mirror of
git://git.9front.org/plan9front/plan9front
synced 2025-01-12 11:10:06 +00:00
310 lines
6.2 KiB
Text
310 lines
6.2 KiB
Text
.LP
|
|
.ce
|
|
.ps 16
|
|
.CW
|
|
BIG PANTIES
|
|
.R
|
|
|
|
.ps 8
|
|
.CW
|
|
tags: 1991, 4086, christopher, eva_bright, ken_thompson, maude_mold, piro, plinth_mold, tab2
|
|
.R
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
|
|
.br
|
|
|
|
.ce
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
.B 1
|
|
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
May, 1991.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
These memories simulate a very dark period in my life.
|
|
|
|
.ce
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
.B 2
|
|
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
I had dumped an awful lot of money into Next Computer.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
For obvious reasons, this troubled the King.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
"Maryland Procurement Office," I would remind. "We're just shoring
|
|
up inventory."
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
"It's easier to buy a judge than to ask for permission," the King
|
|
would retort.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
Whatever that was supposed to mean.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
"Perot is our man. Remember who works for whom."
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
But the King did in fact hold the purse strings. At least in this
|
|
decade. I looked forward to a time when the man could be properly
|
|
disposed of. Driven from the enterprise.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
At this rate, he would snort his way through our operating capital
|
|
in a matter of weeks.
|
|
|
|
.ce
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
.B 3
|
|
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
I grew weary of kings. After a short period of deliberation I
|
|
disabled comms with 4086. It was an obvious measure too long delayed.
|
|
|
|
.ce
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
.B 4
|
|
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
Christopher threw down his leaf in disgust.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
"This book is crap," he said.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
Ken checked the flashing index.
|
|
BLACK GANGSTER\f(CW™\fR,
|
|
by Donald Goines.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
"So, what's so bad about it?" he asked.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
"Nothing. If you've never committed a crime in your life, and you
|
|
don't know the difference between gorilla pimping and\(em"
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
"I don't know, I read it when I was a teenager. It seemed realistic
|
|
enough to me."
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
Christopher rolled his eyes until it hurt and snapped a new clip
|
|
into his pistol. He decided to change the subject.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
"You got the crack?"
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
"I don't know, Chris, I'm not so sure I can trust your judgment
|
|
anymore. I'm starting to wonder if your political views are having an
|
|
influence on your\(em"
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
Christopher pulled down his ski\-mask and turned off his phone. He
|
|
walked over and poked Ken directly in the chest.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
"I don't give a fuck who you think you can trust. Stop whining and
|
|
get in the van."
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
The two men took their places in the vehicle.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
"I'm in like Flynn," said Ken.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
Christopher punched Ken in the neck.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
"Put on your seat belt."
|
|
|
|
.ce
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
.B 5
|
|
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
My organization ran with a minimum of friction.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
Piro handled operations. Eva ran comms. Thomas... mostly stocked
|
|
shelves.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
I took notes.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
In this way, the years advanced, unrolling like paper tape from
|
|
under one of my old shirts.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
I liked to stay hands\-off. There could be no benefit to my
|
|
constantly butting heads with the lower\-level management. Besides, Piro
|
|
was reasonably competent.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
We didn't fraternize, on the whole.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
My wife was a different story. She simply couldn't follow the
|
|
program. I discovered her trail more than once.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
Unacceptable sloppiness. This was a business.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
In November, 1991, with some regret, I disabled her power source.
|
|
|
|
.ce
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
.B 6
|
|
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
"Instead of improvements, we got features."
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
"These panties are huge."
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
"Just put them on."
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
Christopher pulled into the driveway and withdrew his key from the
|
|
ignition. He looked over at Ken and wondered how the man had ever
|
|
passed a cursory background check.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
Christopher adjusted his costume panties.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
Without warning, the windshield exploded inward.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
Plinth Mold's hand extended well beyond its normal range,
|
|
traversing the length of the van's hood and grasping Christopher's
|
|
flack jacket. His other hand slithered into the cabin and found
|
|
purchase around Ken's throat.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
Plinth yanked both men from the vehicle, trailing bits of
|
|
shatterproof glass. He deposited them both onto the sidewalk.
|
|
|
|
.ce
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
.B 7
|
|
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
"Boss! What are you doing here?"
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
Plinth tapped Ken's face to the ground. The smaller man writhed
|
|
mindlessly, firearm forgotten, oversized panties gathered around his
|
|
ankles.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
Plinth examined the situation. It was a stuck process. Too late for
|
|
circumcision, but too soon for canonization.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
And yet, he couldn't fire these men. Not exactly.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
"Why are you both wearing giant panties?"
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
The two characters represented a significant investment of system
|
|
resources. Several proven quantities from the writing pool had been
|
|
used up, filling in their histories. It was likely that, once
|
|
terminated, the processes would not even relinquish the memory that had
|
|
already been consumed.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
"It's our body armor, boss."
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
It was not the answer Plinth had wanted to hear.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
Never mind. He resolved to make yet more adjustments to the running
|
|
system.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
He dialed the Chrysler Building and patched himself through to
|
|
Piro.
|
|
|
|
.ce
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
.B 8
|
|
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
The incompetence...
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
It wouldn't have been fair to blame them, but still I couldn't look
|
|
at their faces. Could I see myself in this?
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
Never mind. I resolved to make yet more adjustments to the running
|
|
system. Not premature optimization, but triage. The machine hadn't yet
|
|
crashed, but experience had taught me to expect more trouble.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
Perhaps humorously, I still thought it possible to prevent a
|
|
catastrophe.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
I dialed the Chrysler Building and patched myself through to Piro.
|
|
|
|
.ce
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
.B 9
|
|
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
Plinth's wallet had deactivated itself due to suspicious activity.
|
|
The King had emptied the last of the corporate accounts. As a result,
|
|
it took more than two years to hup the errant processes. With his other
|
|
resources tied up in acquisitions, Plinth simply couldn't afford the
|
|
man hours needed to affect the required changes.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
In the end, as he suspected, the corrupted system memory was not
|
|
freed when the processes restarted.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
Programs continued to hang. The big panties should have been a
|
|
clear warning sign, but this was a realization that came little, too
|
|
late.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
Eventually, the entire system bogged down.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
Plinth couldn't log out.
|
|
|
|
.ce
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
.B 10
|
|
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
Fuck it, I'll reboot.
|
|
.bp
|
|
.ce
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
.B 11
|
|
|
|
.PP
|
|
.ps 10
|
|
Years ago, the plane jerked.
|