Flea++

"I know a lot of people will never know or care about whether we use even a semi-rigorous kind of syntax: but for those people who do, I think we have a chance to tell a story, to talk to them in a way nobody has ever talked to them before."

— Jim Stewartson

Flea++, as it has been named by Halo fans in reference to C++, is a programming and command line syntax seen in the I Love Bees alternate reality game. It is used by the SPDR and the Seeker (aka "Pious Flea"). The former's use of the language may imply that the language is used in other UNSC constructs.

Overview

The language includes several operators. An exclamation mark prefixed to a word indicates that the word is a command. An angle bracket (">") in the middle of a statement tends to denote a question or some uncertainty; two such brackets (">>") serve as a highly-context-sensitive operator denoting some association.

Note that some commands were used exclusively by the Seeker. Such commands may not be used by the UNSC.

Keywords

The language has a large set of keywords, and makes use of various programming terms, which shall be explained here.

act

Unknown.

clean

A contextual keyword that is typically used with confidence to indicate the success of a cleaning- or destruction-related operation.

clear

A contextual keyword that may indicate safety or the completion of a command (particularly a destructive one).

clone

Copy.

confidence <value>

A keyword appended to the end of a result. It is typically used to indicate the success or estimated success of an operation. <value> is an integer. Known values are 100 (success), 22 (false-positive), 49 (failure to halt process), and 34 (not found).

crypt strong

A keyword appended to the end of certain commands. It may indicate the usage of strong encryption.

crypt weak

A keyword appended to the end of certain commands. It may indicate the usage of weak encryption.

dmg

An abbreviation for "damage".

extern proc

External process.

fail

Indicates that an operation or instruction has failed. It has also been used similarly to false, a keyword present in other programming languages.

frgm

Fragment.

Host sector ______ or ______ sector

A keyword referring to the ______ sector of the host AI's core, where _____ is "tertiary", "secondary", or "primary".

Invntry 117649

Seeker-class AI.

Master command sector

A keyword referring to the host AI.

mem

Memory.

null

null refers to the absence of data. In some cases (such as the null character), it refers to zero.

process ("proc")

A process is an instance of a running program. If, for example, two copies of the same program are running, then there is only one running program, but there are two running processes.

recurse

The verb for recursion.

rogue proc

An unrecognized and suspicious process. This term has also been seen in the Terminals, when Mendicant Bias attempts to redirect the player.

seq

Sequence.

si

Unknown keyword.

success

Indicates that an operation or instruction has completed. It has also been used similarly to true, a keyword present in other programming languages.

Vnum

An abbreviation for "version number".

unk

A keyword. It is the abbreviation of "unknown".

Commands and descriptors

!analyze

A context-sensitive analysis command.

!attach <target>

Apparently attaches the user to a target specified by the <target> parameter.

!bite <process>

Halts a running process.

!compare

compare, analyze

!config <target>:<command>

Configures a target.

!diag

diagnose

!handshk

Attempts to establish contact with something.

!init <name> proc

Seeker command. Initializes a process. <name> is a parameter; it may specify the new process's name.

!invntry

Catalogs, lists, or classifies a set of objects.

!invoke

appeal to, usually used in regards to the master command sector (see below)

!kindle

An unknown command.

!label

Assigns a name or identifier to a running process.

!law

Seeker command. Teaches the Seeker's ideology of seeking, beholding, and revealing the truth.

!mat <unknown_1> <unknown_2>

An unknown command. <unknown_2> is nearly always the si keyword.

!probe <target>

Investigates an object specified with the <target> parameter.

!reconst

Runs a low-level repair process. The command is an abbreviation of the word "reconstruct".

!seek

Seeker command. Looks for something, or to attempts to perform a task.

!splotch

destroyed

!transmit <what>

Seeker command. Transmits the data specified in the <what> parameter. This command appears to require initialization (via !init) before use.

!triage

emergency repair process

!verify

ensure accuracy or truth

In addition to regular commands, there are also command descriptors. Command descriptors occupy their own line, and take the form of a single word with a colon appended to it. Command descriptors describe the commands that follow them.

behold

Seeker command. Refers to a discovery, realization, or sudden comprehension.

grope

Refers to the act of searching blindly or uncertainly.

msg

Denotes a message.

reveal

Seeker command. Refers to the communication of some data to another intelligence.

surg

Denotes repair or destroy commands. It is an apparent abbreviation of "surgery" or "surgical".

Code Examples

Here is a sample of Flea++ code, along with its fan-translated meaning. The code itself appears in an SPDR message announcing the Seeker's destruction. The sans-serif lines are commands used by the Seeker; the serif lines are the SPDR's commands.

grope:
seeker > !attach Princess
fail "msg: SPDR-5.14.3

evade evade evade

!probe extern proc 1
rogue proc

!bite rogue proc 1 recurse
clean !splotch confidence 100

And now, the line-by-line translation.

• grope: indicates that the next line is uncertain.
• The > indicates that the statement is a question. So the statement means that the Seeker is asking if it can attach to the Sleeping Princess.
• fail indicates that its request has been denied (here, fail acts as the Boolean false found in most human programming languages). The quotation mark indicates that a reason has been supplied; "msg:" indicates that the reason takes the form of a message. The text of that message is simply "SPDR-5.14.3".
• evade evade evade appears to be a Seeker command or keyword, and does not appear to have any effect.
• In this line, the SPDR is investigating (!probe) "external process 1". "External process 1" is the Seeker -- the Seeker was unable to attach to the Sleeping Princess, and is thus running from outside the Princess's systems.
• This next line is the result of the !probe command. "rogue proc" means that External Process 1, a.k.a. the Seeker, is a rogue, or malicious, process.
• In this line, the SPDR tries to terminate (!bite) the Seeker. The command's name ("bite") alludes to the SPDR's abbreviation, which resembles the word "spider". The keyword recurse likely indicates that the process used to "bite" the Seeker should run itself over and over until the Seeker is dead.
• This line is the result of the !bite command. It indicates that the process has managed to clean the system by killing (!splotch) the Seeker. It further states that the SPDR is 100% confident that the Seeker is gone.

Another message from the Seeker, found on the hacked ilovebees website, contains this code:

!init transmit proc
!transmit truth

Princess friends>>seeker friends

In this code block, the Seeker starts a process for a transmission program, and then attempts to transmit the truth. (It can be assumed that truth is a keyword or variable.) Furthermore, the Seeker makes an association, stating that the Sleeping Princess's friends are the Seeker's friends.