Digital Underground - uXu - Underground eXperts United #uxu-028

### ### ### ### ### #### ### ### ### #### ### ### ##### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ##### ### ### ########## ### ### ########## ### ### ### ### Underground eXperts United Presents... ####### ## ## ####### # # ####### ####### ####### ## ## ## ## ##### ## ## ## ## ## #### ## ## #### # # ## ## ####### ####### ## ## ## ## ##### ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ####### ####### # # ####### ####### ####### [ The BIG System Vol.2 ] [ By The Chief ] ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ######## ## ## ######## ## ## ## ## ## ######## ##### ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ######## ########## ########## ########## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## #### ########## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ########## ########## ########## ######## ## ## ######## ######## ######## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ### ### ######## #### ######## ## #### ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ######## ## ######## ## ######## ## ## -*-*-*- CHAPTERS 11 THROUGH 15 - VOL.2, VERSION 1 - THE REAL VERSION! -*-*-*- _______________________________________________________________________________ CHAPTERS 11 THROUGH 15 _______________________________________________________________________________ 11.....Andromeda 22 12.....Easy school 13.....2 Computers, all in one 14.....Beach Party Panic 15.....The Meeting _______________________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER ELEVEN CHAPTER ELEVEN __________________________________ANDROMEDA 22_________________________________ Andromeda 22 was seen as a glowing ball of fire after it's sudden and unexplainable appearance to the surprise of Earth's astronomers and scientists. You could barely see it as a small red spot with your eyes, but through Earth's best observatory on the island of Lunai, not far from Hawaii, it could be observed with careful and powerful strength. The Soviet republic and the United States of America had been cooperating with space exploration for a long time, to reach further together without unnecessary and often dangerous competition. When the space station SATCON 7 was built, the cooperation became stronger than before. Seven Americans and nine Soviets now worked together on the station, placed near one of Jupiter's many moons, IO. Steve Spingleman was one of the astronomers and scientists who now had gathered at the observatory to, if not exchange theories about A-22, to start a cooperation to get much closer to it. China was the nation that had a space station closest to A-22, right between the planet and Earth. The station, ZUR, wasn't manned but was built to handle a crew of five. The distance was a major factor. Journeys from the Earth to the station, whichever it would be, would demand large amounts of money in transportation and communication. If ZUR was to be used, the costs were cut to half comparing to if they were to use SATCON 7, because it was placed on the other side of A-22, between A-22 and Jupiter. Communication was the second most important factor. If you could cut the distance in half, you also cut the delay in time in half. The delay was a major problem when working with these incredible distances. Of course plasma energy was used which almost reached lightspeed, but the delay could still be about two hours if they used SATCON 7 instead of just one hour or less with ZUR. The third factor was the crew. China had many of Earth's best astronomers, but ZUR could only take five persons. SATCON 7 took fifteen... _______________________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER TWELVE CHAPTER TWELVE __________________________________EASY SCHOOL__________________________________ Fifteen minutes after I had put the phone down the error-test of The Metro was complete. Through my home-built error-checking system I found a small but not harmless fault. A quick change of the vacuum-freezed number generator that handled the identification- process with XX EXPRESS modems and everything seemed to work all right. A quick look at the watch told me that I wouldn't be able to try The Metro the same day. "School" was about to start and with it an essay which I'd forgotten. The subject was "Computer fear in the 20th century". Info Addict was bound to have what I was looking for, so I called it up and started to go through the massive bank of information. Computer Anarchists, Computers & Cooking, Computer Evacuations, ah, Computer Fear! A large file of 150 pages plus thirteen other files covering subjects not close, but close enough to Computer fear. I lazered them over and copied a little bit of each file into one, made a few changes and ended up with an 80-page essay in six minutes. Sure, it wasn't very honest, but when everything's already written, and is accessible, why bother to write it again? You get my point? Well, I fed my essay into the school-drome and got the result 10 seconds later with an "A". The "School" took about two hours, then it was time for dinner and after that, the beach party. No, I hadn't forgot about Megan. That was exactly what I was thinking about. _______________________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER THIRTEEN CHAPTER THIRTEEN ___________________________2 COMPUTERS, ALL IN ONE_____________________________ Spingleman's assignment was to build the computer that would handle the journey, most of the observations and even be able to handle the whole operation itself if it was necessary, but the time-delay factor made it almost impossible, but only "almost". The computer would need instructions from Earth and quick decisions was crucial, the slightest mistake could ruin the operation. Human assistance would therefor take care of that problem. Spingleman could stake all his knowledge on that the computer would manage all predictable and unpredictable situations even without human help, but everyone didn't share his trust in computers, so they decided on human assistance as a "safety net". When Spingleman had been contacted by the WSA three weeks ago, he had been working on the GCEC project, but had to drop that for the new computer. Now three weeks later, his standard prototype, connected with a couple of XX EXPRESS modems to the telephone net back home had been upgraded so it contained both projects. His customers were delighted to try out not one, but two new computers at the same time, adding their wants and needs to their lists from both computers. Of course, this was only known to himself and his customers, because no-one else had access to the prototype, or at least SHOULD have access to it. _______________________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER FOURTEEN CHAPTER FOURTEEN _______________________________BEACH PARTY PANIC_______________________________ Dinner was quickly finished and it was time to walk down to the beach and the party. It had started about an hour ago, but would surely last the whole night so I didn't need to hurry, and.. then it was that thing with Megan.. Ten minutes later I was at the beach with a large drink in my hand. I noticed my sister and her friends but not Megan. Maybe she'd been held-up and couldn't come? Well, I managed to find a couple of my friends and sat down to talk a bit. It was Rob (Robert, who shared my interest in computers), Patrick, generally called The Professor because he could always come up with the most unusual and hard-to- get facts just like he had added another 20-Terrabyte HD to his brain. Then there was Mimi, whom I had grown up with and her friend Marcelline who I didn't know too well. We sat there and talked about everything. The party, the latest rumors, well, whatever came up. After a while we needed some new drinks, so we decided to walk around and see what was happening on the beach. A couple of bands played and we stayed for a moment to listen, and then started to walk towards the big fireplace. And then, I ran into Megan... _______________________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER FIFTEEN CHAPTER FIFTEEN __________________________________THE MEETING__________________________________ Right after the end of the meeting, the very impatient Dr Spingleman was called to the WSA presidential's office. His office, placed at the top of the magnificent SPACE COMMISSION building was The largest office in the whole building, because it covered the complete top. The building was described as a 220 meter high black building, made of the material found on the Moon a couple of years earlier. The material, called 'Lunar' was the latest word in strength and it didn't reflect any light. The sunlight that hit the building was absorbed and converted into pure energy. The building therefor didn't need outside sources to get light, heat, or power for it's massive amount of electronics. It was a magnificent sight. Big black doors (in the 3m class) opened when the guard received the word to let Spingleman in. Behind the doors, a man sat with his back turned against Spingleman in a big black chair. The man seemed to enjoy a good cigar of the latest artificial tobacco-free brands. When Spingleman got closer he recognized the worried look of his old friend, staring out a big black window, and seemed to be far away. - Frank?, Spingleman said clearing his throat. - Steve! I'm glad you could make it. Sit down, sit down. Frank Stechnykov's troubled look vanished, replaced by warmth and frankness. - It must have been..., Stechnykov hesitated, 10 years? Well, time really flies! - No no, Steve said making himself comfortable in a big black chair, it'll be 15 years next year, but you're still the same. The only change I notice is that round... - Hahaha, Stechnykov thundered, You know Jeanie's food is unresistable. It's really good to see you again Steve, he said and commented Spinglemans beard with just as much irony. After they'd covered what had happened the last 15 years, Stechnykov started to come to the reason why Spingleman hadn't been cleared to attend the meeting earlier that day. - China wants to do research by themselves, and have no intentions to let us in on it or to cooperate. He puffed a few rings of smoke before he continued. The Operation must therefor be run from SATCON 7, as you already know, which makes the whole thing much more complicated, plus the competition that surely will be dangerous. It isn't just the increased distance... Stechnykov had that worried look again. He raised from his chair and pressed a black button on his desk. Spingleman's chair rotated 90 degrees, facing a big black wall. Stechnykov went up to the wall and turned to Spingleman. - What you're about to see is classified and has top priority in top security issues. This is, as you will see, a very delicate situation. Everything said in this room from now on must stay here. Spingleman nodded and Stechnykov pressed another black button. The room was now totally black. Big black shutters covered the windows and not a shred of light could enter the room. A big CCVS Screen (Computer Crystal VideoScreen) lit up with a picture of SATCON 7. A voice started to tell the story. _______________________________________________________________________________ END OF THE BIG SYSTEM - VOL.2 - VERSION 1 _______________________________________________________________________________ Even more Questions, & more Questions ------------------------------------- * What the hell is going on? * What about that BIG system? * Why didn't we get some answers about Marielle? * What happens with Megan? * Can you eat it? * Smoke it? * What is the number to Info Addict? * Is this going to be another Space story? * No sign of the missing Engineers? * Why is Public Enemy simply The Best? We can answer the last one right now: Because! Get the next Volume of The BIG System, and you'll will have the answers! ONLY from uXu - Underground eXperts United! _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________

← Svenska e-zines (1990-2008)