The Message and an Introduction to SHEEP

I dialled the number with my mobile, and listened to phone on the other end ring over and over again. No one was picking up. I continued to listen until the answering machine took over and a deep gruff voice said: “Charles Retro here, meet me in Whitely, 15 Careview Estate, come alone.”

A beep followed, but there was no point leaving a message.

I hung up, thought to myself the significance of the message, the code must have been right, I must have deciphered something.

Contact Charles Retro?

I did that and now his voice was telling me to meet him in Whitely which was a good ways a way. I scratched my head, trying to think.

What did Charles Retro have to do with anything, what did he have if anything to do with me? I unzipped my back pack and pulled out the volume that my father had bought off Charles Neville entitled “Essential Things About Life,” I flicked through it something in my mind told me to read it, so I positioned my back to the wall and started reading.

In 1947 September 18, The National Security Act in the United States created the Central Intelligence Agency, or CIA. Elsewhere a new committee was formed called, SHEEP this handled and transmitted errors within a complex software system that until now has remained a secret.

This manuscript is the sole ownership of Charles Neville, who forms part of the SHEEP committee.

While all previous writings have been debateable as to their source, the writer as taken great care to describe and relate all he as been privy to over the years.

I turned the page

A few years back I was approached rather veraciously to join this team and to be in such a committee. Certain trial runs were done on trivial errors on some system subset nothing noteworthy or even thinking about, after which I was accepted.

Each error within the system was given a unique identifier. The format of these identifiers was usually standardised in the early stages of the system construction.

Errors were categorised by sub-type, usually relevant to the domain of the project.

The committee was composed from members in the system. The committee meetings were never of the personal nature and communication was done solely by e-mail correspondence.

A member of the committee team proposes the error, after which a debate occurs then followed by a between all members to determine if it is indeed an error and if it should be included in the list of errors. In most cases a majority vote was required but in certain instances certain members were had more weight in voting matters than others.

I put the book down, a strange book, to say the least, I surveyed the mess in room once again, thinking about Samantha and how she wanted the book, and how she had disappeared. Judging by the state of my apartment they were looking for something. I shook my head and continued to read.

I have been a member of SHEEP for three years now and my time working on such a committee has yielded certain truths and strange occurrences that I have not been able to explain. One thing that this work entails is secrecy no information regarding such a project is to be mentioned not even as small talk. Though since working on such an endeavour I find reason to write down my experiences and suggest that there is something greater than you and I.

I put the book down. It all sounds so absurd, I thought shaking my head.

SHEEP. Something greater than you and I?

So Charles Neville found religion? I shook my head again. Something was telling me that it wasn’t absurd and I had the book for a reason. Maybe someone was looking for the book, the detective mentioned it maybe they thought Samantha had it? Maybe Charles Retro could help? I threw the book in my backpack and slowly lifted myself off the ground. I would have to go looking for some answers--it was time to go to Whitely.