Edit Avatar: Master PC meets The Matrix

[usable001]

For those who don't know, the premise of the "Master PC" series of stories by a wide variety of authors was that someone gets a program that allows them to alter themselves and other people. When they type in someone's name, a huge menu pops up containing all that person's stats: height, weight, hair color, eye color, measurements for everything from cup size to the length of individual bones. They also have a box where they can type in mind control commands.

In the movie, The Matrix, the protagonist learns that the life he has always known is a computer simulation. Inside that simulation, sentient programs—in the form of super-strong, super-fast men in suits and sunglasses—act as enforcers of the illusion.

***

My idea had a few parts:

1) Make the program available from any computer.

2) Make the interface much simpler.

3) Restrict the changes to the person typing. [Clicking on "User Name" and altering what is written there changes your name, not brings up someone else.]

4) Make the changes partially retroactive.

5) Shortly after the protagonist starts using the Edit Avatar program, they figure out their body is just an avatar in a simulation. And just like The Matrix, men in sunglasses and suits start looking for you.

 

[usable001]

A sample of my interface idea is below, but I think the meat of the story is what someone does with the program, not what it looks like.

While someone is trying to do something else, a DOS window pops up on their computer screen. To let out a bit of their frustration, they type a series of random symbols and letters, and a new screen pops up.

Centered across the top were the words "Edit Avatar". Just below that and to the left, it said "User Name", followed by my name: John Doe.

Below that were two images of myself, dressed in the clothing I currently wore, but posed a bit like the Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci, standing with my arms out and feet apart. One figure was labeled "Before" and one labeled "After. If I dragged my mouse across an image, both images moved, rotating or moving the view up or down. Between the two images was a Clothed/Nude toggle. When I clicked it to nude, the clothing disappeared. The images were accurate down to my appendectomy scar.

Below the figures was a text box and two buttons: "Reset" and "Preview".

I typed "remove appendectomy scar" in the text box and hit Enter. The cursor moved down a line, but nothing else changed. I clicked the Preview button, and the appendectomy scar vanished from the figure labeled After. In addition, the Preview button changed to Save Changes and Reset changed to Go Back. When I clicked Save Changes, the scar disappeared from the Before figure, the text box was once again blank, and the two buttons returned to Reset and Preview. I remembered typing in "remove appendectomy scar", but couldn't remember ever having one in the first place.

I then clicked Reset, and nothing changed.

Instead of a huge menu, the program has popups.

I typed in “increase penis size” and clicked Preview. A pop-up appeared that said, “Choose one item from each row.” The top row said Flaccid, followed by a row of pictures. At the end of the row, one of the choices was Never Flaccid. The second row was labeled Erect and had another series of pictures. I have no idea why someone would choose it, but Never Erect was an option. Finally, there was a button labeled Reset, which returned by back to my initial text box, which allowed me to manually alter what I had written.

 

[sirhugs]

I don't believe I need to explain the movie, The Matrix.

***

believe what you want, but never assume. I fell asleep halfway through that movie, and was happy that I did because I found it to be an obscene visual and auditory assault. So draw a blank at most Matrix references.

(not obscene in the pornography sense. It might be a porno, I'd never know, but kinda doubt it).

 

[usable001]

So draw a blank at most Matrix references.

I edited the OP. Not just summarizing The Matrix, but explaining how that reference applies.

 

[sirhugs]

I edited the OP. Not just summarizing The Matrix, but explaining how that reference applies.

not necessary bit thank you.
i was just in grumpy old man mode.

 

[usable001]

Explaining how the reference applies was necessary, whether or not the reader had seen The Matrix. "Men in suits in sunglasses show up" alone was insufficient.

 

[sirhugs]

Explaining how the reference applies was necessary, whether or not the reader had seen The Matrix. "Men in suits in sunglasses show up" alone was insufficient.

isn't there a trademark name for them, as i dimly recall?

 

[usable001]

isn't there a trademark name for them, as i dimly recall?

Not trademarkable: they were called "agents".

https://matrix.fandom.com/wiki/Agent

 

[Britva415]

I think "Men in Black" is probably trademarked but that's a different franchise.

The LOOK is not trademarkable though.

 

[TheLobster]

The LOOK is not trademarkable though

That's because no one has yet made it to the trademark office before getting flashed.

 

[Britva415]

:flasher in overcoat emoji: