Created By

HSandyI

Rate this Story

Embed

The computers became more and more advanced and I advanced at a slightly faster speed due to my out of school work with them.  By the time I was a sophomore and talks of a new era school started, I was at the top of the computers department in our school. I did everything computer, codes simply came natural to me and as my final project my teacher and the school board asked me to design a totally hypothetical school.  They gave me the criteria: No physical contact of students and/or teachers, New names for classes, New high-tech building, and other such things.  I turned the project in early and they were all surprised. I had detailed sketches as well as a 3-D layout for the new building; it began 3 stories below ground and ended 3 stories above.  Students lived in pods during the school week, constantly tracked by scanners and barcodes in the floor and on their shoes. Pass codes, ID cards, barcodes, all working for one unique security system; her name would be S.A.T.I.C.C. 

All of this was my idea, the hell I was living in my senior year; I designed in my sophomore year.  Before summer started, my plans had been sent off and my building became my reality.  Around Christmas in my Junior year, I was given a small ceremony in the new building, I was shown the control panels and I was surprised to find nearly every single one of my ideas brought to life. Pods were moving along bars and cables winding intricately throughout the building.  They even put to use my security devices, as well as most of my rules.  Had I known my idea would become my reality I would have been more lenient.  It was ironic, a sixteen year old girl designing an advanced computing system that even she would have to take classes to overcome.

The government found my idea intriguing and interesting, using it as a basis they began formulating their own systems.  I got a huge payoff.  My bank account was so large I could do most anything; however, due to that fact that I would be a student in S.A.T.I.C.C’s school I could not touch the money or any of the claims to my school until I was 19 and well out of high school.  Currently the school board held technical rights to S.A.T.I.C.C and all of her counter parts, I held the official rights and I got all the money.  Unfortunately I also had to attend press conferences where I would lie, changing my appearance and my name I was portrayed as a 20 year old college student who designed S.A.T.I.C.C as a senior project and I was “thrilled” to see my ideas come to life in one of the safest schools.  Theses conferences could only be held on weekends, limiting my time greatly.  S.A.T.I.C.C was mine and thus my urge to overcome and control her was understandable, also, because she was mine I held power over everyone in that school.  Lucky for them, I just wanted to be a teenage rebel not a controlling person who would potentially ruin everything.  Nobody at school knew S.A.T.I.C.C was mine not even Bern or any of my closest friends, not that they would believe I created the main thing I hate.

But back to the current; Codes, pretty much the language Arts course for the new technological age; we learned the dos and don’ts of code writing.  I knew pretty much everything there was to know but, I had to take the classes, I had no choice in the matter.  Three core classes, the only ones I was taking.  All of the other options I had either already taken or marked out because I wasn’t interested.  If I didn’t need those final core classes that suddenly became a new requirement with S.A.T.I.C.C, I wouldn’t even be here, I would be off at some tech school learning the new ropes of the system, putting some of my newer designs to work rather than filing them away in hidden pockets of my personal computer.

Occasionally I would share some of my crazier ideas with Bern and the gang but they thought they were weird and figured my chances of actually going anywhere with my big ideas and elaborate schemes were slim and I should stop dreaming so big.  It was those moments that I longed to spill the beans about S.A.T.I.C.C’s real origin, to tell them my big ideas had gotten bigger than they ever imagined.  But I feared they would hate me and for that reason I rarely ever brought up my idea to them, much less anything that could let out the truth.

Today in Codes, we were reviewing the basics, as usual I was asked not to participate, and he wanted to know how much the others had learned, not how much I had remembered.  I pulled up one of the older files from my personal computer and after looking it over I started revising my ideas for the new high school.  This was one I started just a few weeks after I finished the S.A.T.I.C.C project, I took a break out of anger soon after they showed me their plans.  I almost purged the files for it, but then I imagined this idea being bought as well.  This school was being created for the more dedicated students who choose to go to a very high security and high tech school, or it could be a maximum security juvenile facility.  The rules and securities were about five times worse than S.A.T.I.C.C’s.  I worked on a few tweaks in the system, the type of stuff that had gone wrong in S.A.T.I.C.C’s building.  After living in S.A.T.I.C.C, I found that a few of the items in this newer version were completely unrealistic, so I changed them out to fit the area.  Time went by so quickly and I had just checked the time as the tones sounded.  Immediately my pod was taken to the lunch area, first human contact of the day for me. After I linked, I locked all of my files and blocked S.A.T.I.C.C out of my pod.

Then I stepped out onto the tile, after a quick glance around me I saw Bern and rushed to him, from across the room I saw Doe take off at the same time and soon Jerb was close behind me.  The daily race to the line, one of us would stand in place just long enough to be seen, the others would then have to run to us and the first one chose what we all would eat.  I looked up and Kala had reached Bern first, looked like lunch was coming from the Salad Bar.  Students who ate as the salad bar got points added to their daily score, each class gave scores, if you were doing poorly in an class, you got a low score, so the salad bar helped a lot of people, as long as they ate from it. Students with high grades, like me, simply got their points piled away in a different area.  I didn’t mind, after all, I created the system.  We ate and talked, we didn’t really talk about much of anything because we worried about being over-heard.  Doe suddenly brought up S.A.T.I.C.C’s creator, and the designer of this building.

“I heard there’s going to be another interview with that college kid, ya know, S.A.T.I.C.C’s Mommy” Everyone laughed

Bern replied “I say we all get together and watch, so we can make fun of her mistakes”

“I haven’t heard any mistakes from her, in fact, it’s almost like she goes here” I said

“Oh, Yes, like the creator of this place would actually attend school here, get a clue Liss, it’s never going to happen.” Typical Kala, if she didn’t agree, you were wrong.

“Chill Kala” Bern said “So what do you say, my place this weekend so we can make some royal fun, and tell her how we really feel?” they all looked at me.

“Sorry guys, my parents want me home on the weekends”

“Why it’s not like they’re ever actually there” Doe pushed…

Bern knew things like that hit home so he changed the topic but I was done. I told them good-bye and rushed off towards my pod.  There was a message on my computer; the school board would now also be having a quick meeting with me before the press conference.  I sent a message back telling them I understood and then set my pod for a bar destination on the furthest point from my normal area.  When I reached it, I turned off all of my systems so I was untraceable by Bern and the others and I sat in the middle of the floor in the dark listening to noises around me and trying to come up with a new floor plan.  I could only come up with a small idea for a shopping mall, I let my mind toy with that idea and I was fine, until my systems suddenly rebooted. S.A.T.I.C.C had a message and couldn’t give it to me with my systems off.  It was a message from Mr. Karalten asking me to kindly tutor some of his less skilled students, I gladly accepted.

There were about 13 people who needed tutoring, I navigated my way to Karaltens pod bar and started teaching soon after I arrived. We were only able to work for an hour because they were a lower grade level and actually had class after lunch.  So once we were done I updated Mr. Karalten on their progress and went to my Resident Pod Bar.  The students remained inside S.A.T.I.C.C building from 9am Monday to 1-6pm Friday, different grade levels left at different time on Friday.  Because I was a Senior I left at 1 p.m., for the same reason I came in at 11 on Monday mornings.

 The students lived in their pods which were designed very much like a dorm room. A bed was off in a corner, at the foot of the bed was the desk with multiple computer ports, a chair was placed at the computer desk but could be controlled me S.A.T.I.C.C.  Opposite of the bed was a small sofa and there were computer screens all over the walls to add lighting and wall decorations.  The Pods were comfortable and usually if a student wasn’t at lunch or in class they were in their pods on the respective Resident Bars, if they weren’t they could usually be found in the gym.

Immediately Bern and the others were asking me where I had gone, I told them that I had to tutor some of Karaltens students and I didn’t want to be late.  They believed me and dropped the subject, occasionally there would be a small amount of radio activity but they were preoccupied with other work.  While they did that I worked on one of my assignments from Daryel, but I ran into a problem and had to e-mail him for help.  Just after I sent the message an IM popped up on my screen, it was him.  He asked me where I was having the problem, after I told him, he explained it to me and he stayed until I was finished, at which point I e-mailed the work to him then once he had received it and signed out I logged off my personal computer and put the block on a higher security setting because S.A.T.I.C.C had been working to open my files.  I had nothing else to do so I went to the gym, I joined in on a game of dodge ball and the other team groaned, I hated sports but I had awesome aim.  My team won quickly and I was bored so I went to do something else, I joined into a fencing match and as I took my second opponent Bern and Kala walked in.  Doe would never come to the gym with us and Jerb always stayed behind to keep her company.  The gym shut down because it was time for “the nightly news” pretty much it was S.A.T.I.C.C on a boring background keeping students informs.  I may have created this aspect but I disliked it, the other students didn’t know that the news was screened.  If ever a big topic arose we would likely not find out for upwards of three days. All big news stories had to be cleared by the main authority figures of the school, if the stories were not cleared; the students would not find out from S.A.T.I.C.C.  All files were blocked if they even vaguely hinted to the story; this was a guard to the students’ sanity and concentration.  If they never knew bad news they couldn’t dwell on it and potentially let it interfere with their studies.  This was mostly foolproof, most students didn’t go home on the weekends and read up on the weeks news, I did, but only because I knew the truth.  But still I had to watch S.A.T.I.C.C’s report, just to see what the authority figures deemed necessary for us to know.  After the news, S.A.T.I.C.C was taken down to her lowest security setting to allow students to communicate freely, me, I was plotting.  It had been on the books for many a day, that this would be the time I would strike. Using what Daryel had taught me, I found a weak spot in S.A.T.I.C.C’s barrier and with one very complicated code, I was in.  All of the files were so neatly organized and everything was easily accessible.   First, I dropped then raised all the Pod Bars, and then I made the lights flicker before finally turning them off for a moment or two.  But I turned them back on and sent out a memo to all students informing them that S.A.T.I.C.C picked her nose and the Mr. Maverick went swimming in Rubber Duck trunks.  Then after making all reprimands into compliments and the compliments into snide remarks I left S.A.T.I.C.C leaving her guarded against other students and violators but not against me.

Thrilled that I had finally gained access, after twelve failed attempts, I sent a quick message to Daryel.  He sent me his congratulations and thanks.  Nobody would know S.A.T.I.C.C had anything wrong with her systems until the next morning when the students would be waking up two hours after S.A.T.I.C.C was to wake them; then the teachers three hours later, I had not changed anything that would cause major problems, just headaches.  Not even S.A.T.I.C.C knew she had a problem.

The next morning, just to test that the glitch was still in place, I swore at S.A.T.I.C.C and she told me I looked lovely.  A short way into out first class students were released for the day while technical crew’s came to fix S.A.T.I.C.C, but before they were able to arrive I fixed her systems and covered my tracks.  The tech crew informed the authorities that there was no problem in the system and left after a short time, after they were gone I changed my glitches and set them back up.  This time S.A.T.I.C.C would print off coloring pages rather than the coordinating sheets for her voice, she would randomly interrupt teachers during class to talk about how her pet mouse had just dropped dead of a heart attack (S.A.T.I.C.C did not have a pet mouse), S.A.T.I.C.C would also make strange noises and challenge students to staring contests (S.A.T.I.C.C did not need to blink).  All of my “glitches” were set to take place the next morning, after we all were woken up late again.  The glitches worked perfectly and we were all released before the end of our first class again. 

Just as I did before, I re-hacked S.A.T.I.C.C and un-did all my doings before covering my tracks and going to the gym with Bern and Kala.  They were thrilled, along with nearly everyone, that S.A.T.I.C.C was finally getting glitches.  I was going to continue hacking her systems, but, Bern told me he and some other students decided to hold a mass revolt against the system.  I couldn’t let that happen so I sent a quick message to Daryel asking how to increase S.A.T.I.C.C’s defenses against such an attack.  He didn’t understand why I was asking, but he told me how to do it none-the-less.  After the tech team had left again I boosted S.A.T.I.C.C’s personal security 150%, only after making sure no other of her securities had been affected. I activated the boost and went back to doing one of my assignments.