"Null Memory you say?" a worried, albeit handsome voice exclaimed.
"Yes, the look-up says it should be possible, extant even." replied his quirky partner.
"That... Can't be. The driver requires two souls to operate... But the Null Memory..."
"Will negate the requirement of the second soul. In short, I don't have to participate in this pointless exercise, am I right Shoutaro?"
I would never have thought he would find it. While it's true that he did inherit all the knowledge on Earth in that quaint brain of his, this "Null Memory" shouldn't even be... Real.
It's just not possible...
"So Shoutaro, find it already..."
"Huh?"
"The Null Memory. Find it already."
"You can't be serious Philip." I said to him in reply, visibly annoyed from his persistence.
"Oh but I am. I never wanted to be part of this... Waste of energy. I should be concentrating on harnessing the Planet's Bookshelf. Did you know that once the Spaniards discovered that the Earth itself is round, the prices of transportation to areas of significant distance from Europe diminished greatly? The mere knowledge itself triggered a worldwide revolution!"
"Eh?" I replied, more out of exasperation than out of the fact that I didn't understand a word of what he just said.
"Knowledge is all there is Shoutaro. Nothing more, nothing else."
Philip, as genius as he is already, is the inheritor of the Planet's Bookshelf, a library of literally all the knowledge there is on the planet. History, Geography, even the individual biographies of everyone who had ever lived or is currently living could be found in the bookshelves, and Philip has access to all of them. His mind of course would not be able to handle all this information, and he has to perform look-ups on specific topics to harness the infinite knowledge found in the library. This is invaluably useful, but look-ups could get very addictive to knowledge-hungry Philip, which in turn annoys me to no end.
"Shoutaro. Please. I'm serious..." he said, opening the door to his secret room behind our excuse for a detective agency headquarters.
"Huh?"
"I don't want to fight anymore." he continued, slamming the door as he finished the sentence.
"Find the Null Memory Shoutaro. Please."
His voice sounded hollow coming from the other side of the door. Was he merely consumed by his addiction, or was this what he wanted all along?
Showing posts with label Alternative. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alternative. Show all posts
Monday, August 30, 2010
Alternative: Null Memory
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Alternative: Death Note Interlude - Synesthesia
"Have you heard of that cursed MP3 floating around the Internets lately?"
"Eh? I've heard of it. Message boards everywhere are abuzz with it, but I don't really think it's real..."
"Well, I think you might just change your opinion after what I found out last night..."
"I bet it's just rumors..."
"Somebody just died. A friend of an internet acquaintance."
"And let me guess. Heart attack?"
"Yes."
"Hahaha!"
"Eh? Why are you laughing? Someone just died. Of a heart attack. While listening to the cursed MP3!"
"Haha, but that's what all the rumors are saying. You aren't seriously believing that shit now are you?"
"Huh? But it's real! I mean, my friend wouldn't lie to me, and why lie about the death of another friend?"
"Suuuuuure"
"No no no, it's for real, I'm sure of it!"
"Hahaha, whatever man!"
"But there's evidence! This friend of mine uploaded a recording of their last conversation. They were playing some MMO, chatting via VoIP. About a few minutes in, his friend just suddenly made grunting noises, followed by the faint sound of someone falling over. My friend naturally joked about it but all he got were what seemed to be distressed breaths. It was creepy..."
"Hahaha, well, whatever, I still don't believe that shit. I mean, there's no way someone could get a heart attack from listening to a cursed MP3, and besides, wouldn't the police or at least the media find out about this? It's all bull shit man!"
"But..."
"Bull shit! And I'm having none of it, now come on, we have a class in five minutes."
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Alternative: In Due Time Finale
The earth around them danced, painting streaks of colours across the once empty cove. Flashes of the past spun and weaved about, reminding Kagome of the memories she would never have.
Inu No Taishou, the father of both Inu Yasha and Sesshoumaru, was once a powerful demon lord known throughout all of Feudal Japan; it stands to reason that his power is coveted by his elder son and heir, Sesshoumaru. But fate wouldn’t be kind to the silver-haired demon, as for some reason unbeknownst to him; it would be his brother, Inu Yasha the half-demon, who would inherit his father’s “greatest” treasure.
Today was the day he did.
“How dare you defile the tomb of my father!” shouted the younger of the two.
The full demon grinned. He knew his plan had worked, and was moments away from taking revenge on both his insolent half-brother and his equally insolent partner. Immediately he pressed an all out attack, catching Inu Yasha off guard.
“I’ve waited so many years for this…” said the elder demon.
“If you’re referring to me kicking your ass, then me too!” yelled his brother, completely unaware if what was about to unfold.
The pair traded blows, with Sesshoumaru easily outmatching and outclassing Inu Yasha. The former dodged the latter’s every blow, while connecting blows of his own, drawing blood. With surgical precision, the elder hacked at his younger brother’s body, eschewing swift death for slow, painful agony.
Of course Inu Yasha was unfazed.
“You bastard!” panted Inu Yasha, his breath short and shallow. For a moment the fighting seized, both warriors catching their breaths, but mostly just Inu Yasha.
“As much as I enjoy toying with you, little brother, I have other things to attend to here. I would have to put your slaughter on hold for a while.”
“Don’t you dare!”
Inu Yasha charged at his elder brother, claws at the ready. Sesshoumaru mirrored his brother’s move, but as soon as the two collided, the elder swerved deftly to one side, sending Inu Yasha flying through the force of his own attack. Sesshoumaru continued charging, aiming for a different target.
“Kagome!” shouted the half-demon, pulling himself up, blood dripping from his wounds.
Too late. Sesshoumaru was already inches away from Kagome.
“Pesky little girl. If you hadn’t drawn the sword, I wouldn’t have been in a perpetual state of misery. Now I’m going to remove you from history to prevent that event from ever happening. Die!”
“Kagome!”
Claw met layers of sinew and flesh. Ribbons of blood danced in the air, as Sesshoumaru’s attack found its mark.
“Ka- Kagome…”
“Inu Yasha!” Kagome coughed. Blood spilled from her mouth.
The elder demon’s strike unexpectedly found not one but two targets. At the very last moment, Inu Yasha used his body to shield the young girl. Unfortunately…
“I’m sorry… Kagome…” said the bloodied half-demon, his weakness betraying his sincerity.
“No… Inu Yasha… Why… I don’t understand…” replied Kagome, equally weak.
Sesshoumaru shrugged, drawing his claws back from the two of them, sending both plummeting to the ground. The half-demon took hold of Kagome; a futile attempt to safeguard her from the fall. He fell back first, catching Kagome on top of him.
For a while, the injured pair didn’t move. They both felt the elder demon’s poison seeping through their veins, worsening their already terrible states.
“Somehow…” Inu Yasha broke the silence.
He limply placed his arm around Kagome.
“I don’t know why… I don’t even give a damn about you… But somehow…”
“Inu Yasha…” beads of tears began to form on Kagome’s eyes, pushing herself off from him.
“It feels like… If we’ve spent… Some more time together…”
“Inu Yasha… Please… No more…” Kagome used the last of her strength to crawl herself forward, resting her hand on her beloved half-demon’s cheek.
“Kagome…”
Alternative: In Due Time Part 2
“Whe- where am I?” she asked.
“So you’re awake.” replied the silver-haired demon.
“You do bear an uncanny resemblance to her don’t you? No wonder Inu Yasha has fallen head over heels for you…”
She couldn’t say anything. She tried but no word came out. Every muscle of her paralyzed body opposed her, fearing for dear life.
The silver-haired demon stepped away.
“You shouldn’t struggle Kagome; it’s only going to make the journey much more difficult for you.”
Sesshoumaru pulled the accursed hourglass out from his kimono, holding it in front of Kagome.
“I don’t suppose you know what this is? This artefact used to belong to Jikan, the demon of time. Many times he was able to escape death by using this artefact, which gave him the ability to travel back in time.”
Kagome didn’t really give a damn. As soon as she could, she began struggling again against her bindings. Sesshoumaru simply smiled; after all, it wasn’t like she was going anywhere anytime soon.
“Indulge me for a minute, I just love the hopeless expressions humans make when they know they cannot do anything to stop something that’s right in front of them…” he said, stepping closer towards Kagome once again.
“The moment I turn this hourglass, we go back in time to any point I wish to. We immediately take the place of our former selves back then, continuing to live from that point on. In short, it would be as if the future didn’t happen at all, but the memory of your unlived future would still linger.”
Kagome’s eyes widened at the thought. Sango, Miroku, Shippo, even that perverted flea demon Myouga; all the time they shared and spent together would disappear. What if she never gets to meet them again this time around? What if…
A wave of fear and panic struck her.
Alternative: In Due Time Part 1
The silver-haired demon raised the possessed hourglass triumphantly. His lips formed a subtle smile; a sadistic, gleeful, almost dangerous smile.
Feudal era Japan is rife with myths and legends; of demons ruling vast territories and of shrine maidens protecting villagers against them. It was a peculiar time indeed, but amongst all these peculiarities lay a peculiarity most peculiar of all.
“Give her back you scumbag!” yelled the younger half-demon.
“And why would I do that little brother?” mocked the elder full-demon.
The weight of the half-demon’s sword made the ground shake, but it found nothing else to hit. The elder sibling deftly dodged the demonic blade.
The younger half-demon was not deterred. He kept on striking and striking, each slash coming dangerously close against his under matched adversary. It was as if the elder demon was playing a dangerous game of tag against his younger brother; ever teasing but never really allowing his blade to touch. Not even a strand of his flowing silver hair was disturbed. All this while carrying his unconscious female captive over his shoulder.
Then he stopped playing.
“Foolish little brother.” he said, blocking the sword with his bare hand. “How many times must you experience defeat before surrendering to it?”
The younger half-demon was sent flying with one powerful swing, heavy sword and all.
“Do not worry; I do not intend to kill her yet.”
“Sesshoumaru, you basta-“ he was stopped in mid-sentence. Slowly the lights faded out on him.
Sesshoumaru drew his fist from his brother’s gut, now a few inches deeper than where it was supposed to be.
“Farewell, Inu Yasha…”
Monday, June 7, 2010
Alternative: Death Note chapter 1
To say the "clatter of keys" would be terribly offensive to the brown-haired youth. To him, it's not clatter...
It's conquest, the promise of another silent victory in the making.
It’s been barely an hour since the official worldwide release of Microsoft's new operating system, Windows 9. Filled with all the features you'd need from an operating system (and a bucket load of unnecessary ones) “Nine”, as the OS had been affectionately nicknamed, certainly is the next big thing from Microsoft. Practically everyone in the planet had been waiting for its release, with not a few die-hard fans spending nights camping on the streets just to ensure that they would be one of the first in the world to nab themselves a copy. Of course, there is always an exception to the rule.
For Light, "Nine" is just another victim.
"Impressive... The level of security on this thing is better than anything I've ever laid my hands on. Although..." Light snarled. "Nothing truly original... Boring to say the least…"
Not unknown to many, there exists an underground community of software hackers loosely referred to as the “warez” community. Members of these community attempt to bypass the security features of commercial software and release them as a free alternative to the real thing. Whilst some would call this activity piracy; members of the community prefer calling it "software sharing".
The holy grail of this community is the "0 day", a complete software hack on the same day of the software's official release. Sometimes, the hacked version can also be released simultaneously with the software, with some members having obtained leaked post production but pre distribution copies by hacking into FTP servers, SVN services or by the use of insiders or moles. This can only be accomplished, of course, by those extremely skilled in the craft, and quite a few people have made a name for themselves by achieving a 0 day.
One such name is Light.
The clatter of keys continued, pausing every once in a while just to have it start again with a fury.
Software hacking, at its core, is not that difficult of a concept to understand. Anybody with background knowledge on software development and software security could in theory hack into a program. It's just a matter of locating security locks and developing bypasses for them. This is accomplished by using de-compilation programs to reverse engineering the binary or executable file of the program itself.
Think of a program as a tree, with many branches leading to more branches, eventually leading to an end somewhere. Each decision point during the lifetime of the program’s execution is a branch of this tree. A common example would be a dialog box with an Ok and a Cancel button. Clicking on one button will lead you to one branch in the tree, which will trigger an action that could lead to more branches, eventually leading you somewhere.
Among all of these branches though, there exist a few special ones that handles security. These branches prevent the program from running if it was obtained illegitimately. An example of these special branches would be Serial Key inputs or the need for an original CD to run. By trimming off these branches and grafting in new specially crafted ones, a hacker can bypass the program’s security and thus disable them, allowing anyone to run the software without the need to purchase an original.
Light just so happens to be especially good at spotting and trimming these branches, and grafting in new ones. Exceptionally good.
The clatter of keys was interrupted by three sharp knocks on the door of the otherwise ordinary room. This was followed by an equally interrupting eager voice of a little girl.
"Light? Light? Are you there?"
"Sayu, not now, I’m kinda busy."
"But you promised you'd help me study for my exams tomorrow..."
"Did I?"
"Well... I remember you-"
The opening door caught little Sayu unawares.
"I'd help you study in a minute, but not now please, I have a project that I need to finish."
"Hmph, fine, but if you don't I'm telling mom."
When he's not busy cracking software and sharing them in his own FTP download server equipped with security that would make the mainframe of the US Department of Defence look like a child's playpen, Light is busy being the nation’s top student. An exemplar in all aspects, he is skilled in everything you put him in, be it academics or athletics; to call him a genius would be an understatement. Incidentally, not a few women have shown interest in him; intelligence, athleticism and the looks to match does have its perks.
Sayu is Light’s little sister. Though she often annoys Light with her constant pleas and whines, she is extremely proud of her brother. She looks up to him as an example and as far as she can remember, had always shared a strong bond with him; with their father often away due to his work as the local Chief of Police and their mother almost always busy with household chores, he is the often the only one she could talk to at home.
The clattering of keys had stopped. A few quick clicks were followed by a triumphant albeit nonchalant yawn. The brown-haired youth checked his wristwatch.
"Still have a few minutes before dinner…” Light sighed, no more excitedly, “Better check on Sayu."
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