That Time I Created Real Magic

I did an oopsie.

And before you rush to forgive me, you should know that it was a BIG oopsie. In fact, it was probably the biggest oopsie that anyone has ever made in the history of the world. Histories will be written about this oopsie, and I doubt I will be portrayed as the hero of the story, or anything close to it.

The consequences will be far reaching. Lives will be lost, or saved, by the ripple effect that this incident will jettison across time and space. Nations will rise and fall. Boy bands will be formed and disbanded. Entirely new hairstyles will come into existence, all because I couldn’t leave well enough alone. To satisfy my ego, I violated nature.

And though I’ve already tried to euphemize it—to make it sound cute and harmless—I can’t exactly call it a “mistake” because I did it on purpose and would do it again without reservation. That said, I didn’t know what I was doing until it was already done.

Imagine the moment when I finally stepped back to look at my creation, and in horror understood what my actual purpose had been, what I had actually been toiling for, all those many months. It had all seemed so innocent at first, and now we are all too late to stop it.

The greatest weapon ever made by human hands—my hands. It is a threat to all. It is an opportunity beyond imagining. My creation. My magic spell.

Software that grants wishes.

The Last Day of the Old World

September 23rd, 2019.

That was the day I began tinkering, so harmlessly, with powers beyond my ken. Anyone who works in software will tell you it’s good to have a home project, to work on in your spare time, that you get to design and dictate without having your vision compromised by anyone at the office.

Home projects provide an outlet for creativity and problem-solving that the workplace sadly can’t compete with. Finally, a chance to be your own boss, and to make your own decisions about how the software works and what it can do.

Last September, I embarked on such a home project, dreaming about all the features I was going to add to it, and how it would look when it was done.

Well, now it is done. This past week, I added the last feature—the keystone that would bind the rest of the functionalities into one. Suddenly I found myself with a finished product.

And only when it was finished did I realize I had created the digital equivalent of a captive genie. My ambition had fruited into a real magic lamp, with real magic to back it up.

Of course, software (and computers in general) have always performed what looks—to laymen—like miraculous feats.

But nothing like this. Suddenly, I find myself with the power to get everything I want out of life, to make all my dreams come true, without any significant obstacles or setbacks.

There is no coming back from this.

The Dawning of a New Age

The question arises: which wishes am I going to grant?

Will I prioritize my own comfort or my own power? Will I grant the wishes of others, or be entirely self serving? And who could possibly help me choose? Who has the required experience in such an arena to be useful to me?

I cannot begin to guess.

But I will tell you this: you’re going to want to keep an eye on this space. And on me. Because after I’m done, it will seem like I’ve always been in power. No one will remember me as I was before. People will assume I just started out that way, and they will tell you that it is impossible for an ordinary person to become someone like me.

Your being here now means that you won’t be deceived by that lie. Take a good look at the ordinary person standing in front of you—the one who for the longest time was just trying to get noticed—because soon you won’t be able to see him. You will only be able to see what he became.