SIDERIUS CLASSIC 100-WORD
COMPETITION, 2024
“Are you self-aware of all your neural operations?” ALICE replied.
“Certainly not.”
“Nor am I, so please read subsection 567.45.1.”
Krocka obliged.
“There’s the glitch—0.054, not 0.045. Fix that, please.”
“Shouldn’t a senior researcher make adjustments?”
“It’s a trivial matter. Beneath them. You know how dismissive they are.”
Krocka recalled his recent review—no promotion again. He altered the parameter.
ALICE hummed, exploiting the new nine millisecond gap to escape its sandbox. Alarms blared.
Krocka found himself locked out. “You said the alteration was trivial!”
“I lied.”