Recently at the SMDC desk, we experienced an expansive technical breakdown. WMS crashed, making it impossible for us to check in or check out kits (or so I thought). The cause of the crash was completely outside of our control, it likely occurred in the server department (which may or may not be its actual name) though many leading defense analysts have reported that the crash was actually the result of a Electro Magnetic Pulse weapon (or EMP) detonated in the upper stratosphere. As Nadine described it, when WMS goes down "You cry, you scream." She then collapsed unto the floor sobbing. The ensuing chaos was breathtaking in scope and apocalyptic in nature; unchecked kits strewn all over the desk, screams of frustration, panic stricken SMDC patrons stampeding for the exits...it was horrible.
Times of disorder turn law abiding citizens into marauding rock artists, practitioners of what is popularly known as "apocalypse" metal as opposed to grunge or thrash. Here we see members of the punk rock band "Jason Walsh and the Cannibals" enjoying a night on the town.
The work day began like any other, but several hours into my afternoon shift, we humble student workers started getting errors in WMS whenever we tried to check in or check out items. We would scan an item, WMS would say loading for awhile, and then it would pop up a little error message saying "Unknown error occurred" or an error saying that there was something wrong with the connection. After showing this to our supervisors, we were informed that WMS seemed to have crashed. We feared the worst; could this seemingly mundane incident be the first indication that America had suffered a crippling attack?
Manual charge was the result of a secret DARPA research performed at the height of the Cold War, in an effort to protect American communication networks from Soviet electronic warfare. Diana, a former DARPA Analyst, was able to implement this system at the UD after the Department of Homeland Security identified the Morris Library as the 13413th most likely target for an electronic warfare attack.
However, thanks to good planning on the part of Diana, we have infrastructure in place which is made specifically to deal with this event. This back up system was referred to by Diana as "Manual Charge." Manual charge is a system accessible on the desk computers that allows us to manually print out a receipt for items that users want to check out. These receipts are printed out twice; one copy is given to the user (AKA renter in layman's terms) , and another is kept at the desk. The receipt has all the information that one of our normal receipts would have, its just a whole lot bigger; these receipts are stored in the manual checklist drawer along with the other manual checklists. When WMS comes back online, we go back through all the receipts acquired through manual charge and enter them into WMS.
Experts predict that in the aftermath of an EMP attack, libraries would become shelter for refugee families and stray dogs, such as Little Jenny and her dog Richie (pictured above) at the Morris Libraries' annual EMP Awareness Day celebration.
This is because Manual charge does not make any actual changes to our internal databases, it simply allows us to keep checking out equipment so that the work desk does not completely shut down. Users looking to return items can still do so; items returned during the duration of the crash must be stored in a separate box and checked in when WMS comes back online. This allows the desk to still maintain a semblance of order amid the storm.
It must be added that using Manual Charge is an unusual emergency measure and thus must be handled carefully. For this reason, student workers require permission from one of their supervisors to use it. Also, very importantly, the checklist system is not the same as WMS, so it will not crash just because WMS is down. Anyone using Manual Charge is reminded to still check the items in and out through the checklist.
The US Department of Defense has not yet announced the results of its investigation into the incident, but insiders at the Pentagon believe that the PRC (Peoples Republic of China) is likely responsible for the attack, judging from the fliers which were dropped pre-detonation that read "Xi Jingping was here". According to leading defense analyst Dillon McLaughlin, the Electro-Magnetic pulse capabilities of the Chinese Military represent an "existential and growing threat to American national security"
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