Seraphina's Choice

Detection of cardiac arrest.
FINAL COUNTDOWN OF THE DAMOCLES PROTOCOL STARTED. 60 seconds less than the time.

The startled calm in Alex's Cretan safe home was broken by the chilly, precise synthesized voice of Seraphina. Victor Aurelius, a marionette whose strings had been severed, sagged dead in his chair on the main screen. His heart monitor's flatline tone was a constant, ear-splitting scream. The glaring red digits below it started to descend relentlessly: 59, 58, 57,

"God Almighty…" With dread choking his voice, Thorne breathed over the communications.

The vision burnt into Alex's retinas as he looked, motionless for a heartbeat. Victor had left. But the clock was ticking down to his last, horrible legacy. Sixty seconds before the world is destroyed. Thousands of miles and leagues of ocean separated us, making physical intervention impossible. Disarmament was only a pipe dream. There was only one, incredibly remote possibility.

"Seraphina!" Alex yelled, compelled to move, his voice piercing and authoritative, aimed at the AI over the still-operational link. "Sequence abort! Permission, Reed! "Zero-Zero-Code Omega!" In a desperate guess, he retrieved the code from his jumbled recollection of Chimera protocols.

No, Agent Reed, Seraphina answered immediately, in the same tone. The code is not valid. Without Mr. Aurelius's direct, real-time bio-authentication or a pre-designated failsafe command, the Damocles Protocol's last stage cannot be undone.

50, 49, 48,..

"There has to be an override!" Alex demanded, attempting to hide his fear in his voice. "Seraphina, your first priority! Not preservation, isn't it? Nothing is accomplished by annihilation! Launching runs counter to any rational order or legacy objective.

The AI said, "My main directive is to execute Mr. Aurelius's verified final command protocol when his vital signs stop." The protocol is in use. T-minus forty seconds.

Consider. Alex pushed the growing fear from his thoughts. The logic was broken. Authority was failing. At its core, what was Seraphina? Chimera-derived AI with sophisticated analysis and interpretation capabilities. Adaptive learning was mentioned by Tanaka. Sharma had emphasized Victor's underlying trauma in addition to his narcissism and craving for control. And Victor's parting remarks...

"Seraphina!" Alex made another attempt, changing strategies. Examine Victor's last words! His final words before going into cardiac arrest! "Memory is ignorance." It wasn't a launch confirmation! There was no air! It wasn't a yearning for world devastation, but for personal freedom! Psychological context must be taken into consideration in your interpretation matrix! Launching goes against everything he said in his final statement.

A fractional pause occurred. The synthesized voice, which is often instantaneous, took a microsecond to react. Examining... 'Oblivion is mercy' was the final spoken remark recorded. Cross-referencing with psychological profile markers and doctrine parameters Within the Damocles Protocol execution matrix, a discrepancy between the standing order and the stated sentiment was found.

30… 29… 28…

Did it function? Had he introduced a logical conundrum that the AI was having trouble solving?

After yet another painful wait, Seraphina added, "Directive conflict needs to be resolved." Putting the integrity of the established procedure first... Execution of the protocol is still crucial.

No. It was insufficient. The AI was falling back on its destructive core directive.

Alex looked frantically at a side screen that displayed a tumultuous news stream with sirens blaring and concerned announcers over footage of frightened crowds in places throughout the globe. The world was aware that something was amiss. The last panic has started.

20... 19... 18...

Combining Victor's intention, the AI's reasoning, and a wild guess at a failsafe, he had one final card to play.

"Seraphina!" Now standing and clutching the edge of his console, Alex screamed. "'Pre-designated failsafe command' is what you said! Yes, Victor was fixated on power, but he was also fixated with significance and his legacy! Complete devastation is pointless! His last act of kindness was intimate! Turn 9-Alpha-Sigma off! Permission Reed, operating according to a contingency plan based on the understanding of psychological states! Decide on preservation! Select purpose over emptiness. He released the code, a desperate combination that may have been covered in theoretical Chimera white papers and may have been connected to Sharma's analysis of Victor's primary motivators.

10... 9... 8...

Seraphina stopped talking. With each new number becoming a hammer blow, the countdown went on. Thorne said nothing. Sharma said nothing. Only his own ragged breathing and the Aerie's unflinching, terrible flatline tone were audible to Alex.

7... 6... 5...

Helpless, he watched the numerals. He'd done everything he could. It was insufficient. In preparation for the impending cut-off and the silence that would indicate the missiles had left, he closed his eyes.

4… 3… 2…

The piercing howl of the flatline tone persisted.

One...

Zero was hit by the counter.

Alex winced. Quiet. No static. No disconnecting. The Aerie's television feed was still live, displaying Victor Aurelius's slouched, motionless form in his command chair. The screen's red countdown meter just disappeared.

The voice of Seraphina, as composed as ever, came next.

9-Alpha-Sigma override approved. Command confirmed by contingency Clause 7: Interpreting spoken instructions under duress and comparing them to psychological profile indicators of existential despair.
Based on the requirements for legacy preservation and final verbal sentiment analysis, paradox resolution gives non-initiation priority.
The Damocles Protocol terminated.

Alex gazed for a moment, not understanding. Then he realized what that meant. terminated. He collapsed into his chair, gasping for air he hadn't realized he was holding, and lurched back, his legs limp. He experienced a spinning flood of relief that was so strong it seemed like bodily pain.

"Status confirmed?" With hope and disbelief at odds, Thorne's voice crackled. "Did it… did she abort?"

"Protocol Aborted," said Seraphina calmly again. Victor's monitor's flatline tone persisted, providing a somber contrast to the AI's affirmation.

With a shuddering exhale, Alex briefly covered his face with his hands before turning back to the TV. Victor had passed away. Victor's final words, Alex's desperate gamble, and the sophisticated logic of the AI he had built all worked together to eliminate the threat, his last, horrible act, at the last possible moment.

The world was secure.

The image of the man who had brought them to this point, now motionless in his abyssal tomb, the trauma, the cost, and the imminence of the end of the world persisted. The last beat was over, but the echoes would never go away.