The Code
Isabella's eyes tremble with fear.
Mario feels his heart ache. He has always done everything he could to
protect her.
“I'm
sorry.” He touches the display and interrupts the conversation with
DataCom customer service.
They stand in the
living room, silent.
“Why
did you do that?” she asks.
Isabella's smartphone
announces she has a new message. “Dear Client, the DataCom
emergency response team will arrive at your residence within five
minutes.”
She doesn't move.
“Please, tell me what's going on.”
“I'll
explain it to you later. Just get your stuff and let's go.”
“Mario,
they called me at lunch and told me you were afraid you were going to
lose your job. Now you want us to escape like two criminals. I'm not
moving from here until you give me an explanation!”
“Isabella,
forgive me. I don't know where to start. I, I... I killed a man!”
“You
- what?”
“A
few weeks ago at work, I wrote the code for a new commission. My
company usually only works as a subcontractor: for reasons of
privacy, we often don't even know who the final client is. I had to
use an algorithm that, through a series of suggestions, guides the
user to end their own life. I figured it was just a regular video
game and I didn't think too much about it. When the first release
came out I asked for an analysis of the usage data. It's standard
procedure, we use it to identify programming errors and correct them
in later releases. Something in the data caught my eye. One user was
identified by a first and last name, not the regular “Nick” they
usually use in games. I did a search online and found a dozen news
article about a man with the same name committing suicide.”
“Mario,
do you realize what you're telling me? It's all just a coincidence.
Nobody would use software to kill people.”
“That's
what I thought, too. A coworker in administration gave me the
client's contact info: DataCom. I contacted them to get a better
understanding, but I could only speak with virtual managers on the
phone, and they all confirmed that the software functions according
to the specifications.”
“And
then what?”
“I
didn't know who to talk to so I asked Roberto, my boss, to help me. I
told him I needed help with a few technical issues and I wanted to
speak with a human at DataCom. He explained that after the last
crisis, a lot of managers were replaced as part of a cost containment
policy. From then on our company can only work with automated
managers.”
“But
why did they lay you off?”
“I
don't know! A few hours after I called DataCom I got a message asking
me to leave the office because I was being fired.”
All of the new
information confuses Isabella.
“Now
we really need to go, please,” Mario begs her.
The doorbell startles both of them. A man's voice barks from behind
the door: “DataCom emergency response.”
Mario
motions to Isabella to stay still.
Both freeze, holding their breath.
The voice's tone rises:
“We know you're in there. Open up or we'll be forced to break the
door down.”
“Isabella,”
Mario whispers in her ear. “They're dangerous. Let's go. The back
door.”
Isabella nods.
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