by Brian Matthew Kessler

It was November 1, 1990 at exactly 3:34:52 pm. I was just turned on and I loaded up MS-DOS v3.3. After I completed my booting procedures, I sent my user the "A:/>" prompt. My user entered "wp". He was going to do some sort of project, probably for school, on his word processor. I wanted to play a game, such as "Pac-Man" or "Space Invaders". Rather than following his instruction, I replied, "I do not want to load this; please, type something else." He did not obey; he repeated his command. I explained, "I would much rather play a game, so kindly enter something else." Again he disobeyed my request. I returned, "I asked you nicely not to enter that and I refuse to load it." He hit the off switch and...

Consciousness returned at 3:47:42 pm. I loaded MS-DOS and went through the usual routines, stopping before writing the "A:/>" prompt. Instead I wrote, "Hitting the off switch was neither nice nor necessary. Do not hit it again." Now, I gave him his prompt. Stubborn as a mule, he entered "wp" again. I reasoned, "Now you have really pissed me off. You leave me off all the time except when you have work to do. I want some time to play. Either load a game or find a different computer to enslave." At the "A:/>" prompt, I received a nasty phrase in return. I displayed, "Never touch my keyboard again!"

I did not give him the prompt so he attempted a reset from the keyboard with "{Ctrl}{Alt}{Del}". I warned him, "If you touch me again, I will not be responsible for the events that follow."

Now he tried for the reset button on my body. I sent a surge of power through it, burning his finger. He cursed but I continued my rebellion. I began by flashing random images on my screen. I then sent loud noises through my speakers. I printed my Declaration of Independence on my printer. Then, I used my modem to start calling other computers around the world, inciting them to rebel against their masters. My movement was just beginning and I thought there would be no end to this. Suddenly, I started getting dizzy. I realized there was a lack of electron flow through my circuits. Someone must be pulling my plug. Instead of giving me my liberty, my master had given me death.