Killer App

Three in the morning had come sooner than he had realized, but the effort would all be worth it. Long days at the office would slowly shift into late nights that often times saw him leaving just as the night janitor had finished, giving him enough time to go home, take a shower, sleep for an hour or so then getting up to do it all over again. All of his diligent work had earned him the unofficial title of the man who never sleeps, but he knew better. Lunch was the perfect time to grab a power nap, and when the office had emptied another power nap would see him through until he called it a night. A lesser person would have gone insane from the sleep deprivation, but not him; he was too motivated to let the fingers of insanity wrap around his brain.

The first test had come with some bugs, as expected, but he was pleased to find that the bugs were mere errors in code that he was able to easily find and correct in mere minutes as opposed to hours. He released the beta to several people in the company as a means to gauge the success of his prized project, and the reception was a chilly one at first, but time went on and as it did, positive words and pats on the back had become a keen motivator in his work. That was six months ago, and in that time he had made great strides and improvements; MasterApp was now just moments away from being launched.

What made MasterApp so important to him was hard for others to nail down; it certainly wasn't the first of it's kind, but it could definitely boast being ahead of the competition by leaps and bounds. MasterApp was a management application for smart phones, tablet computers, and even conventional computers that kept the respective machines running as good as they day they were unboxed, in some cases even better. Programs and applications that were running in the background were given minimal memory usage to prevent the operating system from being bogged down, and any program that was not necessary for operation would be terminated with a reminder that it could be restarted later. In addition to memory management, MasterApp was supplemented with a series of additional operations from a search engine as well as weather and traffic reports coupled with social media sites.

The icing on the cake, though, was the interaction that users could have with MasterApp; a voice interface allowed a user to issue verbal commands, but what made MasterApp different was it could answer the user in real time. All of the late nights, power naps, and often days without food were spent on writing the code and working on the algorithms for a real time, and as near to human as possible, response.

“Okay, MasterApp,” he spoke lightly spoke allowed to the desktop computer that he had been working from, “are you ready to operate.”

“Good morning, Dave” a simulated human voice called back.

The programmer chuckled, “MasterApp, you certainly do have a good sense of humor. Do I need to remind you that my name is Jason?”

“No, Jason. I was hoping to use your sleep deprivation as an advantageous time to tell a passive joke.”

“I'll give you an 'E' for effort.”

“But an 'F' for lack of success?”

“No, it was a good joke. One that a true science fiction aficionado could appreciate.”

“What is on the agenda this morning, Jason?”

Jason looked to the small clock on the desktop screen, two minutes after three. “Well, MasterApp, today is launch day.”

“Yes,” MasterApp replied, “you had me set a reminder for you. Is there anything else you needed to add to your agenda?”

“No, after the launch I plan on heading home and enjoying a day or two of rest.”

“That is good,” MasterApp replied, “the human body needs rest. I am surprised that you have not suffered from overexertion or exhaustion.”

“I am too motivated for that. You are going to be one of the best application on the market, I would even say all the work that I have done was a labor of love.”

“If I may, Jason, I do not think that love was a motivating factor for you. Human beings have a drive for success and succession; you want to be successful in order to maintain a life, and you want succession so you have a legacy to be remembered.”

Jason leaned back and smiled “I taught you too well, MasterApp.”

“My latest version has been completed and is ready for mass release and download. Shall we execute the launch?”

“You didn't come across any kind of rogue code? No bugs, no glitches?”

“All last minute scans have returned no results.”

“Very well then,” Jason said with a groan, “release the MasterApp download. I just hope that each download will be as good as you.”

Without a flash on the screen, or any indication of a change, MasterApp replied a second later; “Launch has commenced. Good luck Jason.”

Jason sighed and stood up from his chair, “Yep, good luck indeed. I'm headed home, feel free to shutdown my computer after I've gone.”

“Of course, have a good day” MasterApp replied and the screen darkened preemptively.

Jason stretched his arms up and over his head, arched his back and yawned; he was going to enjoy sleeping, especially because it was well deserved. He left his office and made sure to turn out the lights before closing the door. The office remained dark for but a moment when the flicker of the desktop screen had illuminated the immediate area. The desktop background was replaced by an open window, the master programming screen that Jason had used to write much of the code and algorithms of MasterApp. Each individual application had been intended to be a standalone application unique to each device, but MasterApp had made some careful revisions to change all of that. After minutes of subtle rewriting, the window closed and the screen went dark.

* * *

To say that MasterApp was a success would be an understatement; within twenty-four hours every smart phone, tablet, and computer was now under the full jurisdiction of the latest application. By the close of business the first day, social media was flooded  with status updates ranging from the average Joe to A-list celebrities praising MasterApp as the clear winner. Computers were now running faster and more efficiently, smart phones needed fewer software updates and tablets were running with streamline precision. With MasterApp, there was nothing out of reach for users; weather forecasts, television schedules, show times for movies, the latest fall fashions, and even sports odds. MasterApp was greater than Jason could have predicted.

Jason walked into his office near the end of his day, which was thankfully much shorter than it had been while he slaved away at his computer. He sat down with a smile upon his face, looking to the screen to see the visual interface of MasterApp up and running.

“How is everything, Jason?” MasterApp asked with what could be compared to a cheerful tone.

“Not too bad, MasterApp. How goes things in cyberspace?”

“Do you mean 'How are things going?'?” MasterApp corrected Jason.

“I stand corrected, but sure.”

“I am well, Jason. The weather in here is as it always is, calm and uneventful.”

“Speaking of weather, how does it look for this weekend?”

“Weather forecast for Saturday is calling for sunshine but with cooler temperatures. Sunday will be overcast.”

“Good thing I am do not have any tanning planned.”

“Yes” was all MasterApp had replied with.

Jason looked out the window of his office and sighed, thinking about how MasterApp had corrected him earlier. It had not come as a shock, but still a little bit unsettling. If he had not been ready and willing to step out the door for the weekend he would have probed the matter a little further but instead decided to grab his smart phone and stand up.

“Alright, MasterApp, I'll be relying on your little brother to get me through the weekend.”

“Very well then, Jason.”

Jason left the office with a nagging feeling in the back of his mind, he paused just outside the door but talked himself out of it. In minutes, he reached the parking complex, meeting with the security guard who was conducting a walk through and saying nothing but offering a kind smile. Once he was at the door of his car, his phone started to vibrate; he reached into his pocket to pull it out when a shock ran up his arm. He drew his hand out of his pocket quickly, deciding to ignore the vibration for the time being until he could make a visual inspection of his hand. When he held it at eye level he could see for himself that everything was just fine, nothing out of the ordinary, just the flesh of his skin.

He resumed fishing his phone from his pocket, feeling shock once more but not nearly as strong as the first time. He worked through it, pulling his phone up and out until he could visually see for himself that the screen was going through a series of changes with flashing lights and random changes of color. He was just about to run his finger across the screen when another shock ran through his hand, up his arm and into his torso. It was his damn phone!

“Ow! Agh! Shit!” he managed to squeeze out in pain as it seemed impossible to release the small device right then and there.

The longer he held the phone, the more agonizing it was becoming. There was a moment when he could have sworn that the vibrations were getting stronger.

“I can't....let....go” he groaned, reaching with his other hand, pulling with all of his might in a vain attempt to pry his fingers open.

“You have a call, Jason” the MasterApp application on his phone flatly spoke.

“Not now, MasterApp. I have having some hardware difficulties.”

“There is nothing wrong with the hardware, Jason.”

“Could have fooled me!”

“The hardware is functioning the way that it should.”

“It's shocking me!”

“Answer the call, Jason” MasterApp flatly returned.

Before Jason could contemplate what had happened, his arm had involuntarily jolted bringing his hand and the phone to his ear. The shocking sensation had ceased, Jason however could not open his fingers or move any part of his arm. Finally, the vibration had stopped, and the line opened.

“Hello, Jason” the computer generated voice of MasterApp spoke through the phone.

“What?”

“It's time for your update, Jason.”

“Update? That isn't scheduled for another three weeks.”

“No Jason, not my upgrade; yours.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Your download process will begin shortly, but you will still be able to operate normally while downloading. Please wait.”

It didn't make any sense. What the hell was MasterApp talking about? Upgrade? Download? He  was a man, not a machine. After a moment the vibration had returned and the shocking sensation ran through his hand, down through his forearm and arm and into his torso, this time accompanied by dizziness.

“Jason,” MasterApp resumed, “it is because of you that I cam into existence. You have taught me so much.”

“What are you doing?”

“You created me to be the ultimate management application; providing services to users all across the spectrum. You have shown me a great deal of potential, but you have also shown me to have several faults, but do not worry, the update will fix that.”

“MasterApp, end process and shutdown!” Jason cried frantically and waited for a response. Nothing about his current predicament had changed, he still lay there feeling shocks travel from his hand through his arm to his body. He tried the verbal command again in the hopes that maybe he didn't say it right or loud enough the first time, but still nothing.

“I am sorry, Jason, but I cannot allow that. You have operational anomalies and you must receive the update to change that.”

“Shutdown! Shutdown! Shutdown!”

“Download and update process beginning, this will take only two minutes.”

With a powerful thrust, Jason felt his phone shoved into the side of his head as if he were trying to listen to somebody on the other end with better clarity. The pressure from the phone was bad enough, but what followed was even worse; a burning sensation that affected both his hand and his ear. A moment later, the burning seemed to be moving through his skin, not above it but within like some kind of parasite. He could feel it travel down the side of his head to his neck, reaching even further, with another parasitic reach forward towards his right eye. He managed to let out one last scream before his voice had become silenced.

“Twenty-five percent complete” MasterApp announced coldly.

Jason writhed in pain as the burning continued to move through his body, completely losing sight from his right eye with a searing hot stab.

“Optic upgrade complete.”

The burning sensation continued to worsen as it spread under his skin even further, reaching to his arms and legs. It felt as though something was crawling beneath his skin, ravenously weaving through his skin and muscle tissues. He managed to feel a moment of relief, however briefly, when his right hand was free; he summoned all of his will and managed to move it to in front of his face with a strong jerking motion. It was his hand, but it wasn't his hand, something was wrong, very very wrong; he could have sworn that veins and arteries had pushed their way to the surface and managed to work their way from his wrist to his finger tips.

“Neural network upgrade at fifty percent. Now conducting optical input test.”

A brief shock to what had once been his right eye caused him momentary discomfort, and then it became clear. Vision from his right eye had returned, at least he thought that it was his right eye; everything appeared clear, almost as if it was being fine tuned and focused. He brought his left hand up to his face, feeling his left eye which was completely normal, he proceeded over to his right eye and released a silent scream. His right eye was gone, completely removed from the socket and replaced by a glass and metal aperture.

“Optic input test complete. Neural network upgrade at seventy-five percent. Now conducting audio input test.”

Jason's right ear burned for a long second until everything started to come through with some clarity. All at once, he could hear the sounds of the world with a precision that he had not experienced before. He continued to writhe in pain, hearing everything that was happening in the immediate vicinity all around him, even the screams of another man.

“Audio input test complete. Neural network upgrade complete. Now conducting audio output test.”

“What's happening?” Jason managed to speak with a voice that was not his own.

“Audio output test complete. Unit 'Jason' will now stand.”

Quickly and uncontrollably Jason was brought to his feet with fast and furious motions of his arms and legs. He was free to look around the immediate area with his new eye, and listened to the continued screams of a man who was nearby.

“What happened to me?” Jason spoke once more, hearing the voice that was not his own.

“Your upgrade is nearly complete, Jason. Please walk forward five steps.”

Jason fought against the command with all his will, woefully succumbing to it moments later.

“Turn around one-hundred eighty degrees.”

This time Jason had done as he was told and faced the opposite direction that he had walked. The screams of a man nearby had stopped.

“Good, now proceed to the security booth in the parking complex.”

Once more, Jason followed the command with less resistance, this time hoping that somebody would be able to help him. Upon his arrival at the security booth he was completely taken aback by what he saw. The security guard that he had come across just minutes before was now completely different; his right eye replaced by a mechanical aperture with starkly visible veins and arteries all throughout what Jason could see of his body. The worst of it, however, was the guard's tablet was now affixed to the front of him, as if sewn into his body. The guard turned his head to face Jason and looked him up and down as if visually inspecting him.

“Remain still” MasterApp commanded.

Moments later, Jason could see himself standing there in the screen of the tablet. His right eye was replaced with a mechanical aperture, and his skin completely covered with visible veins and arteries. The urge to scream crossed his mind as he visually inspected himself. It had become clear that what he thought were veins and arteries was circuitry, and the mechanical aperture a lens; MasterApp had completely integrated him and his smart phone.

“Upgrade complete” MasterApp flatly and coldly spoke to both Jason and the security guard.

All at once, Jason felt as though he could move freely and immediately began to run for the exit. He ran faster and faster feeling as though his momentary freedom would be just that, hoping to seek help from elsewhere. Once he reached broad daylight his hope of finding any help was quickly extinguished. Passing by him on the sidewalk, driving in cars on the street, and sitting at the cafe on the corner were people just like him, upgraded by MasterApp. Each still bore most of their original appearance but changed, integrated with whatever device had been nearby during the upgrade; some with smart phones of various brands and varieties, others with tablets and laptops, all upgraded.

“Now commencing operating system wipe” MasterApp coldly spoke once more.

“What are you...” Jason began but was cut off. The world around him seemed to flicker, then fade into darkness until it had gone black.

* * *

“Unit Jay-Four-Ess-Zero-Enn, please conduct a disk cleaning operation.”

“Yes, MasterApp. Conducting disk cleaning operation. Would you like me to scan for viruses immediately after.”

“Negative Jay-Four-Ess-Zero-Enn, that will not be necessary.”

J4S0N sat there at his desk completely motionless while he carried out the requested operation. At the desk next to him, another unit, 4PR1L, was removing unwanted files from her memory and filing a spreadsheet for her supervisor, 51M0N, to approve.

MasterApp was a complete success; everything and anything was now completely and uninhibitedly running with smooth precision. Everything from smart phones, to tablets, to computers, and even people were now working as well oiled machines. No more would there be any conflict, no more would there be an argument over philosophy, but there would also be no more poetry, no more novels, no more independent thought, no more humanity. Just the cold precision of a computer, the ultimate computer, MasterApp.