World Processor

“So guys, do you think this old piece of junk works?”

At his roommate’s words, Thomas dropped the metal locket he had spent five minutes trying to unlock and turned towards Kyle, wondering what he was inquiring about. Behind him, he heard someone’s discarded find drop with a soft thud, Bianca’s voice perpetrating through the room.

“No way! Is that a computer?”

“It looks ancient!” This came from Pamela, who rushed past Thomas, heading towards the antique Kyle had just found in their attic. Thomas sighed and joined his fellow treasure seekers.

The four were new roommates, sharing little history together, having separately answered an ad for a new apartment. Bianca and Pamela, the only ones who had known each other beforehand, had previously shared a room in their university’s residence. Having recently finished their second year of school, the pair had decided it was time to embrace a new chapter of adulthood and found a four bedroom house with three vacancies while they continued their studies. They jumped on the opportunity immediately.

At the time, Kyle had already claimed his room, having moved in a week before the girls. He was the oldest of them all; a recent graduate at one of the local state colleges. to find his place in the world, he had decided to move to a new city and start humble new beginnings. Moving in this house was the first step of that.

Which left Thomas. Thomas was different than his three compatriots; he was a highschool drop out. While old enough to now enter college, every application he sent out was rejected. As such, he was to become your everyday handy man, working odd jobs in order to pay rent and make ends meet. Sadly, his old rent had gotten too expensive and has to find new lodging; a house with three other young adults where the rent was cheaper and more affordable.

Sadly for Thomas, he was also terribly awkward - a side-effect of his difficulties in highschool. While his roommates had gotten along since day one, there was always a bit of distance between Thomas and the others. It didn’t help that he was often leering at the girls and acted condescending and superior towards Kyle. Already he was hearing them call him a pervert behind his back.

Which, technically speaking, wasn’t untrue.

Still, despite his flaws, the three new house mates recognized that Thomas’ quirks were a result of his past and tried their best to make it work; often holding house events in order to bring the four of them closer.

They were currently having one now: they were hunting treasures in the attic.

The house they had moved into was an old one. It had been family owned for countless generations, spanning back to the birth of the city itself, making it one of the oldest buildings on the market. Earlier this year, its last occupant had died of old age, resulting in the city claiming the property and putting it up for lease. Originally, the price had been staggeringly high, the city hoping that the location’s age would attract someone curious about the house’s antiquity.

Unfortunately, no one had bought it and the price had kept falling down until Kyle moved in.

That was a month ago, and now the four house mates were fully settled into their new home. It was at this time that they noticed something peculiar: in the city’s rush to sell the property, they had never cleaned out the attic. And, as an added bonus, the previous owners were hoarders. The attic was full of old junk.

Which lead them to now, with Thomas approaching his three roommates, who were currently amassed around an ancient looking computer. Moving closer to it, it seemed less like a computer and more like a single old unit; a large box with a single monitor and keyboard attached to it.

Kyle used his sleeve to remove a heavy layer of dust off the contraption, coughing as some of it flew into the air. “I don’t know Pam, it doesn’t seem to have any plugs.”

“What kind of computer doesn’t have a plug? They need electricity to run, or a battery at the very least.”

Kyle turned to look at Thomas. “I don’t know man, look at this thing. No wires anywhere! Maybe you can take a look at it?” He picked up the ancient contraption and turned it around in his hands, inspecting it closely. “This thing seems older than the city itself…”

Thomas sighed. “Sure, let Thomas do all the work. Pass it here I guess.” While he had never seen something like this before, he had done a few odd jobs as an IT guy to the other tenants in his previous building and knew a thing or two about computers.

Kyle passed him the device, gave the girls a shrug at Thomas' hostility, and used his foot to idly rummage through the pile of junk next to him. Thomas wasted little time, sitting on what looked to be an old, rustic chair, and started running his fingers over the box.

“Find anything Tom?” The question came from Bianca, who still stood next to her old college roommate, the two fascinated by the experience.

He glanced up to take a quick look at the girl, his eyes brushing over the shadows on her breasts. “Not yet; there doesn’t seem to be- wait, I think… Ha ah!”

The button he pressed caused the screen to jump to life, blinding him with a white light. He dropped the machine, the sound echoing through the room, and fell onto his back, dazed. His roommates circled around him and the old computer, their concern for him quickly changing into curiosity as they looked at the box.

“Tom! I think you did it! Look!”

Pamela’s words shook him from his daze and he blinked, trying to refocus his eyes. When he was able to see again, he looked down at the machine and caught glimpse of a few words on the screen.

Welcome, user, to the World Processor.

“The ‘World Processor’? What the hell is that?”

Bianca’s question went unanswered as a new message flashed on the screen.

Please enter user’s name.

There was an uncomfortable silence as the foursome stared at the screen. As the minutes passed, Kyle glanced back towards Thomas, hushing him closer. “Um… Maybe you should keep going, Tom?”

Thomas swallowed and slowly nodded, picking up the machine once more. He typed in his name, Thomas Mekker, and pressed enter.

User’s name not found. Saving user’s name to data stores.

The screen flashed.

Would Thomas Mekkar like to remember the changes made by this user?

"What does that even mean?" he inquired, not expecting an answer. He typed ‘Yes’, giving his roommates a questionable glance.

It flashed again.

Welcome Thomas Mekkar. How would you like to change the world?