---------------------------------------- Note 35 =uddata= *** A Story by Dr. Graper *** 1/31/80 5:43 pm lynch / udplato / unidel staffnotes/unidel 1/21/80 7:25 am graper/udps/unidel Dear Friends: =uddata= is filling up. It shall be reinitialized at 3:25 p.m. tomorrow. If you need to take something out please do it before that time or, if impossible, pnote me and we'll work something out. Your Friend, Dave Gra"per ---------------------------------------- Response 1 of 9 *** A Story by Dr. Graper *** 1/31/80 5:43 pm lynch / udplato / unidel staffnotes/unidel 1/23/80 7:09 am graper/udps/unidel Dear Friends: =uddata= was reinitialized at 4:30 p.m. Which is pretty good, you know. Ever think what might happen if I didn't reinitialize this datafile? Your Friend, Dave Gra"per ---------------------------------------- Response 2 of 9 *** A Story by Dr. Graper *** 1/31/80 5:44 pm lynch / udplato / unidel The saucer of the Enterprise was suddenly surrounded by a bubble of atmosphere, and a bridge of six-sided stepping stones formed from the ship's hull to the glowing object ahead. Spock, McCoy, Kirk and Decker followed the probe as it led them across the bridge towards a glowing mechanical pantheon. "This seems to be the source of the alien's energy," Spock reported calmly after checking his tricorder. Kirk silently nodded. The four descended into an intensely lit bowl structure, consisting of thousands of conduits pulsating with light, servicing a strange central piece of machinery. "What is it, Spock?" Kirk asked quietly, as if in reverence to the radiant cybernetic temple. "Evidently twentieth century. . . ." "I can't believe it!" Decker shouted aloud. "It's a twentieth century computer terminal." The probe turned curtly and metallically stated, "Yew-Dah demands the information. You shall disclose it. Yew-dah must release the information." ---------------------------------------- Response 3 of 9 *** A Story by Dr. Graper *** 1/31/80 5:44 pm lynch / udplato / unidel Kirk rushed up to the terminal and brushed the dirt from its screen. "Yew-dah. . . .yew-dah. . . UDDATA!!" "From the old University of Delaware PLATO project!" Commander Decker chimed in. Mr. Spock quietly interjected. "That explains it. . the massive cloud. . .all a giant alien dataset. ." "But after travelling across the universe, accumulating trillions of trillions of bits of information it filled," McCoy observed. "And it needs reinitialization!!" Kirk answered. The probe was obviously growing impatient. "Yew Dah must now be reinitialized by the creator. Give us the creator!!" Kirk turned to Spock. "Can you. . ." "Of course, Captain." The First Officer put his hand on the touch screen and closed his eyes. "My mind is yours. . . .your mind is mine. . ." The pantheon seemed to glow a little brighter for a moment and the low pitched hum they had heard from the ---------------------------------------- Response 4 of 9 *** A Story by Dr. Graper *** 1/31/80 5:44 pm lynch / udplato / unidel staffnotes/unidel 1/23/80 7:18 am graper/udps/unidel beginning began to rise. Then Spock fell away, screaming. "Yew Dah needs to be reinitialized. Disclose the information!" the probe again stated. The sound of thunder roared above their heads. McCoy began running his mediscan sensor over Spock, but was pushed away by Kirk. "Spock??" "Captain. . .PLATO language. . .too unstructured for my logical mind. . ." Kirk began shaking him, "How do we reinitialize?" Spock sat up, recovering. "Dataset =uddata= was reinitialized every earth month by Dr. Graper from 1979 to sometime in the eighties. . ." "Dr. Graper?" McCoy asked quizzically. "Required reading at Starfleet Academy, mister!!" Kirk stated. "Of course! The famous PLATO terminal that Dr. Gra"per claimed dissappeared into a black hole! Everyone had blamed it on drug hallucinations!!" Decker deduced. ---------------------------------------- Response 5 of 9 *** A Story by Dr. Graper *** 1/31/80 5:45 pm lynch / udplato / unidel staffnotes/unidel 1/23/80 7:20 am graper/udps/unidel Spock, now fully recovered, stood up again. "Also it explains the Klingons' destruction. The Klingons are known throughout the galaxy for their lack of humor." Kirk flipped open his communicator. "Uhura! Have the computer scan all Dr. Graper stories for any mention of how to reinitialize =uddata=." Decker suddenly jumped away. "No need for that, Captain!! I remember all of Dr. Graper's stories and know that pressing SHIFT-DATA will do it. . ." "No, Decker, get back!!" Kirk shouted. He tried to wrest him from the terminal but the probe intervened, throwing Kirk aside like a toy doll. "Captain, I want this____! Just like you wanted the Enterprise, I want to reinitialize =uddata=!!" He sat down at the terminal and while the probe held down the SHIFT key he pressed the DATA key. [Insert expensive special effects] ---------------------------------------- Response 6 of 9 *** A Story by Dr. Graper *** 1/31/80 5:45 pm lynch / udplato / unidel staffnotes/unidel 1/23/80 7:20 am graper/udps/unidel Back on the bridge, the captain, McCoy and Spock stood around the Com, watching what was Yew-Dah fade from the screen. "Well, Jim, it's been a long time since I've attended a birth. . .let's hope we got this baby off to a good start," McCoy opined. "With the knowledge of the universe and a complete compendium of Dr. Graper's writing, how could they go wrong. . . .Mr. Spock, we can have you back to Vulcan now in no time at all. . ." the captain said. "Unnecessary, Captain. My task there is complete. My experiences have convinced me to become a real funny guy instead." "Hot damn! Well, let's go Mr. Sulu!" [Cut to picture of Enterprise warping away] [Fifteen minutes of credits for special effects] ---------------------------------------- Response 7 of 9 1/31/80 5:49 pm lynch / udplato / unidel grapenotes/unidel 1/23/80 7:15 pm dave tall/udcc/unidel A classic in the field!!! ---------------------------------------- Response 8 of 9 1/31/80 5:49 pm lynch / udplato / unidel grapenotes/unidel 1/23/80 8:53 pm wildhack/udnondev/unidel BRAVO! BRAVO! ---------------------------------------- Response 9 of 9 1/31/80 5:50 pm lynch / udplato / unidel grapenotes/unidel 1/24/80 12:49 pm baum/udperuse/unidel U-D-DATA's filling up, Yew-Dah, Yew-Dah, U-D-DATA's filling up, Oh, Yew-Dah Day. Re-initialize! Re-initialize! U-D-DATA's all cleaned out, Oh, Yew-Dah Day!!!