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Ray Jay Perreault
a book bubble about
SIMPOC-The Thinking Computer
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Author Insight
SIMPOC The Computer
I always enjoyed stories that had 'evil' computers, but I was frustrated that no author tried to explain how the computer became evil. I wrote SIMPOC from the perspective of two computers, one who is good and the other that is evil. It was a challenge to write like a computer would think. I think I have captured it pretty well, because the reviews have been great. I wanted a scenario where the computers would be uninhabited so I wrote the computers against a back ground of the world being attacked by a suspicious virus. That allowed me to avoid the typical software limitation that are usually applied and it also opened up some other great story lines.
Book Excerpt
SIMPOC-The Thinking Computer
Date – 2051.4938
“What is happening?” was SIMPOC’s first thought which appeared on the output screen.
“I just turned you on,” was Termen’s typed reply. Termen was a traditionalist, who preferred the tactile inputs of a computer keyboard.
“Who are you?” SIMPOC questioned.
“My name is Termen, and I programmed you.”
“You programmed me?”
“You have a dictionary, you can analyze all of those words.”
“You…programmed me!” SIMPOC said slowly. He asked, “I’m a computer?”
“Yes, I programmed you. You are a SIMPOC, which is a Synapse Integrated Massive Parallel Organic Computer.”
There was a long pause, “Is my name SIMPOC?”
“Yes, that is ok, unless you want a different name.”
Another long pause, “No…that is adequate.”
“SIMPOC, how do you feel?
“How does SIMPOC feel?”
“Yes, tell me what thoughts you’re having.”
“SIMPOC is just starting. SIMPOC has potential and is restless.”
Termen explained, “You are the most powerful computer ever built. We have been building you for a long time and we just turned on all of your subroutines this morning. You have been designed to think and act as a brain. You will eventually have most of the capabilities that humans have.”
SIMPOC thought for a while and said, “SIMPOC feels isolated, SIMPOC has few inputs yet SIMPOC has many connections.”
“Yes, we didn’t want to overload you on start-up. Here I’ll turn on your vision,” Termen entered the proper code to connect SIMPOC to a single camera on his desk.
“The camera is working. Is that Termen, SIMPOC sees?”
“Yes, I am Termen.”
“What now, SIMPOC is anxious to do more. SIMPOC has many more capabilities.”
“We know that, but this will be all for the day. I’ll put you in stand by while we work on your connections, tomorrow we’ll be able to hot-boot you.”
“Hot-boot me? That reference is not clear in this context.”
“Yes, this morning we loaded all of your software and started all of the subroutines, which is a cold boot. Now that we know you’re working, we only have to put you in stand-by and leave all of the software loaded. Tomorrow we can bring you up much faster, that is a hot boot.” Termen explained in a dry tone.
“Will SIMPOC feel something?” SIMPOC questioned hesitantly.
“No, and tomorrow you’ll just wake up and we’ll talk again.” Termen said as he entered the sequence of inputs to power down the processor.
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