No. 6 — Too Many Ideas, Not Enough RAM

Miriam Tocino
Jul 28
2 min read

Updated: Sep 4

Mistakes aren’t failures: they’re clues to make something even better.

Sometimes the digital world feels like it was built by geniuses for geniuses.

But here’s a secret: behind every app, game, or invention, there’s a lot of messy code… and even more mistakes.

And that’s good news.

Because creating with technology isn’t about being perfect. It’s about trying, testing, breaking things, and starting again.

This story is about that.

It’s about getting lost in your own logic, feeling the heat of creative overload, and learning that sometimes, the smartest move is simply… to begin again.

A story with broken loops, rebellious flags, and a friend who reminds you: you’re already a genius, too.

Too Many Ideas, Not Enough RAM

Zerus was convinced that his FLAG MEMORY GAME would be the masterpiece of the century. He’d close his eyes and already picture himself at the Annual Digital Games Fair, with every bit in the Binary World applauding and going “ooooh!” in perfect harmony.

But there was one small problem.

Every time he put BRAZIL and JAPAN together… the machine said: CORRECT.

“CORRECT?! But Brazil and Japan don’t share a flag!” Zerus shouted, waving his arms like that might somehow fix the error through digital vibrations.

He tried again:

"CORRECT."

The machine spoke in a neutral voice. No feeling, no emotion. It had been well-trained — though you and I both know it was more like a parrot that doesn’t really understand anything.

That’s when Ona appeared at the door.

“What are you doing, Zerus?” she asked, curious.

“I’m testing my FLAG MEMORY GAME,” sighed Zerus dramatically. “But there’s this error I just can’t crack…”

Ona inspected the scene: cables like snakes, sticky notes even on the lamp, and a mug full of binary cocoa residue.

“Did you check your logic?” she asked, jumping into the mystery. “Clear your variables? Make sure the images aren’t corrupted?”

Zerus had tried everything. And then — the Bitpod started to vibrate!

New message incoming:

"CREATIVE OVERHEATING"

Red lights. Beeping. The fans roared like a thousand hairdryers switched on at once, and the memory cards flew into the air like wild little flags.

“Oh nooo! My flags!” shouted Zerus, trying to catch them mid-air.

Finally, the temperature dropped, and calm returned to the Bitpod. Ona sat down in front of the screen.

“This is wonderful!” she exclaimed, using her superpower of finding the beauty in everything.

“We can start again! But this time… with fewer cards and more focus.”

And so they did. They opened a new file and worked through it line by line:

Conditionals.

Loops.

Ifs and elses.

Time to test the code again: BRAZIL and JAPAN…

"INCORRECT," said the machine — proud, at last, to get it right.

Zerus jumped like he’d already won the Annual Digital Games Fair and turned to his friend:

“Ona, you’re a digital genius.”

“Zerus,” she replied with a universal truth, “we all are.”

Big Questions for Small Thinkers

Have you ever felt like something was “only for geniuses”? What happened when you tried it yourself?
If you could invent a game like Zerus’s, what would it be like? What images, sounds, or surprises would it have?
What do you think machines feel when they make a mistake? Nothing? Or maybe… a little bit of digital embarrassment?