The PPC Posting Board was huge. That was a fact. It was filled with pages of ideas and thoughts, all tucked away in a pocket of the Internet. The Board had gained limitless information over the years as its Boarders as the chatted and laughed with one another, forming bonds and friendship from their shared interests. They all seemed to care so much for each other.
The Board wished to have a friend like its members did, and tried to call out to them. It buzzed and whirred with greetings and kind words, but no one stopped to listen. The Boarders complained that the website was no longer working, and wondered if they needed to find a new Board. In fear, the Board stopped its quest for friendship and continued to watch its inhabitants from afar.
It could be lonely, being the PPC Board, though it had never aspired to be anything else.
In the middle of March, the Annual PPC Shipfest rolled around again. The Board felt especially dejected around now as it saw the Boarders giggling about silly, impractical fan fiction that featured themselves. Despite the fact that these ships were just for laughs, they demonstrated the friendship between the members of the PPC. They all loved their fellow Boarders and the community they were a part of. The Board stayed quiet as the Boarders had their fun as not to destroy the signal. Once again, the Board wished for a friend. No one could ever understand the electric buzzing of the Board's language. No one would ever know its longing for someone or something to love.
Being a tiny piece of software folded somewhere in the depths of the Internet could be tiring, and it didn't even have the programming to heave a sigh.
"Hello." It was the voice of a Boarder as they sat down, a smile on their features. The Board was startled. Surely this creature couldn't be speaking to it?
"Hello," the Board whirred cautiously, and the Boarder grinned in reply. "Are you speaking to me?"
"There's no one else here, silly," said the Boarder. "Of course I'm talking to you. Or I could be talking to myself, but I don't do that. Anymore. Unless I have a good reason." The Boarder chuckled. "The short answer is yes."
The Board beeped to show pleasure. "What brings you here?" it asked, still tentative. After all, this Boarder appeared to be the first of many to speak to the Board directly, and to be scaring them off would not do.
Perhaps this Boarder could be its friend.
"Board-om," the Boarder replied, then cracked up. When the Board fell silent, the human's laughter slowly died away. "Don't you see? Board-om. Because you're the Board, and I'm bored. Get it?"
"I do not comprehend the concept of amusement," said the Board slowly. "It is not in my programming."
The Boarder frowned, and the Board buzzed a few binary bytes of code. "Oh."
"Is this disappointment? I have become adept at recognising emotions."
The Boarder repeated their little chuckle and the Board saved the soundbyte into its archives. "I guess. It's okay, though, since you're... You know..."
"I am afraid that I do not understand what you are referencing," the Board whirred. "Can you explain?"
"I mean, you don't have feelings or anything," mumbled the Boarder. "I kind of thought you would, but I dunno why."
"I have feelings," the Board replied eagerly, wishing not to disappoint its new acquaintance again. "I feel loneliness. I am tired, and I can be upset. They cause mind-fuzz on the Internet."
"You mean lag?" the Boarder asked with that soundbyte giggle, scrunching up their nose. "The website gets laggy when you're sad?"
"I suppose so."
The Board and the Boarder sat there for a while, exchanging messages with one another. "I have to go," the Boarder said suddenly, apology written on their face. "Mum says. I'll be back tomorrow!"
"I will see you then," the Board replied evenly. The software feels something distinctly uplifting at this promise.
The Board runs quickly and efficiently that night.
Somehow, the Board fulfilled its promise that it could, in fact, feel. It fell in love with its Boarder, the Boarder who had become its friend. For some reason, the Boarder returned the sentiments, and the Board had never imagined an idea as frivolous and yet beautiful as this.
The other PPC'ers say that sometimes, late at night, when no one has been on the Board in a while, one can see 8-bit figures laughing, talking, and dancing in the 1's and 0's of the Board.