the Boss would never speak to her, too aware of his own geekiness ever to find the courage. But, if Sir Gawain could just find a way to spark things off, then matters might take a more natural course. Dare he risk dropping a few hints at her terminal, a few clues to make her think? Nothing obvious, of course, just enough to pique her interest.
If the Boss ever found out, Sir Gawain would be dead code. Not something to rush into, he decided, as he arrived at Stack 17.
He found the problem straight away, a few binaries switched to make a nonsense and the net looping around it in puzzlement. But this was not the normal glitch. There was something about it, something almost deliberate. This had been caused by something else. There was intent behind this apparently random disarray.
It was only when he reached in to fix the problem that Sir Gawain found the note. A few characters dropped out of the chaos and fell to the floor. He read in growing disbelief.
Catch me if you can. Signed, The Masked Avenger.
This has to be a joke, thought Sir Gawain. One of the other geeks trying to make the Boss look stupid. But no, this was too clever for them. He'd seen their code and it was amateurish beside the elegant work of his master. This had to be something else. From the outside, maybe? But that was impossible; he'd checked and tested until he was certain that the firewall could not be breached. This had to be an inside job. But who? Or what?
Suddenly he felt that he was being watched. He spun around but the stack was empty, empty of any intruder, at least. The code hummed and chattered contentedly, as always, only the unfixed anomaly still buzzing in infinite circles.
Sir Gawain reached in, shifted the code to normality and left.
(To go directly to Part 2, click here)