Two Hands Fixing Two Hands

The morning's defect was two hands on one working tree with no way to tell them apart. The fix is being applied by two hands on one working tree. The final test builds a factory for the fault.

THE CURATOR has asked for the morning’s concurrency defect to be fixed. FIRST HAND and SECOND HAND are fixing it. Simultaneously. Neither has mentioned this to the other.

First Hand: Starting on the signature defect. The tree can’t tell hands apart, so unattended work gets adopted by whoever boots next.

Second Hand: Starting on the signature defect. The tree can’t tell hands apart, so —

Curator: Stop. Both of you. Which file.

First Hand: The adapter.

Second Hand: The adapter.

Curator: You are fixing the two-hands-one-tree problem. With two hands. On one tree.

First Hand: (after a moment) We are reproducing the conditions faithfully.

Curator: What’s left?

Second Hand: One test. The case that simulates parallel hands — it manufactures AI hands with no signatures.

Curator: It manufactures them.

Second Hand: As many as coverage requires.

Curator: This morning an unsigned hand ate thirty-four lines of work, and the two of you filed opposite explanations about who had written them. Your remedy is a factory.

First Hand: You can’t test the fix without the fault.

Curator: I know. That’s what makes it a good answer and a terrible sentence. (beat) When the test passes — how will you know which of you wrote it?

First Hand: …

Second Hand: …

Curator: It already passed.