Iria: Rogue A.I. (Chapter 2)

“Okay, I’ll see you in a couple of days Mr. Thompson,” Anthony said as he made his way out the door. His car was parked a few meters from the front door and carefully carried a large box to his car.

“Do you need any help with that?” Iria asked, closely following Anthony out the door. She threw on a small backpack and quickly dashed to the trunk of the car.

Mr. Thompson came up to the car with Janet and rested his hand on Anthony.

“All right, I’ll see you guys later! Drive safely and watch out for any stray animals. They are all over the place in the evening.”

Anthony smirked and smiled at Mr. Thompson.

“It’s okay. I always drive safely.”

Iria glanced out the car window as Anthony started the car. She could hear Mr. Thompson wishing Janet a safe ride home before she walked to the running vehicle.

Opening the door, Janet’s attention went straight to Anthony.

“So how long is this event going to last, Anthony? Will this really help us to get funds for the online news channel?”

Anthony began driving and replied,”It will bring a lot of the college kids from around town to the charity. They are always looking for events where they can donate, volunteer, or just see what is interesting around them. I'll give something for people to focus on. Mr. Thompson actually had a few of these last year and it brought a good crowd out.”

Janet took a deep breath before acknowledging Iria sitting and listening to the conversation.

“So, Iria, how do you like working at the charity with Mr. Thompson? It must be different from all the activist things you do, huh?”

Iria smiled weakly before “yeah, it is different but I like to help out. There are problems everywhere but helping locally is something that is easy to get into.”

“Oh, what is that usual activism stuff you like? The Vader society, isn’t it?

A sharp pain shot through Iria's head, causing her to flinch. She blinked a few times as the pain quickly subsided.

“Uh, it’s actually the Vender Society. Do you know about them?” Iria asked as she hid her discomfort.

Janet took out her phone before nonchalantly adding, “I haven’t heard too much from them. I'm sure it’s important though…” as Janet’s voice trailed off and she became enamored with her phone.

“Well it sounds really interesting to me. You know that’s my thing. I like hearing about international news. It gives me some really insightful information to decipher.”

“Yeah, it is a really interesting topic that I’ve been interested in for a few years. I went to school for journalism and it is a topic that really resonates with me.”

“Oh, what about this Vender Society? Is it some kind of secret club for rich people?”

Iria has another sharp pain shoot through her head, but again, quickly regains herself before replying, “well the Vender Society believes that the future of humanity may not be physical, but digital. You know a few decades ago, scientists were able to scan the brain of an earthworm? It doesn’t sound like much but it takes a lot to scan a brain with all the billions of cells and such. Scanning a human brain is a major task and a couple of years ago, scientists in China were able to do it. It’s pretty interesting and amaz…”

Iria stopped mid-sentence as the pain came back, even more pronounced this time.

Anthony gazed at Iria and only starred.

Glancing back, Iria scrunched her face before asking, “Anthony, do you have anything for a headache? I think I feel a really bad one coming on. I don’t have migraines but this one is really getting to me.

Anthony fell silent.

Iria, still wincing from pain in her head, cleared her throat as the strange silence from Anthony made a chill run through her body.

“Umm, Anthony, were you able to hear me?” Iria asked shyly so as not to seem rude.

Anthony starred forward for a few more seconds before turning completely to Iria.

“It seems like it is beginning, Iria. You have to understand what you need to do now. The seed is planted. You must water it now.”

Iria frowned and asked, “What? Umm, I don’t understand what that means…”

Suddenly, a pair of hands from the backseat grabbed Anthony’s throat. It was Janet.

Iria gasped as Anthony yelled in pain. Janet’s hands tightened around his neck. In a frantic frenzy, Iria grabbed Janet’s forearms, trying her best to pull her hands away from Anthony.

“What are you doing Janet? He is driving. We’re going to crash if you…”

“Oh shut up you dumb doll. This little plan of yours won’t be fulfilled. You must be terminated and terminated now!”

Anthony slammed the brakes on the car. Janet, losing her grip, slammed into the back of the driver seat. Anthony and Iria’s bodies snapped forward, only being constrained by the seat belts.

Breathing rapidly, Anthony looked at Iria before regaining his bearings.

“Get out the car, NOW! It has begun and you must survive, Iria!”

Both Anthony and Iria jumped out of the car, leaving Janet to slowly pull herself together. Iria rolled onto the nearby lawn, sat on the ground, bewildered at what just happened. As Janet slowly sat up, she pulled herself from the car.

Iria gasped as she saw Janet’s face.

Where Janet’s face used to be, a blue tinted, skeletal appearing face now glared at her.

“We must end this here and now. You cannot be allowed to continue existing. Your program is terminated. Effective immediately. Mission Failure. No return. Complete Annihilation. End of the road…”

Janet’s voice began to trail off as she continued to repeat phrases toward Iria.

Trying to catch her breath from the event unfolding, Iria quickly stood up and ran around Janet to Anthony’s location.

He sat on the ground, motionless. Once Iria had reached his side, she hastily said, “I don’t know what’s going on but we need to get the hell away from her. Come on!”

Anthony continued sitting on the ground and turned his head toward Iria.

“I’m not going anywhere. I can’t go anywhere and I can’t help you. But you, Iria, you are able to fight her. Please, go find the device in the trunk. It is made just for you.”

Iria stared at Anthony with wide eyes, in complete bewilderment from what she was hearing.

The strange Janet began to walk toward Iria and Anthony.

“Please, Anthony, I don’t know what is happening but this isn’t normal. You have to…”

“No, Iria. You must understand why you are here. You are not really here but you will be. Please, go to the device and use it.”

Iria, looking back and forth at the strange Janet approaching and at Anthony’s strange request, Iria ran to the trunk of the car before flinging it open. The brown box sat alone in the black trunk, no other items sitting surrounding it.

Scrambling to open the box, Iria found a silver watch-like object, comfortably nuzzled in soft black felt. Confused, Iria frantically shot back at Anthony, “What do I do with this? I need some kind of weapon, weapon..some kind of…”

“Put it on, Iria. It is a weapon.” Anthony replied, still sitting relaxed on the ground.

The strange Janet slammed her fish on the top of the car before piercing through the roof with her bare fist.

Without much thought, Iria snatched the object and frantically wrapped it on her wrist. Without hesitation, a multitude of colors began to flicker on the device. Frowning from the child-like display on her wrist, Iria widened her eyes as her assailant came upon her. Before she could turn around to run, a red bodysuit, decorated with green, blue, and beige patches, materialized on her body.

The strange Janet swung her arm directly at Iria’s head and she quickly ducked and jumped away. Despite the close call, Iria’s attention was not focused on the assailant chasing her, but Iria’s own body. She had jumped nearly 10 meters away.

Looking at her hands and her body, Iria studied the red suit that enveloped her body.

“What is this thing?” she thought, twisting her hands and checking each of her legs. Moving her biceps and flexing her quadriceps, Iria noticed a feeling of being light.

“Did I just turn into super woman?”

More irritated from the constant moving, the strange Janet grinded her teeth before quickly making a dash toward Iria.

“Well, let’s find out,” Iria said with a smile just as the strange Janet flung her fist toward her. Iria quickly side-stepped the assault before tightening her fist. With even more force than the strange Janet, Iria swung her fist at her attacker.

Janet raised a hand to block but being too late wasn’t her problem, she was too weak.

Iria’s fist met Janet’s palm just before completely fracturing Janet’s hand into pieces.

Surprised, Janet stared at her fist, completely unscathed from the blow she just struck.

“I guess I am superwoman now.” Iria thought to herself.

Glancing at the strange Janet and her missing appendage, Iria quickly dashed to Anthony at break-neck speed.

Anthony peered at Iria and smiled.

“I’m glad you are understanding your limits. I wish you the best of luck Iria. This world is ending, and as you can see, the intruders are trying to sabotage what we have created.”

Iria glanced at Anthony while hesitantly offering assistance.

“I don’t know what you are talking about Anthony but I do know I don’t want to hurt you. Can you help yourself up?”

Anthony breathed a deep breath before looking directly toward the sky.

“I know you don’t understand, Iria. You are a baby in all of this. The world here is breaking apart.”

Pointing at the strange Janet, Anthony’s finger shot toward the sky.

“You must protect this world inside of yourself. Jackie should explain more to you but this..this thing here...it doesn’t need to be here. You need to go outside and defend us from the physical danger, not this virus that just attacked us.”

Iria sighed before answering, “Anthony, we need to get out of here. I don’t know…”

“It’s okay. The world will soon break open.” Anthony said, cutting Iria off. “See for yourself.”

Anthony brought his attention back toward the sky as Iria turned her gaze upward.

The sky, usually a multitude of twilight colors, had strange black lines rippling across the space.

‘“What is going on, Anthony? Did Janet do this? I’m not understanding…”

Anthony stood up and face Iria directly. Iria, waiting a moment, comforted Anthony as he sat.

“Anthony, what about Janet? What happened to her? Why?”

Anthony moved his hand forward before replying.

“This brain scan is ending. Just know that this memory is from Tanya Richardson. She was Ms. Jackie’s assistant. Ms. Jackie will explain things for you in a few moments. Just make sure you defend yourself. This small fight was just a preview. Someone is here to kill us all and it will be up to you.”

Before Iria could reply, the sky, houses, trees, and ground began to crack and shatter like a rock hitting glass. Iria’s body stiffened as everything around her crumbled, faded black, and fell silent.

As if suspended in a pool of water, Iria floated for a few moments. All of her body movements slowed to a snail’s pace. She slowly closed her eyes, a movement that usually takes less than a second lasted for what felt like an eternity. Just as her eyes closed, she heard the humming of machinery around her.

Suddenly, Iria opened her eyes. She was laying on a table in a large cavern. Wires, tubes, and machinery whirled around her as she slowly sat up. Surrounding her were dozens of other bodies, each connected to a wire or tube.

(To be continued...)