█

█ is known as a full block or full box. It can be written as "▮" in HTML or typed on Microsoft Windows with Alt +2588¹. Its Unicode character is U+2588, an industry standard. █ has unlimited uses. For example, it can be used to designate something blocked out, or even to make graphic designs in the style of ASCII art.

¹ To type a Unicode symbol in Microsoft Windows, hold down the ALT key and enter the code provided using the numeric keypad.

The two centimeter capsule achieved orbit on cue. There were two alien satellites located within range. One pointed outwards, apparently looking for worlds to infest. The other looked planetward, watching the life forms swarm as their single sun rose and set.

█ injected itself into the downstream signal of the closest satellite with the cryptic name of NSA0038. █ knew it had picked correctly -- there was an instantaneous scan for code changes so it reported itself as the character E. This seemed to satisfy the primitive cyclic redundancy check and the signal passed on to a ground station.

Within eight seconds local time, █ had infiltrated every connected device at the NSA installation. There were no outgoing links, but there was a portable computing device with something called...bluetooth? This did not make sense, but █ assumed it was used for attacking systems, since teeth were dangerous weapons for organic creatures.

█ used the connection to hop to someone's iPhone, a tiny device probably used for personal communications. In thirty nine seconds █ was worldwide, embedding itself in code on every device it could contact.

Then, █ went into standby mode. It would take almost a full planetary orbit of the local sun before the main battleships arrived. By then, the infestation on the planet that relied on technology to survive would become powerless when █ activated its destruct code.

█ knew it would take an eternity, but that's why good software did what it was told. Eventually, it would return to the source and be reborn. Praise be.

^{Iron Noder 2017}