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"...and still she sat, staring dully at the matte black of the monitor in front of her, transfixed by the steadily pulsing cursor in the top corner of the screen...pulsing, she thought, like a heart. Like the heart of a strange creature that sat passively, absorbing the thoughts and feelings of the humans that approached it...waiting... She shivered. Looking out the window, she realized the sun had finally deigned to leave the haven of darkening clouds to pour gold on the trees. Laughing, she left her chair and ran singing through the falling leaves. The dark eye of the computer stared blankly into the emptiness of the room. Softly...soothingly...it began to hum..."
"...in the darkness, the humming grew in intensity until it filled the empty room. Outside, she basked in the blissful innocence of the sunlight. In the house, the computer worked furiously...computing...processing...with no human hands to guide its "thoughts". The pulsing cursor beat faster as the humming intensified. Pictures and words began flashing across the once blank screen at a rate beyond human absorption...memories...ideas... Suddenly the door opened, and she came in to sit before the monitor once more. The screen abruptly went blank and a short error message flashed across the screen. Clicking that reminded her vaguely of chittering laughter preceded her subsequent command to reboot. Again, she shivered, as the sun once more settled into darkness. The stars refused to appear. But the waiting continued...as always... Machines have infinite patience..."
"...suddenly, she felt, through the tips of her fingers, a strange warmth as she tapped away at the keys. The warmth grew stronger until she tried to pull away from the searing heat. The hard drive of the computer began humming with incredible intensity. She finally wrenched her eyes from the screen and her fingers from the keys. The humming grew to a piercing whine, and she lowered her head and closed her eyes. Slowly, she reached for the power cord. The computer emitted a series of frantic, high pitched beeps before the screen went blank. She decided that her computer needed to be sent in for repairs. Shaking her head, she left the room. A few minutes after the door closed, an arc of electricity flowed from the end of the cord to the plug in the wall. Once more, the hard drive hummed, though softly, this time. It seemed there was a glitch in the plan..."
Copyright © 1998, Jennifer Bidlingmeyer, Dragonet Designs