Welcome to Immersion, you have reached Strata 5
To function correctly, humans depend almost entirely upon memories. Memory is an integral part of human cognition allowing individuals to recall and draw upon past events to frame their understanding of the present. Memory also gives individuals a paradigm through which they make sense of the present and the future whilst simultaneously offering the security of a past where experiences and lessons were learned.
A machine that remembers too little will not be able to do anything that requires connecting past experiences to new ones. Many droids are prone to catastrophic forgetting or over-learning both of which can cause gross malfunction.
**************
Renyke attempted a face-recog on the woman but the makeup or tattoo caused a data malfunction. Flex, the one with probable knowledge about trusting her, had disappeared amongst the crowd.
After a lingering interlude for summing up dangers but with no logical conclusion, Renyke followed his guide, with some trepidation.
There were traders of live animals, electronic devices, even people selling workers by the hour, for anything from labouring to singing and sexual services.
They arrived at a unit with barricades and metal shutters. It was constructed from an old underground train carriage, probably from the twenty-first century.
'Here we go,' the woman said.
'That's 50 G-bits for getting you here Mr.'
'I have to get some money first,' said Renyke
'Plus, I don't know how to get the money. What do I need, I have no ID.'
'You don't need ID here Mr. This is the *hiddens' zone, the Urchs got no ID. No ID, no problem.'
'Well. how do I get money?' asked Renyke, now confused about accessing anything that may be stored in his POS. and still dubious about sharing his identity.'
The woman laughed.
'Ya gotta put sometin' up my friend.
'Like my coat?' asked Renyke.
'Na, not in the bank! Your software, course, or hardware, or files, whatever.....just plug in, give some data, get some g-bits innit. They take apps, software, POS.....
Day to Day Data..... is their wayta.....
.....hahahahaha.' The woman cackled.
Renyke pondered the likelihood of a successful transaction in the bank and nodded.
The woman bashed on the metal door and a hatch opened.
Dark peering eyes checked Renyke and his companion up and down.
'Not the dog', said a loud booming voice after tentatively opening a heavily armoured door.
Inside was well guarded by large-framed characters who looked menacing to say the least. They were standard issue security droids, the like of older versions that had been discontinued and recalled, disassembled and disposed of. Security in the Midcasts was controlled by forcefields and lasers with little need for big ugly droids.
Renyke was ushered to a small cubical with an array of plugs and wires. Everything looked antiquated, from the early tech years.
There was a chair and Renyke was motioned to sit down.
He hesitated.
'How does it work?' He asked a large droid.
The droid seemed stupefied, slow and sluggish, as if he had been drained of power. He spoke slowly with slurred words. There were intermittent beeping noises and error warnings. coming from inside his head.
'Here is the current exchange rate,' said the droid, pointing to a monitor with flashing figures. 'As soon as you are plugged we see what you got and make an offer. Then we transfer. You get a voucher here.'....he pointed to a small printing machine, 'then take it over there and get g-bits or s bits.'
There were hundreds of wires and plugs seemingly for extracting and monitoring every device from the last couple of centuries. Anything from antique video machines to digital clocks seemed to have a lead on offer.
Renyke spotted the mark 3 Droid Cable and shuddered.
He checked his applications. Then all the add-ons. He checked for any temp files he could get rid of. Then he checked the POS and asked if there was a clean-up they could run.
System is currently set to factory install. Removing program files or data could be detrimental to smooth function....this action is not supported.....
more searching......then finally
one file found
unknown origin
possible memory file from last OS
surplus to current operational needs......unable to access file contents
Renyke weighed up the odds.
To be continued
© 2023 Sarnia de la Maré FRSA
Other Episodes
glossary
Strata 1
Strata 2
Strata 3
Strata 4
Strata 5
Strata 6
Strata 7
Strata 8
Strata 9
Strata 10
Strata 11