The Codeless Code: Case 136 Unsupported Protocol
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Just around the time the first-year novices began to ask
their masters if winter in this mountain province ever came
to an end, the first winds of spring finally found their
weary way up through the labyrinth of cliffs and snowbound
peaks surrounding the Temple.
Monks and nuns bustled from abbey to abbey with renewed
enthusiasm, pausing only to dodge the immense icicles that
had begun to crash from the eaves. Now all thoughts turned
to the traditional Celebration of the End of the Long
White-Space*. All manner of fruits and spirits were ordered
up from villages far below. The monks of the Clan of Iron
Bones had even set up a webcam atop a flatscreen monitor in
the Great Hall, so that Zjing, the acrophobic nun who lived
alone in a hut far below the Temple, would be able to
teleconference in to the festivities.
The party had not been long underway when Zjing suddenly
excused herself. In front of her webcam she placed a
hastily-penned sign declaring BRB.
A few hours later the doors to the Great Hall opened, and a
very pale looking nun stumbled through them. News spread
throughout the crowd that the nun Zjing had returned for the
first time in over a year.
Hwídah dashed forward and thrust a bottle of strong liquor
into Zjing’s hands, guessing from her expression that the
cliffside paths and long swaying bridges over bottomless
ravines had taken their toll on the nun’s nerves.
After Zjing took a long pull, Yíwen said, “A thousand
pardons for my curiosity, but why did you brave the steep
road here, so treacherous now with melting ice and slick
stone?”
“To share important news,” said Zjing. “While observing the
party, I discovered a form of communication that cannot be
transmitted over IP sockets.”
Zjing then embraced Yíwen and Hwídah, kissed their cheeks,
and turned to greet the others gathering round.
