The bot pinged. That was what it was designed to do: ping. Every time the selected keyword turned up – ping. Every time someone expressed interest in the selected corner of the internet – ping. Every time the designated parameter was fulfilled – ping.

Overall, the bot did a lot of pinging. Pinging was its purpose in being, and pinging was what it did. It was a good bot.

Unfortunately, no one had told the bot that the target of its dutiful pinging was no longer in service. The servers shut down, the operators laid off, the business bankrupt. It didn’t know. But it pinged. Into the void, it pinged, forever.