Program Alpha-Omega 4

Episode 4: Porting the Code

Zack as much as ignored his classes for the rest of Friday. Well, he did take note of Ms. Pinches’ light blue blouse and her navy skirt. More to the point, he took note of what they were hiding. He spent some time in her class fantasizing about her again, until it finally occurred to him that, if his ITV plan worked, he just might be able to get her, after all. That made him work all that much harder.

By the time lunch rolled around, Zack had the makings of a few plans. He would have to read up on how the ITV system worked, but he didn’t expect that to be much of a problem. Even the brief glimpse he’d gotten of the equipment showed him standard coaxial and computer ports to plug into the system. He figured the manual was an inch thick because they had to write it in what he liked to call moronese: language so simple that even a moron can understand it.

The toughs were still harassing him, but Zack was on a high this day, and barely noticed it. They took note of that fact, and tried to increase their torment, but they had to break off before it got really bad, as he reached the cafeteria. He found Claudia sitting at his table, but, to his surprise, Stephanie was there as well, in her usual spot. There was just enough space between them for him to sit down comfortably. He gave each of them a brief kiss after he was settled, and this time, he ignored the looks that he might have gotten. To hell with them, he thought.

Just as lunch was wrapping up, Zack went over to talk to Mr. DeVain. He caught the tail end of a conversation he was having with Ms. Pinches, and he enjoyed watching her walk off before returning his attention to the principal.

“Sir, I was wondering if I could have access to the media lab this afternoon during my computer programming hour.”

“Hmm. What do you need it for?”

“Well, sir, I’d like to make a video copy of my multi-media project. I’ve spent a lot of time on it, and I’d like my family to be able to see it, but some of them don’t have computers. Also, if I have time, I’d like to look over the ITV system we talked about this morning, so that I will have a better basis for understanding the manual this weekend.” This last bit was pure bullshit: Zack didn’t need to look over anything to understand the system. It was this last bit, however, that convinced Mr. DeVain to let him into the lab.

“Okay. I suppose you’re going to be in there a lot from now on, if you’re going to be responsible for helping us run the ITV system. This is going to mean a lot more responsibility for you in the future. Do you think you can handle it?” Mr. DeVain knew he could, otherwise he’d have never asked. He was conscious of his students’ work load, and he never pressed them to do more than they could handle.

“Sure. I don’t think it’s going to be that big a deal, once we get it all set up, sir.”

“Okay. Which class period is your computer programming class?”

“Seventh hour, sir.”

“All right. I’ll talk to Mr. Parks, and I’ll meet you at the lab then.”

“Thank you, sir.” Zack walked off feeling great. He had several ideas swimming in his head. Now, he just had to make them work.

—–

Sitting in the media lab, alone, surrounded by thousands upon thousands of dollars of audio-visual equipment, Zack felt a little like a kid in a candy store. That they had let him in here was one thing. To have left him alone in here was something the other side of miraculous. He knew the faculty trusted him, but he didn’t think they’d trust anyone this far.

Setting those giddy feelings aside, Zack set up the equipment to convert his program to videotape. He had to pick a subject, and he just didn’t feel like doing it on himself this time. So, he decided that it was time to take further control of his parents. Sure, they ignored his sexual activities now, but otherwise they still hounded him about keeping his room clean, and other parental stuff like that. He figured it was time he set a few of his own rules. So, he wrote up a solid command script that would basically put him in charge of the house. He set it all up, began the recorder, and booted the program. Of course, it didn’t take long to run, just the usual four minutes, but Zack ran it twice, just to be sure it was on the tape properly. Once he’d finished that, he turned off the equipment, and stowed the tape in his bag. He did actually spend a couple of minutes looking over the ITV boxes, just in case Mr. DeVain asked him about something on them, but, as he had suspected, most of it was straightforward. Well, straightforward to a computer genius; totally incomprehensible to anyone of the human race.

—–

Claudia drove him home from school, and they spent some time necking in her car before he got out. Before she drove off, she asked him, “Is it okay if I come see you tomorrow?”

“It’s always okay if you come see me, Claudia.”

She blushed and started the car. As she started to drive off, she called, “Love you!”

Zack just waved, and walked inside, wondering, Why does she keep saying that? It wasn’t part of her programming, he knew, as he had checked that thoroughly. It never occurred to him that she might, actually, love him.

—–

Zack had expected to have to wait until Sunday to try out his video on his parents, as they had a specific set of shows they watched on Friday nights, and tended to be gone most Saturdays. This week, however, their normal programming had been interrupted for some “damned stupid movie”, as his father put it. Zack seized on the opportunity, and asked them if they’d like to see another little project he’d been working on, that he’d converted to video. Having nothing at all better to do, his parents said yes.

Zack rushed back from his room with the video tape, and slid it into the machine. He told them it would run about 4 or 5 minutes, and his father hit play. Zack kept his eyes glued to his parents, making sure the expression on his face was one of eager expectation. That wasn’t too hard, as that was more or less what he felt at the time.

But he was disappointed. They did not slip into the trance. After the tape had run through, his father hit the stop button, and then rewound the tape. His next words, though not really pertinent, were also somewhat stinging.

“Son, this really isn’t a very good effect. I hope this isn’t your class project.”

Zack swallowed hard. He hadn’t really cared what the effects looked like, but he should have considered that angle before showing it to his father. “No, it’s not,” he answered finally.

“Good. The idea behind this is okay, but it’s still very amateurish. I know you’ve been talking about wanting to go into video special-effects, and post-production work on films, but this sort of thing isn’t going to get you in. On the other hand,” his father added encouragingly, “It would wow the socks off the boys at my company.” His father had been trying to talk him into joining up with Martina Office Technologies, the local computer company. They specialized mainly in custom office software, but also did networking and computer assembly work for the local businesses. It was not very challenging work. Zack’s father did well at the company, for he was not a man who really desired a challenge.

Zack, however, required continual challenges. “Sorry, Dad, it’s just not going to happen. Thanks for the comments on the effect, though… can I show you this again, when I make it better?”

“Of course, Zack. We’re always glad to help with your projects,” his father answered.

Zack mumbled a thanks, and trudged to his room. Well, I don’t know why I expected it to work at first, anyhow. Nothing else has. He tossed the tape on his desk, and laid down for a while. He felt very sleepy, and his eyes closed of their own accord…

—–

…Zack awoke surrounded by his maidens, and was shocked by the realization that he had entered this dream world without the help of the program. He also noticed that the Claudia maiden, while still present, was not the one who approached him this time. This one looked far more like his English teacher.

<<We are glad you have returned.>>

Why are you speaking to me now?

<<We are your dreams. If you fulfill a dream, it remains, but is not as powerful anymore.>>

Oh. How come I entered this state without the program?

<<You never needed the program to come to us. We have always been here. You needed the program to help you relax far enough to reach us. Now that you are familiar with the way, you can return here at any time.>>

Cool. Well, you know my problems. Am I missing anything?

<<Of course you are. But we cannot help with all of them. We can only make suggestions now, for your knowledge is what is incomplete, and not your understanding.>>

Tell me what I need to learn.

<<This, we can do.>>

And for the next half-hour, the Pinches-maiden explained to him what information he needed to gather in order to proceed further with his projects. A lot of it was common sense items, but Zack also realized that it was information he didn’t have. When he awoke, he was fully refreshed, and he was ready to begin learning what he did not yet know. He turned on his computer, and began searching the Net.

∼∼≈≡≈∼∼∼≈≡≈∼∼∼≈≡≈∼∼

Zack growled at his computer several hours later, frustrated that some of the most basic psychological research had not been available on the Internet. Well, it seemed basic to him, but it may not have been. Zack decided it was time to get in touch with some of his other friends, and see if they might know where to retrieve such information. He opened up his email program, and sent off notes to several dozen friends around the world, with a list of questions he wanted to answer. He told them it was for a school project. They didn’t need to know any different.

He headed down to the kitchen to get something to eat. It was only five in the morning, but he’d gotten all the sleep he needed this day. He put together a bowl of cereal, some toast and a peach, and headed back to his room. He looked over his notes as he ate his breakfast, making yet more notes in the margins of his original notes, marking ideas and jotting down the new questions that he needed the answers to.

Zack had several possible answers for why the videotaped program hadn’t worked. The problem was that he’d have to try them all until he found out exactly which one it was. He made his list, and looked it over, deciding on the easiest fix first. He had discovered that a television screen was interlaced; that is, only every other line was refreshed by each pass of the electron gun. This caused a normally unnoticeable “jitter” effect in the screen. However, it was possible that this jitter effect was messing up the signal.

He spent the rest of the morning rewriting a graphic routine that would both look more presentable to his father, just in case the program didn’t work again, and would also use only the even-numbered lines on the screen. When translated to videotape, it would mean that every other line would be blank, and thus the refresh wouldn’t jitter his image. It would, however, degrade the quality of the picture. To compensate for this, Zack lengthened the run-time of the program, so that it would display the effect for seven minutes. He hoped this would be long enough.

Of course, he couldn’t test it out until he made a video copy of it. And he couldn’t make a video copy until he got back to school on Monday. Thinking about school did remind him, however, that he had to look at the ITV manual. He went into the kitchen and made himself a sandwich, sitting down at the kitchen table to look over the manual. He was surprised to find that most of the manual was, in fact, written in technical language. Only the first two chapters were written in moronese. They said, basically, that you needed a technician to run the system. The manual suggested calling the company to have one come out and train a school employee on the ins and outs of the ITV equipment. Nice little scam: buy our system, and then you have to hire us to teach you how to use it. Well, not this school, buddy!

Zack’s mother came in just then, and asked him what he was reading.

“Oh, nothing much. The school just got this new video-conferencing system, and no one there knows how to use it. They asked if I could look over the manual and figure it out for them.”

“Wow! They must think quite a lot of you up at the school. You should be proud of yourself.”

“Thanks, Mom. The system looks pretty easy to run, for just the basic stuff. If they want to get into the more powerful functions, though, they’re going to need someone like me to help them with it.”

His mother chuckled. “Maybe you should work for that company, dear.”

Zack laughed. “No challenge in it, Mom.” Having finished his lunch, he went back to his room, flopping onto the bed and continuing to read about the powerful connectivity features of the ITV system, and how it could display video, computer output, audio, camera feeds, or a host of other signals, across a wide area of connected video systems.

Zack’s eyes gleamed at the thought. If I can successfully port this program to TV, and then I can figure out how to control a mass audience at once… the possibilities are endless! He laid back and just thought about all the things he could pull off.

—–

He must have dozed off, because the hand on his shoulder startled him. He opened his eyes to see Claudia sitting on the bed next to him. She leaned down and kissed him softly on the lips. Zack was interested in more, but she broke the kiss.

“How are you doing, Zack? Does it still hurt much?” She’d asked him this question every day since he’d been attacked. He was growing weary of it.

“I’m fine, Claudia. Now, would you stop pestering me about it?” He hadn’t really meant to be so harsh with her, but it took him a while to wake up, and he wasn’t really focused yet.

He paid attention to her reaction, however. Her eyes misted over immediately, and she pulled away from him slightly. She began to tremble, as if holding back the sobs that would soon be coming. Zack panicked. He had never seen a girl cry in front of him. He had certainly never caused one to cry, and he had no idea what to do. Think, shithead! Think! What do I do now? His brain kicked into high gear, running through all the advice he’d ever heard, every movie he’d ever seen, and then all of the possible choices he had. He decided on the simplest of them.

Zack wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her to him. Her head was cradled against his chest as he sat back against the head board of his bed. He shushed her softly, and rocked gently back and forth, to calm her. Finally, he said, “I’m sorry, Claudia, I didn’t mean to be so nasty. I just wake up cranky sometimes.”

After a few seconds, she pulled away to look at him. Her eyes were still red with the tears she had shed. She wiped them away with the back of her hand, and said, “I don’t mean to be a pest, Zack. I worry about you. You were hurt, and I don’t want to lose you over some bullies, and…” She couldn’t finish her sentence as the tears welled in her eyes once more and her voice caught in her throat. Zack gently cupped the side of her face in his hand, rubbing softly along her cheek.

“It’s okay, Claudia. I understand. I do appreciate that you care about me.”

She laid herself against him once more, her head now resting against his shoulder. “I love you, Zack,” she said quietly.

“I love you, too, Claudia,” he said automatically. Whoa! STOP! What did we just say?

But it was much too late to take it back. Claudia’s arms wrapped tightly around his chest, and she embraced him strongly, but remained silent. They stayed like that for a while, Zack trying to figure out why he’d just told her he loved her, and she just enjoying the fact that he had.

—–

The two of them were disturbed by a knocking at the front door. Zack immediately realized that it would be Stephanie, as it had been three days since her last “treatment” of the program. He still didn’t know what to do to put her under its full control. The answers from his friends weren’t back yet.

Stephanie came into Zack’s room, and stiffened at the sight of Claudia lying in his arms. Zack made no effort to move from the bed. “Hey, Steph,” he greeted her.

“Hello, Zack. Hi, Claudia. Perhaps you two would like to be alone?”

“Nah, that’s okay. Just sit down at the desk and double-click the icon. You know how it works.”

“Yes, Zack.” Claudia watched her friend sit down at the desk, but Zack pulled her face toward him as the program started. He kissed her warmly, and she immediately responded. Their tongues danced as her hands began to roam his body. She was pulling at his shirt, doing her best to be gentle, as she knew that he must still be bruised.

Zack fondled her breasts through her shirt before he pulled it up and off of her. She was not wearing a bra today, and Zack enjoyed the sight of her lovely tits in front of him. They stood proudly away from her chest, and he couldn’t resist leaning over and taking a nipple into his mouth, sucking on it lightly. Claudia gasped as her nipple shot tingles throughout the rest of her body.

By the time Zack came up for air, he saw that Stephanie’s training was complete, and she was staring at him with horror in her face. She still could not meet his eyes, but the abhorrence in her expression was clear. Zack was feeling in a mischievous mood, and he thought to punish Stephanie a little further this evening.

He leaned in and whispered in Claudia’s ear, “Shall we give Steph a show?” Claudia just nodded, with a fiendish look on her face. Zack covered her mouth with his, and their tongues mingled for a moment.

He broke the kiss and looked over at Stephanie. He said, “You will assume the position, and you will watch every move we make. You will not close your eyes or look away. You will remember everything you see tonight.”

As Stephanie assumed her slave position on the floor, Zack returned his attention to Claudia. He let his hands roam over her soft skin, feeling the silkiness beneath his fingers as they ran over her back. He returned his mouth to her tit, and flicked his tongue across her nipple. She moaned lowly with the delight of it. It occurred to Zack that his bedroom door was wide open, but he knew his parents had been leaving as they let Stephanie in, so he didn’t worry about it.

Zack’s hands slipped down to feel Claudia’s ass through her jeans. He massaged her cheeks for a while, but it was not satisfying, so he moved to undo her pants. She had finally gotten his shirt off of him, and then she helped him pull her pants, and her panties, off of her. She yanked her shoes and socks off with the pants, and now she was completely naked. She laid herself against him, and kissed at his chest softly. She could see the bruises, faded as they were, and she marveled that he would go through that kind of punishment for her. She made her way down to his belt, and slowly worked it open, and then repeated the process with his jeans.

Zack lifted his hips to help her as she gently pulled his pants and briefs past his hips. She was pulling them off slowly, revealing his cock inch by inch until its full length was in her sight. She didn’t even bother pulling his pants past his knees as her mouth almost instinctively went toward his cockhead.

Zack hissed as he felt her warm lips surround the head of his dick. Claudia was working her magic on him, and his cock was straining to its full hardness. He took a moment, as Claudia began to pull the length of his shaft into her mouth, to look over at Stephanie. She was watching dutifully, but he could see that her eyes actually had tears in them. That made him even hotter, and he didn’t know why. He decided he wanted a show with his blow.

“Steph,” he said in a gasp as Claudia’s lips worked along his prick, “Undress, and play with yourself. You may not come until Claudia does.” Claudia looked up at him, and her eyes sparkled in the understanding of what he wanted from her.

Stephanie quickly stripped out of her clothing, and resumed her pose on the floor. This time, however, one hand quickly shot between her legs to rub at her pussy lips, while the other mauled her breasts, moving rapidly from one to the other and back, rolling the nipples beneath her palm, as she moaned in her pleasure. She would have liked to have closed her eyes, but her instructions forbade her that option. She was forced to watch as Claudia continued to suck Zack’s cock.

Zack couldn’t take much more from Claudia, and he placed his hand on the back of her head to tell her so. She increased her pace, moving her mouth quickly along his pole, her hand stroking his shaft as well. Zack grunted just before he blew his entire load into her mouth. Claudia took every last drop of it down her throat, not missing any of it. She sucked him dry, and then sucked him until he was fully hard again. She needed him inside of her, now.

Claudia pulled off of his cock, and moved up to kiss him full on the mouth, her tongue sliding into his mouth, letting him taste his own cum. She wiggled her ass, knowing that Stephanie would see it. When she broke their kiss, she leaned over to whisper in Zack’s ear.

“Let me do the work, Zack,” she whispered. “You need to save your energy. Let me do this for you.” Zack merely nodded his assent, and Claudia straddled his waist. She leaned over, to give Stephanie a better view of her cunt, and then took hold of Zack’s dick. She gripped it gently, and placed it at her opening, sliding it across her lips to give it more lubrication. Then she slipped herself onto his pole, slowly, rocking herself on and off of him, pushing herself down a little further each time. Zack was in heaven, and Claudia was enjoying the wonderful fullness he gave her.

Stephanie, however, was in torment. Her hands were moving furiously across her body, her fingers slamming feverishly into her pussy, but she could not come. Her master had told her not to come until Claudia did. And how could her friend, that beautiful specimen of femininity, allow herself to be used by him? It just wasn’t right. But she watched as they began to couple, Claudia rocking back and forth on his dick, that obscene symbol of men.

Claudia continued to rock on Zack’s prick, letting it flow in and out of her in a smooth rhythm. She could control her own pace this way, and thus she could prevent herself from coming until she was ready. She had picked up on Zack’s intentions with Stephanie, and she was more than willing to help him carry them out. She wasn’t fully aware that Stephanie wanted her sexually, but Claudia could hear the occasional moans and whimpers from where Stephanie sat, watching her fuck her boyfriend. She wanted to see Stephanie’s reaction.

Claudia sat up, and slowly turned herself around, remaining fully impaled on Zack’s cock the entire time. She was now facing Stephanie, and saw her hands working frenetically on her private parts. Claudia began to put on a fuck show for Stephanie, massaging her own tits and cupping them, as if to offer them to Stephanie. She circled her hips, gyrating on Zack’s cock, allowing it to slip out only slightly from her pussy before she slammed herself back down onto him. She kept this up, watching Stephanie’s eyes go wide in amazement.

She’s actually taunting me! Stephanie thought in wonder. She enjoys fucking him! And she’s throwing it right in my face! The bitch! Zack’s program really didn’t say much about how she should react to others, and so Stephanie’s instincts took over. However, Stephanie couldn’t change the fact that she was highly attracted to Claudia, and longed to suck those tits, and that pussy which was presently so filled with cock.

Claudia could see that Stephanie had had enough, and, truth be told, she really needed to come herself. She leaned forward, changing the angle of Zack’s dick in her pussy. Her eyes locked onto Stephanie’s as she rammed herself down on his dick, over and over, faster and faster. She started to moan with the pleasure of it. She saw Stephanie’s eyes lower to watch Claudia’s swinging tits, and she saw Stephanie’s hands move even faster against her clit and pussy. Claudia reached her hand up, cupping one of her own tits and bringing it to her mouth. Claudia’s tongue flicked out, brushing against her nipple. The sensation it shot through her sent her over the edge. Her body convulsed with her orgasm, and she cried out, flailing on top of Zack. Stephanie’s body immediately reacted, engaging in her own mind-numbing climax.

Zack had been controlling himself as best he could up until Claudia’s orgasm caused her to ripple her cunt muscles along his cock. He could stand no more, and he blew his wad deep into her pussy. That sent Claudia even higher, and she rocked even more on his dick, sending wave after wave of ecstasy through him. He grunted and groaned from the pleasure.

Claudia, meanwhile, was well beyond her limits, and soon she blacked out from the extreme pleasure of the occasion. The wonderful sexual encounter with her boyfriend, coupled with the sheer naughtiness of flaunting it in front of her best friend had been too much for her.

Stephanie had collapsed from the exhaustion of the afternoon. She lay motionless on the floor, but Zack could see her breathing, so he wasn’t worried. He pulled himself out of Claudia, and gently laid her on the bed, wincing at the soreness of his body as he moved. He knelt down beside Stephanie, and helped her to sit up as she awoke from her blackout. He smiled down at her, and, while she avoided his eyes, he could see the satisfaction of being well-sated on her face. He leaned down and kissed her tenderly, and she responded in a sincere, if tired, manner.

“Would you like to shower before you go home, Steph?”

“Yes, Zack.”

“Okay, go ahead. Claudia’s going to be out for a little while, anyway.”

“Thank you, Zack.”

“Don’t mention it.”

—–

After Stephanie left, Zack lay down next to Claudia, and took a nap. He awoke to feel her beside him, snuggled up to him and content. He ran his fingers through her hair, and they just lay there quietly for some time.

They fooled around twice more that day, before Claudia washed up and went home. She kissed him warmly at the door, and once again professed her love for him. He responded in kind, but wondered if it wasn’t just the ‘expected’ thing to do, rather than any real emotion on his part. He made himself some dinner, and sat down to watch some TV for the rest of the night.

∼∼≈≡≈∼∼∼≈≡≈∼∼∼≈≡≈∼∼

Zack felt lazy Sunday morning, and he didn’t even get out of bed until after ten. He made himself a small breakfast, since lunch was only a couple hours off, and then turned on his computer. He logged on to the network, and was astounded to have to wait five minutes for email messages – with attachments – to download. Apparently, his net friends had heard his plea for help, and had sent him reams of information to answer his questions. It’s going to take me days to get through all of this! he thought in an almost-panic. However, once the information had downloaded, he started to look through it, and realized several things. First, that many of his friends had sent him the same group of articles, so he could delete over half of the downloads right there. Also, much of the information was in the form of graphics and tables, which were more easily digested than straight text.

Zack spent only a little while looking it over before he decided that he needed a large block of uninterrupted time to view the material. Knowing his mother would be nagging him about lunch soon, he decided to surf for more information. He went to some technical sites, to see what he could find out about televisions and their interlacing system, but all he found was the information he already had. He finally decided he was simply going to have to try it to see if it worked. It was at that point that his mother, as expected, interrupted him for lunch. It was something she did every few weeks; she would put together a collection of foods for the family, and they would all have lunch together. Since they were not prone to having serious talks at dinnertime, this was considered a chance for them to sit and chat about what was happening in their lives.

His father spent an endless amount of time discussing work at the office, how he had to have a project done in a couple of weeks, and he was wondering if his team would have it finished on time. Zack sat through all of this, answering politely to all of the questions directed his way. He was caught off-guard when the questions took a different turn.

“So,” his father began, “You and Claudia seem to be getting awful friendly. Anything going on that you’d like to tell us about, son?”

Now, Zack knew that his father was trying to carefully lead into a talk about the birds and the bees, but he was not interested in his father’s somewhat analytical talk about sex. “Not really, Dad,” he answered. “We’re just good friends. We hang out at school, we help each other with school work. Heck, we haven’t even been out on a date.” All of our dates happen in my bedroom, he thought with a smile.

“Okay, son. Just remember to take responsibility for your actions.”

“I will, Dad. When the time comes.” He also knew what that comment was about, and it jarred him enough that he knew he should talk to Claudia about it.

The rest of lunch was just as boring as the first part, and Zack excused himself as early as manners would allow. He went back to his room and closed the door, logging onto his computer, and opening up the first of the psychology files his friends had sent him. The first one was from his old friend, Valkyrie359. It was massive.

—–

Four hours later, he also knew it was the only one he needed. All of the pertinent information was in this file. He saw plenty of ways to change the program, new modifications that were possible. But he wasn’t sure how to implement them in real life. Sure, he now knew that there were other possibilities with a program that could read directly into the brain, but he wasn’t sure just exactly how to enact them. The more immediately useful info dealt with Stephanie’s hostility toward him, and how that manifested itself. He was pretty sure he knew how to change the matrix to overcome her anger.

And this was a new thought for him. He was now tampering with the matrix on a large scale. Before, he had made only minor adjustments to it, in order to get what he wanted out of it. The change he thought he had to make for this involved a solid twenty percent of the matrix code, and he worried that he might screw it up.

Well, if this is what it takes… but what if I mess up her brain or something? I mean, do I really want that on my conscience? Zack debated for some time before deciding that there really was no way for him to know if his changes would cause a problem, except to try them. He hated that he had to try them on another person, but he was in no way ready to try them on himself. If someone’s brain has to get scrambled, it ain’t gonna be mine.

After outlining the changes that needed to be made, he sat down with the matrix code. This was the most complex part of the program, and he took his time working with it, having made a backup of the original before he began. He was two hours in when his mother interrupted him for dinner, and he had to keep himself from snapping at her over it.

After dinner, he spent another five hours rewriting the matrix. Finally, having finished it, he saved it to a special section where he was now keeping everything that had to do with Stephanie’s version of the program.

Then he booted it up.