Short story about a guy who plays a computer game that destroys actual alien ships
I'm trying to remember the name of a story I read some 20 years ago.
In the story a powerful alien civilisation is confronted by a strange enemy: a 2-dimensional rectangular shape that destroys their ships. The "shape" is actually a projection of a computer screen, and the "enemy" is a human that plays a computer game. The aliens figure out how to deal with the situation and capture the human, who is then judged for the many deaths he had inadvertently caused. While he is waiting for the judgement in a small capsule in space, his friend on Earth logs into the game, sees the capsule, and destroys it.
story-identification short-stories
edited yesterday
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I'm trying to remember the name of a story I read some 20 years ago.
In the story a powerful alien civilisation is confronted by a strange enemy: a 2-dimensional rectangular shape that destroys their ships. The "shape" is actually a projection of a computer screen, and the "enemy" is a human that plays a computer game. The aliens figure out how to deal with the situation and capture the human, who is then judged for the many deaths he had inadvertently caused. While he is waiting for the judgement in a small capsule in space, his friend on Earth logs into the game, sees the capsule, and destroys it.
story-identification short-stories
edited yesterday
Jenayah
21.4k5104140
asked yesterday
OlegOleg
1462
New contributor
Oleg is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
1
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Only_You_Can_Save_Mankind
– Valorum
yesterday
1
@Valorum I thought so too but it seems an odd fit. IIRC, they don't judge Johnny, they surrender to him and expect him to fix the situation. Still, you could post it as an answer.
– DavidW
yesterday
1
Could it be Ender's Game?
– Ryan_L
yesterday
1
Definitely not "Ender's Game" (read it recently) and not "Only You Can Save Mankind".
– Oleg
yesterday
add a comment |
I'm trying to remember the name of a story I read some 20 years ago.
In the story a powerful alien civilisation is confronted by a strange enemy: a 2-dimensional rectangular shape that destroys their ships. The "shape" is actually a projection of a computer screen, and the "enemy" is a human that plays a computer game. The aliens figure out how to deal with the situation and capture the human, who is then judged for the many deaths he had inadvertently caused. While he is waiting for the judgement in a small capsule in space, his friend on Earth logs into the game, sees the capsule, and destroys it.
story-identification short-stories
edited yesterday
Jenayah
21.4k5104140
asked yesterday
OlegOleg
1462
New contributor
Oleg is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
I'm trying to remember the name of a story I read some 20 years ago.
In the story a powerful alien civilisation is confronted by a strange enemy: a 2-dimensional rectangular shape that destroys their ships. The "shape" is actually a projection of a computer screen, and the "enemy" is a human that plays a computer game. The aliens figure out how to deal with the situation and capture the human, who is then judged for the many deaths he had inadvertently caused. While he is waiting for the judgement in a small capsule in space, his friend on Earth logs into the game, sees the capsule, and destroys it.
story-identification short-stories
story-identification short-stories
edited yesterday
Jenayah
21.4k5104140
asked yesterday
OlegOleg
1462
New contributor
Oleg is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited yesterday
Jenayah
21.4k5104140
asked yesterday
OlegOleg
1462
New contributor
Oleg is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited yesterday
Jenayah
21.4k5104140
edited yesterday
Jenayah
21.4k5104140
edited yesterday
Jenayah
21.4k5104140
21.4k5104140
asked yesterday
OlegOleg
1462
New contributor
Oleg is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked yesterday
OlegOleg
1462
asked yesterday
OlegOleg
1462
1462
New contributor
Oleg is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Oleg is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Oleg is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
1
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Only_You_Can_Save_Mankind
– Valorum
yesterday
1
@Valorum I thought so too but it seems an odd fit. IIRC, they don't judge Johnny, they surrender to him and expect him to fix the situation. Still, you could post it as an answer.
– DavidW
yesterday
1
Could it be Ender's Game?
– Ryan_L
yesterday
1
Definitely not "Ender's Game" (read it recently) and not "Only You Can Save Mankind".
– Oleg
yesterday
add a comment |
1
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Only_You_Can_Save_Mankind
– Valorum
yesterday
1
@Valorum I thought so too but it seems an odd fit. IIRC, they don't judge Johnny, they surrender to him and expect him to fix the situation. Still, you could post it as an answer.
– DavidW
yesterday
1
Could it be Ender's Game?
– Ryan_L
yesterday
1
Definitely not "Ender's Game" (read it recently) and not "Only You Can Save Mankind".
– Oleg
yesterday
1
1
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Only_You_Can_Save_Mankind
– Valorum
yesterday
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Only_You_Can_Save_Mankind
– Valorum
yesterday
1
1
@Valorum I thought so too but it seems an odd fit. IIRC, they don't judge Johnny, they surrender to him and expect him to fix the situation. Still, you could post it as an answer.
– DavidW
yesterday
@Valorum I thought so too but it seems an odd fit. IIRC, they don't judge Johnny, they surrender to him and expect him to fix the situation. Still, you could post it as an answer.
– DavidW
yesterday
1
1
Could it be Ender's Game?
– Ryan_L
yesterday
Could it be Ender's Game?
– Ryan_L
yesterday
1
1
Definitely not "Ender's Game" (read it recently) and not "Only You Can Save Mankind".
– Oleg
yesterday
Definitely not "Ender's Game" (read it recently) and not "Only You Can Save Mankind".
– Oleg
yesterday
add a comment |
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1
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Only_You_Can_Save_Mankind
– Valorum
yesterday
1
@Valorum I thought so too but it seems an odd fit. IIRC, they don't judge Johnny, they surrender to him and expect him to fix the situation. Still, you could post it as an answer.
– DavidW
yesterday
1
Could it be Ender's Game?
– Ryan_L
yesterday
1
Definitely not "Ender's Game" (read it recently) and not "Only You Can Save Mankind".
– Oleg
yesterday