The life story of NEON-1432

Prologue

Hi, I am NEON-1432, and I form a really important part of NEON corporation. I am currently employed on a feature, live in production, happy, satisfied and serving close to a million users daily. I din't make all of this in one shot, neither was it sheer luck. Instead it was a cycle of learning, improvements, tests and finally deployment. It was hard reaching the pinnacle of my career, but I did make it. It was not always bliss for me, it was a difficult journey.

Chapter 1: The birth onto a card.

I was not always the ever performing functionality of the feature. I started out small, like every one else in my league. I started out as an Idea. I was born out of a 'business requirement'. I was an idea in some one's brain. There were great debates on whether I was required. Debates on whether I will be of use to the feature. Whether the feature itself would be of use.
I have seen many ideas been born, lucky ones like me saw the light of the day. There were the unlucky ones, who were pushed into the Idea bin, and never made out alive. This is where I feel that I was one among the chosen few. I feel privileged. I feel privileged that the humans thought I would be of use to them, and gave me life. I was born onto an unnamed card, clubbed under a feature. 'Inception', thats what the humans called it. I had my duties pre-determined for me by my creators, or so I was forced to believe. I was supposed to make the feature work.
I was born on a card

Chapter 2: The WAR room.

Just being born onto a card din't mean I would get to live till the end. I was part of a plethora of ideas all born onto a card. I was clubbed under a feature. There were many features. We were lined up, ordered, reordered, re-imagined, re-described. I saw cards being pulled off, put into the parking lot. I saw entire features being pulled off.
One of the memories I have from those days, haunt me still. It was a beautiful Idea. Young, energetic, newly born. I thought we could make the feature great. Give it the performance boost, save the feature an extra second. It was with me, lined up together with me. It was like a better half to me.
On the day we were supposed to make it to the final cut, the humans came up with a new Idea, a new requirement.

'We might have to move something out', I heard them say.

Some of the humans disagreed, some agreed. It was a tense moment, but it was already a lost battle. I had already lost my friend to some new Idea. I had lost my mate. I could see the tears in the eyes, as it was moved into the parking lot. I saw it fade.

That day I lost a friend, never to meet. I was sad, but what is sadness to an unnamed Idea like me. I could have very well been in that situation. Would someone grieve for me. I doubt.

Chapter 3: Childhood

You might be thinking, how an un-named Idea like me identifies to NEON-1432. Well, welcome to the naming ceremony. I was tagged, named, and linked. NEON-1432 was born. My complete identity was Feature X, Release 3, Iteration 13, NEON-1432. I did not quite understand what Release and Iteration meant, but I was in love with my name, NEON-1432. I was officially inducted into Feature X. I was literally born again, but, this time with an identity. I was placed alongside others who were tagged Feature X. It was here that I met NEON-999 from the same feature. It was tagged Release 2.
Even though we were all born during the same time frame, the Release tag decided the seniority. I was supposed to be the third generation, and NEON-999 the second.
I saw  Release 1 ideas being picked up first into the development cycle, some of whom I met post deployment, and others who were re-tagged and were deployed after me. Then there were others whom I never saw again.
They say the Development cycle is a cruel place to be in. They say it is the real testing grounds. They say it makes real functionalities out of mere ideas. They say it is hell on earth.
I am scared thinking about the day I get pulled into the development cycle. The day I move out of childhood, and learn the truths about life. The day I move out of the protective web of the feature lists. I fear that day, I feared that day, and that day did come.

Chapter 4: Youth Bubble.

I remember the day I was pulled into the development cycle. That day came un-announced, like a thief. The iteration manager had again played magic with the numbers. 'Velocity', thats what the humans called it. I was slotted to be picked up later, but I was given a priority.
I was scared, the first day in development cycle, I cried, I tried. I din't want to be there. I wanted to be home. I wanted to be safe in the feature lists.
The first day was rough. I was introduced to a pair of humans. My Idea was read out. I was thought upon, peered upon, judged. My existence was questioned, and answered, and finally handed to the hands of my human handlers. They were skeptical about me, and I had to prove my self. I had to make my self useful. Make my self important.

'This card is supposed to add searching capabilities to Feature X', I heard a human say.

The humans handlers debated about my abilities. They discussed what I was supposed to do. Then they taught me to fail. To fail first and learn from my mistakes. It was a quick rise, once a frail little child, but now an adolescent teen. I was taught many things, I was made aware of my full potentials. I had started to like my handlers. They were careful with me, they loved me like their own. They made feel home again.
Like every teenager, I had my own social profile, with daily status updates. I recorded my daily routine. I had my popularity number, my difficulty number. I felt like I was the master of the universe, but, what is adolescence without being bullied.
There were cards which were re-named as 'bugs'. I din't know what it meant, but I was always bullied by them. These cards made sure I was made to feel inferior to them. My human handlers couldn't help either. Their hands were tied, and they would give more importance to these Cards.
I remember the first push. I was pushed into the pool of the Feature. I was expected to function in unison with the feature. I was supposed not to break it. The CI/CD exams had finally arrived. I was supposed to prove my worth. Pass every test I was prepared for, first individually, and then in a group. There were tests which ran every push, every night or once in a week. I believe I succeeded, but I was slightly mistaken there.
Coming back to the bullying issue, it was my chance to be a bully. One of the pushes turned the tests red, and every Idea in the feature, including me were pushed back. I kind of enjoyed that day, where I stole the thunder out of a newly developed Idea. It was a fragile one, something around saving the search history. I believe, I kind of made that Idea cry that day, but who would judge me. After all, I was just a stupid teenager.

Chapter 5: The Drill Sergeants

'Youth is the gift of nature, but age is a work of art.'

I had not understood this phrase until the day I was handed over to the Quality Analyst, or QA as the humans call them. The QA made sure my life was hell. The QA made sure I was answerable. The QA made sure I satisfied every human need that was imprinted on me. I dreaded the QA, even my human handlers dreaded the QA. The QA was a drill sergeant, designed to break every feature, designed to find flaws. I saw my comrades pushed back. I saw my comrades turn to bullies, bigger bullies than I ever could be.
It took me a while to appreciate what the QA's did to me. I was a finally a functionality. I had shed the shell of an Idea, and had grown into a functionality.

I was ready to face the world.

Chapter 6: The World

Finally the day arrived, I was deployed as part of Release 3. There were old faces from the time of inception, some new, and some who had failed to make the previous cuts. I am a successful functionality, contributing to the overall Feature. I am still part of Feature X. I met NEON-999, post deployment. Initially NEON-999 was sceptical of me, but then once I had proved my worth, it was just pure love.
It was during one of my routine functionalities, I met an unnamed Idea. It said it was part of the legacy system, and wise for its age. At times irritating with its 'Back in our days, it took an entire deployment to get to know whether you live.'. It always had problems with the younger generation. 'Kids these days just won't understand patience with their instant feedbacks and unit tests.', but I value its wisdom, and I at time understand its loneliness, as it waits to be replaced by an upcoming functionality of the Feature.

I am happy now, It was hard reaching the pinnacle of my career, but I did make it. It was not always bliss for me, it was a difficult journey, but I am a functionality now, waiting to be replaced by a better Idea, or a better process.