fire.
‘No harm done,’ Sebastian said lightly.
‘I … I just wanted to look around your house … ’cause it’s so pretty.’ My excuse was lame – even to my ears. But it was the truth.
‘Vicky, you should know better,’ Mum said, one hand on her hip. ‘You had no business going where you hadn’t been invited.’
‘I didn’t do any harm,’ I protested.
‘That’s not the point and you know it,’ Mum said.
‘What’s going on here?’
Dad, Gib and Aunt Beth had turned up now. I was desperately praying for the carpet to move aside to reveal a large hole that would swallow me up.
‘I wasn’t doing any harm, Dad, I promise,’ I said quickly as he opened his mouth to speak.
‘Victoria, what are you doing in here?’ Dad frowned. ‘I thought you said …’
‘It’s no big deal,’ Aunt Beth soothed. ‘If Sebastian and I don’t mind then why should anyone else? You were just looking around, Vicky, weren’t you?’
I nodded.
Sebastian’s eyes were laughing. He ran a hand over his wavy blond hair.
‘Dad, I didn’t take anything, honest I didn’t,’ I pleaded.
‘No one said you did,’ Dad replied firmly.
‘I just like their house. It’s so neat. I’ve never seen a house so neat and tidy …’ I couldn’t think of anything else to say so I shut up.
‘Come out of there, Victoria,’ Dad beckoned to me.
I walked out of the room, my head bent, and Sebastian closed the door behind me.
Once downstairs, the subject got on to holidays. Aunt Beth and Sebastian talked about their forth coming visit to Rio.
‘We’re only going for seven days. It’s all we could afford,’ Aunt Beth sighed.
‘But what a seven days, eh!’ Sebastian raised his eyebrows a few times in Aunt Beth’s direction.
We stayed for about another hour until Mum said she was getting tired. At last it was time to leave. I hadn’t said a single word since being found in Sebastian and Aunt Beth’s bedroom. I’d sat on the sofa, examining my shoes, the entire time. I wanted to crawl away and
die
. I’d never, ever been so embarrassed. I couldn’t leave their house fast enough. Gib kept giving me funny-peculiar looks. I swore if he started laughing I’d punch his face in!
‘Vicky,’ Mum said, once we reached home. ‘The next time you’re thinking about being nosy – don’t!’
‘I wasn’t …’ I began, but I couldn’t finish – because I was!
‘Right, you two. Off to your rooms to do your homework,’ Dad said.
‘Hang on. Dad, can I ask you a question?’ I said.
‘A homework question?’ Dad asked.
‘A bank question,’ I replied.
‘Vicky, I don’t think …’ Mum began.
‘It’s all right, Laura. Let her ask,’ interrupted Dad.
‘You said that at Universal, the development system and the live system are exactly the same,’ I began, choosing my words carefully.
‘Yes. So?’
‘So why isn’t the batch library file in the same directory on the live system as it is on the development system?’ I asked.
Dad shrugged. ‘Because you don’t need it on the live system. Only the linked files – the finished programs – get copied across to the live system, so you don’t need information on that system about when the object files were created and when each program was first written and suchlike. We just make sure the two systems are the same when it comes to running the programs.’
‘Oh, I see. Is it the people who test the programs who put the information about each program into the batch library file?’ I asked.
‘No, the acceptance testers don’t do that. There’s a program which automatically picks up the dates and times from all the other programs and adds their details to the batch library,’ Dad explained.
‘So what do the acceptance testers do – exactly?’
‘Vicky …’ Mum said warningly.
‘It’s all right. I’m glad she’s interested.’ Dad smiled. ‘Once a programmer is happy that his or her program is working, they give the source code to
‘No harm done,’ Sebastian said lightly.
‘I … I just wanted to look around your house … ’cause it’s so pretty.’ My excuse was lame – even to my ears. But it was the truth.
‘Vicky, you should know better,’ Mum said, one hand on her hip. ‘You had no business going where you hadn’t been invited.’
‘I didn’t do any harm,’ I protested.
‘That’s not the point and you know it,’ Mum said.
‘What’s going on here?’
Dad, Gib and Aunt Beth had turned up now. I was desperately praying for the carpet to move aside to reveal a large hole that would swallow me up.
‘I wasn’t doing any harm, Dad, I promise,’ I said quickly as he opened his mouth to speak.
‘Victoria, what are you doing in here?’ Dad frowned. ‘I thought you said …’
‘It’s no big deal,’ Aunt Beth soothed. ‘If Sebastian and I don’t mind then why should anyone else? You were just looking around, Vicky, weren’t you?’
I nodded.
Sebastian’s eyes were laughing. He ran a hand over his wavy blond hair.
‘Dad, I didn’t take anything, honest I didn’t,’ I pleaded.
‘No one said you did,’ Dad replied firmly.
‘I just like their house. It’s so neat. I’ve never seen a house so neat and tidy …’ I couldn’t think of anything else to say so I shut up.
‘Come out of there, Victoria,’ Dad beckoned to me.
I walked out of the room, my head bent, and Sebastian closed the door behind me.
Once downstairs, the subject got on to holidays. Aunt Beth and Sebastian talked about their forth coming visit to Rio.
‘We’re only going for seven days. It’s all we could afford,’ Aunt Beth sighed.
‘But what a seven days, eh!’ Sebastian raised his eyebrows a few times in Aunt Beth’s direction.
We stayed for about another hour until Mum said she was getting tired. At last it was time to leave. I hadn’t said a single word since being found in Sebastian and Aunt Beth’s bedroom. I’d sat on the sofa, examining my shoes, the entire time. I wanted to crawl away and
die
. I’d never, ever been so embarrassed. I couldn’t leave their house fast enough. Gib kept giving me funny-peculiar looks. I swore if he started laughing I’d punch his face in!
‘Vicky,’ Mum said, once we reached home. ‘The next time you’re thinking about being nosy – don’t!’
‘I wasn’t …’ I began, but I couldn’t finish – because I was!
‘Right, you two. Off to your rooms to do your homework,’ Dad said.
‘Hang on. Dad, can I ask you a question?’ I said.
‘A homework question?’ Dad asked.
‘A bank question,’ I replied.
‘Vicky, I don’t think …’ Mum began.
‘It’s all right, Laura. Let her ask,’ interrupted Dad.
‘You said that at Universal, the development system and the live system are exactly the same,’ I began, choosing my words carefully.
‘Yes. So?’
‘So why isn’t the batch library file in the same directory on the live system as it is on the development system?’ I asked.
Dad shrugged. ‘Because you don’t need it on the live system. Only the linked files – the finished programs – get copied across to the live system, so you don’t need information on that system about when the object files were created and when each program was first written and suchlike. We just make sure the two systems are the same when it comes to running the programs.’
‘Oh, I see. Is it the people who test the programs who put the information about each program into the batch library file?’ I asked.
‘No, the acceptance testers don’t do that. There’s a program which automatically picks up the dates and times from all the other programs and adds their details to the batch library,’ Dad explained.
‘So what do the acceptance testers do – exactly?’
‘Vicky …’ Mum said warningly.
‘It’s all right. I’m glad she’s interested.’ Dad smiled. ‘Once a programmer is happy that his or her program is working, they give the source code to
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