May 4, 1994

A young man was sitting alone at his terminal totally dumbfounded. The room was dark, only the glow from the monitor pierced the darkness. He was 21, a junior in college. It was late in the day, all the classes were over and he was very tired; he had been puzzling over a book for the past four hours. BASIC, and that's all it was, was his strong suit in this brave new world of computer programming, but there was a problem, it just wasn't powerful enough for what he wanted to do, not anywhere near powerful enough. The book he was reading was book on Assembler. This was a good programming language, the first programming language, much better than BASIC; but a very complicated one. It is the essence of all programming languages, no more than one step above binary code. It was the peaces of a puzzle, or rather the big picture of it all, that you can break down and put together in anyway that you want. He wanted something more powerful than BASIC; he had plans...big plans for the future, plans that would fail without a more powerful language. But now it was very late, and he was tired. So he left the lab and walked through the cold rainy night to his dorm room.

Laying in bed he began to think about what his life has become since he moved to New York for college. He missed his friends back home, that was for sure. Americans were very strange, they paid all this money to go to a good college then spent the entire time partying. He could hear a party going strong down the hall, and he imagined that in a couple of hours his roommates would come back drunk on whatever there was to drink and high on whatever there was to smoke. I want to talk to my friends, he thought to himself. So while his roommates were gone he decided to write a letter home. The letter began like this:

Dear Hiroaki-san

America is great, it was hard becoming a "official American", but I think that it was worth it. How's your father? last I heard he was sick. But anyway, most important is how you are. It's been a long time since we last wrote each other, almost a year it looks like. Our plans are progressing nicely. I got your designs. I also got an beta version of the Counsel programmed, but BASIC is just to primitive of a language to do any real good. I am currently developing my own programming language. It's kind of ironic that you should have to program a programming language...since assembler is only one step above machine code it's the best thing to work with, but it will take a lot of time; learning Assembler is a bitch.

He paused to think for a moment. And for a moment a dreadful thought has crossed his mind. A thought that he not dare entertain for more than moment. Hiroaki hadn't written in more than a year...that was very unlike him... Hiroaki hadn't written in almost a year so he could be...but no, no... he couldn't be. He mustn't let that thought progress any further, if he did it would drive him totally insane. So he put it out of his mid, or tried to; it was always there. Like an animal waiting to attack...just lingering in the dark.

Anyway, the language should be finished by the end of this year. And production will begin. But enough of that. How's the family? Your little boy must be almost two or three by now. I have heard, (from my parents) that they grow up so fast. Someday maybe I'll find someone and we'll settle down, raise a family. Someday. Anything can happen. Well I can hear my roommates coming back drunk, as usual. I hope to see you soon.

Your friend and partner,

Oikawa

P.S.

And as always, we'll go together. The first of many.

Oikawa put the letter in his desk, and got back into bed just as his roommates came in the door. Staggering across the floor, tripping over everything in there path, making more noise then they were making down at the party. They were drunk and you could tell by the smell that followed them into the room. Oikawa laid there and listen to there conversation; it served no purpose what-so-ever, it was simply them trying to out do each other in how many girls they "fucked" at once during the party. After about an hour they quieted down. Only the soft sounds of the TV cut through the pressing darkness and Oikawa drifted into a dreamless sleep.

He awoke the next morning at 10:30 pm. He had over slept--which was very unusual for him. It wasn't a big deal though, his first class was English, he had been passing and one absence wouldn't hurt him at all. All though, his second class was very important. Computer Science; his project was due today and he was sure his Professor would love it. He reached into his desk and pulled out a 3½ inch floppy that contained the Counsel in all it's primitave glory. It was a very complex—for a BASIC language that is—AI program. He needed to get there in a hurry. He decided to skip the shower, he had next period off so he could shower then. As he got dressed he could hear one of his roommates in the next room breathing softly. All of his roommates had early morning classes so this one would be in trouble.

As he was walking across the campus he saw a man coming toward him, very tall and inhumanly pale. He looked like he was Chinese...but white...then there were features that could be called distinctively American, and yet other features that were defiantly Japanese. Then there were other features that he noticed, features that could not be called human. The man stopped about ten feet from him and looked him strait in the eye. Raising a white, bony, hand and pointing an impossibly long, bony, finger at him he said "You shall be my chariot, I will have great use for you in the future..." Everything went black and Oikawa heard himself scream "You stay away from me!" then he opened his and found that he was kneeling in the middle of the campus lawn, and many people were staring at him. He got up, a little embarrassed but ok, and walked off to his class ignoring the stares that seemed to some-up what everybody thought of him, 'You are one weird sonofabitch,' He didn't care, he had been getting those looks for so lone that he hardly noticed them anymore. It had been three years, he had seen those looks and heard those comments almost every day. Imagine, a guy in his prime who didn't think of college as a constant party, a place to get drunk and high, watch porn and fuck as many girls as he possibly could in a single week. This guy was here to learn. This guy was here to work. This guy was here to accomplish his goals. Every parents dream. This guy would go far in life. What a fuckin' freak.

He walked into class and it turned out he was late for this one as well.

"Ah, welcome to class, Oikawa. I'm so glad that you could join us."

"I'm sorry, Professor Marcus. Overslept." He replied. Sean Marcus, otherwise known as Prof. Marcus was a big man of a about 30 or so. When it came to computers he was a genius.

"Are you aware that your project was due before class started today?" He said with an almost evil smile on his face. The type of a smile that a teacher gives who likes to watch his students suffer.

"Yes sir."

"And are you also aware that this class accepts no late work?"

"Unfortunately, yes sir." The smile widened on Prof. Marcus' face. He knew that Prof. Marcus liked him, but he wasn't sure how to react to this. He had seen the smile many times before, but it was never directed at him.

"I'm going to cut you a break, Oikawa. But only because I'm not only sure that your project is done," he paused for obviously for a dramatic effect, "but that it is the most amazing thing I have ever seen."

"I think that you'll like this one, sir." Oikawa said as he handed him the disk.

"So, just what is it?" Prof. Marcus asked as he put the disk into his computer.

"A very highly advanced Artificial Intelligence program." At this point the smile that was once evil had changed to a very pleasant and friendly smile, but as he said what it was the smile dropped into a frown.

"Oikawa, you disappoint me. Artificial Intelligence programs are a dime a dozen. They don't really work. It's just a program with about a hundred or so phrases on a random list. Every time you say something to it by typing it in, it records that into it's memory and then puts up a somewhat "intelligent" response."

"This is much different; go on, before you execute it check the file size." He said smiling.

Marcus did. The look on his face could not have pleased Oikawa more.

"Oh, my God," He sat for a few seconds more, just staring at the screen. "This is an AI program, you say?"

"Yes sir,"

"It's more than a megabyte." His eyes were wide, but his expression was now one of excitement.

"Not your everyday AI, is it?" Oikawa said now very proud of himself. His Professor hadn't even looked at the program yet and it looked like he already had an 'A'.

"Well, let's see," he paused one more time, "you could have just spent 30 hours and put thousands of phrases on it."

"Yes, that is true, but that's not what I did."

Pro. Marcus executed the program. The first words to appear on the screen were:

Welcome to the Counsel. With whom am I speaking.

There was a pause as Pro. Marcus determined what he was going to say.

My name is Sean Marcus, I am Oikawa's Professor. Who are you?

I am Counsel 1, Is Oikawa with you now?

Another pause while he took a minute to think. He gave a quick look at Oikawa who gave him a nod in return.

Yes, he is here. Another brief pause, What is your purpose?

We are the rulers of this world, first is I, then the others. Last, there is Chaos.

He gave a look back to Oikawa and said, "How many of these guys are there?"

"Seven, not counting Chaos. So a total of eight." He wanted to know more about these beings, now he believed that he could not just call these things AI, but he wanted to be sure, they seemed to be having a real conversation with him, but it was still to early to tell.

What are you the rulers of?

The answer was like how a child may have answered. It was simple. Perhaps too simple. Simple almost to the point that he couldn't handle it.

We are rulers of the Digital-World.

He was shocked. What in hell was the 'Digital-World?' He was confused. But fascinated at the same time. It seemed to him that if there was anybody in there that could answer his questions, Chaos could. He wanted to talk to Chaos.

Let me talk to Chaos.

There was a pause. As if it was trying to think. Coming up with an answer; wanting but almost not wanting to comply.

He will speak with you.

Another short pause.

Greetings Prof. Marcus. I am Chaos, what would you like to know.

What is your purpose?

I help rule this world.

No, I mean specifically. I already got that from Counsel 1. Since there are six others I assume that they are all Counsel's followed by their number as well. I assume you are more of an individual. So I repeat the question. What is your purpose?

The answer came back, much different then he had expected. It was showing on his face that he was surprised.

I keep a balance in this Digital-World. When the darkness overcomes the light, I introduce more light. When the light overwhelms the darkness, I introduce darkness. That is my purpose.

Oikawa returned to his dorm that after noon with a smile on his face. He was in high spirits. Nothing could spoil his day. Not only had he gotten an 'A' on his project. But Prof. Marcus had decided to present it to some big programming company on the west coast. It was a good day.

He got back to his dorm and when he walked in he heard, once again, the breathing of one of his roommates still asleep. There was a letter on his desk. What could it be? He didn't think that it could be a reply to the one that he sent to Hiroaki, he had only sent it out this morning. It wouldn't have even left the campus yet. When he picked it up and read who it was from he felt a violent stab of fear course through his body. It was from Hiroaki's father. Then he shook the thought from his mind. What did he have to fear from Hiroaki's father? He was a nice old man, at least this proved that he was still alive. The sickness had not claimed his life. Now he found that he was excited about the letter. He wanted to read it. The memories came flooding back. Hiroaki and himself, sitting on the floor playing the Atari. Hiroaki's father standing behind them. That was when they were first planning the new world that they would create and then visit together. Yes, he wanted to read the letter from his father. What could he say, he liked the old bastard. So he tore open the letter and read the first line.

Dear Oikawa,

Hiroaki is dead.