Ava, my family, this brave new world… Everything.
“If you fuck this up for me, I’ll kill you. And there won’t be another world you mysteriously wake up inside. You’ll just be dead. Got it?” I grunt.
He nods his head, sweat falling from his forehead. “Got it.”
Above us, the sprinklers turn on, soaking the computers, lab equipment, and everything else in the room. That’s our cue to leave, so we run through the hallway, enter another set of automatic doors, and then we hit the server room.
The doors close.
Everything is quiet, spare the muffled noises coming from behind us. It’s cold in here. Ice cold.
“This is it,” he says, thrusting his arms around a metal barricade. “This is where you were born.”
Thousands of servers sit in working order. Row upon row, stacked like headstones in a graveyard. I step down and exhale, breathe visible.
I get it. I’m somewhere inside here. Me, a script of active code. Everything I did inside that world was pre-determined, but out here, there are added variables.
I am defying the laws of nature.
Right?
Or am I doing exactly what I was supposed to do? Did Gerard plan these movements too?
“Which one am I?” I ask.
He comes up beside me, pausing near an opening in the rows. “Right here,” he says. “Server number two. My creation.”
“I’m not all you. I’ve got Gerard in me, too,” I say.
I walk up to the black box, and I can feel the electricity cause my hairs to rise. The surface is smooth, mirroring my dark, monstrous reflection.
I place my hand against the top, feeling the soft tingle of incredible processing power. I move my arm, and it seems to whirr louder.
And then I feel Elon grab that arm, softly squeezing. “Don’t do it,” Elon says. “Don’t be a hero.”
I was designed to be a villain, but I broke the rules. All I want is to be a hero, but only if I have her.
Elon doesn’t get it. I’m not a role model. I’m burning the system down with a smile on my face. Tonight, this all ends.
All of it.
At first, I remain calm. I’m just looking at what they’ve made here. In a way, it’s fascinating. But it’s also my life, my hopes, and my dreams. Something like this should not exist.
“I understand,” I whisper.
He exhales, sharply. “Oh, thank God. Gerard wouldn’t want this,” he says.
He still doesn’t get it, but I do. You see, I’m learning with every second that passes. It’s all an extraordinary lesson.
I raise my arm again, clenching my fist until it’s hard as stone. “I understand what I have to do.”
Elon’s eyes widen, reflection distorted on the surface of my server. “No. Please, Kalxor. You can’t do this.”
But I can. I can do anything because they programmed me to act powerful. They programmed me to destroy anything that comes between Ava and I’s love. That includes Elon.
“I have to destroy myself,” I say. “I have to destroy all of it.”
I crash my fist into that metal, crushing it like a tin can. Sparks fly, and the box grows hot. The acrid smell of electricity rushes through my nose, reminding me of who I really am and what I’ve become. Driving me crazy.