goddOS ver 1.0

start/run/yggdrasil


	"Bugs?" Skuld blinked over the top of her sunglasses as she 
pulled her earphones down around her neck.

	Freya nodded slowly. "Bugs," she agreed. "In your section, 
no less."

	"But we took care of those years ago. I'm tech support, not 
a bug-checker, now."

	The head goddess of the Relief office smiled kindly and 
patted Skuld on the shoulder. "Welcome to the new millenia, Skuld. 
Yggdrasil's a living program. Bugs will crop up on occasion. Now 
we've got bugs in your section, and you've got the job of finding 
them out."

	Skuld rolled her eyes. "Yeah. I'll get to it."

	"Now, Skuld." Freya reached forward and plucked the young 
goddess's earphones away. "You want to be moved up to a lead 
programming position, right. It's time to act the part and take the 
bad with the good. Can you get this finished today?"

	Skuld scrunched up her lips into a frown and nodded.

	"That's my girl." Freya unplugged the phones from Skuld's 
workstation. "You can pick these up at the end of the day."

	"I'm eighteen already," Skuld muttered. She pushed her 
glassed up her nose and stared at Freya's retreating back as the 
older goddess walked along the rows of cubicles.

	She slumped into her chair and kicked herself backwards into 
the hallway, listening for a moment to the steady sounds of the 
Yggdrasil support system. A steady hum of workstations emanated from 
the myriad of cubicles that were all near copies of her own. Less 
prevalent, but still easily discernable was the chatter of responses 
to phone calls. She heard most of that from the Goddess Helpline 
section, two rows over.

	This was her life, she realized. Ten hours of tech support 
inside a maze of cosmic cubicles. Work in a sterile environment of 
grey, white, and beige. All fabric and plaster in neutral tones 
designed to keep everyone calm and happy.

	It seemed to be working, because nobody had snapped in the 
time she had been there, but sometimes she felt like doing it 
herself.

	She snorted. Belldandy had it lucky. She just needed to play 
the loving girlfriend. Not that Skuld wanted to do anything besides 
work on computers, but still. She needed a vacation or something.

	"Bugs. Right." She sighed, scooted back into the cubicle and 
pulled out her VR helmet. A slight odor of sweat wafted up her nose 
as she fit the device snugly over her head.

	For a moment, she was in darkness, then the screen blinked 
on and she was plunged into a 3-D rendered world. It built up, first 
as a number of gridded objects, springing forth from a flat plane, 
and then filling in with color and definition.

	Within moments, she could hardly tell the difference from 
reality. Gentle rolling hills covered with a soft carpet of grass 
extended out to all horizons around her. A few trees dotted the 
landscape, providing shade for anyone to rest under, if they so 
choose.

	A few insects flitted to and fro among the grass. She 
reached out and grasped one, turned it over and examined its 
underside. "Hmm... been a while since I got any true unique hits on 
my page. Time to spruce it up a bit." She frowned. "After I get 
those bugs."

	She snapped her fingers, and a red and white hammer appeared 
in mid-air. She grasped it and gave it a twirl.

	In front of her, a series of words appeared. "Welcome to 
Yggdrasil, Skuld. You last logged in at 05-05-2001 00:49:23. Where 
would you like to access?"

	"Yggdrasil central," she answered. 

	Almost instantly, the idyllic plain disappeared and was 
replaced by a replica of New York's Grand Central Station. Users 
jostled eachother as they moved back and forth between various 
points in the grid. Skuld looked around for any familiar faces, but 
only saw strangers. So much for finding help.

	She entered a men's bathroom and walked into a stall, 
ignoring the startled looks from a few users. She closed the door 
and pressed her hand against the stall wall just below the toilet 
paper. The toilet disappeared...

	Along with most of the floor. Skuld glowered as she fell and 
vowed to get the joker who had tweaked the coding for tech support's 
entry. She crossed her arms and tapped one finger against her elbow 
while she waited.

	When she hit the ground, she forced herself not to stumble. 
Whoever it was wouldn't get the satisfaction, she decided.

	The lights came up. She was in a metallic corridor lit by a 
steady line of bare flourescent bulbs. Compared to the business of 
Yggdrasil central, the tech support area was practically empty. 
Skuld felt that was good. She ran an effective team.

	But still some bugs had gotten through. Skuld tightened the 
grip on her hammer and began her search.