My hands shake inside my pockets as I pace around the supermarket, my clammy palms constantly needing wiping off as I wander up and down the aisles in search of something to take my mind off of what was occurring back home. Snacks, coffee, anything would do though try as I might my mind continues to lurch back towards that same dim green couch and the overheating laptop sitting atop the cushions.
My heart races in my chest, my hands reaching out for the first bag of chips I can find as I quickly place them under my arm. I had needed to distract myself somehow, to get out of the apartment and to not just stare at the small ASCII loading bar as the strange program unpacked and deployed itself onto the very much outdated hardware.
A smirks spreads across my face as I let my thoughts linger for a minute, my mind turning to all those I could soon be leaving behind. From Kelly and Margaret from down the hall and Haley across from me, to Gracie upstairs as well as Rachel and her awful granddaughter Emily. Even Fiona would likely be long gone once I made even a few changes, the people I saw nearly every day suddenly being distant memories as I retooled reality as I saw fit.
I had read about the Master PC program for years as a point of fiction, the mystical program that could alter the very substance of reality around the user. Stories of the fabled program could be found everywhere mostly in the form of cautionary tales, of technological Icarus' flying too close to the proverbial sun.
After eagerly reading all these stories an in the doldrums of unemployment, I had began to seek out more material. It didn't take all to long to begin to find 'real' copies of the program, each one simply being a basic game seeking to replicate the idea of the make-believe program.
However, one was not like the others. Gone was the simple user interfaces and poorly drawn character models, the simple game having been replaced with walls of impossible to understand scrolling code. It seemed to shift constantly, every movement in the world around me causing the lines of code to ripple like water in a pond.
For some time I had merely thought it an interesting screen saver, the full screen of garbled numbers and letters not matching any coding language I could find online. However, one day I had spotted something a recognized, a HTML color code amongst the sea of coded noise. Before it could be lost in the jumble, my reactions only letting me change the first digit from a '6' to a 'c'. My breath snagged in my throat as I watched the pale blue coffee mug sitting on my coffee table shift and squirm, the ceramic suddenly shifting to a pale purple before my very eyes.
The next few days were a blur, a constant search for something somewhere that could help me understand the cascade of code or to interact with it in someway shape or form.
The program had never been intended for local use. What was known as Master PC was more akin to an admin tool for reality itself, an intrinsic part of the universe that had existed in some manner since the down of time. From stone tablets to parchment and now code, it had recorded all and allowed for edits to be made by those with the understanding to do so.
However, to use the program had always been a challenge. In ancient history it had presented as illegible and arcane text or runes, a language beyond the understanding of those who had attempted to read it. In the modern era it was code, lines of letters and numbers with little rhyme or reason as to their placement with only fleeting glimpses of recognizable figures.
Rather than interact with the code directly work around were developed, with very few actually working as intended. The best and only real way for the average person to use the program was via a graphical user interface, the best of which was little more than a series of sliders and poorly generated buttons derived from skimming the code.
Beyond the simplistic controls a text box could do far more to alter the code, though the consequences were far less stable. Words, descriptions and traits, could be added directly into the program as the interface would try to worm them seamlessly into the code itself though not without additional changes needing to be made on the back end. Even phrases could be added, wishes like to the genie of the lamp with just as many loop holes and unintended side effects that would follow.
I had found something that claimed to let me use the program barely a day ago, the sketchy website's promises only ringing true once I had seen a screen shot of the arcane code alongside the plain ASCII interface.
Since beginning the install I hadn't slept, the whirring fans of my laptop howling out from my living room as the program strained every aspect of the aging computer hardware. I had simply needed to get out of the house, the noise and the thoughts of what could be within my grasp making me feel almost mad as I had paced around the living room over and over again.
With bag of chips in hand I slowly walk back towards my home, my shoulders slouched and eyelids hooded as I yawn loudly.
"First thing.." I grumble, rubbing at one of my eyes. "First thing I'm doing is making myself well rested" I chuckle to myself, my energy somewhat returning at the thought of the god-like power I was about to have.
Dragging myself up the stairs, winding around the spiraling with trudging heavy footfalls, I soon find myself listening to the whine of the overworked cooling fans. Cocking an eyebrow I try to quicken the pace, my dulled mind struggling to remember something important.
"Did I lock the..." I begin to croak, my voice trailing off as I reach the fourth floor landing and the sight of my open front door half way down the hall.
My heart skips a beat, my feet nearly slipping out from under me as I race towards the open doorway. Lurching into my apartment, I find my laptop cradled in the arms of...
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