Rebuilding the OS alone makes everything else run better, you know.”
Wesley asked, “How can they rewrite everything when they’re just programs themselves?”
“That was the first thing I asked myself. The answer is that they’re adaptive programs, running in memory. By rewriting the operating system calls, they’re actually rewriting parts of themselves . . . which call on those system resources.”
Wesley was impressed, “Awesome.”
“But that wasn’t the answer.”
“Huh?” Wesley asked.
“I captured a Bot and traced it. The Bots are self-contained and highly efficient. They don’t call on the OS any more. Either they borrowed the system routines they needed or simply figured out how to do things on their own—a more likely explanation given their nature.”
Daniel dug through some notes and found the printout of the Bot, and handed it to Wesley.
Wesley dug through the list of instructions. “So this is a Bot?”
“A distant ancestor, a couple hundred billion generations back.”
Wesley frowned, “What, billions? Mate, this is crazy stuff. What’s up with all this?”
Daniel raised his voice, “In a word . . . evolution. What you see on the screen there are distant successors of my life forms from class a couple months ago. I wrote a genetic algorithm. In fact, it wasn’t a real program at all. I created a . . . sort of . . . micro generator, which took pieces of code and spliced them together in random combinations. Later, those combinations were mated, exchanging genetic—”
“Whoa, look at that!”
The screen was back, complete with desktop and icons.
“Looks like they’re finished . . . for a while, at any rate.”
Wesley asked, “So you created a genetic program and let it go on your computer?”
Daniel nodded. “There are billions and billions of them . . . alive in there. . . right now.”
Wesley smiled, “So now you’re like their . . . their . . . . “
“Don’t say it! I’ve been there already and it wasn’t pleasant.”
“Dan,” Wesley exclaimed, “you’ve gotta tell someone about this! Have you shown it to Mr. Robathan?”
“He was too busy, didn’t have the time for me to explain.”
Wesley frowned, then came up with another idea, “Hey, we could send a few to someone we don’t like . . . how about Wil?”
“Actually,” Daniel said, “that brings up the issue of my little problem.”
“What’s that?”
“The FBI, remember? The Bots escaped because I was stupid and logged on to check my e-mail from the same machine I was using to test the Bots. They screwed over the FBI systems, and it’s probably traceable . . . right back here.” He pointed to his computer.
“Can we pick them up with anti-virus?”
“Are you kidding?” Daniel asked, incredulous. “These suckers are too smart for that! As soon as they see something moving through memory, they scatter.”
Wesley said, “Really? That’s so awesome. How did you get them to do that?”
“Dude, like I said, I didn’t write anything. They evolved that way.”
Wesley laughed, “So you don’t really have any control over them, do you?”
Daniel glared at him, “Not really. But I have a plan.”
Chapter 12
“Can I help?”
Daniel and Wesley looked towards the door where Daniel’s little sister, Jade, was sitting against the door frame chomping on cookies.
“Get out of here, Jade!”
“I want to help you catch the Bots! I want to help attack the FBI!”
Wesley looked at Daniel in horror, “Great! That’s just great!”
“Jade, we’re not attacking the FBI, we were just talking about the virus that infested the FBI, that’s all.”
“Yeah, the Bots you made,” she explained. “They attacked the FBI, and now all the bad guys are gonna escape from jail.”
Daniel whispered to Wesley, “Don’t worry about her, she’s just looking for some attention.”
Jade finished licking her fingers of chocolate, and added with a touch, “I called Missy and told her that
Wesley asked, “How can they rewrite everything when they’re just programs themselves?”
“That was the first thing I asked myself. The answer is that they’re adaptive programs, running in memory. By rewriting the operating system calls, they’re actually rewriting parts of themselves . . . which call on those system resources.”
Wesley was impressed, “Awesome.”
“But that wasn’t the answer.”
“Huh?” Wesley asked.
“I captured a Bot and traced it. The Bots are self-contained and highly efficient. They don’t call on the OS any more. Either they borrowed the system routines they needed or simply figured out how to do things on their own—a more likely explanation given their nature.”
Daniel dug through some notes and found the printout of the Bot, and handed it to Wesley.
Wesley dug through the list of instructions. “So this is a Bot?”
“A distant ancestor, a couple hundred billion generations back.”
Wesley frowned, “What, billions? Mate, this is crazy stuff. What’s up with all this?”
Daniel raised his voice, “In a word . . . evolution. What you see on the screen there are distant successors of my life forms from class a couple months ago. I wrote a genetic algorithm. In fact, it wasn’t a real program at all. I created a . . . sort of . . . micro generator, which took pieces of code and spliced them together in random combinations. Later, those combinations were mated, exchanging genetic—”
“Whoa, look at that!”
The screen was back, complete with desktop and icons.
“Looks like they’re finished . . . for a while, at any rate.”
Wesley asked, “So you created a genetic program and let it go on your computer?”
Daniel nodded. “There are billions and billions of them . . . alive in there. . . right now.”
Wesley smiled, “So now you’re like their . . . their . . . . “
“Don’t say it! I’ve been there already and it wasn’t pleasant.”
“Dan,” Wesley exclaimed, “you’ve gotta tell someone about this! Have you shown it to Mr. Robathan?”
“He was too busy, didn’t have the time for me to explain.”
Wesley frowned, then came up with another idea, “Hey, we could send a few to someone we don’t like . . . how about Wil?”
“Actually,” Daniel said, “that brings up the issue of my little problem.”
“What’s that?”
“The FBI, remember? The Bots escaped because I was stupid and logged on to check my e-mail from the same machine I was using to test the Bots. They screwed over the FBI systems, and it’s probably traceable . . . right back here.” He pointed to his computer.
“Can we pick them up with anti-virus?”
“Are you kidding?” Daniel asked, incredulous. “These suckers are too smart for that! As soon as they see something moving through memory, they scatter.”
Wesley said, “Really? That’s so awesome. How did you get them to do that?”
“Dude, like I said, I didn’t write anything. They evolved that way.”
Wesley laughed, “So you don’t really have any control over them, do you?”
Daniel glared at him, “Not really. But I have a plan.”
Chapter 12
“Can I help?”
Daniel and Wesley looked towards the door where Daniel’s little sister, Jade, was sitting against the door frame chomping on cookies.
“Get out of here, Jade!”
“I want to help you catch the Bots! I want to help attack the FBI!”
Wesley looked at Daniel in horror, “Great! That’s just great!”
“Jade, we’re not attacking the FBI, we were just talking about the virus that infested the FBI, that’s all.”
“Yeah, the Bots you made,” she explained. “They attacked the FBI, and now all the bad guys are gonna escape from jail.”
Daniel whispered to Wesley, “Don’t worry about her, she’s just looking for some attention.”
Jade finished licking her fingers of chocolate, and added with a touch, “I called Missy and told her that
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