Chapter 13

Time: Sunday, December 23, 2018 2:10 PM

The time passed quietly. Occasionally somebody would volunteer a helpful comment, but Emily was mostly exploring the Kappa Alpha intranet on her own. The searching lead to some discoveries and insights, but was also full of dead ends. The principal discoveries were that almost all requests for information and control required the approval of authorized Kappa Alpha employees. It seemed even the simple ability of turning on the lights in a bedroom or opening its door could be taken away from them if a janitor showed up and blocked the control functions.

“Do you see the structure, Mark?” Emily asked.

“Yeah, I sure do. There are all these references to seven sections of command and control.”

“Yeah, and all the really interesting stuff seems to be reserved for Section Zero. That area seems to be red-flagged with additional security locks.”

He sighed. “I’ve noticed.”

“The other six sections seem subservient to section zero. Six sub-sections, six malls, six parties, the great love of Kappa Alpha for symmetric hexagons, what do you think, Mark?”

“Yeah, it’s a good bet. We’re in one of the six subsections.”

Emily nodded absentmindedly, her thoughts intent on a new thread to explore.

More time passed. Emily was typing intently for several minutes in silence when she suddenly shouted, “Whoa! Look at this!”

Fatima’s eyes went wide. “An employment section?!”

“Sure looks like it! Let’s check it out!” Emily gave a small laugh. “I wonder if I could apply online?”

The next ten minutes were a combination of revelations and frustrations. There appeared to be numerous job openings, but they were all flagged as “applications currently not accepted.” Emily was about to branch back up to the top level when a blue flag caught her eye in a sea of orange. “Yes!” she cried. She had found the top level of the application process for Section Two Janitor. Emily clicked the APPLY button.

DISPLAY: “You are not a member of Section Two nor a member of Section Zero. Application denied.”

Emily felt her heart gripped by a brief burst of fear. “Yikes,” she whispered. “Does this system know who’s typing?”

“Why don’t you ask it?” offered Jada.

“Yeah, good idea,” mumbled Emily in reply. With nervous fingers, she typed a simple query into the input field.

DISPLAY: “Yes.”

Emily: “Who do you think I am?”

DISPLAY: “Citizen ID Tag 148 with free will assignment to Section One.”

Mark whispered, “Great work, Emily. You’re finding a gold mine of knowledge for us.”

“It thinks I’m a citizen? A citizen of what?” Emily muttered. She typed: “How many citizens are there?”

DISPLAY: “Question ill formed. Kindly rephrase.”

Emily typed: “How many citizens are here at Castle Commonwealth?”

DISPLAY: “Question ill formed. Kindly rephrase.”

Emily typed: “How many citizens are here in Kappa Alpha land?”

DISPLAY: “Question oddly formed but intent understood. Current number is 135.”

“I knew it!” cried Emily. She typed: “27 men and 108 women?”

DISPLAY: “Question oddly formed but linking intent to previous response understood. Correct.”

Emily: “And there were originally 149, correct?”

DISPLAY: “Question ill formed. Kindly rephrase.”

Emily: “There were originally 37 men and 112 women who came to the six parties of Kappa Alpha, correct?”

DISPLAY: “Correct.”

Emily: “How did the people who left manage to leave Kappa Alpha?”

DISPLAY: “Question oddly formed but linking intent to previous original and current numbers understood. You are not authorized to receive that information.”

Mark whispered, “Ask it for the current population of Section One.”

“Yeah, good idea.” Emily typed the query, trying to define the question as rigorously as she could.

DISPLAY: “You are not authorized to receive that information.”

“I’ve got an idea,” said Emily. She typed: “List all the jobs in Section One currently accepting applications,” and then stared at the screen.

DISPLAY: “Currently one job: Section One Janitor.”

Emily typed: “Why just one? And please refrain from commenting on how oddly I’m typing my questions if you understand me anyway.”

DISPLAY: “Interactive mode transfer request accepted. Available janitorial position must be filled before additional Section One jobs become available. Other constraints apply.”

“Huh?” Emily mumbled, and then she typed: “What other constraints?”

DISPLAY: “You are not authorized to receive that information.”

“No, of course not!” Emily hissed sarcastically. She then typed, “I hereby apply for the position of Section One Janitor.” Her finger hung over the enter key. “You okay with this, fearless leader?”

Mark grinned. “Oh yeah, go for it.” He stretched and looked at the time, 3:52 PM. He had been standing in one spot for almost an hour. He glanced through the western windows. The sand courtyard was already filled with shadows, and they were noticeably deeper than a few minutes ago. The end of daylight was fast approaching. He walked over to the eastern windows and looked outside. A band of orange sunlight was climbing the eastern part of the hexagon across the park. The sun was near the horizon to the southwest and making a striking contrast of shadow and light. Mark stretched and went back to Emily.

Emily was rapidly clicking ACCEPT through a series of explanations of how she would be tested for her job application. And then suddenly the test began.

“My God,” Emily whispered. “It’s starting to ask me about different cleaning agents.”

The questions were numerous, and there was no feedback given on how she was doing. She was asked to explain what cleaning agents should be used in specific situations, comment on safety issues, biological and fire hazards, environmental impact issues. Emily had no idea the application would be this complex.