Flea++

"I know a lot of people will never know or care about whether we use even a semi-rigorous kind of syntax: but for those people who do, I think we have a chance to tell a story, to talk to them in a way nobody has ever talked to them before."

- Jim Stewartson

Flea++, as it has been named by Halo fans in reference to C++, is a programming and command line syntax seen in the I Love Bees alternate reality game. It is used by the SPDR and the Seeker (aka "Pious Flea"). The former's use of the language may imply that the language is used in other UNSC constructs.

Overview
The language includes several operators. An exclamation mark prefixed to a word indicates that the word is a command. An angle bracket (">") in the middle of a statement tends to denote a question or some uncertainty; two such brackets (">>") serve as a highly-context-sensitive operator denoting some association.

Note that some commands were used exclusively by the Seeker. Such commands may not be used by the UNSC.

Keywords
The language has a large set of keywords, and makes use of various programming terms, which shall be explained here.


 * act
 * Action.


 * clean
 * A contextual keyword that is typically used with  to indicate the success of a cleaning- or destruction-related operation.


 * clear
 * A contextual keyword that may indicate safety or the completion of a command (particularly a destructive one).


 * clone
 * Copy.


 * confidence
 * A keyword appended to the end of a result. It is typically used to indicate the success or estimated success of an operation. is an integer. Known values are 100 (success), 22 (false-positive), 49 (failure to halt process), and 34 (not found).


 * crypt strong
 * A keyword appended to the end of certain commands. It may indicate the usage of strong encryption.


 * crypt weak
 * A keyword appended to the end of certain commands. It may indicate the usage of weak encryption.


 * dmg
 * An abbreviation for "damage".


 * extern proc
 * External process.


 * fail
 * Indicates that an operation or instruction has failed. It has also been used similarly to, a keyword present in other programming languages.


 * frgm
 * Fragment.


 * Host sector ______ or ______ sector
 * A keyword referring to the ______ sector of the host AI's core, where _____ is "tertiary", "secondary", or "primary".


 * Invntry 117649
 * Seeker-class AI.


 * Master command sector
 * A keyword referring to the host AI.


 * mem
 * Memory.


 * null
 * refers to the absence of data. In some cases (such as the null character), it refers to zero.


 * process ("proc")
 * A process is an instance of a running program. If, for example, two copies of the same program are running, then there is only one running program, but there are two running processes.


 * recurse
 * The verb for recursion.


 * rogue proc
 * An unrecognized and suspicious process. This term has also been seen in the Terminals, when Mendicant Bias attempts to redirect the player.


 * seq
 * Sequence.


 * si
 * Silicon.


 * success
 * Indicates that an operation or instruction has completed. It has also been used similarly to, a keyword present in other programming languages.


 * Vnum
 * An abbreviation for "version number".


 * unk
 * A keyword. It is the abbreviation of "unknown".

Commands and descriptors

 * !analyze
 * A context-sensitive analysis command.


 * !attach  
 * Apparently attaches the user to a target specified by the   parameter.


 * !bite  
 * Halts a running process.


 * !compare
 * compare, analyze


 * !config  : 
 * Configures a target.


 * !diag
 * diagnose


 * !handshk
 * Attempts to establish contact with something.


 * !init   proc
 * Seeker command. Initializes a process. is a parameter; it may specify the new process's name.


 * !invntry
 * Catalogs, lists, or classifies a set of objects.


 * !invoke
 * appeal to, usually used in regards to the master command sector (see below)


 * !kindle
 * Start/restart/activate.


 * !label
 * Assigns a name or identifier to a running process.


 * !law
 * Seeker command. Teaches the Seeker's ideology of seeking, beholding, and revealing the truth.


 * !mat  
 * Material. Identifies the type of material comprising  (which may be specified or implied).  is the result, often the  keyword.


 * !probe  
 * Investigates an object specified with the   parameter.


 * !reconst
 * Runs a low-level repair process. The command is an abbreviation of the word "reconstruct".


 * !seek
 * Seeker command. Looks for something, or to attempts to perform a task.


 * !splotch
 * destroyed


 * !transmit  
 * Seeker command. Transmits the data specified in the parameter. This command appears to require initialization (via ) before use.


 * !triage
 * emergency repair process


 * !verify
 * ensure accuracy or truth

In addition to regular commands, there are also command descriptors. Command descriptors occupy their own line, and take the form of a single word with a colon appended to it. Command descriptors describe the commands that follow them.


 * behold:
 * Seeker command. Refers to a discovery, realization, or sudden comprehension.


 * grope:
 * Refers to the act of searching blindly or uncertainly.


 * msg:
 * Denotes a message.


 * net:
 * Denotes a network command.


 * reveal:
 * Seeker command. Refers to the communication of some data to another intelligence.


 * surg:
 * Denotes repair or destroy commands. It is an apparent abbreviation of "surgery" or "surgical".

Code Examples
Here is a sample of Flea++ code, along with its fan-translated meaning. The code itself appears in an SPDR message announcing the Seeker's destruction. The sans-serif lines are commands used by the Seeker; the serif lines are the SPDR's commands.

grope: seeker > !attach Princess fail "msg: SPDR-5.14.3 evade evade evade !probe extern proc 1 rogue proc !bite rogue proc 1 recurse clean !splotch confidence 100

And now, the line-by-line translation.
 * indicates that the next line is uncertain.
 * The  indicates that the statement is a question. So the statement means that the Seeker is asking if it can attach to the Sleeping Princess.
 * indicates that its request has been denied (here,  acts as the Boolean   found in most human programming languages). The quotation mark indicates that a reason has been supplied; " " indicates that the reason takes the form of a message. The text of that message is simply "SPDR-5.14.3".
 * appears to be a Seeker command or keyword, and does not appear to have any effect.
 * In this line, the SPDR is investigating "external process 1". "External process 1" is the Seeker -- the Seeker was unable to attach to the Sleeping Princess, and is thus running from outside the Princess's systems.
 * This next line is the result of the  command. " " means that External Process 1, a.k.a. the Seeker, is a rogue, or malicious, process.
 * In this line, the SPDR tries to terminate the Seeker. The command's name ("bite") alludes to the SPDR's abbreviation, which resembles the word "spider". The keyword   likely indicates that the process used to "bite" the Seeker should run itself over and over until the Seeker is dead.
 * This line is the result of the  command. It indicates that the process has managed to   the system by killing  the Seeker. It further states that the SPDR is 100% confident that the Seeker is gone.

Another message from the Seeker, found on the hacked ilovebees website, contains this code: !init transmit proc !transmit truth

Princess friends>>seeker friends

In this code block, the Seeker starts a process for a transmission program, and then attempts to transmit the truth. (It can be assumed that  is a keyword or variable.) Furthermore, the Seeker makes an association, stating that the Sleeping Princess's friends are the Seeker's friends.