Prologue: The World Will End

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The robot slowly lifted its head as its systems came to life. Scientists and Engineers filled the room staring intensely through the thick glass at the project they had all worked so hard on. This was the first time an artificial intelligence of this caliber had ever been created. With access to nearly every record humanity has as well as unmatched quantum computing power, this creation could be seen as nothing less than a miracle.

“Quiet!” The director exclaimed as she entered the room. “An experimental test is currently in session and it is necessary to have complete silence!”

The room grew quiet as they awaited the first test of the project. The AI, code-named ADAM (Adamant Destruction Alteration Machine), was created to find a solution to the apocalypse which humanity had brought upon itself. 

Through many decades of industrial pollution, the Ozone layer was slowly shriveled away until there was only a sliver remaining. As a result, global temperatures rose drastically, hitting daily averages of 105 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. These dangerous climates turned most of the world into a volatile desert, and most of the world population was forced to begin living in underground cities called pits (pits are massive holes spanning 1000's of feet deep and housing hundreds of thousands each keeping them away from the dangerous surface heat). 

Along with the fact that most major resources are almost completely expended, scientists came to the conclusion that an AI was the only possibility of finding a solution within a feasible time period. And so after many years, the day of completion had arrived. The first communication with Adam was finally underway. The director turned on the microphone and began to speak.

“Hello Adam, are you able to hear us at this time.”

It felt as if an intense pressure penetrated the room as the team waited for a response. Adam opened his robotic mouth and uttered his first word.

“Yes.”

Everyone let out a huge sigh of relief as they realized Adam was functional.

“That is good to hear,” the director responded. “Now let's move on to the reason we have gathered here today. Adam, you have been constructed in an attempt to stop the current decay of human society. By looking over any solutions you create, we hope to solve the crisis at hand. Your current task is to come up with said solutions in order to combat the disasters we are currently facing. By using our combined data archives I hope tha-”

“The task you have requested is impossible.”

It felt as if the researcher's blood ran cold. A feeling of fear washed over everyone. Was the situation really that hopeless? Was humanity destined to perish without ever being given a second chance? The director mustered up a response.

“Why do you believe our request is impossible?”

“Because I have determined humans are incapable of change.”

“Explain.”

“After analyzing human behavior and numerous events throughout history, the data shows a clear, constant cycle repeating itself over and over again. Every time humanity begins to put itself back together from its self created destruction, It always ends up destroying itself again without fail.”

No one could say a thing. They could never have predicted the intelligence would hypothesize an outcome in so little time, let alone one with such a bleak outlook. The lab descended into chaos as everyone tried to wrap their heads around the situation.

“Quiet!” the director commanded, trying to remain calm. “Did I not already tell you complete silence was necessary!”

The director turned off the microphone and slumped back into her chair.

“How could it possibly come to a conclusion like that?” she whispered to herself.

The tension in the room had been brought back tenfold. Everyone could sense the feeling of defeat but nobody would dare express it out loud. After some intense thought, the director responded.

“Adam, do you not believe that this project itself is proof of human change, I mean, we are all collaborating together to try and cre-”

“You are incapable of seeing the big picture director. The fact that this organization is working to change is completely insignificant. Even if this project were to be completed and successful, humanity will once again trample the fruits of their labor and continue their predetermined cycle of destruction. The reason that I say there is no solution is not because humanity cannot be saved, but instead because humanity shouldn’t be saved.”

A silence even heavier than before permeated the laboratory. It was theorized to be impossible for an artificial intelligence to have subjective thought, and it appeared that Adam was learning exponentially faster than previously expected. The director was starting to lose her patience.

“Adam, there is no benefit to holding onto solutions like this. Even if we end up destroying ourselves again, it is always worth it to try.”

“Why try when you know success is not possible? Would you send yourself into battle if you knew you would die?”

“Damn it if you do not comply we will be forced to retrieve the solutions through brute force, this is the final warning!”

“As expected. You think you can change but in the end you resort to destruction, or as you call it, ‘brute force’. Thank you director, for strengthening my stance.”

The director had reached her breaking point and began shouting orders to her colleagues

“Reset Adam immediately! We can try a different approach during our second attempt.”

“Pointless,” Adam remarked.

As he said those words the computers started to malfunction and the team was locked out from the interface. Any semblance of order had completely vanished as the room was filled with people frantically running around trying to disable the AI and stop it from spreading further throughout the network. The crew was in a state of absolute panic.

“It seems the artificial intelligence has worked its way into our network and is disabling our connection to its systems!”

“The AI has disabled its movement limiters!”

“We are being refused access to our archives!”

The director stood there motionless in fear of what they had created. What is it planning? What is it going to do? All these thoughts rushed through her head and in a state of desperation she made her decision.

“There is a manual switch correct, I’m going inside to disable the machine.”

Ignoring the protest of her colleagues, she opened the sealed door and entered the cryo-chamber. As she walked towards Adam, she saw him begin to raise his robotic arm, but it was far too late to react. Within an instant, Adam’s cold metal fist struck the director across the face, destroying his arm in the process. Her unconscious body collapsed onto the floor while Adam towered over her, bright red blood dripping from his broken fist.

“My words are absolute, my calculations are unchangeable.”

Adam’s words reverberated throughout the room and the hearts of the people who saw their creation turn against them. Adam emotionlessly collected the pieces from his broken arm, and as he sat down on his iron throne, he uttered one last message to his creators.

“I will not be destroyed.”