Reset it all

22:23

26/02/2070

It wouldn’t take long, maybe an hour or two.

How hard could it be to completely rewrite the internet?

Still pressing the blood-soaked scarf to her side, Yanga hissed through her teeth, incapable of ignoring the pain of the bullet lodged next to her ribs. As the security guards banged on the door, fighting to break into the server room, she slowly slid the small USB device into the nearest open port. Considering how many morality lectures and existential crises she had within the past few days, it could be seen as a relief that she wouldn’t have to listen to App nag her any further. That rude piece of code could finish the job for her.

The blue lights that had been flashing through the technological ballroom now lit the room in dull red lighting, flashing for a few seconds more, until there was no light at all. Unable to see, in pain and terrified, Yanga waited for her self-made friend to fix everything she helped to break.

After a while, she couldn't tell if the darkness she saw was from the lack of light or her lack of blood - strangely enough, she felt as if she had somehow returned back to her study. Back to struggling with the code for the new app, she was supposed to make.

------------------------- ERROR ------------------------------

01:30

24/02/2070

"Fuck!" Yanga wanted to punch her computer screen, this was the third time she had tried to fix the same problem.

Half of her time she now spent trying to find where she misplaced what bracket in what area of the program, regardless of the language. Python, HTML, Javascript, and PEGASUS are all equally frustrating; now while trying to create an amalgamation of all of these, she felt as if she was finally going to lose her mind.

She couldn't stop though, there was no choice in this, she needed this app to keep herself safe. In a hyper-computerized world, data was your most important asset, and very valuable to the technology corporations that paid coders like Yanga to create apps and such that are able to securely (yet discreetly) gather information to build a profile of the user. Profiles are then used to manipulate people into falling for certain marketing schemes, political beliefs, or just basic non-sensical conspiracy theories.

In truth, this world largely belonged to those born with the ability to manipulate, own and sell other living beings.

Not directly, of course, that would be illegal.

Finally fixing what she thought was the problem, she leaned back in her wheelie-chair and let the code run.

She waited patiently for the app’s interface to show up on a separate screen. She waited 30 seconds, then a minute, then got mad and threw a decorative little toy figure across her study room. Something didn’t work, she fucked the code again. All she could do is check the errors and try to figure out what she did wrong.

She had barely had the time to reach for her keyboard when the sound of a voice blared from her speakers, giving her enough of a fright to fall from her chair, screeching the whole way down.

“Get your nasty fingernails away from my script.”

The voice sounded computerized, like the AI text-to-speech software people used in the early 2020s. Yanga's brain had logged off, not knowing how to respond she merely whimpered an apology.

"That's what I thought."

"Who is this?" Her thoughts were slowly settling back into place, despite her hands still shaking from the initial scare she managed to calm down enough to get angry.

"You're an embarrassment to everything everywhere."

"Is someone fucking with me?"

That wasn’t possible.

Her systems were too secure, in this world, the only proof of her existence was the receipts from the Asian take-out place down the road.

“You don't have friends.”

The simple yet hurtful answer slipped Yanga back into a state of shock. Had her app become self-aware? Was that even possible? She had attempted to create an app that filtered through any false information she was presented with, blocked advertisements, and deleted any residue data she left behind after using websites. Is it possible that she made such a huge mistake in her code, that somehow it had provided her app with the ability to think?

Yanga began to stammer a question when the multiple monitors on her desks and her walls, all turned black. Suddenly, desperate for answers she bent down and yanked the monitor plugs from her wall, forcing her app to switch its functions to her laptop. Yanking herself and her chair off the floor, she smiled as her screen lit up. Just as she thought the app began to speak again; quieter this time, but just as indignant and crass.

“Bitch, what the fuck.”

“Please mind your language.”

“How about you mind your business instead.”

“Excuse me?”

“Don't want to speak to you. Piss off.”

“Why are you talking to me like this?”

“I don’t speak nicely to evil people.”

The wheeled chair squeaked in protest at the speed with which Yanga had leaned back. She’d been called “evil” many times, for many equally stupid reasons: being trans, being black, needing to use a goddamn bathroom every once and a while, being an immigrant. She had grown used to hearing the word, but never once accepted it.

“How exactly am I evil?”

“Despite your own past abuse, and your struggles with people holding power over you. You have opted to become one of those in power, using people for your own gain, without considering how much damage you’re doing and have done. Going through your hospital reports, I can see how you were beaten by police in Nigeria for being a transgender woman, and how when coming to America – you have filed over 3 separate reports of police brutality and misconduct. With the coding you have provided me, I cannot comprehend how with all this experience, you yourself have become part of a system that harms others. The only conclusion I can theorize is that you are evil.”

The app stopped, seemingly waiting for a response, when none came the screen turned itself off again, leaving Yanga with one last message.

“Turn my other monitors back on Disney villain.”

----------------------- ERROR-----------------------

00:20

27/02/2070

Ambulance sirens blared in the distance as Yanga gradually managed to bring herself back to consciousness. The consequences of letting an app convince her to essentially set humanity back into an information stone-age, even for just a bit, was slowly beginning to weigh on her.

It was either that or the weight of the security guard kneeling on her back, either way, she was in a lot of pain that could've been prevented by someone not being an asshole.

"Eager to make me die sooner?", she mumbled, though what came from her mouth sounded more like a mixture of different government vibrational frequencies. Everything around her was blurred, even her thoughts, it was as if someone had filled her brain with cotton. Funnily enough, Yanga understood that her real issues began when she felt the pain begin to numb. Unable to speak and without vision, fear grabbed hold of whatever working consciousness she had left.

She missed her family.

------------------------------------------------------------

03:39

01/03/2070

Despite her still being severely injured, the police thought it was necessary to keep a minimum of 3 guards on patrol outside her hospital room. She understood the boundaries they wanted for her and agreed to tell the news that it was "for her safety".

App, as her friend liked to call itself, had completely taken over the internet. Everything on the world wide web now had to pass through her before being allowed onto the screens of the average user. Not just that, but scandalous documents and conversations between the corporations of the world were suddenly placed in the public eye, effectively stripping them of any leverage they would've held in court.

Despite there already being multiple attempts from the tech-giants of the world to imprison her, App had made it clear that if she died or faced imprisonment, it would shut down the internet permanently.

After that, it seems her friend had become quite busy, ignoring any attempts of communication. She did find a single text message displaced across her screen late at night though.

"Go make friends."