Not quite an error

by Randal L. Schwartz

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“The results of the experiment still confirm our theory?”

“Yes.”

“And the expected errors are all within tolerance?”

“Yes, but that’s the odd thing. We’re seeing a pattern in the errors.”

“What kind of ‘pattern’?”

“Some of the values are slightly higher. Others are slightly lower.”

“That’s expected, right?”

“Of course, but Kevin decided to record the deviations as an independent data stream. If we record a higher value as a one, and a lower value as a zero, we get a series of binary numbers.”

“Of course you would. What’s the relevance of that?”

“If we break up the bits into groups of eight, forming bytes, and encode each of the results as an ASCII character… we get…”

The scientist paused. He shuffled uneasily in his chair, and continued.

”... we get… your dead wife’s first name, repeated over and over again.”

Prequels

Write a prequel

Sequels

Write a sequel

Comments

Average Reader Rating: 5.0 stars out of 5

  1. Not quite an error

    Eckhouse's Buddy Icon Eckhouse

    Posted 10 months ago

    Awesome! Nice build-up of logical progression to the twist at the end. Not sure if the stars are working again or not, but five-star from me.

  2. Not quite an error

    pfig's Buddy Icon pfig

    Posted 10 months ago

    cool, but “we get a series of binary numbers” gives it up, imo.

  3. Not quite an error

    SKermitgorf's Buddy Icon SKermitgorf

    Posted 10 months ago

    mysterious>

  4. Not quite an error

    Saint Chuck's Buddy Icon Saint Chuck

    Posted 10 months ago

    Love it. I really wasn’t expecting that twist at the end. Sequel coming up?

  5. Not quite an error

    someday_93's Buddy Icon someday_93

    Posted 10 months ago

    I wasn’t expecting that either! It was like, whoa, I don’t really understand a thing he’s trying to say, and then, wow. Nice job! Keep going!
    ~
    5 stars

  6. Not quite an error

    horrorfan13's Buddy Icon horrorfan13

    Posted 10 months ago

    Very good at building suspense. However, it still leaves you with wanting more.

  7. Not quite an error

    Randal L. Schwartz's Buddy Icon Randal L. Schwartz

    Posted 10 months ago

    I’m thinking there’s a sequel or two, although it’d be interesting to sit back and see where others take it first. I got the idea in the shower this morning, germinating from “what if ‘expected error’ was really some quantum effect trying to tell us something?”. But for ease of storytelling, I decided to take it supernatural instead of supertechnical.

  8. Not quite an error

    Robbie's Buddy Icon Robbie

    Posted 10 months ago

    way cool! ponders a sequal.

  9. Not quite an error

    James McNally's Buddy Icon James McNally

    Posted 10 months ago

    Very nice. I love this kind of mixture of “hard” sci-fi with more ghostly/spiritual themes.

  10. Not quite an error

    One Time, One Chance's Buddy Icon One Time, One Chance

    Posted 10 months ago

    makes me wonder..
    ..and creeps me out.
    nice job. =]

  11. Not quite an error

    m8ryx's Buddy Icon m8ryx

    Posted 10 months ago

    at least the error is repeatable ;)

  12. Not quite an error

    Pat J's Buddy Icon Pat J

    Posted 10 months ago

    4.0 out of 5 stars

    Very cool. I like the twist at the end, too.

  13. Not quite an error

    Kevin Lawver's Buddy Icon Kevin Lawver

    Posted 10 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    One of the best ficlets… ever. Well done, and it sets up sequels perfectly.

  14. Not quite an error

    YodaOnCrack's Buddy Icon YodaOnCrack

    Posted 10 months ago

    Excellent – loved this. I see that this has spurred some sequels / prequels… Off to read those now too. Great job.

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