Memories of a Master
A Master PC Story
By animus

Funny thing happened to me the other day. I was in the school library, returning some overdue books in order to avoid a hefty fee. To tell the truth, I hadn't been in the library for a few months, but for some reason I had the strangest urge to go there. The books were more of an excuse than a reason. I just wanted to go. The final bell had sounded and I had to get home, so I hurried inside.

I surrendered the books to the school librarian, incurring a waggled finger of reproach as I handed them over. Then I walked past the computers into the library proper and wandered through the rows of shelves. I followed my feet, and they took me straight to the computer section. This in itself was a little out of character for me, as I had a definite distaste for computers. My home PC was state of the art, bought in a time when I was something of a computer geek. The drive to use it, however, had faded, and after awhile it seemed I had all but forgotten how to use them. There was some part of me that didn't want to sit in front of one, let alone use it, and as a result my PC had fallen into disuse.

I quickly found myself in the far corner of the library, kneeling in front of the last shelf in the row. My hands reached out to feel the underside of the metal shelving, and to my surprise they met with a flat object, stuck next to the bracket in the corner. I pulled it free and surveyed my discovery. It was a CD jewel case, holding two compact discs. Both were CD-Rs, one with a neatly typed stick-on label reading "Memories". The other CD was unlabelled. Also in the case was a note. I unfolded the note and read:

Take the CDs and go home. When you get there, read the remainder of this note. Do not read any further until you are sitting in front of your PC.

It may seem strange now, but at the time I thought nothing of it. There was more written below this, but I didn't have the slightest desire to read it. All I wanted to do was take the CDs and go home. Folding the note, I slipped it back in the case and put it in my bag.

...---===EWPUB.ORG===---...

The time between my leaving the library and arriving home may as well not have happened. The memories are there, but not as they should be. I'm aware of the things I must have done, and that time must have passed.

It generally takes me twenty minutes to get home, give or take a few minutes delay. The trains in our city are never early, of course, but they're not often late. I took my usual seat near the door and sat in silence until I got home. Normally I'd pull out a book, slip on some earphones and read until my stop, but it seemed terribly important not to do anything but simply go home. When my station was announced over the speaker I stood and waited patiently for the train to stop. The doors opened and I stepped out, walking quickly to my home a few streets away. I seem to have memories of these things happening, but they are dreamlike in quality and don't feel like they really happened. But back to the story.

When I came to I was sitting in front of my PC, reading the note.

Turn on your PC and wait for it to boot up.

I turned on my PC and waited while it booted up.

Login, using the username Ash and the password 5e7ft11k.

I entered Ash in the Username section and 5e7ft11k in the Password section, then clicked Login.

To view the CD, place it in the CD-ROM drive, go to My Computer and double-click the icon that looks like a CD. A window will come up displaying the contents of the CD. Double-click the icon labelled "Memories". Ignore any strange feelings you might have.

I placed the CD in the drive and went at the screen. There was an icon labelled "My Computer", so I double-clicked it. As the note promised, there was an icon that looked like a CD, which I then double-clicked. I double-clicked "Memories" and ignored the rising panic that threatened to overwhelm me.

A Media Player window opened, displaying a movie. I sat back and watched a fuzzy picture come into focus.

To my surprise, it was me on the screen. My image smiled at me, and I smiled reflexively in return.

"Hello, Ash." my screen-based doppelganger said. "I'm guessing that you're a little confused by today's events, but don't worry. In fact, the very act of listening to me puts you at ease, doesn't it?"

"Yes." I replied.

"That's good," my double replied after a pause. "Now, down to business. If what I feared would happen has happened, then you're sitting in front of your computer. You haven't touched your computer in around three months. Am I right?"

"Yes."

"I thought so. Okay, time to fill you in. Up until about three months ago you were a bit of a computer nerd. You got up early every morning to surf the 'net and play on the PC. Then you'd go to school, and when you got home you'd be straight back on here. You spent all day Saturday and Sunday on here. Pretty much your whole life amounted to eating, sleeping and messing about on your computer. It was this way since you got your first computer at age ten."

Me, a computer nerd?! I thought to myself. There's no way.

"What's that? There's no way that could have been you?" my effigy asked with a smile. "That's okay, I wouldn't believe me either. That's why I made this video. Now, in the case you found there were two CDs, one of which is in the CD-ROM drive right now." He leaned forward and picked up a CD, presumably from his desk. "This CD contains a program that is going to change your life... again. It changed my life once already, and if you're watching this then it's going to have to do it once more. When this video ends, take the CD, remove the CD already in the drive, and put the other one in. Go through the process of viewing the contents again, except this time click on the icon named 'MASTER.EXE'."

He put down the CD and leaned back. "Now for an explanation. When I first got the program you're about to run, I made it so that anyone else in this city with the program would forget about it, destroy their copy of the program, then forget how to use a computer. I also added that they would dislike using computers of any sort for any reason. It came to me awhile later that somebody might do this to me someday, so I made these CDs, and now I'm making this video. When I'm done I'll make myself forget that I did so. The reason I'm making myself forget is so that I won't be able to recall any copies of the program that I have, and can't be compelled to destroy them. I'll also make a compulsion to go to where the CDs are hidden, and have it activate only if I've not used a computer for more than three months."

He paused once more and looked off into space for a moment, smiling to himself. "I must say that I'm a little envious of you, getting to start again with a clean slate, a clean memory and no idea of what is going to happen. Good luck, Ash." He leaned forward, and the video ended.

I sat there staring at the screen for a few minutes before I finally pulled myself together. The CD was sitting right on my desk, just as it must have three months ago while I was making the video. Was it for real? How could it not be? A person can't just make themselves forget something, can they? I picked up the CD and stared at it awhile, wondering what was on there that was so important.

Then I opened the drive, removed the video CD, and slipped it in.

-End