Y-3-K

When the words "cut off by the computer" take on a whole new meaning

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Y-3-K

  Jane sat alone at her computer terminal next to the large window 
in her office that over looked the great expanse of the Pacific 
Ocean. She was lucky to even have a window in her office. Most 
people in San Francisco; or any other major city for that matter had 
never even seen the outside. But Jane was one of the worlds leading 
computer experts. She got all the perks of her high profile job. 
Bill one of her co-workers who had stayed late with her had gone for 
a coffee in the next room.

  The data being displayed on Jane's terminal was the type that 
would be incomprehensible to most people except Jane and Bill that 
is. As Bill returned he sat down at his terminal next to Jane and 
said, "What do you think they did when the year 2000 came?" "What do 
you mean?" asked Jane. " They had computers back then you know" Bill 
explained. " Yes but they didn't control peoples lives a thousand 
years ago nearly as much as they do today" Jane replied. "What do 
you think they called it when mid-night came on new years eve, Y2K?" 
Jane laughed.

  Computers were so powerful now that they controlled every aspect 
of people's lives. You can't even so much as have a bowel movement 
without the computer knowing about it. As for sex well the computer 
had complete control over that too. Centuries ago the governments of 
most nations had outlawed all forms of birth control, under pressure 
from religious fanatics. Now the computer was the only form of birth 
control; if you can call it that. No one could have sex without 
prior authorization. You could try to sneak away where the computer 
wouldn't see you, But if the woman became pregnant the first time 
the child ever walked past one of the computers many eyes it would 
scan the genetic code, determine who the father was and carry out 
the penalty the next time he happened to walk passed one of the 
hidden lasers.

  "I saw it happen once" said Jane. "I was walking along the 
corridor toward my office, when suddenly a man passing me the other 
way fell to the ground screaming, and blood gushing from his 
crotch." The lasers do their work with extreme precession, 
amputating the cock and balls and cauterizing the wound in a singe 
stoke. "Was he a young man?" asked Bill. "Mid twenties, I would say. 
I tried not to let it bother me, I just kept reminding myself that 
he must had engaged in unauthorized sex, so he got what was coming 
to him." The computer knows all, sees all and punishes all that 
disobey. 

  But what would happen tonight? Nobody was quite sure. When the 
clock strikes midnight and the year 3000 arrives, will the computer 
lose its memory? Anything could happen but that's why Jane and bill 
were at there terminals tonight. Jane looked at the time; it was 
3:11 a.m. pacific time, December 31, 2999. In less than an hour it 
will be midnight at the International Date Line and the year 3000 in 
eastern Australia, what ever is going to happen it will happen their 
first.

  Strange numbers and letters flashed by on her terminal screen. 
Jane understood what it all meant. All they could do for now was 
just wait. 3:15, 3:30, 3:45. The time seamed to pass very slowly. As 
the time neared 4:00 am Jane and Bill looked ever more closely to 
there terminals, waiting for something to happen. 3:59:57, 3:59:58, 
3:59:59, 4:00:00. Suddenly a large window appeared on Jane's screen 
"WARNING" memory loss, NO POPULATION DATA FOUND" Then a list of 
jurisdiction effected New Zealand, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria. 
Then another flashing sign appeared "POPULATION DETECTED"  " I don't 
understand" Jane yelled in an angry, frustrated voice. "I have to do 
something" Jane was just about to put her fingers to the keyboard 
when another window appeared on her screen. "Please wait while 
scanning" "What's it scanning" Jane exclaimed. "The population, I 
suppose" replied Bill.

  Half way around the world people were celebrating the arrival of 
the new millennium. At house parties and taverns alike. If all went 
well Jane and bill would be home celebrating twenty hours from now 
too. But all was not well " I'm locked out," said Jane "The computer 
isn't responding to my commands." The computer screen changed its 
message again. "Scanning complete, compiling genetic data" The 
computer continued to display messages faster then Jane or Bill 
could read, Then the sign "Task complete" appeared, the screen 
seemed normal, Jane breathed an uneasy sigh of relief. "Do you think 
we're Ok?" asked Bill. "I don't know yet" replied Jane. Then after 
about three minutes Bills screen suddenly lit up " 13,125 incoming 
calls" " What's going on, over thirteen thousand incoming calls" The 
computer displayed the jurisdiction codes of the incoming calls. 
144, 893, 029, 575. Bill knew what that meant, Bill picked up the 
phone to take one call. The voice on the other end was screaming in 
horror "shut the computer down, SHUT IT DOWN! It's terrible."  
"What's happening" Bill yelled into the phone. "The computer must 
have gone berserk, The lasers are firing everywhere." Jane now had 
control of her terminal again, Bill asked what she was doing as she 
entered commands at lightning speed. "It's blank" she exclaimed. 
"The entire sexual authorization memory for those four 
jurisdictions." Just then a number flashed on Bill's screen, 
2261-527-52896. Bill knew what that number meant, But why now he 
thought. He picked up the phone; it was the Japanese ambassador. "I 
assure you mister ambassador, we're doing everything in our power. 
We will have the problem resolved before it's midnight in Japan" 
Bill hung up the phone" He heard about it already" Bill said. 

  "It's too late now for those people in Australia and New Zealand, 
but I know what went wrong" said Jane. She went on to explain that 
since the computer lost all its memory of sexual authorization. When 
it then scanned the population for their genetic code it found 
people who were the offspring of others it assumed that all those 
people must have had sex without authorization. "Do you mean every 
man who ever had a kid…WHAT are we going to do about it, we have 
less then an hour before it's midnight in Japan and east Asia."

  "I have in idea" said Jane. "We'll down load all the memory of sex 
record for that time zone in protected memory, then at the stroke of 
midnight we'll reload it as fast as we can" Bill smiled at her " but 
can we do it fast enough" Jane replied "No, a few guys might lose 
their balls, but at least it wont be the slaughter like in 
Australia." For the next three-quarters of an hour Jane and Bill 
worked hurriedly at their terminals felling sure their idea would 
work. By 4:55 they were ready, just in time. The files had been 
downloaded. All Jane had to do was wait until it was midnight in 
Japan then press a single button.

  The time on the computer read 5:00 a.m. and Jane pressed that 
button that she had her finger poised on for so long. They both 
seamed to hold their breath. Then the two stared at the screen in 
horror. The same thing was happening again as happened an hour ago. 
"DAMN ! What did we do wrong?" yelled Bill. "Why didn't I think of 
it , The computer thinks that it only gave all those people 
authorization to have sex just now." Jane explained. Bill looked at 
her an paused for a moment before asking "does that mean that only 
those men who are actually having sex at this very moment are safe?" 
"I think so" replied Jane. "we have to warn the Chinese, it'll be 
midnight there in less than an hour" Bill exclaimed. "That means 
every man in china will have to be having sex at the stroke of 
midnight, at least any that have ever had sex before". But it soon 
occurred to Jane, What about all those who have since broken up with 
their partners, been divorced or widowed. It will be chaos. Jane 
realized that she could use the computer to warn only those males 
who were still in stable relationships. The computer had that data, 
she could simply auto-dial them. Those who were in relationships 
before but aren't any longer will have to be sacrificed. But it was 
better than doing nothing.

  The two worked hard at their computers to carry out their plan and 
send out the messages. Then when 6:00a.m. came it was the moment of 
truth. But the plan was doomed to failure. Many of those who 
received the instructions to have sex at midnight couldn't keep it a 
secret. They warned close friends and relatives, In the 
three-quarters of an hour before midnight there were thousands of 
reports of woman being raped and men fighting and killing each other 
right across China. By now an estimated six billion men had been 
nullified by the computer in just the first three times zones, Jane 
and Bill would have to come up with a better solution before 
midnight reached India and Eastern Europe. 

Jane began to look at the computer code on her screen, it then 
occurred to her "Codes" she said. "The genetic codes, how would the 
computer know when scanning the population which male is the father 
and which is the son. They'd have the same similarities and 
differences in their genetic code?" Jane had realized that without 
the computer having any birth records it could be fooled. "We can 
save eighty percent of the male population from nullification this 
way" She said. Bill replied "do you mean that the twenty percent of 
males who have never had sexual intercourse will be the ones to get 
their cocks and balls chopped off and not the rest?" Jane and Bill 
agreed that although it wasn't a perfect plan it was better then 
nothing. They would try it when midnight struck in India.

  All went according to plan for once, They both felt very badly 
that so many had to be sacrificed to spare the rest but it was the 
best they could do for now. "It will be midnight in Europe soon" 
Bill said "do we warn every male who hasn't had sex yet to do so 
before midnight, that will save them from nullification for certain" 
Bill asked "But it would be a repeat of what happened in China." 
Replied Jane "Woman being raped all over the continent" They both 
hesitated for a moment. Then Bill said "No, we should keep quiet 
about it"

  But word had spread from India into Europe. Millions of young 
males went wild, fighting, killing, and even castrating one another. 
And raping. All those who were still virgins themselves were 
desperate for to save there cocks from the computers lasers. Bill 
and Jane have only three and a half-hours before the next time zone 
is affected. By then it will hit Newfoundland then on to mainland 
North America. But panic had already set in there as well.

  Both Bill and Jane were baffled, They had tried everything they 
could think of but nothing worked. Time was pressing on. Midnight in 
Newfoundland and the same chaos that had raged throughout the rest 
of the world went on there as well. Raping, fighting, killing and 
laser nullification's. It seamed hopeless.

  Thirty minutes later it was midnight in Nova Scotia and the 
sub-system that controlled the nuclear power plant in Halifax 
crashed. It was the sole source of energy for the entire continent. 
And as for the main computer that had caused so much bloodshed, 
without electricity, it shut down too. The entire Western Hemisphere 
was in darkness. No lights, no lasers and no computers. The problem 
had solved its self.

  Would what's left of the human population have to live in eternal 
darkness without technology? A return to the dark ages. It seamed to 
be the only answer. But that's another story. 


   -Brad