Onryō

“The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race….It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever-increasing rate. Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn’t compete, and would be superseded.”

– Stephen Hawking

We find ourselves running towards the main room of the building where I left my team. Captain Liu and Björnson ran while holding their weapons, ready to shoot. I honestly think that if it wasn’t for that extra weight I wouldn’t have been able to keep their pace. My prosthetic is made for daily life in an office job, not for running. Anyways,I only need to endure a little more while we get out of here.

When we were halfway there, Captain Liu shouted “They are coming! Björnson you take the left one”. In the distance in front of us, we saw two drones moving at great speed in our direction. Although for the most part they advanced in a straight line, from time to time the drones were moving erratically, one of them even hitting the wall once. Both men raised their weapons, aimed with surprising speed and shot at the drones before they could get any closer. The drone Björnson shot, fell down immediately while the captain had to shoot his a second time. After taking a couple of seconds to observe them, Captain Liu said “Let's keep going”. Before we regained our pace I told them while gasping for air “I think we were somewhat lucky? These drones might be weaker than most others”. The captain with a puzzled tone of voice asked “What do you mean?”. Now a little bit more rested, I reply “These drones probably are part of the ones that were convulsing when we initially passed through here. My theory is that those erratic movements back then damaged their joints to some degree”. The captain made a surprised face, opening his eyes wide and losing the grim face he has had for a time now. He looked down at the drones and then raising his sight said “Good point Miss Numa. Björnson, let's slow down a bit to be able to react better in the future. If we fail to stop one of these things from reaching us, at least one of us will die”.

A minute later, we entered a hallway section where the fire extinguisher sprinklers were activated and where we could feel the faint smell of burned electronics in the air. It won’t do any good to my leg if the water gets in between the prosthetic and it. As I’m hoping we can cross through this area in no time, I see five drones in the distance in front of us.Their heads are flat on the ground and have their four legs folded against their body like a spider preparing to jump. Immediately they notice us, immediately straightening their legs and turning their sight towards us. Quickly they place themselves in a row, one beside each other occupying the wallway and dashed towards us. Immediately, the Captain and Björnson start shooting at them but the Captain misses one shot, or rather, the drone dodges with a precise and fast movement. The two don’t care and keep shooting, taking down another two drones in no time. Now only two are left, although these two have managed to advance a lot, getting some 6 meters in front of us. The captain and Björnson shoot at them but they weren’t the only ones to shoot. I had completely forgotten about it until now but the drones have a gun under their head. The moment the two guards pulled the triggers, so did both drones shoot their guns. Both drones get part of their heads blown-off. I see Björnson flying backwards a couple of meters while the captain falls to the ground, rolling violently. Then, I see one of the drones struggling to stand up, already aiming its gun at the captain. Without thinking, my body moves by itself and I fire my gun. The impact sends the drone flying and while on the floor, it twitches for a moment and then goes still.

After coming back to my senses I checked on Captain Liu and Björnson, thankfully both are still alive although harmed. The captain got shot on the shoulder, breaking it and his collarbone. Björnson got shot straight in the chest but the bulletproof vest dispersed a lot of the impact. When I checked on him he barely talked to me, instead he was focused on the drones. His eyes were darting between the drones, wearing a worried and confused expression while he held his rifle like a child to a toy when they are scared. When I checked on them the captain told me while grinding his teeth in pain “The drones are using guns very similar to the one I gave you. It seems like they have overclocked them just as I did for yours”. Knowing my gun can do this much damage makes me feel safer while at the same time I feel a bit scared of wielding it.

Björnson improvises a splint for the Captain's shoulder by ripping his shirt and using it to tie his arm tight against his chest. Once he is done the captain tells me while looking straight into my eyes “I’m sorry to say this but our roles have changed. I cannot hold my gun and Björnson is barely able to move so you’ll have to be the one in charge of shooting. Thankfully you have shown to have a decent aim and a cold head in emergencies. We’ll move behind you, me supporting Björnson while both of us help you look for dangers”. I feel an emptiness in my stomach and a need to barter with him to find a way for them to stay as the muscle of this operation, but I decide to keep my mouth shut. I wanted him to either force me or encourage me more to take the responsibility. He didn’t, after that simple sentence he started talking with Björnson as if he believed 100% in me and nothing more needed to be said. I understand, I know this is the best course of action and no matter how much I want to give up or vomit from the pressure, I’ll do it. For once in my life I’ll step up to the task without someone pushing behind me.

While walking under the still functioning fire extinguishers we see several drones in the floor that looked charred, some still producing some smoke. What on earth is causing these machines to act so weird and why aren’t all of them behaving the same. I can’t stop thinking about this, feeling that as the head engineer I have to be the one to solve this mystery. I’ve always liked thinking that everything can be understood and that by striving to do so, we can solve any problem we find in our lives. That would be the biggest contribution I could make for our survival.

Finally, we arrived at the main room. Tragically, the scene waiting for us there is not the one I hoped for. Instead it is one I feared. To my left I see several people on the ground, some with pale faces and perpetual blank expressions, others with their faces covered. One looked as if she was sleeping. Two have some blood coming from their mouth and nose. Another pair have their torsos covered with lab coats stained with blood in the center, probably covering an entry wound. The final one has his face covered with a shirt that was completely drenched in blood. After all we were late and many have died. The only positive I can make from this is that Marina isn’t among them.

I turn my face looking for the survivors, and to the right of the central table I see them. Initially I’m overjoyed to see that they are still alive, but then I realized that all of them have injuries, some of them quite big. Marina in particular has a bandage over an eye and has her right arm immobilized in a splint. When she sees me, Marina stands up and, while doing her best to hold up the tears, runs towards me. Almost with a tackle, she hugs me and cries for a couple of seconds. Once she is done she lifts her head, opens her mouth but immediately closes it. She adverts my gaze and says with a sad voice as she starts to cry “sorry I couldn’t keep everyone safe”.