Bits, Bytes and Life
Copyright© 2026 by Asa Strong
Chapter 4: A New World Exposed
“Questions, now that is a novel thought,” I sat there thinking.
One item kept coming to the front of my mind, so I put it to voice.
“Murray, why the hell am I here? I mean, I’m a kid from out in the sticks who joins the Navy; next thing I know, I’m sitting in Washington, DC, and don’t have a clue why I’m here!”
“Ok, Jack, let me see if I can clear it up. This is a government research and development lab. We design and test computer systems for various government agencies. Sometimes we modify commercial computer systems as well. This, you already know.
What you don’t know is we have been having a very hard time finding people that have the ability and desire to become programmers. This agency has an agreement with the armed services to use qualified people they recruit in our organization. We benefit by having access to more quality people, and they win by having quicker turnaround on their programs because of our manpower increase.”
Murray paused for a moment and then continued, “Your enlistment tests scores were so high that it identified you as being a possible candidate for recruitment for the program. We then arranged for further testing while you were in bootcamp. You passed these with very high scores. The Navy liaison officer was supposed to brief you on the basics of the program before leaving bootcamp. We now know that didn’t happen.”
I sat there in silence for a few minutes, trying to put it all together in my head. It was starting to make a bit of sense so I asked the next question.
“Murray, I’m a bit confused. Am I in the Navy or on loan, just what is my status?”
“That’s an easy one; you’re still in the Navy. But, for the rest of your enlistment you are assigned to the agency. So effectively you are a part of this agency. That also means the agency is responsible for you as well. It is damn expensive living and working in DC, so the agency kind of needs to provide you with certain things.”
“It seems that the bean counters say it is more cost efficient if you stay in the hotel rather than try and find you other quarters, so for the time being, you will stay at the Mayflower.”
“You mean I will live there full time?” I stuttered.
“Yeah,” he said, then paused for a moment and continued, “There are some other benefits as well. DC is an expensive place to live, so the agency will be supplementing your paycheck, to the tune of four hundred bucks every month.”
“Murray, that’s a lot of money,” thinking that it was more than I had ever had at one time in my life.
“That’s not all,” he continued, “You also get a one-time payment of six hundred dollars to purchase suitable clothes.”
OK, talk about being impressed. But I wondered, maybe what sounds like a lot of money really isn’t. Only time will tell, besides I had other things on my mind right now.
“Murray, you said I’m to become a programmer. Just how am I to learn? I mean, I don’t even know what a computer looks like, except for what I’ve seen on TV.”
Murray laughed and looked at his watch, then said, “It’s 12:30. Let’s go grab something to eat, and I’ll fill you in, at least as much as I can.”
Murray paused for a moment, looking somewhat pensive, and then said, “We’re going to be playing some of this by ear. Jack, you’re the first person selected for this part of the program, and we really don’t have any formal training set up yet.”
Murray then continued, “Let’s get moving. I’m hungry, and we can talk over lunch.” Murray then got up and headed for the door, with me in a trail position.
We retraced our steps down the hallway and entered the cafeteria. Murray then led me to a stack of trays and picked one up, and I did the same. We walked down the line and I picked up a cup of cream of mushroom soup, a ham and cheese sandwich, and a cup of coffee.
When I got to the end of the serving line, Murray was handing the lady some money. He turned to me and said, “I’ll get it today, but from now on, you’re on your own. Since you are military, all you have to do is show your badge to the lady, and she will record the number. The agency will take care of paying for it, that is, provided you don’t exceed the four-dollar limit.”
“Thanks, Murray,” I mumbled.
Murray then headed for the back of the room and sat down at a table, motioning me to sit on the other side facing him.
“Have a seat,” he said.
We ate our lunch in silence, with me finishing first. Murray finished his sandwich, took a drink of his coffee, and then looked at me.
“Jack, like I said earlier, this is all new, and I don’t have everything planned out. How about I show you the computer room where we will start your training and introduce you to Isaac, he is the maintenance guy taking care of the 1604.
“What’s a 1604?” I asked.
“Oh, sorry, I’m just used to everyone around here being familiar with computers,” Murray said. “What I was talking about is a CDC 1604 computer, that’s what you will be learning on.”
“OK, and who is Isaac?”
“Well, Isaac is kind of strange. When the agency was formed three years ago, it was initially staffed from several other government agencies. Isaac came from the GSA and is supposed to be a computer maintenance technician. He does keep the damn thing running, but I have to tell you, he doesn’t talk much; maybe because he is a Negro.”
“Anyway,” Murray said, “let’s get back to my office and see what the next step is.” With that, Murray stood up, grabbed his tray, and set off for the exit doors.
I followed along and deposited my tray on top of Murray’s as we exited the cafeteria.
When we got back to Murray’s office, he picked up the phone and made a call, “Hey, this is Murray. You got that check ready for Jack Rossi yet?”
“No! Well, get it cut, he needs to get some clothes and other items today.”
“Ok, I’ll have him there in a half hour. Also, make sure Rodger is available; this kid won’t know his way around. Rodger can take him downtown to pick out some clothes.”
Murray hung up the phone and turned to me, “Well, it will be a while before the finance office will have your check ready. Let’s go take a look at where you will be working. Then you can go pick up the check, and Rodger will take you downtown.”
With that said, Murray left the office, again with me following along like a puppy on a leash. Murray led the way further down the hall in the opposite direction than we had gone to the cafeteria. We reached the end of the hall and there was a double door with a mirror on the left side.
Murray turned around and said, “Jack, show your badge to the guard behind the mirror. This is a controlled area and only those that are properly cleared can enter.”
I turned and faced the mirror while I held my badge towards the mirror. There was an audible click and Murray opened the door.
As I turned and followed him through the door, I asked, “Murray, how does the guard know that I have the proper clearance?”
“See the colored stripes on the bottom of your badge?” Murray asked.
I looked closer at my badge and noticed four stripes: Yellow, Black, Red, and Blue.
Murray continued, “The Black strip allows you entrance to this project.”
“OK,” I thought, “what the hell do the others mean?” I was verging on overload already, so didn’t voice my question to Murray.
The first impression as I entered the room was that it was very bright. The glare from the white walls felt uncomfortable and irritated my eyes.
Along the left side of the room were three, desk-sized gray machines with a funny-looking keyboard and a chair in front of each. There was a small hopper on the left side of each machine, with what looked like punched cards loaded in them. I guessed that they were keypunch machines.
To the right and across the room was a desk with a huge black man standing behind it.
I had first met my first black person when I was in bootcamp, but none of them were the size of this man. He must have been 6’ 5” and weighed about 300 lbs.
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