EX MACHINA
The common theory has always been that it is viruses or bots that bring down our technology. I thought so too. Technology is a great tool, but it is fallible as well, so it makes perfect sense that a malicious string of code could affect our digital world.
In most instances, that would definitely be the case. My former business partner certainly thought so and his diligence and hard work made us both very rich. He was a genius with technology and when a virus did bring down a computer network, he was able to isolate and eradicate it within hours. He was truly gifted in that sense.
He was also an exceedingly paranoid individual. I used to make fun of him as he grumbled about the unseen forces who were out to get him, as he battled with online forces that he almost personified. I should have listened to him.
His paranoia had been growing steadily worse over the past few months and he kept talking about the Deus Ex Machina of his work, an unseen force that was somehow enabling his abilities. He talked about it as though this force was using him to do its bidding, and that it was slowly taking him over, "pirating" him.
It sounded like another eccentric rant from a man known for his eccentricities. I should have listened. Two weeks ago, I found him sitting at a computer terminal in our work room. The room was bathed in the blue glow of start up screens, and he was hunched over his terminal. I knew he was dead before I had crossed the room, but I needed to make sure. The sight of his stiff body was shocking, but the contents of his screen were even more alarming.
The words Ex Machina were repeated hundreds of times in a blank Notepad document. At the end, was a final notation: It came for me.
I took a couple days off, but eventually I had to return to work and face the inevitable challenges of carrying on without the real brains of our operation to do the hard work. When I got into my office, there was an email waiting for me. It was dated that day, and it was from my partner. I clicked it open and was great with two simple words in an overcompensating 40-point Arial font: "You're next".
At first, I chalked it up as a prank, but since that email, I have seen those words everywhere: on debit machine screens, in banner ads on websites, in the evening news ticker tapes. It seems impossible, but I am starting to wonder if there might have been some truth to his crazy ramblings, if maybe there is in fact some higher force that exists in the digital realm, and if there is, whether I might truly be next to suffer the fate of my partner.
Perhaps the line of work we chose had somehow offended this power and it was striking back. It sounds crazy, I know, but I can't help but consider the possibilities.
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