New Software

I stood by the table. There was a primitive computer on the table. It even had a solid, two dimensional screen. And a keyboard! An actual keyboard.

I touched the keyboard. It was amazing. Andalite computers once had keyboards, too. Although ours were very different. And it had been centuries since we'd used them.

On the screen of the computer was a game. The object of the game was to spot the errors in a primitive symbolic language and correct them. Of course, before I could play I had to make sense of the system. But that was simple enough.

Once I understood the system, it was easy to spot the errors. I quickly rewrote it to make sense out of it.

<I win,> I said to myself.

[...]

"What did you do?" Marco's human mouth had reappeared.

<I don't understand the question.>

"My dad's computer. You did something to it, didn't you?"

<I . . .I merely played the game.>

"Game? GAME?! That was no game, that was my dad's work!"

<No. It was a game. You had to find the errors in the instructions.> Suddenly an idea occurred to me. <Oh, I understand. Your father designs games for children.>

Cassie started to laugh, then silenced herself.

"No, Ax, he writes software programs for high-tech uses. He was working with astronomers at the observatory. They were designing a program for aiming the radio telescope at the new observatory."

I nodded, as I had seen humans do. <Yes, it could be used for that purpose. But it was so obviously full of errors . . . I assumed it was a child's game.>

"If you say 'game' again, I swear I'm going to punch you," Marco said.

Prince Jake put his hand on Marco's shoulder. "What Marco means is, it was not a game, Ax. His father is going nuts about it."

"My dad says you may have created some whole new branch of computer software, plus, at the same time, opened up new ways to do astronomy. He showed it to the guys at the observatory. They are totally losing it! They're talking about Nobel prizes! I had to convince my dad it was just an accident. I told him you were an idiot, and you were not the next Einstein."