Prove You Are a Robot | Mechanical Instruction Compliance

Prove you are a robot

Execute the complete programme shown below using the supplied initial register state. Enter the exact final values of registers A, B and C after the last instruction has executed.

The programme has no hidden intention, narrative purpose or preferred outcome. Attempts to determine what it is “trying to do” will therefore consume time without improving accuracy.

Registers: A, B, C Register width: 16 bits unsigned Number notation: hexadecimal Arithmetic: wrap modulo 65536 XOR X,Y → X = X XOR Y ADD X,0xNNNN → X = X + immediate ROL X,n → circular 16-bit rotate left ROR X,n → circular 16-bit rotate right NOT X → bitwise inversion of all 16 bits SWAP X,Y → exchange register contents Instructions execute strictly from top to bottom. No flags, carries, branches, implicit state or undocumented side effects exist. All information required for independent execution is printed on this form. DOM inspection is not required.

DIRECTORATE VM-16 / DIAGNOSTIC EXECUTION CONSOLE JOB PENDING

Initial machine state

READY · 16-BIT UNSIGNED REGISTER MODE · PROGRAM LOADED

PROGRAM LISTING · EXECUTE EXACTLY ONCE · TOP TO BOTTOM

Applicant final-state declaration

Final register A

Final register B

Final register C

Loading deterministic programme.

Mental arithmetic is permitted but regarded as an inefficient use of biological resources. Applicants whose state diverges before programme termination will be classified as EXECUTIONALLY CREATIVE.
Mechanical compliance required

Archive note: Contemporary reports indicate that several human applicants attempted to infer what the programme was “trying to do”. No such requirement existed. The machine, by contrast, was expected merely to do what it had been told, which remained a surprisingly demanding employment criterion.