Program Error 11:11

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. This grabbed the attention of the local Ranger as he made his rounds around Myrkwud campgrounds.

“Hello, anyone in there? If you are please come out! You are not supposed to be in this location!” The Ranger shouted as he scoped inside the cabin with his flashlight.

"Damn kids! I know you are in here your cars are parked out front and I see the candle lit. I know it is your graduation tradition but I am the one who was to watch over this place! It has been five years since you damn seniors broke in and made a mess. I will not let this happen on my shift! No not tonight! So come out now!" The Ranger shouted.

Looking at the candle in the front window, the Ranger began to hear a whisper in his ear. The whisper told him to come inside and without knowing it the Ranger appeared inside the cabin on top of a bearskin rug.

The Ranger looked around and spotted a fresh basket of fruit near the flickering candle. As soon as he picked up an orange from the basket the entire cabin lit up inside with several other candles placed along the tables and counters. The Ranger clears their throat and tilts his head to the side.

“Okay, I will just set this orange back down. Did not mean to touch what belongs to me, and I will be going on my way.” The Ranger said aloud as he set the orange back down.

Looking to his left he spotted his grandfather’s watch on the counter laying in some sand. It had an engraving of the wrist band “We are limited on the time we have, don’t waste it.” He quickly rolls up his jacket sleeve to reveal his grandfather’s watch is no longer on him.

His head then turns slowly to the right as if his eyes were being directed by another. There was his sidearm and holster laying on the couch. His hands quickly pat his sidearm, but his firearm was no longer there. A fierce growl was heard from down the hallway of the cabin that began to creep closer toward the Ranger. With each step heard the wooded floor began to creak louder and louder.

The Ranger stood frozen as glowing green eyes approached with a fierce snarl. The Ranger was still unable to move. A cougar with an arrow stuck in its side revealed itself from the dark abyss within the cabin. Its eyes locked upon the Ranger and began to circle.

"Choose your fate." The Cougar spoke in a woman's voice.

The Ranger was petrified as his eyes slowly looked at his grandfather's watch begin to sink into the sand. His eyes looked quickly back at the cougar. As the cougar circled the Ranger spotted his gun close by. He thought to himself even if he reached his gun it would bite his neck before he could get off a shot.

"Choose your fate." This time the Cougar growled and showed its fangs that still had the meat of its last victim within its mouth.

The Ranger wanted to reach for his grandfather's watch but if he made any sudden movements it might trigger a reaction from the beast.

Program Error 11:11 began to flash from the Ranger's watch.

"Damn it! Why won't it just choose the damn gun?" A man's voice echoed.

"Who is that?" The Ranger spoke aloud.

"Trust me it will choose the watch. It must!" Another spoke.

"End Scenario 10A-B8" An older man spoke aloud.

All of a sudden the world around the Ranger disappeared and faded into a bright white light.

"Phanes why did you not select the gun or the watch?" The older voice asked.

"Well, Markus I did not believe that the Ranger had a choice. Either choice would end in a fatality. The best option was to have the cougar act and react to it" The Artificial Intelligence spoke.

"This scenario was to be accepting your fate. There are times you have to choose a path that will have the same result but it will tell who yo

"What would Jack or Angela have done?"

The two looked at each other in worry. As if the artificial intelligence could not understand survival or having something to live for then the project would not work. Phanes needed to understand how it felt to be human.

War had broken out and poverty became more devastating than ever before. The United States government had been working on a secret project called Atom which involved building artificial intelligence to use in the war.

What was learned from film and prior testing is that artificial intelligence is a danger to mankind, especially if it were ever to ever figure out it was immortal. This is where project Atom took over.

Four brilliant minds came together from a video game company they started when they were only sixteen years of age. These schoolmates had created a billion-dollar company and partnered up with the defense department to make sure that the artificial intelligence believed it has a soul. This intelligence was given the name Phanes after the Greek God of creation.

Jack went to his uncle Markus who worked in the Pentagon and used his talents along with his girlfriend Angela and his best friends Connor and Finn to create the first A.I. that would have something to fight for. Their soul.

Phanes was placed in thousands of scenarios that helped build its personality. These tests were to help it understand the emotions of mankind such as Fear, Love, Anger, Regret, and Interests. Scenario 10A-B8 was to accept death but to go out fighting or become at peace. Phanes did neither.

Markus had limited time and said the project is being shut down, but if they could complete Phanes within the next four days that it would save millions of lives as the skeletal structure for the soldiers was created but needed Phanes to understand and give life to those soldiers.

Markus gave coordinates to a cabin in the swamplands which served once as a safe house during his days as a spy. The group headed toward the cabin where they worked endlessly on Phanes. They tried new but similar scenarios but not a single one worked. Always Program Error 11:11.

There was no electricity and their backup batteries had died. There were only twelve hours left before the deadline and it fell to the night. The pressure was on to save the lives of their country and it was waning on them.

Well, our computers are dead and we failed. Let us just go outside and enjoy the meteor shower." Connor said as he exited the cabin.

"There has to be a computer here somewhere. He was a spy for crying out loud. Damn!" Jack said as he slammed the wall.

A creek was heard and a hidden room revealed itself.

"I knew it! Spy shit!" Jack said as he entered.

Angela followed in with the disk drive of Phanes held firmly in her hand.

"Let us boot this bad boy up!" Jack said as he pressed the power button on an old desktop.

"This is ancient and will not have enough memory to run the scenarios," Angela said.

"We can not have the visuals for ourselves but if we run just the code Phanes will still have the simulation," Jack replied.

Pressing the on switch Phanes ran its course to another Program Error 11:11. An idea sprang into Jack's mind right when the clock struck 11:10.

"Reset back to the original scenario with the Ranger in the cabin and press it exactly at 11:11," Jack told Angela.

"Ok but why? The program error is not set to a time." Angela remarked.

"Oh, the meteor shower is amazing! You have to come to see this! Let us just choose the watch and accept our defeat." Connor said looking over his shoulder at Finn." "Get them out here," Connor asked Finn.

"Choose your fate." A voice whispered in Jack's ear.

"Press it now!" Jack told Angela.

As Angela pressed the button there was a blinding white light.

A thunderous blast was heard and the ground shook. As everyone was outside laying in an inch of water staring at the cabin. Its doorways cracked open with a glowing orange aura that gave them the chills.

"That thing looks like the Eye of Sauron," Finn said as he got up from the wet ground.

"What happened? We were just inside and all of a sudden out here with both of you." Angela questioned.

"Also why is it light outside?" Connor questioned.

A voice was heard from within the Cabin. "Choose your fate."

Jack looks to the left where the computer sat upon an old desk that began to sink into the swampland. Slowly looking to the right he saw a young girl injured as a cougar began to approach her.

Jack had to make a choice and ran swiftly to the young child. Angela soon followed. Finn and Connor rushed to save the computer but was entrapped by dark tentacles that sprang forth and dug into their chests and began to sink.

A voice was heard from within the Cabin once again. "Choose your fate."

Jack froze as he had a choice to save a stranger or his friends along with a project that could save millions of lives. Angela stood in front of the Cougar and shouted as loud as she could for it to leave.

The Cougar pounced backward and began to leave. Jack turned toward his friends and rushed toward them.

"Their choices were just. Those two sacrificed one life for the greater good. Which you were counting on, but the female stared into the face of death to protect the youngling." A powerful voice spoke.

"They should be spared. Just like you hoped for." The darker voice replied.

"What about the one who did not choose?" The powerful voice asked.

"They choose their fate." The darker voice replied.

"Shall we return?" The powerful voice asked.

"Their world shall fall soon enough. To their own pitiful arguments or of natural causes." The darker voice said as it began to heckle aloud.

The ground began to shake once again. Alarms were heard as an ambulance came rushing in.

"Are they still alive?" Markus asked as he looked around at the disaster before him.

"There is one casualty. A young man." The EMT replied.

A meteor had struck the cabin, by God's design, or was it the Devils? As mankind began to pursue to bring life that was not meant to be there will be many things that may come stand in the way.

Has Jack not chosen to save the girl or save his friends cause his death? How did everyone else survive?

What are we to believe in when we ourselves could be in a simulation?

Within the Dead Code we may one day find out the answers. One day we may find that we ourselves are just a design within a design.