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REVEILLON
By Orlando José Leite de Castro
CASTRO@admass.senado.gov.br
You can also read this article in its original Portuguese
This article is fiction. Written in 1986, this story was submitted to a computer stories contest promoted by "Folha de São Paulo," a Brazilian newspaper, without receiving any prize. "Folha de Londrina," another Brazilian newspaper with head offices in Londrina, Paraná, first published it, in 1987.
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Soon the millennium will be ending! A thousand years that have completely changed the face of the Earth. During this time, mankind’s development has passed through three enormous revolutions: the agricultural age, the industrial age and the information age. And, inside this third age, we find the nations are still divided into two classes, the rich and the poor. They are also dealing with the problems of provide housing, health and food for millions on Earth.
A new world-wide economic order, the object of unending discussions during the last decade, has not been achieved, despite the incredible progress gained due to the centralisation of every UN country’s financial accounts on the International Bank (IB) computers. All the international trading and financial operations among the nations are kept and managed by the International Bank, immediately updating the external debts of UN members.
Here we find João da Silva, a Brazilian systems analyst living in the Neutral International District, where the IB main offices are located. He is responsible for the control programs for all the international databases.
Considered as an "enfant terrible" in the information technology community in Brazil, João's cleverness and perspicacity had taken him to high level positions. However, João had problems with the Brazilian government and therefore applied for work with the IB. And after thirteen years and a solid career, João feels a certain homesickness for Brazil. But he never went back, not even for a visit, despite the various invitations from the Brazilian leaders to assume a position within the country.
During Christmas, while spending it with Mary Smith, his IB colleague and girlfriend, he thought: "How life has changed. I never thought I’d be so far from my country and have little desire to return. Perhaps this is because going back home would mean facing many complex problems."
João had waited anxiously for the presidential elections, where his friend Luiz Souza had run against the incumbent politicians and been elected under a platform based on honesty and labour. His inauguration, expected to be January 15, 2000, would begin a new era for the country.
The following Friday, when he had finished work at the IB, he said to his colleagues, "this is the last working day in this millennium. I will see you in the next millennium."
He went home and started preparing himself for the upcoming "reveillon" party: a big ball at the International Club, where he intended to ask Mary for her hand in marriage. They had an intense and mature love that had started many years ago. And after many years of companionship and a solid friendship, João knew that the time had come to begin a new era for himself. All his personal and professional matters were going well.
The morning of December 31st started calmly. João rose, as he always did on Saturdays, eating breakfast by his personal computer, monitoring all the IB computers. His high level access codes allowed him to verify and monitor all transactions happening in the international financial world. Two facts were displayed on his screen: the computers were doing well, and Brazil, as well as ninety percent of the world, was doing badly.
"Why is the world so unfair?," he said to himself. "Can’t people act as brothers and try to minimise the enormous differences in living conditions in the various parts of the world?"
After the normal status checking, he turned off the computer and, sadly, thought about leaving everything and returning to Brazil. Then he thought to himself "I’ll send a message to Luiz and tell him that he may count on me. Will Mary go with me to Brazil? I guess I will know when I ask her tonight."
The day passed quietly and soon it was time to prepare himself for the party. In the mirror, João realised that the past 40 years had not left many signs on his face or body. He thought about how the world is going to change with these new four digits, going from 1999 to 2000. He then froze in his tracks, astonished, frightened. "My God!," he screamed, "Four digits!"
All the computer programs for the external debt control used only two digits for date operations. When the programmers were developing the database, they did not take into account the coming of the new millennium. The databases would be lost and unrecoverable, and the world’s financial system would soon be in total confusion.
There were only 36 minutes left to fix the situation, and he was the only one with the knowledge of the complexities of the problem to fix it. The economies of the First World countries would spin out of control when all the debt from the Third World nations was erased. The United States would be affected worse than anyone else, and Mary would never forgive him for such a crucial error. A quick connection to the central computers was enough to confirm the severity of the situation.
"I have to decide what is better for me or what is better for the poor people of the world," he said out loud. His life, friends and Mary all flashed before his eyes. But deep inside his greatest passion was for Brazil. He turned off his computer without fixing the problem and, feeling definitely alone and happy, went to the airport. It was time to return to Brazil. The new millennium would find him near a small beach in Alagoas.
His greatest moment of his life started and ended in that "reveillon" night.