Short Story

Lang. Arts Rich Goldman
Short Story per.7

³ You have entered the United States government mainframe. Please enter your password,² says the computer.
³ Thank you, Mr. Smith.²
³ The file of Henry O¹Brien is being loaded. Please stand by.²
³ File loaded, and deleted Mr. Smith.²

For Henry O¹Brien, breaking into other computers is his hobby and life. Ever since the computer age (the twenty-first century), Henry O¹Brien has been a computer artist. There isn¹t a computer he can¹t break into, even government mainframes. The only problem for him is that in his society if he is found hacking, he¹ll be banished. This is why Henry and other hackers like him must be very careful. The man they fear most is a federal agent named Mr.Smith who was known for catching hackers like Henry.

Henry¹s society is run by computers and robots. Computers do everything from ordering out food to being a thinking, personal secretary. Robots do everything else the computer can¹t do from cooking dinner to helping kids with homework. The only flaw to this society is that people like Henry can tap into and control the computers, robots and other electronics.

³ Thank you, Mr. Smith,² replies the computer. ³ The file of Henry O¹Brien has been deleted. Please enter another file.²

³ Computer, how and when was this file deleted?² asks Mr. Smith.
³ The file was deleted at 11:58 pm today by an outside computer. Would you like me to trace the command?² asks the computer.
³ Hey maybe this new program will actually work,² says Mr. Smith
³ The command came from 8546 Macintosh Road.²
³ At last, I think we caught ourselves a hacker!²

Shortly after, Henry was breaking into a television¹s circuits for fun and was switching the channels which probably caused confusion among the viewers. Suddenly, the door slams open, and fifteen men come in with assault rifles pointed at him.

³ Put your hands in the air, now!² screams one of the men.
³ So Henry, what are you up to, breaking into the CIA?² asks Mr.Smith jokingly. ³ Either way, you won¹t be hacking for a while because you won¹t have a computer after you¹re banished!²

After being taken to the government building by the soldiers, Henry is questioned by officers and sentenced without trial to be banished from society. All records of his life are to be deleted.

³ How can you do this? I didn¹t even have a trial,² shouts Henry.
³ We don¹t want this thing blown up anymore than it already is,² says Mr.Smith.
³ You will be exiled tomorrow at 1:00 pm. Have a nice day Henry.²
³ I swear if its the last thing I do, I¹m going to destroy all the technology, so you¹ll wish you never messed with Henry O¹ Brien!²
³ Put him in his cell. I want five guards there around the clock!²

The next day at 1:00 pm, Henry is taken by five soldiers with guns into a van. Henry has no idea where they were taking him. He has no idea whether he is to be murdered or g-d knows what. Then the van stops, and the doors open.

³ Put your hands where I can see them!² shouts a soldier.

Henry got out of the van with his hands over his head and is ordered to kneel. He does so knowing his life was probably about to end. He heard the cocking of the gun and closes his eyes. Just then gun shots fly. When he opens his eyes, he sees the soldiers lying on the ground. He looks up and can¹t believe it. On a nearby hill, stands Henry¹s old friend Joe McDonald.
³ How did you know they were taking me here?² yells Henry.
³ The stupid government made a file of what they were doing with you. It was a good thing I found it. They were about to put it on disc, and then I would have never known,² replies Joe.
³ Well I¹m glad you did, but now I got some business to attend to.²
³ First come back to my place. After all, I did save your life.²
³ Okay, maybe I can do my business on your computer.²





At Joe¹s place, Henry and Joe enjoy some drinks and talk about old memories.

³ So what¹s this business you¹re talking about?² asks Joe
³ I know you may not agree with what I want to do, but I don¹t care. I vowed to destroy the society¹s technology. There would be no more robots, computers, and other electronic things. Society needs to put more responsibility on humans.
³ Now that you mention it, I have to agree with you. I remember when humans had responsibilities.² ³ Let me in on what your doing. I¹m sure I could help,² says Joe.
³ Okay, but its my mission,² warns Henry.
³ All right,² responds Joe.

After drinks, Henry and Joe go to Joe¹s computer and open the Peco Energy mainframe and into their electricity controls. This was the hard part. To get in to the controls they had to know ten, ten digit passwords. Fortunately, Joe has a new code cracker which finds the code in two minutes. They are in! Now they can control the electricity in the society and shut down the computers.

³ Once we punch in the command, people will have responsibilities and hacking will be over.² said Henry. ³ There will be no more machines to do their work.²
³ Are you sure you want to sacrifice hacking?² asks Joe.
³ Yes,² Henry
says emphatically.
Then Henry punched in the command and hits enter. A few seconds later the lights go out. The computer shuts off, and there is silence.

³ It is over.²