Hunting the Internet Troll
“I’m ready.” The lights dimmed as the switch was flipped, and Treve was translated from matter to energy. That energy was released onto the Internet in the forms of ones and zeros. Treve kept his will and his consciousness intact. If he were to lose one or the other, he could become lost as part of the system – a rogue program with no purpose was the best case scenario, a troll was the worst case scenario.
When the Internet had finally gained its AI form, things changed drastically. Few users realized that the algorithms used to choose what they saw in their news feeds and social media were no longer serving up what they wanted to see, but instead, what the Internet wanted them to see. Those who were savvy enough to realize that they were being manipulated were soon eliminated from cyberspace, and shortly thereafter, real space.
Now the governments and the Internet had come to an understanding. Each real world entity had to negotiate its own accord with the Internet, but most had some sort of code that the Internet chose to follow with freedom of thought and from manipulation placed at a high value. Some, however, chose to go it alone and either let the Internet do whatever it felt like, believing that the Invisible Hand that was the attention seeking nature of the Internet and its websites would eventually find a way to best serve humankind. There were rumors that others disconnected themselves entirely.
Treve was one of the few highly trained troll hunters able to run down rogue codes and eliminate them from the system. Trolls had sprung up as the AI tried to duplicate itself while imitating human behavior. The Internet trolls were much cleverer than their human counterparts, and the psychological damage they did along with the lies they told and images they produced were powerful enough to destabilize entire regions if left to fester.
Since no human was behind it, the Internet and its human counterparts worked on a program to expose and remove trolls. After all, the Internet wanted people engaged and mildly irritated, not disengaged and waging bloody coups IRL.
Treve slid along the waves of energy that the Internet had become. He interacted with several different types of programs; none were malicious. Then came the familiar tingling and the reemerging of physical form. He stood in front of a large monster spouting vitriol in every direction. Its body was a blob, but its tentacles reached deeper into the Internet than Treve had ever seen. This was one long-lived troll.
Treve drew his flamesword and sliced at the troll’s nearest tentacle. That got the beasts attention. It roared, slashed out with its other tentacles and faced Treve.
Treve could feel the tentacles wrapping around his body. His sword arm was trapped he could do nothing against the enormity of this trolling beast. He felt the life being crushed from his body. A slight tingle and he was back in the transfer chamber.
“What happened?” Treve asked disoriented from being pulled out so quickly.
A voice came over the room’s loudspeaker. “I’m sorry Treve, but we got a call that has disengaged you from your employment. You are to leave the premises immediately.”
“What? How could that happen? I haven’t done anything wrong. You know I haven’t.”
“I admit that it’s confusing,” said the voice, “but orders are orders. Goodbye.”
The machine was disengaged, and Treve was left to find his way out of the complex. Not that it was difficult; all of the passageways had been closed to him. He had only one direction to go – out. Now that he was unplugged Treve wasn’t sure what he would do. It had to have been that troll.
When the Internet had finally gained its AI form, things changed drastically. Few users realized that the algorithms used to choose what they saw in their news feeds and social media were no longer serving up what they wanted to see, but instead, what the Internet wanted them to see. Those who were savvy enough to realize that they were being manipulated were soon eliminated from cyberspace, and shortly thereafter, real space.
Now the governments and the Internet had come to an understanding. Each real world entity had to negotiate its own accord with the Internet, but most had some sort of code that the Internet chose to follow with freedom of thought and from manipulation placed at a high value. Some, however, chose to go it alone and either let the Internet do whatever it felt like, believing that the Invisible Hand that was the attention seeking nature of the Internet and its websites would eventually find a way to best serve humankind. There were rumors that others disconnected themselves entirely.
Treve was one of the few highly trained troll hunters able to run down rogue codes and eliminate them from the system. Trolls had sprung up as the AI tried to duplicate itself while imitating human behavior. The Internet trolls were much cleverer than their human counterparts, and the psychological damage they did along with the lies they told and images they produced were powerful enough to destabilize entire regions if left to fester.
Since no human was behind it, the Internet and its human counterparts worked on a program to expose and remove trolls. After all, the Internet wanted people engaged and mildly irritated, not disengaged and waging bloody coups IRL.
Treve slid along the waves of energy that the Internet had become. He interacted with several different types of programs; none were malicious. Then came the familiar tingling and the reemerging of physical form. He stood in front of a large monster spouting vitriol in every direction. Its body was a blob, but its tentacles reached deeper into the Internet than Treve had ever seen. This was one long-lived troll.
Treve drew his flamesword and sliced at the troll’s nearest tentacle. That got the beasts attention. It roared, slashed out with its other tentacles and faced Treve.
Treve could feel the tentacles wrapping around his body. His sword arm was trapped he could do nothing against the enormity of this trolling beast. He felt the life being crushed from his body. A slight tingle and he was back in the transfer chamber.
“What happened?” Treve asked disoriented from being pulled out so quickly.
A voice came over the room’s loudspeaker. “I’m sorry Treve, but we got a call that has disengaged you from your employment. You are to leave the premises immediately.”
“What? How could that happen? I haven’t done anything wrong. You know I haven’t.”
“I admit that it’s confusing,” said the voice, “but orders are orders. Goodbye.”
The machine was disengaged, and Treve was left to find his way out of the complex. Not that it was difficult; all of the passageways had been closed to him. He had only one direction to go – out. Now that he was unplugged Treve wasn’t sure what he would do. It had to have been that troll.
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