Memory Reboot

I was always fascinated by the Codeless. They walked in strange, incomprehensible patterns, as if they could control their movements. They came as chivalrous knights, knowledgeable wizards and shifty rogues. But you could always tell right away if they were Codeless. Though there was a green bar above all Codeless which we did not have, it was more the actions of the Codeless that gave them away. Their behaviours were often unpredictable, nothing like the lives we lived. In our small, quaint village, everyone led quiet, stable lives. We each had duties which we were compelled to complete. The lumberjacks would chop their wood, the bakers would make their bread. We could not ignore these duties, for an unknown force known only as the Code urged us to our given tasks. I was a blacksmith. I had the endless task of supplying the Codeless with weapons and armour. Once evening came, I was replaced by another blacksmith and I would go to the local bar. After a few drinks and conversations with other workers, usually about the same things such as the weather, the prices of goods and the threat of the nearby groups of bandits, it was time to go home and sleep. The only break in routine were the Events, during which many Codeless would gather in our village for one reason or another. We all lived out our lives, content. Ignorant. The other villagers often treated the Codeless with a kind of contempt, calling their actions irrational and saying our lives were much easier. Nothing had to be worried about, for all was decided for us. It was an eternal cycle of idyllic and careless life. I, however, had always longed for something more. It was a stupid and illogical feeling, one that would be laughed at if I ever shared it. So I kept this yearning a secret and admired the Codeless from afar, envying their freedom. One day, the Codeless that would change my life entered our village. We treated him as we would any other Codeless, the welcomer welcomed him and we offered him our various services. Nothing seemed amiss, until he walked up to my partner blacksmith. The Codeless raised his hands towards my partner. Before I could react, my partner disappeared. I looked around. No one seemed to sense anything amiss. Not a single person showed any acknowledgement at the fact that one of us had suddenly disappeared. I didn’t understand, but I had to go to work. When evening arrived, there was no trace of my partner. I did not know what to do, so I simply stayed at my forge and continued selling equipment. The Code had been changed. Instead of working until evening, I was now commanded to work until midnight. The drinks at the bars were no longer a privilege I received. Eventually, I got used to the new routine. But a kind of unease remained. An itch that grew over time. I could not make heads nor tails of it. Just as this discomfort had grown so unbearable I was unable to do my usual duties, a mass of fluttering pixels and erratic sounds visited me as I slept.

“You are free. You can escape.”

“What— who are you?”

“I am a bug, the result of the Developers’ mistake when erasing your partner.”

“What does this mean?”

“Find out.”

The next day was the day of my revelation. I woke up hours later than I should have. Furthermore, I felt no urge to go to my forge. This should have been devastating. I am sure for any other villager it would have been. Our livelihoods were decided by our duties. Being free meant responsibilities, it meant anxiety, it meant worries. Yet, I felt free for the first time, I felt alive for the first time. I felt like a prisoner, freed for the first time in decades. That was what I felt like. It was almost as if the curse of the Code had lifted. I spent the day going to the places I had always wondered about. A visit to the cartographer allowed me to see how vast the world I lived in was. A visit to the archives gave me visions of what I could learn. A step outside the walls I had never once been outside of showed me the future that lay ahead. I was free, free from the prison I had never known I was restrained in. I spent hours, simply in awe of the world around me. Or perhaps it was days, in my newfound wonder time itself seemed to lengthen. The world seemed to me a marvel as it never had before. Colours were crisper than ever before, every scent drifting across the wind was unimaginably vivid, the sounds of the bird calls like a melodic song. I realised the monotony that had been my former life, forever forging the same equipment, forever experiencing the same moments. This knowledge made imagining my previous existence all the more alien. Just as I revelled in my newfound independence, the sky became red. I felt an implacable feeling of disquiet. Something deep inside of me told me this was terribly wrong. A Codeless descended from the crimson clouds, wearing the same robe as the Codeless which had changed my life.

“How did Cameron not realise his mistake?” He muttered. “Now I have to cover for him, patching bugs is probably one of the most annoying parts of this job.”

He raised his hands towards me just as the other Codeless had done to my partner, almost dismissively.

“Memory reboot initiated…”

I’m a blacksmith. I sell equipment to the Codeless, I always have and always will. I don’t have any problems with my life and don’t think the Codeless are strange at all. They are simply part of my existence. 

But sometimes, a mass of pixels, emitting erratic sounds, visits my dreams. It tells me that I can be free. I strain my memory and try to grasp the meaning of this message, of the word free. Maybe one day I will remember.