The Art of Rails®

Chapter 10. Code That Writes Code (That Writes Code)

The four rushed to Schema's side, but it was too late.

"Don't look at the television sets!" Rusty shouted in a choked voice.

Schema's body was lifeless, his eyes fixed forward in a shocked stare.

"Pick him up! We have to get to the headquarters! Matz!"

As the others moved to pick up Schema's body, attempting to displace their anguish with immediacy, Matz stood there staring at Schema, his mouth moving but nothing coming out.

"i...instance. instance_eval," he stammered, watching the others hoist Schema onto their shoulders. "They used instance_eval. Our own strength. How could they—what sick mind would—I wrote that feature."

Matz's vision was a blur. How many Ruby programs were watching television when the code broke through? It was mass murder. It was his fault! Schema! He clutched his head.

Rusty placed his hand on Matz's shoulder. "Matz. We have to go and we have to go quickly. It's not your fault. Pull it together."

"You—you don't understand. They must have sent code through the airwaves." Matz was in shock. "Any agile program who saw it would have executed it."

The other three looked at each other, the words sinking in. The wind blew a chill down the street.

"Rusty's right," Jen finally said. "We have to go." The four of them hoisted Schema onto their shoulders and began walking down the street in brisk silence. Web felt as if he had entered a dream. We want you to go to a protest, they had said. It will be a great first trip for the ...