The internet has a new favourite member of the living dead: the digital fruit fly. A tiny Ghost in the Shell. People are putting it into games, and seemingly everyone has had a go at experimenting with its virtual brain. We couldn’t resist either.
Meet our fly-Doomguy.
In our little story, its poor brain is trapped on E1M1, trying to find a way out. A familiar base, corridors, doors. Tiny legs scuttle across the floor. The fly turns a corner, looks around, and sets off again. Maybe the exit is over there?
An algorithm runs this version of the little ghost: it picks a destination and sends movement signals, while the virtual “brain” diagram displays their activity. There is no actual connectome here — this is our playful take on the digital fly.
Still, watching it feels a little unsettling. It seems doomed to wander this base forever. It won’t even get to meet death: in our story, its digital brain is immortal. No victory screen. No game over. Just the next corridor.
Not quite how I pictured immortality. Brr.
You can watch the fly wander back and forth. If you want to know who picks the route and what its virtual brain displays, the follow-up explaining how it works is now ready. Enjoy.