USH'S MATRIX GAME 2006 FOURTH ASSIGNMENT (PHILOSOPHY)- 'The Door'

"Other than being effectively indestructible himself- his physical form can be re-created- and having the defensivle capabilities of an Agent, his capacity is not actually very wide. His purpose is to isolate and remove errant code from the Matrix.

"He has a limitied analysis system himself. Simple programmes he can isolate and remove entirely from the Matrix- effective destruction- more complicated programmes require a completel code analysis from a third party. The Doctor single-mindedly follows his target, gathering code information until that third party has enough information to furnish the Doctor with the isolation code.

"He is useless aainst Humans., Humans are unique; too complicated to effect, built on an entitely different principle to a computer programme, and even if you could affect one, it would just be that one, you would have to start over for the next.

"The uniqueness of the solution is an issue with more complicated programmes as well. And they cannot be isolated and removed from the Matrix so easily. They are too firmly entrenched. But... they CAN be quarantined."

"Like this virus that was just freed?"

"Indeed so.

"The Door is the central component of the Matrix's quarantine zone, all part of the system of cpontrol represented by the Doctor. It has the same function as virus quarantine on any computer system- that which cannot be deleted, can at least be removed from all contact with other programmes.

"The lock on the door is one part of the security system, of course. The other is the barrier around it, the quarantine barrier that we perceive as the mist. It destroys any programme attempting to cross it."

"But this barrier doesn`t stop humans? An oversight that was used by Hunter, or anyone else that is on his side. Though you said he works for you....

It seems that there were another factions in Museum. What value the Key had to them, besides being able to open the door and free the virus?"

"Something the System would do almost anything to prevent. Giving great power indeed to anyone in possession of the key.

"Indeed, the barrier does not work on humans. You don't have a deletion code. It is simply not the purpose it was designed for. But the Hunter had no need of that contingency."

"Indeed, the Hunter seems to be able to "cheat" by being able to regenerate. But I think the Doctor would be able to quarantine him.... I wonder why it didn`t work on the Virus. Was our help of any value?

And what was the importance in the fact that humans made the choice of opening the door? I was considering giving the key to Hunter, I think he was going to open it anyway...."

"It is extremely unlikely the Doctor can affect the Hunter. That would involve understanding his code, and that is beyond analysis. Even from me.

"And indeed the Hunter would have opened the door. But it was important that you made the choice of your own free will. I had no intention of you opening it as a result of lies or chicanery. Your situation was entirely neutral. Well... it was meant to be. But you could have let the Hunter do it, which would have been fair."

"Why should Exile care so much about the free will of humans? I would think most of you share the attitude Sennacherib has, that programmes are superior to humans, and were justified to replace them. After all, artifficial intelligences can do most tasks humans are capable of doing, and they are doing it better, not having human limitations. I cannot think of any area where humans have the superiority, unless perhaps certain unpredictabilty coming from the fact that humans where not designed by other beings. So why leave the choice in the hands of beings with more limited understanding?

Could be a matter of morality, or matter of studying and experimentation?"

"I think you would call it morality.

"To explain what I said earlier, though. Simply freeing the virus was not enough. Although it was capable of bypassing the barrier, that was not enough to ensure its freedom."

"What was also important to ensure its freedom?"

"Well, the main problem was that it would simply be quarantined again."

"And how to avoid this problem? Was Doctor the issue?

Is this virus not a danger to at least some Exiles?"

"Of course the Doctor was the issue! As you quite sure your thoughts are fully collected?"

"On the issue of the Doctor," Heph says, "we saw him fry these two SWAT...things...at the Museum. Any idea about them?"

"Well, I just wanted to be certain here, since as you said Doctor is part of larger system.

We saw Doctor defeated, how did you contribute to this?"

"Well, obviously the Doctor's not the part they contributed in. He's like any of us. He can be eliminated, though the System won't delete him, they'll just keep bringing him back."

"Simple constructs," says Lo Qi. "Easily isolated.

"The Doctor was a thorny issue I considered for some while. I decided a creative solution was needed."

"Oh, DUDE," says one of the Monks. "He's like, gnarly in SO many ways."

"Like, at first we tried to devise a programme that would actually destroy him. But that was a totally bogus idea; things just got WAYYY too heavy."

"But we came up with something better. We hit at the weak point of the whole System. The Doctor dude is no good against anything if he can't isolate it. So... we came up with a counter-programme. An immunisation for the isolation rotuine."

"BOOYAKA!" they all yell together, clapping hands again.

The Hunter holds up the needle gun, that he shot the virus programme with some minutes ago.

"Quite," says Lo Qi. "It seemed to work well."

"You took much effort to free this Virus..... Tell me, Lo Qi, what do you think of Matrix? Do you think the way humans are treated is justified?"

Ush, is this advisor of his nearby?

"Definitely did..." Heph comments. "Will it work again?"

Yup, standing just behind him.

"I try not to involve myself in politics," says Lo Qi. "But I have indeed gone to quite some effort to release it."