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"[Science fiction] is the only kind of writing that allows you to look at the world we live in and change one piece at a time."
- Frederik Pohl
 |
| Virtual World Theft | ||
| A method of stealing or reassigning ownership to items of value in virtual worlds. |
Sergeant Sue Smith, of Meadowplace Road Station, is called in to investigate a rather unusual robbery. She quizzes Wayne Richardson, the Marketing Director for Hayek Associates.
| "...Linda called me out - she's in derivatives and border controls - because there was something flaky going down in one of the realms we manage for Kensu International. It's in the prestige-level central bank for Avalon Four. There was a guild of Orcs - in a no-PvP area - and a goddamn dragon, and they cleaned out the bank. So we figured we'd call you.
[Sue] stares at Wayne Richardson, Marketing Director, in mild disbelief. |
| From Halting State,
by Charles Stross. Published by Ace in 2007 Additional resources -
|
So, you take a look at the bank security virtual "camera" footage, looking for clues:
In through the smoke marches a formation of monstrous soldiers. They're larger than life and twice as gnarly, prognathous green-skinned jaws featuring tusks capped in gold...
"You're looking at an Orcish war band... The thing behind them is a dragon. They seem to have brought him along for fire support...
Over the space of a minute they denude the floor of the bank, snatching up the treasures that are inexplicably popping into view from the ethereal vaults...
The doors are three times as high as a tall man, carved from giant ebony beams clasped in a frame of some silvery metal... But they're not silvery now - they're glowing dull red, then a bright, rosy pulse of heat lights them up from the outside, and the doors begin to collapse inwards...
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'The car surged and lifted, clearing its top by a negligible margin.'
Science fiction authors are serious about sleep, too.
'I had explained," said Nessus, "that our civilisation was dying in its own waste heat.'
'Just what did I want Flexible Frank to do? - any work a human being does around a house.'
SF writers have thought about this since the 19th century.
There's a lesson in this for neural net AI engineers everywhere.
