The Web Program

A spider. Why did the logo have to be a spider?

Isaac minimized the window on his computer to put the image away. His heart slowed down to its normal rate. This job was perfect. He was 6 months out of grad school with no other job prospects. The Arachne Institute is the premier company for computer programming. They made software for various projects, including video games, phone apps, websites, utility management, and even some secret government projects. Their tagline is “Weaving Software to Challenge the Gods.” 

A week ago, Isaac was perusing his resume again to see if there was something else he could tweak or add or something that would make him stand out. All the programming jobs out there seemed to get hundreds of applicants, and they all wanted several years of experience for entry-level positions. That never seemed fair to him. Still, it is what it is, and that’s the field he was passionate about. 

Then, he received a message from a job board that said, “This position is perfect for you!” 

They all said that. Still, he wasn’t going to pass up a potential opportunity, so he clicked on it. It was a message directly from the hiring team at The Arachne Institute. They had seen his website and the program he had written for his thesis project. It was a simple solution to a problem he had always had: filtering language to provide a trigger warning before going into a website. 

Isaac chose this for his thesis project because of his fear of spiders. It was so intense that even mentioning spiders made him sick. His limbs would freeze, and his hands would get clammy and start to shake. Nothing in this world scared him more than spiders. Everything about spiders was terrifying. He often had nightmares about spiders crawling all over his skin, all eight legs tapping up and down his sensitive skin and crawling in awkward places. He also had nightmares about the webs that could set a trap for him and keep him from moving. Worst of all, he was terrified of the venom that could paralyze his entire body and liquefy wherever it bit. The idea of being forced to sit there while another creature made him melt from existence was too much to bear. 

His fear of spiders came from when he was a little boy. He had found a spider in his room in the middle of the floor. He screamed and stepped on it to kill it. Little did he know, the spider was pregnant and giving birth. Hundreds upon hundreds of mini spiders had poured out from around his shoe. Some skittered away from the offending object while others attacked. They had crawled over the sole of his shoe and began crawling up his leg and biting him. Little fangs penetrated his young flesh and burned with the poison that was innate in whatever type of spider that was. He rushed out of the room, and his parents helped him get the spiders off in the shower before rushing him to the hospital. The ER staff identified the bites as being from a wolf spider. 

Calm again, Isaac closed his eyes and maximized the screen. He had to finish this application. He made a mental note to add pictures of spiders into the program so anything with eight limbs would be blocked. He put his hand over the image for now so he didn’t have to see it. With one hand, he continued typing in his information. He hit submit and breathed a sigh of relief. That was done. He closed the window and put his hand down. With no more spiders to contend with, Isaac pulled up his Web Program. He called it that because, like spiders, he wanted to capture and trap anything dangerous before it became a problem. He looked through each line of code to figure out the best place to add the image filters into the program.

About an hour into his work, he got another notification. This time, it was his email. He looked, and it was from The Arachne Institute. The subject line read: “Congratulations!”

He hesitated for a moment. Did he want to work at a company with spiders for its logo? He remembered his bare kitchen cupboard. It was the perfect breeding ground for spiders to live in his apartment. That was enough to make him click on it. He glanced through the email. It was an invitation for an in-person interview. He had been hand-selected, so he had bypassed the initial phone interview and subsequent tests that others had to take when they applied normally. Wait, the interview was tomorrow! Isaac jumped out of his chair and quickly found his interview clothes. He didn’t even think about the fact that the spider logo might be all over the building.

The next day, he arrived at The Arachne Institute with plenty of time to spare. He parked in the visitor spots as directed and got out of his car. He held his hand up to shield his eyes from the sun as he scanned the massive structure. The main entrance was the smaller of the two buildings that made up the institute. The larger building right behind it towered up, making the entrance structure feel tiny in comparison. 

He walked through the main entrance. Even this part was huge compared to most of the buildings he had been to for his other interviews. When he walked in, the room expanded so he could see all the way to the top floor. Walkways stretched and weaved throughout the structure to give it strength and allow the employees to get to wherever they needed to go as quickly as possible. Isaac checked in at the security desk and got his visitor badge. The security officer gave him a warm smile and waved him through. Something about that felt odd. Usually, someone would escort him through the buildings and take him to the interview. The security guard pointed to the door he was supposed to go to, then returned to the desk. 

Isaac’s stomach dropped as he realized something. The front of the building was like walking into a spider’s mouth. There were circular windows all along the front of the building to simulate eyes. They were pretty large, so they let plenty of light through. The bright, airy room did little to lighten his mood. Isaac felt the familiar terror start to creep in. His hands clammed up, and his heart was racing already. 

He turned to run out of the spider. The building. It’s just a building. The security guard noticed and asked him what he needed. Isaac couldn’t tell the guard the real reason so he said, “Um… the bathroom?” 

The security guard pointed him to the restrooms. Isaac rushed in and splashed water on his face. He looked at his smart watch and saw he still had ten minutes before his interview. He decided to take a couple of them to catch his breath. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing. He kept repeating, “It’s just a building.” 

Finally, he felt calm enough to open his eyes. He looked at himself in the mirror. He noticed something was right above his shoulder. A spider! He yelped and spun around. The Arachne Institue logo was on the wall behind him in the bathroom. He had seen the reflection in the mirror, which made it look like the spider was descending from the ceiling and onto his shoulder. He started having second thoughts about the interview. His bare cupboards came to mind. He didn’t know how much longer he had before he would have to beg to move in with his parents. That wasn’t going to happen.

He took another deep breath and glanced at his watch. There were only four minutes until his interview and his pulse was down to 130. He rushed out of the restroom and went to where the security guard had directed him. The size and scope of the building were so vast that he forgot he was inside a structure made to look like a spider. He got to the door he was told to go to. The front said, “Hiring Director.” 

Isaac walked in to find a small, nicely furnished room. A few chairs and a leather sofa were off to one side, with a door leading to another room on the other. The door latched closed behind him with a soft click as he looked around the room. A sign on the wall directed him to “Take a seat and wait for further instructions.” He did as he was told and sat in one of the chairs. The sofa seemed to be too casual. His heart was still racing from the spider in the bathroom anyway. 

After a few minutes, the second door opened. A woman in a red pantsuit stood in the doorway, one hand draped on the door handle. 

“My name is Minerva,” She said. Her voice caressed him like strands of silk. “You must be Isaac. Please, come on in.” 

A strange pull made Isaac stand and immediately walk in front of Minerva. He held out his hand, hoping it wasn't too clammy when she shook it. She smiled and took his hand. She led him into the room and shut the door behind her. Isaac looked around and nearly fell to his knees. Spiders. Everywhere. 

In addition to the spiders, the Arachne Institute logo was plastered all over the office. There were shelves on either side of the office that held various forms of spiders and other arachnids. Isaac really hoped they were all fake. None of them were moving, though. He gladly took a seat when Minerva gestured to an armchair in front of a desk. The desk was a beautiful mahogany with a marble top. Isaac found it strange that there was no computer on it—only some papers and another fake spider. 

Minerva's pantsuit made a slight swishing noise as she glided around her desk. She floated into her chair and sat lightly as if hardly touching the surface of anything before deciding to move and go to another surface. 

“So, Isaac.”

Isaac's heart beat so loud he hoped she couldn't hear it. He hardly heard her through the loud beating, rushing blood through his ears. He tried to wet his mouth. It didn't work, but he was able to say, “Yes. That's me.”

“I hear that you have a genius program.” She picked up a sheet of paper on her desk and glanced at it before setting it back down. “Something you call the ‘Web Program.’”

Isaac nodded. 

“Tell me about it,” She commanded.

He expected to speak about the program. He started to ramble on about its mechanics, which lines of code were his favorite, how he planned to add more so it could block images, and more. The words just fell out, not following any of the speeches he had planned. He stopped as she held her hand up. 

“I don't care about HOW you made it. I want to know WHY.”

“Oh,” Isaac said. “Well, you see…” He glanced around the office. All the fake spiders stared at him with hundreds of beady glass eyes, threatening to pounce and bite him, liquefying him from existence. 

“I don't like spiders.” It came out as a whisper. He even barely heard himself say the words. The fear grasped at his throat, threatening to choke him. 

Minerva smiled knowingly. “Louder, please.”

Something switched within him. The fear of everything to do with eight legs transformed into anger and hatred. “I hate spiders!” Isaac practically shouted.

Her face didn’t change—just her eyes. Something in them hardened, but the smile remained. The look sent a chill down his spine, unlike anything he’d experienced before. He was paralyzed with fear. He tried to move his legs, his arms, his head—nothing. It was like his muscles had all contracted on their own, and he no longer had control over them. He couldn’t move. 

“I love spiders,” Minerva said. “They are my creation. You might know me by another name: Athena.”

Alarm bells went off in Isaac’s head. He had to get out. He still couldn’t move anything except for his eyes. He glanced around everywhere to try to find some slim chance at escape. Was that spider moving now? 

“Arachne dared to challenge me with her weaving skills. As beautiful as they were, I had to concede. They rivaled my own. But I’m still a goddess; she needed to be struck down.”

The spider on her desk twitched. They were moving! Isaac looked around. They were twitching and jerking to life as if they had been frozen and were now thawing out. He started to hear jaws clicking together and limbs creaking to life. 

“Still, I felt terrible about ending her life so soon. So I turned her into a spider. She could weave to her heart's content. But, you!” Her smile shifted into a frown. Her eyes glared at him with a righteous fury that only a god could muster. “You snub my creations as if they are nothing. You and your Web Program. You mean to deny their very existence. And for what? Fear? Pathetic!”

Isaac’s heart was racing so fast now. He had to get out. Did his leg twitch? Was he able to move now? No. Not yet. It must have been his imagination. 

Minerva got up from her chair and stood in a power pose, feet shoulder-width apart, her hands on the desk as if to lean over and tell him a secret. “Still, you moved past your fear to apply for a job offer. That deserves a chance. So I will give you a choice: work for me here in a form of my choosing. Or die.” 

What kind of a choice is that? Isaac thought. He felt his mouth and jaw start to move. Maybe the paralysis was wearing off. 

“I’m letting you speak. But before you answer, know that the form I choose will be your worst fears come true.”

At least she was still giving him a choice. He thought it through. He hated spiders. Yet, none of them were attacking him. They all sat around waiting for her orders. Maybe if he worked for her, it could help him conquer his fears. Then again, the alternative was death, so there was little choice. 

“Um… Option C?” Isaac squeaked. His earlier anger was still there, giving him the strength to fight back, even if it was only through words. 

Minerva laughed. “You are a feisty one. No. No other options. Live as a spider or die as a human.” 

He was afraid she was going to say that. It also gave him the answer to what form he would take. He shut his eyes. He felt tears roll down his cheeks and onto his interview clothes. Clothing. He’s going to miss that. 

“Okay. I’ll work with you.”

As soon as the words escaped his lips, his world exploded. He could have sworn his eyes were still closed, but light and colors poured in. He realized he saw six different viewpoints, all showing the other spiders in the room staring at him. Some of them seemed to be shaking back and forth. Were they sorry for him? He opened his eyes and saw the last two viewpoints open up to see Minerva grinning at him. Not viewpoints. Eyes. He had eight of them now. 

The chair beneath him got larger as he felt his body shrinking. He heard snaps and pops as his bones shifted inside out. They were reforming on the outside of his body into the hard exoskeleton of an arachnid. Minerva glided around the side of the desk and stood above him. He felt hair sprouting all over his body. What spider had hair? He wished he had studied spiders more. He might have overcome his fears instead of creating his stupid Web Program. 

She bent down and held her hand out in front of him. He felt the same pull he did in the waiting area. He stepped on her hand. He felt each leg rise and fall as he skittered the small distance to her palm. She brought him up to her face. The beautiful eyes shone as they lost their hardness. 

“You and I are going to do great things together. Isn’t that right, Isaac?” 

“Yes, mistress!” he tapped on her hand. He could no longer speak, so he hoped she could understand the tapping vibrations he used now to communicate. 

She set him on one of the shelves. It felt right. He was surrounded by his brothers and sisters, and he knew she would take care of him. He got into place and stood stock still. Everyone else in the room did the same. He watched Minerva glide to the door and open it up, her hand draped on the door handle. “My name is Minerva,” She said. Her voice made him quiver with delight. “You must be Andrea. Please, come on in.”