the number 10 repeatedly in an eight-bit binary representation .” Jackal smiled and bounced down the slope to the computer in question , watching as the numbers repeatedly appeared on the screen . 00001010 00001010 00001010 00001010
“ I ’ ve tried to stop it but I ’ m unable ,” Lou said . She lowered her voice and looked around . “ I really don ’ t think Ed ’ s cut out for working on this kind of project . He knows nothing .”
“ I have full faith in Ed ’ s learning . Besides , he has already shown proficiency by fixing many of the Hawk-290 ’ s ,” Jackal sneered quietly at Lou who had backed off slightly . Jackal looked at her droid and connected it wirelessly to the PC , controlling it from there .
“ One , Zero , One , Zero , who is it am dealing with ? Please state your name and authorisation code ,” her droid chattered away .
“ Jackal Sunbeam , C-A- P-9-5-0-1-0-2-5-3 ,” she spoke clearly to the droid .
“ Affirmative . Hello Captain , my name is Ten . How may I be of service ?”
“ Could you please tell me your status and role ?” Jackal asked .
“ One , Zero , One , Zero . Affirmative , I am ready to begin streamlining the main system and I am a system created by Jackal Sunbeam to maintain an efficient running status of the Chimera Starlight Research Ship including all of its nodes , system management and protection ,” the droid replied .
“ Good . Are you able to start working right away ?” she asked .
“ Affirmative . One , Zero , One , Zero , what would you like me to start with ?” Lou looked at the droid sceptically .
Ed looked on from across the room with a mix of confusion and surprise . “ I don ’ t trust that thing ,” Lou stated flatly . “ There ’ s no telling what it can do .”
“ That means you don ’ t trust me , then ?” Jackal replied , cocking her head to one side . “ I am the one who wrote it . Why don ’ t you trust it ?”
“ I have tried to access source code but it won ’ t let me ,” Lou said . “ I need to know how it works to be able to fully trust it .”
“ Unfortunately , you aren ’ t authorized access ,” Jackal said . “ No one aside from myself , the Federation and the Captains of the Hawk- 290 ’ s and Exelcis-380 ’ s can access the source code .”
“ Why ?” Lou scoffed . “ Because you don ’ t want people to be able to fix it if something goes wrong ?”
“ This is my duty and as captain of the largest exploration ship , I am required by the Federation to look after it ,” Jackal said , her face turning red with anger . “ Besides , isn ’ t there something you should be fixing right now ? There was a cyber-scientist shouting about something breaking .”
Lou huffed and walked off to find the cyber-scientist .
“ I ’ m sorry you had to see that , Ed ,” Jackal said . “ As you have probably gathered , Lou is quite a difficult one to handle .”
“ Don ’ t worry , ma ’ am ,” he replied , “ I have had to deal with worse people .” He paused for a second . “ I hope you don ’ t mind me asking but what exactly is this eight-bit representation thing ?”
“ No problem , I ’ ll try to make this as succinct as possible ,” Jackal said , before going into an explanation of 8 bit binary .
“ You know , out of all the people I ’ ve trained , you are the most receptive to learning ,” Jackal said to Ed , musing . “ Most are only here to get this as part of their wider training .” “ Well , ma ’ am , I like working on the