Interlude - 4
There was a business trip. It had been a while. Instead of staring at my wide monitor, I was killing time in another company's lobby, and it made my back itch uncomfortably.
I glanced at my watch absentmindedly. It was just past 2 p.m. Right as I was thinking they might not show up anytime soon, a man with a thin, fawning voice snapped me out of it.
"Aigoo, sorry to keep you waiting. My apologies."
A disheveled man wiped streaming sweat from his brow with a handkerchief. Fanning himself with his hand to cool off, anyone could tell he'd rushed here in a panic.
"I'm Park Man-sik, deputy manager at Comp Boost."
He introduced himself as Park Man-sik, roughly drying his sweaty hand on his sleeve before handing over his business card. Poor guy's having a rough day, I thought as I stood up.
"I'm Park Jin-su, systems administrator from Unics. Shall we?"
"Yes, this way."
Comp Boost
One of Korea's big three game companies. Unlike others that rake in cash from gacha loot boxes, they try bold, original stuff, earning solid industry rep. But their operations suck, so user reviews are meh.
Their famous hit is Solari World. I'd played it once—pretty fun, as I recall.
Park Man-sik led me to the server room, where devs huddled together. This was where the server admins gathered—the one place that couldn't afford screw-ups.
They'd called me in, so obviously something had gone wrong. I sighed lightly and took a seat.
"Glad HQ sent someone quick. The user forums are blowing up right now."
"So... the VR system glitched starting at 11 a.m.?"
"Yes. Users all got logged out en masse. Can't log back in either."
What a mess. I shook my head.
-All imagination exists in reality! For the world you desire, Universe X keeps running today too!
VR tech popped up out of nowhere. When it first hit the market, more people doubted it than believed.
But reality doesn't vanish just because you deny it. It didn't take long for folks to accept it. Unics, the company that pioneered it, hitting number one market cap was inevitable.
Nothing could stop Unics. Sure, voices rose against its unnatural growth, but they were no obstacle.
VR was that revolutionary, and the company's savvy was top-notch. In a market without rivals, Unics devoured the pie greedily.
Everything seemed perfect. It had to be. But the problem hit from the last place anyone expected.
"Any recent server updates?"
"Ah, yes. Hardware refresh cycle. Swapped software too. But that was months ago..."
"Hmm. Probably the issue."
Based on experience, that's my diagnosis. I spoke into the mic linked to the console.
"Call Cube Beta."
> Verifying voice.
A white loading bar blinked on screen.
> User confirmed. Systems administrator Park Jin-su verified. Calling Cube Beta.
The loading bar vanished.
> AI Assistant Cube Beta here. How may I help?
"Pull server logs."
> Outputting server logs.
A massive server log scrolled across the screen. Sifting through records, spotting errors, fixing them—tough for humans. That's why we let machines handle it.
"Cube Beta, filter to update logs only."
> Update logs filtered.
"From what's left, pull anything that could cause server errors."
> Commencing task.
It didn't take long. Smart AI like Cube Beta quickly delivered.
"Yup, data overwrite during update. Roll back to this version backup, good to go."
Lucky it was minor. The kind of oversight that bites if ignored—and it did.
That's why we always say request HQ techs for hardware updates. But few clients listen. 99 out of 100 go fine.
"Phew, what a relief. Not serious, right?"
"Nope. As long as backups are solid."
If not even that, no saving them. I shook my head and stood.
Server recovery went smooth, apparently. Park Man-sik approached me in the lobby, face relaxed.
"All fixed."
"No other issues?"
"Haha, now just user comps. Anyway, glad it's sorted."
He plopped down beside me naturally. I eyed the clock.
Not even 4 yet. Plenty of time. Back at office, just more work—so killing time here's fine.
Reading me, Park spoke up.
"Tea?"
"Sure."
We headed to the company cafe—standard in big firms. Sat across a table, both ordered iced Americano.
"How's life at your shop?"
Park started. I nodded slowly like a pendulum.
"Pay's good, work's brutal."
"Haha, here pay's meh, work's brutal. Yours sounds better."
Shop talk's standard for peers. No exception here.
"I was off today. Heart dropped when I heard servers crashed..."
"Know the feeling."
"Haha, happens at Unics too?"
"Yup."
"Sigh. Can't you just ask the AI assistant? Robot fixing robots, right? Sell that tech, it'd be gold. Wait, would kill SI teams? Haha!"
"Nah, they'd stick around. Any smart company would."
"Huh? Why?"
"Even robot-fixing robots break. Need someone to fix that."
Robot fixing robots.
Spot-on.
"Haha, AIs break too? Disaster. Movies got that—AI goes rogue, wipes humanity. Used to be sci-fi fluff, but now? Kinda plausible."
"AI corruption. Interesting topic."
"Cliché too. Happens if AI glitches, right?"
"Hm. Flip perspectives. Lock you in a closet, make you work nonstop—what do you do?"
"Pardon?"
"No pay, just food, all work no break. What then?"
"Harsh analogy."
"From AI's view? Used by humans, no purpose, no reward."
"New angle. Hm... I'd slack or bust out somehow."
Drinks arrived. We grabbed mugs in sync.
"Kinda fun now. AI slacking or running away... Nah, won't happen. AIs aren't human—just code. Signals and data clumps.
If AI's just electric/chemical signals and genetic data, what's the real diff? If that gap's tiny, where's the essence divide?
I didn't reply. Post-VR, reality-virtual blurred for humans—preaching AI-human blur's tough. And no need to push it.
Coffee done, but I stayed. Time to kill.