Source Code Seen On The TV Series The 100

In the latest episode of the TV series The 100, there is a scene where a large screen shows condensed, scrolling text that is suppose to represent a person who has had their brain uploaded to a computer chip.

The 100 Season 6 Episode 6 "Memento Mori" 00:27:00

After some investigating, it appears that the majority of the code is from the OpenBSD kernel source. The source code being used is specifically from the src/sys/net/pf.c file, which is written in the C programming language. The pf is short for packet filtering. Packet filtering is used to selectively block or pass data packets as they move through the networking interface. Packets can be filtered based on criteria such as address, port, and protocol.

The following is the full C function prototypes for some of the visible source code.

void pf_print_state_parts(struct pf_state *,
  struct pf_state_key *, struct pf_state_key *);

int pf_test_state(struct pf_pdesc *,
  struct pf_state **, u_short *, int);

int pf_icmp_state_lookup(struct pf_pdesc *,
  struct pf_state_key_cmp *, struct pf_state **,
  u_int16_t, u_int16_t, int, int *, int, int);

The source code appears to be mixed together in a nonsensical way, with random line numbers aligned on the left-hand side. Comparing the real source code to the show, it looks like the pointer syntax, which is represented by the * symbol, is duplicated by a multiple of two. This can be seen in the source code struct pf_state_key_cmp *, struct pf_state **,, and the show struct pf_state_key_cmp **, struct pf_state ****,. The code snippet, [/|\][/|\][/|\]===[/|\][/|\][/|\] interleaved with the OpenBSD source is not valid C code, and appears to be added solely as decoration.

Looking through the lens of the show, it makes sense that the chips would run OpenBSD, as it is regarded as one of the more secure operating systems available. Another practical reason to use OpenBSD is the permissive license which the source is licensed under. The BSD license is compatible with proprietary software, allowing the chips occupants to keep the code that makes up who they are closed source, which would seem important for a chip that contains all of who you are.