_____ | | | Phlog: Eightbitswide | | | | | | Date: 5/11/24 | | | Subject: TTERM (In memory of Jamie Rolle) |_|_| \ / \-/ v Created on the Agon, a z80 based single board computer. --------------------------------------------------------------------- "..And don't just drop connection without logging off properly, Sysops' will dump you quick!." I concluded, instructing a group of new BBS users at our local monthly computer club meeting. I started packing up my gear as folks began filing out when a gentleman approached me. He handed me a disk. "Check this out, I believe you will find this interesting." he said, and walked away. Glancing at the glossy, metallic label, I read the word, TTERM. I shrugged, and put the disk in my diskbox, then finished packing up my computer. Later that evening, there was knock at my door, and my closest friend popped in for a visit. "Sorry, I missed the meeting!", he said, "Did anything interesting happen?" "Nah", I said, "just another group of rookies struggling to learn how to get online." I glanced at my diskbox. "There was this one strange guy however, He gave me a disk." I pulled the disk from its box and showed it to my friend, the metallic label seemed to shimmer with in multiple colors as it caught the reflection of my desk lamp. "He said something about how I might find it interesting." "Well, my buddy responded, what are you waiting for? Put it in!" I inserted the disk into the drive and turned on the computer. It whirled for a bit, then the screen flashed and a giant projection of a door appeared in the room. The door was projected from the screen, shimmering and glowing, nearly six foot high. Behind it's shimmering projection we could see the computer screen. My buddy nearly fell from his chair in shock when it appeared. Neither of us had ever seen anything like this. A sign on the door contained the word, TTERM. I reached forward to touch the projection, as I did so, the door opened into what appeared to be another room. I gasped, "Oh my god, what is this?!" My friend who managed to regain his composure replied, "It's some kind of doorway. What do we do?" I reached my hand through the doorway. My arm seemed to go beyond the screen which was projecting it. "Let's go in, and explore!" I walked through the doorway, my friend behind me. We found ourselves in a large room, with shelves full of small boxes. I turned around to look at the doorway we had just come through and saw my own room. My buddy pulled one of the boxes from the shelves. "Hey!", he said, "These look like computer programs, this one looks like it might run on your computer." He handed me the box. "WHO ARE YOU?! AND WHY ARE YOU STEALING FROM MY HOUSE?!?" A loud voice called out from behind us. My friend and I jumped at the surprise. Turning quickly, I saw a small man with horned rimmed glasses with his hands on his hips. "Oh!" I said, "I'm sorry! We weren't stealing anything." I handed him the box from my hands. "I was given this disk for my computer, and when I put it in, it created a doorway to your home." The man calmed down, "Oh," he sighed, "Copies of my terminal program keep getting passed around." "I've tried to stop this, as it has so many bugs, and I don't think the world is ready for this type of BBS system." "No!" I replied, "This thing is amazing! You should show this everyone!" He shook his head, "It's simply not ready. I'm going to take this system down. You guys should probably head back, because if it crashes while you are in here, you'll be stuck." Glancing at the box I'd handed him, he pulled another disk from the shelf. "Take this," he said, handing it to me, "It's pretty old, but it should work on your computer. We both said, "Thank you, and goodbye", entering my room from the doorway. As we entered the door disappeared, my computer screen showing it's typical flashing cursor. "Did this just happen!?" my buddy exclaimed. "No one will ever believe us." I replied. I rebooted the computer with the disk in the drive again, but each time, the computer just displayed it's normal startup screen. I replaced the disk with the one I'd brought back. A 3D brick breaking program with a ball that bounces off the walls of my room. I've shown the program to lots of my programming friends. No one can begin to explain how it works, or even duplicate the effect. As for the doorway, my buddy and I have kept that a secret. Who would believe us?