Ryan loved spending time with his Dad. The two of them got to explore lots and lots of things, because the government said that they could.
He hoped he'd be like his Dad one day, but that depended on what the government said. His Dad said he was older, they'd make him do a special quiz, and that would tell him what he was doing for the rest of his life. Nobody else could do it except the government, because otherwise people got conflicting information and were confused, and that was a Bad Thing.
And Dad didn't know if Ryan would be like he was, finding old things and making sure they were useful.
One day, he and his father was looking at very, very old computers. His father put things together carefully, because being careful was a good thing. When he was done putting one together, he'd take it apart and put things together for the next machine.
The fourth time he did that, he frowned at what he saw. Ryan leaned up to look, and his father pushed him away. "It's Dangerous, Ryan." Ryan could hear The Capitals in Dad's words which meant that something was bad.
"Whazzit?" he asked.
"It's called PowerPoint, and it's a very bad piece of software." His father put on gloves and then turned the computer off and took it apart. "It makes people do needless things."
And that was bad, too, Ryan knew, even as he looked at the computer with awe. His father put it in a different pile so it wouldn't do Bad Things to the other computers. He imagined them getting sick because of this PowerPoint thing.
But his Dad had found it and that way things would be safe for the other computers and for the world, calling the Government to tell someone about it. They arrived soon after that, taking the computer away, and one of them even patted Ryan on the head!
Dad smiled as they took it away, and the rest of the computers were all right, so they finished up. "Do we have any bad programs nowadays?" Ryan asked.
His Dad shook his head. "No, and the Government makes sure of that, don't worry, Ryan."
So Ryan didn't, and went to bed happy, knowing that he and his Dad and his mom were safe from PowerPoint.
Re: Prompt 1
Ryan loved spending time with his Dad. The two of them got to explore lots and lots of things, because the government said that they could.
He hoped he'd be like his Dad one day, but that depended on what the government said. His Dad said he was older, they'd make him do a special quiz, and that would tell him what he was doing for the rest of his life. Nobody else could do it except the government, because otherwise people got conflicting information and were confused, and that was a Bad Thing.
And Dad didn't know if Ryan would be like he was, finding old things and making sure they were useful.
One day, he and his father was looking at very, very old computers. His father put things together carefully, because being careful was a good thing. When he was done putting one together, he'd take it apart and put things together for the next machine.
The fourth time he did that, he frowned at what he saw. Ryan leaned up to look, and his father pushed him away. "It's Dangerous, Ryan." Ryan could hear The Capitals in Dad's words which meant that something was bad.
"Whazzit?" he asked.
"It's called PowerPoint, and it's a very bad piece of software." His father put on gloves and then turned the computer off and took it apart. "It makes people do needless things."
And that was bad, too, Ryan knew, even as he looked at the computer with awe. His father put it in a different pile so it wouldn't do Bad Things to the other computers. He imagined them getting sick because of this PowerPoint thing.
But his Dad had found it and that way things would be safe for the other computers and for the world, calling the Government to tell someone about it. They arrived soon after that, taking the computer away, and one of them even patted Ryan on the head!
Dad smiled as they took it away, and the rest of the computers were all right, so they finished up. "Do we have any bad programs nowadays?" Ryan asked.
His Dad shook his head. "No, and the Government makes sure of that, don't worry, Ryan."
So Ryan didn't, and went to bed happy, knowing that he and his Dad and his mom were safe from PowerPoint.