WOPR Citadel
"WELCOME TO WOPR CITADEL", the banner said. It was full of holes and nobody had bothered to repair it. It flapped not because there was any wind, merely because it was programed to do so.
A man approached the gate guards. The wall was a massive block of polished black steel - several gouges were notable. Very recent. Several defensive systems and AIs turned and tracked him. Must be high alert.
Additional defensive programming began to come online. Several more firewalls clicked on. It must have been something real bad to spook Wopper like this.
A large communication system emerged from the wall. It had two robotic eyes and a bullhorn for a mouth. It shouted: "STATE PURPOSE OF VISIT, CARGO CARRIED, STATUS OF ROUTES TO CITADEL."
"Trade. Games, console, indie, obscure, computer. The primary link from the *chans is swamped with Cofs and Cellphones. Secondary links clogged with bandits and raiders." "ACCEPTABLE. ENTRANCE GRANTED."
The door - as large as a world and twice as thick - cracked open. The defense systems moved and scuttled aside. A man emerged to greet the visitor.
"Hey Reg. I'm surprised they didn't shoot you. Wopper's been steamed all day after that DARPA force knocked on his door earlier today."
"I didn't think that Wopper would get steamed Ed. He's an AI, after all."
Ed spoke in a labored tone. "Trust me, he gets mad when people knock his pieces around. We'll most likely head out with a scouting party to figure out what the hell DARPA is up too. Anyway, waddya got for robo today?"
Reg replied with a smile. "He's gonna LOVE this one. I dredged it from some damn FTP server that got tore open. It's called Total Annihilation."
See Also: WOPR Revisited