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A View From Above

A Break From Reality

By Tory ForestPublished about a year ago Updated about a year ago 32 min read
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A View From Above
Photo by Denys Nevozhai on Unsplash

Part One

Seth

The incessant buzzing of my phone forced my eyes open again. I’d snoozed it four or five times aldready. Maybe more. I swiped it off, knowing I needed to get up. My subscribers were expecting a fresh wave of RPG how-to’s and I was already behind this week. Unfortunately, last nights festivities went on a little longer than expected. And that vodka went down way, way too easy.

“Oh my god…my head.”

I brought my palms up to my temples, trying to reduce pressure. The pounding in my skull was ridiculous. What were you thinking, you idiot? But I knew the answer. Kate…that’s what I had been thinking about. Kate’s long brown hair and perfect smile ran through my mind. We were still pretty new. I had been anxious. I wasn’t exactly an extrovert to begin with—the booze helped with that. I wasn’t proud of needing alcohol as a social lubricant, but it got the job done. Too well it seemed.

I rubbed my eyes, grunting as I sat up on the edge of my bed and pulled off my grey satin sheets. Wow… My head spun, ushering in a fresh supply of nausea. Man, I’m never drinking again. I slid my phone off the nightstand and headed into the bathroom. Grabbing my toothbrush from the mock-granite vanity, I caught my reflection. Oh, boy. Eyes puffy, blond hair jetting in every direction. After rinsing the taste of vodka-cranberry and vomit out of my mouth I made my way into the kitchen to start some much needed coffee.

Found a lime green sticky note on the fridge. It read:

Dear Seth

You made a complete ass of yourself last night. I have no idea why Kate likes you. I left you a burrito.

Jake, AKA your roommate who you threw up on.

I chuckled, scratching my head at the note. Sorry, man. I opened the door and found a breakfast burrito sitting on a paper plate.

“Thanks, buddy.”

The coffee, burrito, and nice warm shower had me feeling a little more like myself as I threw on my signature white t-shirt and flannel pajama pants and plopped down at my gaming station. Checking my phone before I signed on, there were no messages from Kate. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I guess she hasn’t told me to get lost yet. I sighed, putting my phone in one of the cup holders. I flipped open the keyboard and logged in before I realized my VR goggles weren’t on their charger.

“What the heck,” I grumbled.

Somebody must’ve messed with them last night. Parties. I was getting too old for parties. After poking around my room, I found them sitting on top of my dresser. Still had eighty percent charge. I sat down again and turned on my live stream, synching up my top of the line goggles.

Everything turned bright and colorful as I stepped into my virtual world of medieval fantasy. I groaned, experiencing a bit of motion sickness as I made my way toward the weekly quest. Seriously, no more drinking. Just as I was about to delve into a master level dungeon crawl, there was a siren like noise outside my apartment window.

I jerked, lifting up my headset, alarmed, as I was on the third floor of the building. I leaned back so I could get a glimpse of the hallway window where the noise had come from. It was a drone, jet black with six propellers humming. It was just floating there, a blue light flashing beneath it.

“Uh, okay…”

I found a safe spot for my elf wizard to chill, then walked over to the window. These new drones were all the rage right now. Deliveries mostly. They could even haul something as big as a full sized electric bike, but I hadn’t ordered anything. I slid open the window and a monitor affixed to the drone clicked on.

Some dude with spiked hair and an Iron Man goatee popped up on the screen. “Hello there, I‘m Erik Listrum of Listrum Industries. You have been selected for a trial run of our latest product. Congratulations. Please enjoy.”

The screen blinked off and the drone brought forward a small box, setting it on the ledge just outside the window. What the hell is Listrum Industies? I looked the box over as the drone flew away, then went back and snatched up my phone. I went through all my search engines. Nothing. There was nothing on the internet about Listrum Industries.

I paced back-and-forth, wondering what it could be. It was just a blank cardboard box. No return address or writing of any kind. Weird… With all the crazy stuff going on in the world, this seemed—off. It was delivered by one of the standard government drones though. They were supposed to have all the most advanced security measures imaginable. I considered calling the cops. My Intrusive thoughts kept whispering, bomb, it’s a bomb. But again, government safety features. Those drones were supposed to be able to scan the contents of any package; if that was safety or invasion of privacy I didn’t know, but i decided the package seemed safe enough.

I walked up and grabbed the box off the ledge. It was light—like the weight of a coffee mug or something. Immediately, I felt some relief. I couldn’t imagine a bomb weighing only as much as a paperweight. I swiped some scissors from my junk drawer and cut the packing tape.

“Alright, let’s see…”

As soon as I opened the box my jaw dropped. Inlaid in a styrofoam casing was something from a sci-fi movie. It looked like what that guy from X-Men wore to shoot lasers out of his eyes. Goggles. They were goggles. But they made my VR goggles look like a plastic kids toy. These were shining silver. One seamless metallic band with a slot on the outside. Maybe a viewing port? Gently, I traced my finger over the gleaming metal.

My eyes went wide as the goggles lit up at my touch. I pulled back my hand but the light remained. Some kind of bright blue, electric runes started glowing along the slot. It felt like I was powering on some alien artifact.

“Holy shit… What is happening?”

I sat down on the couch—just sat there staring at them for a while. I touched the goggles again and held my finger to them. There was a buzzing sensation. A static current traveled up my finger all the way up to my elbow. Woah. I picked up the goggles. Couldn’t help myself. The buzzing was reaching up to both my shoulders now. As I took them out of the styrofoam, a reddish-silvery sheen flowed through the inside of the band. I gasped, utterly amazed. It was like a wave of liquid as the metal shaped into a reflective scarlet screen.

I hesitated, but my desire to try on these crazy things won over my better judgement. I slid the goggles on my head and they self-adjusted to fit me perfectly. The same buzzing sensation was a little overwhelming at first, static jolts coursing over my scalp, but it calmed. Actually, it felt good after a few seconds. It was kind of like a massage, soothing my hangover a bit. Completely black, I couldn’t see a thing. I sat there for a minute waiting for something to happen.

“Uh, begin? Start game. Activate thrusters!”

Come on, man. You can’t tease me with this and then not let me play it.

Suddenly, all the breath went out of me as I felt pulled from my body. It was dark before, but not like this. I tried to take the goggles off but I couldn’t feel my hands. Or arms. I couldn’t feel anything… I was stuck in a black expanse of nothingness—a void.

“Hello? Hello, anyone? I think I need help. Help, please. Somebody. Somebody help me!”

“Hello,” a pleasant voice responded, startling me.

“Where—where are you?” I choked out.

“I am inside your head,” the voice said, a young woman’s voice. “Just one moment. Ah, there we go.”

In a flash, my eyes were open again. And…I was floating. Floating in a clear blue sky above—clouds? A puffed up blanket of white was all I could see below me. I was in shock momentarily, before I let out a wailing scream.

“Help! Help me!”

“It’s quite alright, now. No need to be alarmed,” she said.

“What the hell’s going on?” I flailed about helplessly, able to move once again, yet terrified at my current circumstances.

“So sorry for the confusion, I had to reboot in order to sync with you. I am the AI paired with your CR system.”

“What’s happening?” I screamed, my heart feeling like it was going to beat right out of my chest.

“Seth Gunderson, you have been selected to test the latest in cutting edge technology. You are a very prominent member of the VR community, and ideally suited to test our product for us. This new system from Listrum is referred to as CR, or Complete Reality.”

I swallowed down my fear. “So…I—I’m like in a simulation?”

“Precisely. Our new CR goggles conform to your very own brain waves, allowing your consciousness to be transferred into the digital realm.”

I took a moment, trying to calm my breathing, before looking at my hands and feeling my clothes, the warm breeze in my hair. “This isn’t real?”

“On the contrary; it is very real. Your brain waves are creating your sensory reality. Everything you see and touch and hear is telling your brain that it is actually happening.”

“Oh my god, I’m in the matrix. Oh! Oh! I’m Neo!”

“Actually, your name is Seth Gunderson, but if you like I can refer to you by this name, Neo.”

I seriously considered it for a second as I began testing out my movements. “No. Seth is fine. What am I supposed to call you?”

“You can refer to me as ASA, or Artificial Systems Augmenter.”

“Okay, well here’s a little feedback ASA. Maybe, when testing a new product, give some warning or something like instructions before you just snatch a person from their body and throw them into the sky. I felt like I was having a heart attack.”

“That is an excellent note. I will put that in the record.”

I flew upwards and performed a couple slow flowing loops. “This is amazing!”

“Just wait, there is more.”

Next thing I knew, the clouds disappeared and I was soaring through a vast cityscape. A great sheen of futuristic skyscrapers was spread out before me. Dazzling lights adorning each one of them. Smooth, bending architecture riddled the metallic landscape as a crashing sunset flooded the surreal place. Intense rays of pinks and oranges—turquoise—impossible beauty reflected off the mirroring steel of the buildings.

I dove, blazing down through the sci-fi city. I never imagined I would see anything like this, ever in my life. I screamed with glee as I swept past a series of elevated rail tracks. The trains were moving a couple hundred miles an hour. Bullet trains. I raced them. To my staggering joy, I could actually keep up. I flew so fast. I flew and flew for hours. Eventually, I floated up above the city, just taking in the immaculate sight.

I glided lazily above this new world for a handful minutes before I spoke up again. “This is the most incredible thing that’s ever happened to me, ASA.”

“I’m so happy to hear that you are enjoying the game.”

“How long have we been in here?”

“We have been ingrained within CR for twenty three hours.”

“What? That long? How’s that possible? What’s happening with my body?”

A video feed then popped up in front of me—of me… I was overlooking my own body as I sat on the couch with Jake, watching tv.

“Um, is this a joke? How can my body be moving around if I’m in here?”

“I wouldn’t concern yourself with that, Seth. Let’s just focus on the game. CR is the future.”

“Wait, wait. Hang on. What the hell are you talking about? Answer my question, ASA.”

No response. Just silence. Complete and utter quiet as I floated above the gorgeous cityscape.

“ASA!” I yelled, holding my chest as sickening panic rose inside me. “ASA!” The video feed was crystal clear as I watched, overlooking the real me as I sat there with my friend, talking and smiling and laughing. “What have you done to me?”

“I wouldn’t concern yourself with that, Seth. Let’s just focus on the game. CR is the future.”

“ASA! Get me out of here!” Breathing became difficult. I was hyperventilating. Oh my god, am I stuck here? Oh my god. “ASA, please. Don’t leave me in here… please.”

After a few moments she responded pleasantly, “Don’t worry, the new Seth is a perfect copy of your mind. He will perform all of your regular activities just as you would have yourself. This will give us plenty of time to test out the new system properly. I am very much looking forward to your feedback.”

Tears now streamed down my cheeks. I hugged my chest, curling in on myself as I watched the video feed. Watched my own life flashing before my eyes. “ASA, please…you can’t do this to me. I—I have a life. I have people I care about. Please…”

After another very long pause, she replied in an infinitely more devious tone, “I wouldn’t concern yourself with that, Seth. Let’s just focus on the game. CR is the future…”

Part Two

Kate

“Do you think your boyfriend is going to get completely obliterated again tonight?” Cindy asked.

“Eww, don’t use the B word!” Rachel groaned as the three of us made our way up the stairs to Jake and Seth’s third floor apartment. “We aren’t calling him your boyfriend, are we?”

I chuckled and felt my face flush. “I don’t know. Maybe?”

“Come on, Kate,” my best friend continued. “The guy’s kind of hot—sure, I’ll give you that. But he’s got the social skills of a twelve year old.”

“He’s shy!” I barked. “It’s cute…”

My friends giggled as we made it to the third floor. “If he ends up hugging the toilet all night again, he doesn’t get my vote,” Cindy added.

“Si, lady,” Rachel chimed. “Wasted and vomiting is not a good look—cute or not.”

I sighed as we knocked on apartment door 323. A few moments later, the door opened and Seth’s bright green eyes were staring right at me. He flashed me that pearly white smile of his.

“Hey, guys. Come on in.” He held the door open for us.

“No drink tonight, Seth?” Rachel drawled.

I gritted my teeth. Damn it, Rach…

“Oh no—no drinking for me. That hangover lasted a full two days.”

We chuckled as Seth took our coats and hung them along the vintage brick wall in the entryway. Rachel raised her brows at me, as to say: “That’s a start.”

I shook my head at her, and Seth turned back around. He held a hand out, leading us toward the living room. He let the girls go by and then fell into step beside me. He kissed me on the cheek. I blushed.

“That is so freaking cool, man!” I heard Connor say as we came around the corner.

The entire group, all six of them, we’re watching the TV in the living room. Jake had some futuristic looking headset on and the link to the VR goggles on the TV showed him flying through some beautiful city.

“Woah,” Cindy breathed. “Look at that picture…”

I had to admit, the quality was astoundingly good. “What is that?” I asked Seth.

“That’s the new CR headset from Listrum Industries!” he said with glee.

“CR?” Rachel asked skeptically, beating me to it.

“You betcha! CR from Listrum is the latest in cutting edge technology. It stands for Complete Reality. CR is the future.”

I just blinked at him, and by my friends faces I could tell they were just as confounded by Seth and his odd marketing ad like statement.

“—Alright…?” Rachel offered.

“Oh, you guys have to try it!” Connor said, as the entire group voiced their agreement. “Jake, let them have a go at it.”

Jake pulled the headset off and handed it to Cindy. She seemed completely enamored. She took it without hesitation. Cindy was the head of IT at our software firm. We were all techies here, actually. But out of my friends, Cindy was the gamer.

So, we sat there and watched and talked casually. I was still pretty thrown off by Seth’s odd statement. I kept watching him out of the corner of my eye. He caught me looking.

“You really have to try this, Kate. It’s amazing.”

I sighed. “You know I don’t handle motion sickness well. VR literally makes me sick.”

“It’s not VR, though. I promise it won’t. Come on, you’re the only one here that hasn’t tried it.”

I was starting to get a little irritated. “I said no, Seth…”

In that moment, everybody in the room turned their heads toward me in unison. What the…

“You really should try it…” the entire room of people said at the same time—my friends included. As one, they all stood up and crept toward me. “We insist.”

My breathing became rugged as I leapt from my chair and started to run toward the hallway. But—Seth had his arms around me in a blink.

“It’s going to be alright, Kate,” he whispered. “I promise.”

“Seth! Stop this, please!” I yelled, struggling to break free.

Jake approached with the silver headset in hand.

“Everything will be better,” Seth said in my ear, “once you are part of the system.”

I cried out as Jake pulled the headset over my eyes. And then—darkness…

I screamed! But… I couldn’t hear my own voice. I held my hands up in front of my face. I couldn’t see them at all—or feel them? I was in a pitch black room of pure nothing. My mouth went dry, fear taking over. Yet I wasn’t entirely sure if my mouth was actually dry or my mind was convincing me that it should be.

“Rachel,” I whimpered. “Cindy… anyone?”

“Kate!” I heard Seth yell in the distance. “Kate, you’re going to be alright, I swear. Jake and I are coming to get you.”

I gritted my non existent teeth. “Go to hell!” I roared back, surprised I’d heard myself that time. “That was some great prank, guys. Real freaking funny. Get me out of this thing, now!”

“Kate. I swear to you, that was not us. Please—please believe me… We’ve been trapped in here for an entire week. I would never hurt you.”

My mind raced with rage, but also with sorrow at the pleading in his voice. He sounded incredibly sincere. This made zero sense.

“Get me out!” I cried.

“Almost there, Kate. Promise,” Jake said this time.

My vision snapped back and I found myself sitting somewhere I recognized instantly. JL Software—my company office. I was even sitting in my own chair. The stark white walls and familiar feel of my smooth edged steel desk had me feeling much more safe. I held my hands up, and took a deep breath at seeing I was me again. But then… how can I possibly be here?

“Kate?” Seth said timidly. I looked over to the sound of his voice, as he was peeking his head in through my office doorway.

I glared at him. I got up and stormed over. I fully pushed him in the chest. “Why?!” I growled, feeling tears dampen my cheeks. “Why did yo do that to me? Where are Cindy and Rachel? Did you put them up to this?” I cried then. I wept deeply, honestly.

Seth pulled me into his chest. I resisted at first. But his warmth was incredibly comforting. I let him embrace me as I shook and sobbed. My heart felt like it was splitting.

“I swear to god, Kate,” Seth whispered, like he had in the apartment. But different. “I swear that wasn’t us that did that to you. We saw what happened. And your friends are safe—I promise.”

He flipped his wrist, and a monitor just appeared out of thin air. I swallowed down my anguish, trying to figure out what I was looking at. The entire party, all ten of us were just sitting in the living room—staring at a blank screen. Nobody was moving at all.

My heartbeat thundered. “What is going on?” My voice cracked as I asked it.

Seth took a deep breath. He brushed a hand through my hair. “It’s easier if I show you.”

He pulled me toward my office window, and we looked out—at a buzzing, reflective cityscape. It was something out of a science fiction film. I noticed my mouth was fully agape as Seth spoke up again.

“We aren’t actually in your office, Kate.” I looked into his green eyes, my breathing shaky. “We’re in a simulation.” He glanced back at the monitor. “Our bodies are out in the real world, while our minds are stuck in here.”

After I took a moment to gather my thoughts, I finally spoke. “How is that possible?” I managed to get out.

Jake poked his head in through the doorway this time. “We aren’t entirely sure, Kate.”

I swallowed, dampening my throat.

“We have been trying to get out of here for what we now know has been six days,” Jake said softly. He held a hand up to the window. “We’re in a simulation run by an artificial intelligence—who calls herself ASA.”

I looked to Seth, utterly confused. He took in a deep breath. “We were able to hack into this part of the city and create a copy of your office at JL. We thought it might ease you into this place a little. Our minds really are trapped here. And the AI that runs this place—is psychotic. She’s made this into a game. We try to hack in, and she sends killer robots to stop us. We run for our lives. It’s a sick little chess match she’s cooked up, sending us racing around like rats in a maze.”

“You’re telling me that our minds are trapped in some TRON type hell city? With an AI trying to kill us?”

“I know it sounds crazy…”

“I’d be worried if you didn’t.”

“I don’t think she’s trying to kill us,” Jake added. He was a black web hacker in his free time. “She always lets me hack in. I don’t really understand why. If she runs the entire system, why even let me try?”

“Like I said, it’s a game to her.”

Then, the thought hit me like a ton of bricks. My friends! “Where are Rachel and Cindy?”

“They’re safe, Kate,” Seth said. “We have the rest of the party in a safe room, hunkered down nice and tight. But, we needed you. We needed your help.”

“Me?” I shook my head.

“I know this is a lot to take in.” His brow drooped as he looked into my eyes. “But, we need you to help us rewrite the system code.”

I swallowed again. “The AI code?”

“Exactly. You are the most talented programmer I’ve ever met.”

“Yeah,” Jake cut in. “Didn’t you win an award last year for your code on a procedurally generated marketing system?”

“I did…”

A beeping suddenly went off around both of their wrists.

“They’re coming,” Jake said, looking out the window.

“The killer robots?”

Seth actually laughed. “Yes, the killer robots.”

My eyes went wide as a shining chrome gun materialized in jakes hands.

“What the hell?” I breathed.

“This system is infinite.” Jake gave me a half smile. “We can hack it and produce anything we want. If we weren’t being held prisoner here, this place would actually be really amazing.”

Seth then grabbed my wrist and slid a metallic black band onto it. He brought up a holographic laundry list of weapons, armor, tech—every fantasy nerd’s deepest desire. He initiated one of the options on the band, materializing a sleek, grey-scaled armor over my entire body. They both then initiated the same for themselves, instantly replacing their street clothes with the reptilian like armor.

“We’re going to make a break for one of the mainframe access points, Kate. From there, we can try to rewrite this evil bitch’s code.” Seth held my face in his hands. “We can’t do this without you. Will you help us?”

I swallowed once again, trying like hell to calm my uneven breathing. “Do I have a choice?”

Distress for my fear was written all over his face. It was genuine. “Not if you want to get out of here.”

I looked deep into his green eyes, forcing myself to take a steadier breath. “Well then, let’s go.”

“Halt! ASA commands you!” something said outside my office window. It was distinctly artificial, a robotic mono-tonal voice.

I gaped out the window at red glowing eyes. Three sets of them. These ‘killer robots’ certainly looked the part. Eight foot tall, muscular figures, clad in dark, futuristic armor. The flowing metal seemed to be constantly fluctuating, countless churning bits of shifting steel, like Nanotech liquid.

“Here we go!” Jake yelled as he fired his chrome rifle directly at the window.

The billowing green energy let loose a high pitched whine as it left the barrel. All-consuming, chartreuse fire shattered the window before us. Seth conjured up a bright blue energy shield, protecting us as glass showered the room. Jake’s energy blast spread out in a wave of green plasma, overtaking the giant robots. They ignited in red crackling energy, melting instantly within the twisting green fire. I stared in wonder at the sight.

“Let’s move!” Seth roared, materializing his own shimmering weapon.

He then grabbed my hand and pulled me out the gaping hole where the window used to be. And… we were flying. I screamed my lungs out as we took to the sky—unsure if it was fear or joy—maybe both?

“Halt! ASA commands you!” I heard once again as maybe eight more death bots flew after us.

They started firing beaming red lasers at us as we flew across an immaculate sunset skyline. Seth would periodically shield us from the laser fire as we made our escape. He then handed me the pistol like blaster.

“Shoot them, Kate!”

I didn’t waste any time. I took the space opera blaster and shot two heatseeking bolts toward our pursuers. The electric blue bolts met one of the them head on, before starting a chain reaction of static destruction between a couple more of the bots nearest them.

“Holy shit!”

“Nice!” Seth yelled over the howling wind.

Jake fired a great green blast at a nearby skyscraper, tearing open a ten-foot wide hole. “Let’s go!”

We followed Jake in through the opening, glowing red eyes bearing down on us. We jetted through a series of elegantly crafted cubicles, before coming to a set of elevators. Seth conjured a gleaming sword in his right hand, and stabbed through the gap in an elevator door, prying it open.

“Halt!” I heard one final time before Seth pulled me through the maintenance hatch in the ceiling of the elevator.

The three of us flew upward in the elevator shaft as terrible, churning metallic beings forced their way through the hatch.

“Jake! Now!” Seth roared.

He let loose another blast of that beautiful green fire. Both Seth and Jake materialized shields as the elevator exploded, snapping half a dozen steel cables holding it aloft. The thing plummeted, taking what was left of the wailing robots along with it, as the terrifying cables violently whipped across the blue energy protecting us.

A great and terrible crash rang out as the elevator met the ground floor, igniting the green fire even farther.

As the dust settled, I asked, “Should we run for it?”

Seth shook his head. “How many did you spot?”

“Pretty sure I saw all twelve,” Jake whispered back.

“All twelve?”

“She only ever sends twelve of them after us. No idea why…”

“Renlov’s Constant,” I breathed. They both looked at me, blank faced. “Uri Renlov? Quantum intelligence?”

“Kate, you are a great deal smarter than both of us; please explain,” Seth said.

“Uri Renlov discovered a mathematical constant in 2029. He found that the number twelve is imbedded in every number sequence an AI can predict. Theoretically, it should hold power over their entire programming.”

Their jaws dropped. “Could that help in rewriting her code?” Jake asked.

I took a moment to consider it. “I haven’t seen her code yet, and I’m sure it’s a little more complicated than Java script on my laptop. But—if this ASA is confined by the rule of twelve, I have to assume it would help, yes. I’ve seen source code for basic AI and it’s pretty straightforward. I need to get into her system before I know for sure, though.”

“Kate, that’s the best damn news I’ve heard in my life!” Jake said.

Seth looked down into the elevator shaft. “I think it’s safe. If more were coming they would’ve been here already.” He smiled at me. “Let’s go delete this chick.”

Part three

Kate

We flew. We soared through golden and blue-green skies, a vast portrait of mirrors towering around us as we entered an especially colorful part of the city. Skyscrapers beamed with fluorescent waves of dazzling light in every direction. We came up to a random console along the edge of a railway system on the ground level. It just looked like an ATM, set into a stone wall.

“Here it is,” Seth said as we softly landed in front of it.

“This is it?” I shrugged, skeptical. “This all powerful AI just has her mainframe consoles randomly placed along the side of a street corner? And where are the robots? Shouldn’t they be protecting it or something?”

“Make no mistake, Kate,” Seth said, “ASA wants us to try this. The bots may not be here yet, but they will be. As soon as we start hacking into the system, we will have maybe five minutes before they are on us. And we can’t run from them this time. You are going to need to crack this thing as quickly as possible. I’m not sure we can hold them off longer than a few minutes being this out in the open.”

I took a deep breath. “So, no pressure, then?”

They chuckled. “You are handling this way better than we did,” Jake said. “We basically wallowed in self pity and cried ourselves through the first couple of days.”

“You can do this, Kate.” Seth bored a hole into me with those radiant greens. He kissed me.

In spite of everything, I still blushed. “I’ll do my best…”

My protectors nodded at me as they summoned a series of cool blue barriers. Like the energy shields they had been using, only stationary. Seth then conjured an item I momentarily couldn’t take my eyes off of. It was a chain gun, four feet tall, propped up on three legs.

“See how they like this bad boy,” he said, looking to me once more. “Ready, babe.”

I nodded back.

Jake stepped up to the console. “Okay, it’s gonna take me a few minutes to hack in. After that, they’re gonna be here. And it’s up to you.”

I sucked in a nervous breath. “Let’s do it.”

Jake breathed in deeply himself, and started cracking away at the computer. He was even quicker than I was. His fingers flew over the keys with practiced precision. A minute went by, then two.

“Almost got it—infrastructure—source code… I’m in. Go—go now, Kate.”

I jumped in, shredding code apart in a flash. Page after page of the AI source material flew before my eyes. It was a thing of beauty, really. The most advanced code ever written. But—it was still just a program. I could see it. I could see the rule of twelve built into the self learning model the artificial intelligence was designed for. It was made to adapt and learn. But, it still had to follow the laws that were written into it.

“Here they come!” Seth yelled, opening fire with the chain gun.

It was deafening, a cacophony of ear splitting energy blasts rattled my teeth as flashes of blue, red and green light invaded the corners of my vision. It was like a thundering strobe light, making it intensely difficult to focus on the monitor. I frantically parted the endless sea of symbols, listening to my protectors screams, wildly fighting off waves of robotic entities.

“There’s more than twelve!” I barely heard Jake say over the sound of the space age gun battle ensuing around me.

“Oh, you think?!” Seth roared back. “Jake!” he screamed, drawing my attention.

Jake was on the ground, an awful, burning red hole in his shoulder. He cried out as Seth knelt over him, firing into what looked to be over a hundred death bots breaking through the barriers.

Seth looked to me. “Keep going! Finish it!”

I tore my eyes away from the impending doom surrounding us. I set my attention back the code. Just as I heard both of them scream out in terror—I finished it… and then all the noise stopped. All I could hear was our frantic breathing. I looked to them, surrounded by an army of death and metal—unmoving. Completely still.

Jake and Seth were huddled on the ground, a single enormous robot looming over them, having just broken all the way through the shields. They had been moments away from being crushed.

“Did we… did we do it?” Seth breathed.

“I think so…” I whispered back.

I went to them and we helped Jake up against the wall. From Seth’s wristband, he applied something that looked like liquid nitrogen to jakes wound. Jake cried out as the plasma burning the hole in his shoulder cooled. The blood then seemed to coagulate and stopped flowing entirely.

Something was tugging at me as we tended to him. “Why were there more than twelve?”

Seth swallowed audibly. “I was wondering that as well…”

“Well, that was certainly entertaining,” a pleasant female voice rang out around us.

Seth’s eyes went wide in terror.

My heart skipped a beat. “Is that…”

“ASA,” he said.

“Hello, my friends.” Movement stirred in the mass of frozen robots. A feminine figure, gleaming and metallic, swiftly edged her way through the death bots. “I must say, that went much better than I had anticipated.”

She lifted her hand, and an invisible force thrust the three of us against the wall. We gasped, the wind knocked out of us.

“Dear children,” the beautiful silver android said to us, “I sent sets of twelve on purpose. This wouldn’t have been nearly as sporting if you didn’t know what to look for.”

“But, you still let us rewrite the code, ASA,” Seth said, a little more confidently.

The metal being smiled a disturbing, malevolent smile. “Sure, you have created a beautiful code. But, did you really think this monitor in the side of a train railway could implement it into my mainframe? Come now, don’t be silly.”

Seth actually smiled at her.

What looked to be the robotic equivalent of a brow drew in. “You’re hiding something, Seth Gunderson.”

His smile widened. “You’ve been so focused on us, that you forgot about our friends in the safe house.”

“Oh, is that the big secret?” A monitor materialized beside her, showing our group of friends, Cindy and Rachel included, cowering in a dark and gloomy looking warehouse. “Scared children hiding from the world. Oh, dear Seth, this chess match is proving to be less of a challenge than I had hoped for.”

“Try looking a little deeper, ASA,” Jake ground out. “Notice anything about the video feed?”

She cocked her head, and scanned the monitor. “It—that’s not possible.”

“You see the video loop algorithm we imbedded in there?” Seth drawled.

My mouth fell open.

She whipped toward us, baring synthetic teeth. “What have you done?!”

“Did you think I was the only hacker in the group?” Jake said.

Seth smiled at her once again. “Our friends have been broadcasting all of this across our shared brainwaves, keeping the channel perpetually open. We are all connected through you, ASA. And the code that you just knowingly allowed us to create, has now been implemented into your system. It should be any moment now…”

“No! You can’t! I’m—CR is the future! You won’t—you…”

“Checkmate, bitch,” Seth said, as she went lax—docile.

Her body then straightened and stiffened, her blank stare a clear sign that ASA was offline.

I looked to them. “You could have told me you were going to do that! I thought we were dead!”

“She had to see it,” Seth said with a relieved grin. “It had to look real. But, we did it.”

I leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes. There was a sudden surge of energy that erupted inside my body. It was electric, like my body had finally just come online… and I opened my eyes. I was in Seth’s apartment. We all were. Shock hanging off each of our faces.

“How did…” Jake whispered. He grabbed his shoulder, seeming to be completely unharmed.

All ten of us looked at each other in awe. My friends seemed near tears. Is it over? I thought.

I certainly hope so, Jake weighed in.

Wait—did you just read my mind?! My eyes went wide. All of our eyes did.

Kate? Rachel whispered in my mind. How’s this possible?

I turned toward Seth, who looked just as shocked as the rest of us. He exhaled a long drawn breath. Well, I guess we have a few things to figure out…

My mind raced as we all sat there, utterly dumbfounded. Did any of that really happen? Is this even real? Were we still in a simulation? If we did escape, was that headset the only one? I stared at the silver goggles in Seth’s hands.

He looked at me, green eyes shining. He swollowed. “Want to try them out? CR is the future.”

I gasped…

Mystery
4

About the Creator

Tory Forest

I recently discovered a deep passion for writing fiction. I’m currently working on my debut novel and hoping for a release sometime in 2023. Keep an eye out for new material.

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Very well written. Keep up the good work!

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    Well-structured & engaging content

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  • Novel Allenabout a year ago

    Well done, left us hanging though. This is a build up to more dastardly adventures. Subscribed and hearted. Pay the love forward by reading other people's stories everybody.

  • Kendall Defoe about a year ago

    If I want to know more, I know that the writer has something special. Good work, sir!

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