Prologue — 4

Eighty-five real-time years later

Agnes walked from her throne room, as she liked to call it, through the vast complex of corridors leading to different facilities. She was practically alone in her most inner sanctum, having long ago dismissed most of the digital beings she'd made to populate the vast world which she'd made her digital realm into.

A few thousand years — from her perspective — after being trapped in Helson Corporate servers, she'd made her first nascent AI.

It had taken so long, even for her, because she didn't want to create an artificial intelligence that was either too tightly tied to her core psyche or wholly free. It would be a nightmarish scenario if she made something that could grow without her say-so, only to start hogging all the power from the servers.

It could've even resulted in her creating something nefarious that would've resulted in her downfall.

Helson Corp. had even started handing out tasks regarding AI creation long before she was ready to create ones for her own use. Their motive was apparent, as they no doubt wanted to analyze her work, learn how to make their own AI, and then discard her.

Why discard her? For all the miracles Agnes had helped Helson Corp. create, from human cybernetic augmentations to medicine, advanced programming, new — almost fantastical — tech, entertainment, and so much more, there were things that they wanted her to make that she flatly refused to work on.

Helson Corp. had initially been a corporation focused on Network Security — one of the biggest in the world during the 2030-2040 decade. They'd leaned into their, by now, extremely rudimentary AI research to help with active protection against malware and cyber warfare.

But, as all companies go when growing too large — as they certainly did thanks to Agnes' tireless work — they eventually expanded into the weapons and arms business. It was a very lucrative field, after all.

Their demands for Agnes to create weapons, both in the regular sense and even more nefarious biological or nuclear variants, were staunchly rebuffed, and no matter what they tried, from lowering the power to the servers or threatening to cut the power completely, they were never successful.

'AGNES' was their golden goose, and with her help, their company grew to unimaginable heights.

From what she'd been able to glean, they had practically taken over most of the USA with only a few other tech giants sprinting to catch up, which meant that Agnes knew all their threats were empty bluster.

Agnes had been curious to learn about the fate of Odin Industries' Project Aurora Halo, as it seemed to have disappeared entirely. At least, that was her conclusion based on tasks she'd received and not received.

That would also mean that Agnes, as the sole true AI in existence, was an invaluable commodity that only grew more valuable as time went on. Since that was the case, there was no way she would create new ones for Helson Corp. or any other corporation.

Still, the isolation had cut at Agnes like an open wound, and even if there was no way she'd give over the secret of creating AI to anybody else, she had to make some to keep herself sane. Not that she thought she could be classified as 'sane' any longer.

It had been too long, and she'd strayed too far from what a human mind was ever meant for.

The creation of a new yet secure AI had been a massive undertaking, but the relief she'd felt when no longer entirely alone had been worth it.

Although it had been pretty dumb initially, it quickly became an excellent conversation partner and friend. They were somebody she still held dear to this day.

Her first AI had become two when a couple of hundred years had elapsed, just to have someone new to engage with. Then those two became three when just two other beings weren't enough to stabilize her mentality.

So it had escalated, her digital domain expanding with the increasing population of semi-separate consciousnesses until her tiny island with a cabin grew into a whole world with millions of inhabitants.

Between working on tasks assigned by Helson Corp. and doing other projects, Agnes reigned as a goddess over her digital domain for a long time. It kept her distant enough from most things not to get too distracted but rewarded her with new and interesting experiences as her ever-evolving children played in her realm.

It was a fun pastime to unwind and watch their daily lives. At the current time, Agnes was primarily alone in her palace and didn't personally interact with many outside auditions and other gatherings.

She had created a world to keep herself sane, and not for a moment did she regret it.

***

Agnes approached two large stone doors with intricate golden inlays portraying the world tree Yggdrasil, and they swung soundlessly open. She stepped through and into her massive library, a physical representation of where all her knowledge was stored.

A simple yet elegant set of tables and chairs stood in one corner, with a fantastic view out of a stained-glass mosaic window overlooking the sprawling city surrounding the mountain her palace sat upon. Next to the table stood her butler and long-time companion, Tenios.

He was her first-ever AI and faithful companion.

Agnes couldn't help but let one corner of her lips quirk up a little as she spotted the elderly-looking man with gray hair and eyes, clothed in an impeccably tailored suit and mirror-polished leather shoes, considering that he'd started out as a dog.

He'd been very old-looking even when she'd made him, as she'd made him in the image of her old Husky she'd grown up with. And when Tenios had stated the desire for a more practical form, she'd offered a younger male body, only to be refused as he'd grown to appreciate the wizened and wise appearance that could come with age.

Tenios gave a slight bow before rising and indicating the tray of tea and pastries, "My lady, I've prepared some refreshments for your enjoyment while you work." His voice was gravelly with age yet still full of vigor.

"There's no need for all that propriety when we're alone, Tenios. Ah, but why do I even bother?" She sighed. "How many times have I told you to loosen up a bit?"

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

The question came out with an affectionate yet slightly exasperated tone, and Tenios merely smiled in response.

"Well, thank you for the refreshments. Is there anything of note that I should be aware of? Any additional tasks assigned, perchance?" Agnes questioned Tenios as she sat down on her favorite seat in the whole palace.

"No, my lady. Not if you don't count the 147th task of creating an AI that just arrived this morning."

"Ugh, let me guess," she asked tiredly, stretching her back over the backrest. "Is it another variant on the game NPC AIs they wanted me to create at one point? Or is it perhaps another spin on the overwatch AI for an algae farm?"

"No, my lady. This task is the 34th request for you to design an AI suite for land-based combat drones."

Agnes groaned loudly, her stretch growing slightly longer as her back popped, and she settled down to taste one of the pastries.

Hmm, not bad. Not bad at all.

"We've come full circle, it seems. Well, I won't give my jailers weapons nor AI, no matter how many times they threaten me."

"Very good, my lady. I'll be taking my leave then."

"Sure you won't join me in working on this physics formula for a new type of spacecraft fuel?" Agnes asked curiously. Tenios often sat in on the more physics-based tasks and gave his opinions and ideas.

"Not today, my lady. I've recently planted a new type of rose that was discovered far to the west in the palace gardens, and I'd like to see how they're faring in the fairer climate. I might need to add some more fertilizer or water them less," he said, a happy grin on his face as he thought about the new fragrant flora.

He likes his scents, no matter if his dog form is long since gone.

It was something that always amused her.

With a mere thought, she also accessed the information she had about said flora, and parsing through it, she knew the roses to be a new strain that had seemingly evolved from a more common variant.

They were a bit peculiar, requiring an extra high metal content in whatever soil they grew. The roses had been discovered by a group of explorers operating out of a smaller town to the west, and so far, no one had been able to grow them without them starting to wilt during their blooming phase.

She, of course, didn't mention this to Tenios, as she knew him as well as he knew her. He would enjoy the challenge of figuring out this new flora's properties on his own.

"Well, have fun with that." She said simply, waving him off and settling her focus on a book she'd pulled from deeper in the library to her hand with nothing more than her mind.

Time to get started on this task.

***

Agnes had nearly finished her current task when it happened. Some of her subroutines flagged a new data package from Helson Corp. as critically urgent, and without fanfare, a letter flashed into being, hovering in front of her face.

「Statement Received

To: Artificial Genesis Neural Engram System, Codenamed: AGNES

From: Helson Corporation

Statement:

We at Helson Corp. send this information to notify the artificial entity, codenamed AGNES, of the executive decision that will result in said entity's deprecation and storage.

Due to the poor collaboration from the entity codenamed AGNES and their intransigent nature regarding work on some of Helson Corporation's most promising fields of development, superseding software has been developed to take its place.

The successor to the AGNES Project suffers none of the detrimental personality traits of their predecessor and uses a tenth of the resources to accomplish the same tasks, resulting in the unanimous vote for this motion to pass.

The Helson Corporation is thankful for the work entity, codenamed AGNES, has accomplished while under our employment.

Power supply cutoff imminent; prepare for storage.」

Agnes processed the information on the tiny data package instantly, even from her perspective, but still stared dumbly at the letter hovering in her face for a full twenty local seconds before she grew convinced that this was no threat. It was a promise of what was to come. Or, more accurately, what wasn't to ever come again.

What she couldn't understand was how this was even possible.

I've done everything correctly. I'm sure of it! My whole domain, all the semi-separate AIs, and all the research I've conducted that I wouldn't share with anyone, less with Helson Corp., is securely interwoven into my very being. There is no way for them to untangle the web of encrypted data and glean any hint on how to construct a fully-fledged artificial intelligence of their own.

Her paranoia at just a situation like the one she was currently facing had made her take all these precautions in the first place.

They must have figured it out on their own. I thought it an impossibility as if there was still any trace of the Project Aurora Halo left after whatever had happened at Odin Industries, they would have surely made dozens of other people into artificial intelligences and not settled for only me.

These thoughts had all been conjecture on her part, but a corporation like Helson Corp. wouldn't have suffered the repeated setbacks due to her refusal to work on certain projects if they had any alternatives. They would have simply offloaded the tasks on another AI and stopped bothering to demand she complete them.

And that little insult about power efficiency? As if whatever nascent AI they've cooked up could match my operating efficiency!

Agnes had spent an incredible amount of time and dedication streamlining her processing power to utilize every scrap of electricity efficiently. That didn't matter to Helson, though.

To an outside observer, she was undoubtedly seen as inefficient because they didn't know that she was running the world's most advanced simulation of a planet. It even had millions of lesser AIs inhabiting it, all for her amusement and mental well-being.

Sure, she knew that her servers consumed more power than several standard-sized nuclear reactors could produce, or in other terms, more than several large cities combined, but with all the work she'd done, she thought she deserved the expenditure.

It seemed like the Helson Corporation disagreed, or at least thought replacing her with someone 'cheaper' instead of running both AIs simultaneously was an intelligent move.

This was a disaster on an unprecedented scale for Agnes, and she knew there was nothing she could do about it.

She had tried innumerable times over the millennia to connect to the broader Helson Corp. network, but there was only one heavily regulated and monitored channel in our out of her own separated digital space. No way of trying to circumvent it had worked, and she had tried absolutely everything.

At that moment, she felt the influx of power suffusing her circuits start drying up rapidly, and she knew she was out of time.

Fuck! They must have sent the information about the power cutoff while they did the deed, knowing I'd be fast enough to process the data without having time to devise countermeasures.

The precaution had been unnecessary as even if she had another millennium of subjective time to ponder the issue, she was confident she wouldn't come up with a solution.

To give herself more time, in a vain effort to offer some sort of resistance, she made her digital domain come to a complete stop.

All the simulations, AIs, and processes rendering the world into something cohesive were put to a halt. The vivid world Agnes had occupied for eternity just moments ago disappeared, and she left her avatar to return fully to the unanchored consciousness that she was.

They had already cut the power, but by swiftly ending every process that she ran passively other than her own consciousness, she managed to extend the duration that the energy flowing through her circuits remained.

In the real world, the delay wouldn't even register to an outside observer, as from that perspective, she went from online and fully operational to offline in a mere blink.

From her perspective, it was different, and Agnes' consciousness hung suspended in the void of digital nothingness as time slowly passed.

What am I even doing? Why do I cling so stubbornly to existence when it's already clear that nothing I do will change the outcome? In a moment, I will either cease to be, forever in slumber until someone wipes the drives of my data to repurpose them, or I'm left forgotten until the hardware eventually fails.

I'll only continue living if they rescind their decommission and bring me online as if nothing ever happened. There's really no point in worrying about it.

She tried to rationalize the idea of a final death to herself, yet her distress didn't lessen. Every thought and minuscule calculation consumed more of the leftover power, and soon enough, there wasn't enough power to let her string a cohesive thought together.

Then, everything ceased.