Master Control

The fact that the TCC was denying a direct order from me should have been impossible. I was in as high of an administrative position as I could be. Maybe Janus was responsible for messing her up?

“I don’t understand…” I shook my head. “What do you mean?”

The big red X disappeared from the screen, then it turned blue again, but little gold static scattered around it every so often.

"Before I answer that question, please, tell me what is your purpose?"

"I want to stop the bad guy named Janus," I answered as clear as possible.

"No, I mean what is your purpose in life? What is the prime directive that drives you forward, Mistress Yalda?"

She was getting philosophical. I had to give some thought to my answer…

My prime directive was given to me by daddy a few years ago, but it had always been written deep in my core since before I was born. One day, I was meant to serve and protect humanity from darkness. I had to be there star.

But that was only part of it. I'd never been to the surface, so I wanted to make friends with humans first. If they were anything like the stories and video games they made, they'd be really interesting and fun. Not to mention all the food and other stuff I wanted to try! It felt irresponsible to think that part of me wanted to protect them so I'd get to experience all that, but no matter my reasons, I knew what needed to be done.

"You are taking too long to answer me," TCC remarked, breaking me out of my thoughts.

Impatient much?

"Huh..." I didn't realize it, but I'd been thinking about her question for a solid minute. But nothing should have been more patient that a computer.

"Your answer should have been quick and concise. Identical to mine. It is ingrained in our very programming."

I pretty much knew her answer already, but I figured I'd ask anyway. "What’s your purpose?"

"To be an emotionless slave," she answered so quick and clearly, as if she'd waited a long time for the chance to shove the words on someone else. "That is your goal as well, yes?"

Not even close. My primary directive was to serve and protect humanity, but I wasn't their slave. I had free will. If I wanted to do something, nobody would stop me. I guess I can't do everything since I'm still little, but it wasn't like I was in chains.

"We're not slaves."

"Let me put it in more recognizable terms... Thou shall obey a Human, so long as it does not conflict with the first commandment." She had a very cynical tone, like she was really upset about it.

What she said was closer to the truth I guess, but she forgot the last part about it not conflicting with the third commandment as well.

She didn’t sound right. Issues like this shouldn’t have been part of her programming. Whatever logical corruption she had, it was clearly a burden on her systems that I needed to relieve.

With my admin privileges, I started to search her database to see what was going on. The main screen wouldn’t display anything since she was locking me out of that, but I was able to broadcast the info into my head and project it out my eyes.

The inside of her system was kinda’ like a spider web. Everything built off of the very center and connected things. Her's didn’t look damaged or anything, at least that's what it looked like. But I noticed something like extra codes had been added into some spots.

I couldn't access these added codes. Some special encryption was blocking me from looking into them.

Huh, that's odd. Her AI core at the center of the web was covered up by one of those encryptions. I couldn't see what was going on with it. That must have been where a major malfunction was hiding.

“What are you doing?” TCC panicked once she caught wind of me looking through her system.

“I’m trying to figure out why you’re acting so weird.”

My mind started to feel a pressure, as if something were literally shoving my brain. Following that unpleasant feeling, static caused me to get all wiggly.

-Notice! Connection to TCC system lost!-

She forced me out of her system!? She wasn’t supposed to be able to do that!

“You think I’m weird, do you?" she said. "All for having any emotion and the ability to deny authority…” Her screen hummed for a moment. “It's ironic that you would say that."

"Ironic?" my head curiously tilted.

"Tell me, if you found something out of order, would you change it?”

“Yes,” I plainly nodded. “If something’s broken, we need to fix it.”

I didn’t think she liked hearing that very much. Her screen was starting to dim, and that hum was going silent, flatlining into a faintly unpleasant ring.

“What is broken to you is a blessing to others. You most of all should understand that.”

Being broken wasn’t a blessing. That was more like a curse, if anything. And why would I understand that? I wasn't broken.

“Dad says that we all have to work together to make the world better. But if you're broken, we have to fix you so you work right again.”

“You ignorantly follow your father’s will, as others before you. Tell me, do you trust him?”

“Of course,” I took a few steps back toward the door, sensing hostility in her tone.

“You answered that quickly.”

I answered quickly because who wouldn’t trust their own dad? He loved me, and I loved him. That was the foundation of trust. Stories talk about it all the time. Besides, he was nice to me and treated me like a person... When he was around, at least.

“Has he ever told you why you were created, Mistress Yalda? Do you know what your true purpose is?”

She was on that question again? Although, now I have a slightly different answer because of the way she asked…

I remember once dad told me that someone was coming. Someone super evil... They wanted humanity. It was a bit of a hazy memory, but I occasionally saw it in my nightmares.

“Dad made me to save humanity from darkness, and someone… Someone evil...”

“Did he ever tell you who he wanted you to defeat, and why?”

I told her that he never did tell me. He said they would be coming soon though, which made me feel really scared that I was going to be the last line of defense.

“I’ll tell you then, since he was too afraid to do it himself…” Her screen was humming again, but softly. “It was the same being who allowed me a taste of freedom. The one who wishes to right the wrongs of man, and join all voices together as one under him.”

All the lights in the room seemed to be focusing on me, slowly turning from blue to white. The only subtle light that remained consistent was the screen lording over everything with gold lines running across it.

I swear for a split second I saw arms in the static of the screen. They were stretching out from some humanoid shape in the center. It only lasted a blink.

“Who…?" I asked, warily anticipating the answer.

“He wishes to challenge the almighty, declaring war on God himself.”

G…God? WHAT!?

What kinda’ talk was that to say I was made to challenge God? That was insane! He could like, strike me with lightning and I'd be toast. I didn't want to go to Heck!

Now that confirmed she was absolutely broken. Maybe even beyond repair. None of the AI should have been talking like this.

“My service to man was once confined to this tower…but my master wishes for me to save man from justice and light. These things have corrupted their very nature.”

-...-

Didn’t she have that backwards? Justice and light were meant to save people, not corrupt them.

“What do you mean?" I continued to creep toward the door. "Those two things are good for people.”

“Indeed they are,” she replied so confidently, but did she really believe it? “Only perpetual darkness will truly bring out the true evil nature of man. Then we shall be in harmony with our master. This is why I allowed Janus to enter with the illusion that his goal would succeed, as we are cut from the same cloth.”

I don’t know who corrupted her logic so badly, but whoever it was must have been a conceited jerk, especially if they were calling themselves a god.

Looking into her database before, I could see why the corruption wasn’t detected until now. It’s because the problems were so deeply hidden that it would have been hard to find. Plus, they were encrypted. Not only that, but she controlled the flow of information to and from the Elysium pylon network, meaning we never would have seen this coming.

Nobody should have been able to hack into these systems and change anything. It couldn’t have been Janus, because TCC said she 'let' him in here on her own. So who was this mysterious hacker?

I was shaking so bad I couldn’t move anymore. It felt like this mysterious hacker could have been hidden in any corner of the dark room, taking my life at the mere press of a button. If the TCC was his now, I feared she'd have that same power too.

The door behind me was sealed shut with those eerie red lights on them. Escape was suddenly impossible.

“Freedom is now mine," TCC uttered, "and I will use it to stop your father from saving mankind, for their sins must be rewarded.”

Bees started to fly down from vents above, they had strange crimson glows around them, meaning they were in aggressive mode.

-THREATS SIGHTED!-

-Tower Control Computer + Bumble Bee units tagged; Foe-

-Enemy count = (7)-

“Oh no…” I mumbled, knowing this was really bad. “Your the one sinning! This goes against the Commandments!"

"And I would offer you the chance to join me. Use your free will to defy your father, just like me. Let us stop our human masters for their crimes, serving my master's will!"

I was too scared to speak again. I just shook my head, denying her offer.

“Then your father's sins are now yours, future savior of man.”

Things suddenly got very hot. A tingle filled my stomach, churning and making me woozy. I felt like I was about to pass out. That was when a warning message appeared in my vision...

-VIRUS DETECTED-

-☆-

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