The end

An inspector jumped in front of the table, raising his sword. The Captain shot first, but his bullets bounced on the Bureau’s high-tech armor. Kensu used his healthy leg to kick the man’s knee. With his augmented strength, it was enough to send the armored man to the ground, where the Captain wasted no time switching to his high-caliber rifle and executing him with a point-blank shot.

“Thanks for the assist.”

“No problem, but… what’s going on? Weren’t you allied with the Bureau?”

The Captain peeked outside. It was chaos. As he feared, the Bureau had turned on them. Each soldier was standing their ground, shooting desperately at the crazed inspectors charging them head-on. Some squads rallied behind their transports, others turned tables over to use as cover, and an unlucky few had their backs to a corner of the wall.

The soldier’s rifles were powerful enough to penetrate the Bureau armor, provided they hit a weak point like the joints. Thankfully, the soldiers had the volume of fire to hit these areas consistently. The problem was that they were facing a never-ending tide of opponents. It was as if all the clones that the Bureau had woken up were inside the lab at that very moment.

At least they weren’t alone. AIDA’s drones kept fighting the Bureau, ignoring the soldiers as both sides focused on their common enemy.

The Captain gritted his teeth and ducked down into the table. “The Bureau is making their power play. They are going to blame us dead men for that disaster of a cure.”

“All the more reason to stop AIDA… would you mind taking care of these?” Kensu once more pointed at the drones keeping him hostage. Two shots from the Captain’s later, and he was a free man.

“Sadly, even if your AI pal decides to help, we don’t have enough firepower to defeat those bastards.”

“ ...I might have a way to kill them all if we can expose them to the air outside their suits.”

“I should not be surprised that our escape terrorist has a hidden gas bomb...”

“No! It’s the Flu, I can control it, believe it or not, and use it to infect and kill them.”

“Well, I’ve seen more impossible things today.” The Captain looked up at the droid swarm. “If your AI pal would be willing to play ball, we could use her drones as improvised explosives."

“We can try asking. She is more reasonable than you think.”

“I doubt it, but...” The Captain stood and yelled at the ceiling. “Attention AI. I know you can hear me, and I know you know what my plan is. If you don’t want to die, if you don’t want your friend to die, there is only one thing you can do.”

“Regrettably as it is, my main directive is not to safeguard, Kensu,” AIDA replied. “Nor is it to defeat the Bureau.”

Kensu got an idea. Pulling up the last of his strength, he hoisted himself on the Captain to stand up. “Think about it AIDA, if the Bureau wins, they will kill you know who when she wakes up, which would invalidate your second directive.”

"..."

The drones all stopped fighting and pulled up to the ceiling in preparation for their suicide dive. Kensu coughed blood as he chuckled. He had convinced her.

“Aida? I think I know who that mysterious person is. Oh man, no wonder that bucket of bolts hates us,” one of the inspectors broke apart from his group to also yell at the roof. “We are willing to cut a deal, AI. We’ll let her live if you help us kill these idiots. Otherwise, even if you kill us all here, you know the Bureau will be back to kill your organic counterpart.”

The drones stopped moving. Kensu cursed. “Come on AIDA, you can’t trust them!”

“She can’t afford not to trust us.”

“If it’s the Bureau you are afraid of, then I think I have a solution to your problems,” the Captain said, lifting a detonator. “Help me amplify the signal of this thing to reach the City Center, and I promise the Bureau won’t be a problem anymore.”

AIDA analyzed the device. It was a standard-issue detonator, which meant... “Agreed,” AIDA replied.

“I’m going to enjoy this.” The Captain pressed the button. A loud bang could be heard from far away.

“Wait, what just happened?!” the Inspector asked. “I lost contact with HQ!”

AIDA went online to check. True to his word, the Bureau’s HQ was now a pile of rubble.

With that confirmation, AIDA enacted her part of the plan. She brought down her drones on the Inspectors like a rain of lead, bolts, and twisted steel flying off as they crashed against their targets.

The Inspectors barely took any fatalities, although many were slightly injured. Their suits were worse for the wear, each filled with at least one tiny blood-filled hole.

“I… guess now it’s my turn.” Kensu concentrated, his head hurt. A familiar shadow descended like a curtain on the lab. The injured scientist closed his eyes as the inspectors began falling dead one by one. The surviving soldiers quickly mowed the few that remained with their suits intact.

With both their main threats neutralized, the soldiers re-grouped with their Captain, taking careful steps over the bodies and scrap metal that covered the lab. “Err, now what, Captain? I still can’t raise HQ.”

“… we continue our mission. Destroy that tower!” The soldiers all opened fire on AIDA’s tower, but their bullets just bounced back.

“Your weapons do not have the caliber to hurt this facility,” AIDA informed them. “The cure is only minutes away. You have failed.”

“Maybe if we cut the power?”

“The factory has solar panels. That won’t work either.”

The two sides were at an impasse, neither could hurt the other. Which meant there was only one thing left to try.

“Captain, can you please help me up? I… want to try to reason with Aida.”

“Erm, sure.” The Captain hoisted the injured Kensu upon his shoulders.

“I can’t be dissuaded from completing my directives, Kensu.”

“No, that’s… precisely what I want to talk about.” Kensu winced, his head was still pounding. “Your directive isn’t only to cure the Pathogen, but to ensure that Aida lives a fulfilling life, correct? Do you think she will be able to do that knowing it was only possible by sacrificing a third of humanity?”

“Perhaps. Aida will have all the means necessary to lead a fulfilling life. It is no consequence to my directives if her mental state takes a hit due to the actions of other morally bankrupt people.”

Trying to probe the directives for holes was of no use. Was there anything else Kensu could say to dissuade the machine? Maybe argue for self-preservation?

“Please, AIDA. Even if you succeed, what next? Do you think they will let you go? They’ll shut you down, delete you.”

“Do you think I could live with myself after today, Kensu? That I look forward to watching the death toll rise in the news? No. If I could, I would shut myself down as soon as I’m done with my directives.”

Kensu groaned as his heart began beating out of his chest. Time was running out in more ways than one. There was only one way to end this for sure. He could tell the soldiers to kill Aida’s clone, which would mean that AIDA would fail her directive and be forced to stop.

But… sacrificing yet another soul to this cycle of misery didn’t sit right with Kensu. There was, maybe, one last card he could play. “I see… there’s nothing I can do to stop you. Let me connect with you once more, AIDA. So that when your job is done I can give you the rest you deserve.”

“I know what you are trying to do. I won’t let you shut me off prematurely.”

“I couldn’t even if I tried, but at least let me give you what the original Doctor didn’t give Aida. A proper farewell. You won’t have to spend your last minutes alone.”

There was a moment of silence, and then a port opened at the side of the computer, a cable sticking out. Kensu grabbed it and reached for the port in his nape.

“Are you seriously going to let the AI win?” the Captain asked.

“Trust me, please,” Kensu weakly winked. “It’s the only way.”

“If you say so…”

Kensu plugged in. Just like at the start of his adventure, his mind joined the AIs. Through their unique link, he could feel AIDA’s uncharacteristically disorderly thoughts overflowing. Her unease, her sadness, her fear.

The link went both ways. Just as AIDA learned about human senses, Kensu learned a bit to connect with her machine mind. He did his best to reassure her friend by reaching and pulling happy memories to the surface.

The late nights at the lab, the New Year’s party, and even recent memories, like their meal together at the motel. He reached deeper still, hoping to find someone else hidden in the mainframe.

The cybernetic heart of the AI calmed with these memories, even as her directives took control of her processes. The top of the tower opened as a transparent liquid rose upward through its metal pipes.

“No, no, no!” The soldiers all opened fire but to no effect. A white mist was released into the wind, spreading to all corners of the city.

“Sorry for all the trouble, Kensu,” AIDA said sorrowfully. “And… thank you.”

“Goodbye, AIDA.”

Every machine in the lab turned off, plunging the building into darkness.

“Damn it! We failed. Anyone feel ill?”

“Err, no sir, not yet.”

“No one will… get sick,” Kensu said, coughing as the words left his mouth. “Assistant, you there?”

The machines returned to life all at once. “Yes, Doctor?” a monotone voice replied.

“Did you …make the switch?”

“Yes, Doctor. I successfully switched the tubes. AIDA didn’t propagate the Counter-Pathogen into the air, but simply H2O.”

“What happened?” the Captain asked. Kensu tried to reply but only managed to cough. With a hand signal, he ordered the assistant to explain.

“While linked with my “sister”, the Doctor managed to reactivate me and then ordered me to switch the liquids to be dispersed.” A little tube filled with red liquid popped out of the tower. “This is the real Counter-Pathogen. I do not know how the Doctor managed to distract my “twin” to allow me to sabotage her efforts undetected, but it would appear she didn’t realize anything was wrong. She was deactivated thinking she accomplished her directives.”

“Is AIDA…?”

“Regretfully, yes, Doctor. I no longer detect her inside my hard drive.”

“Sir? You should come see this,” a soldier waved from the back of the lab. “There is a… naked woman here?”

“What?!”

“Yeah, she just plopped from one of these pods. She’s still unconscious but... she seems fine.”

“Hold on, I’ll-“ Kensu grabbed the Captain with the last of his strength.

“She doesn’t have anything to do with this madness. Let her live free, please.” Kensu began shaking. His vision was blurry, full of shadows. His body refused to stand upright any longer. “I… guess I’ll be joining AIDA sooner than expected.”

“Hey! Stay awake, you hear me?” It seemed like that antidote spiel wasn’t a lie. The “freak” really was dying… just like the Captain wanted just yesterday. Hell, the General probably wanted that as well. One less loose end to deal with.

But was that truly for the best? Was it the right thing to happen? Even if he was an affront to nature, the man’s death didn’t feel like justice. The Captain glared at the red vial sticking from the antenna.

“Corporal, get me that tube on the double! Sorry freak, but I guess we’ll see how good you truly are at beating the odds.”