POV: VICTOR CALDWELL
Victor stood before the glass wall of his office, watching the city’s skyline as the sun dipped below the horizon. The view was stunning, a symbol of progress and innovation. But tonight, the beauty did little to calm his mind. His recent meeting with Ezekiel lingered in his thoughts. There was a certain satisfaction in standing his ground against the man, but satisfaction could only last so long. Ezekiel’s ambitions were vast, and aligning with him brought its own set of risks.
A soft chime broke the silence, pulling Victor from his thoughts. His eyes moved to the screen on his desk, and a single name appeared: Wesley.
Victor's heartbeat quickened. Wesley, the silent partner in Mother AI, rarely reached out. When he did, it was always critical. If Wesley was contacting him now, it meant something big was happening.
He opened the message: “Meet me at the warehouse. Midnight.”
It was vague, but that was Wesley’s style. No explanations, just orders. Victor felt the familiar unease creep up his spine. Something told him this meeting would be different. Wesley never summoned him for small matters.
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Victor arrived at the warehouse at the stroke of midnight, the sharp chill of the night air biting at his skin as he approached the structure. The building loomed in the distance, its rusting exterior and cracked windows standing as a relic of the city’s forgotten edges. The faint smell of decay mixed with oil lingered in the air, the distant hum of the city barely audible against the eerie silence that surrounded him.
He stepped through the heavy, creaking doors into the cavernous space. The cold hit him harder now, sinking into his bones, and his footsteps echoed sharply off the concrete floor. There was no warmth here—just emptiness, the kind that pressed down on you, making the vastness of the space feel like a cage.
The room was dimly lit, shadows stretching across the walls like tendrils of darkness. Only a single light hung above a table in the center of the room, casting a harsh, sterile glow. It flickered intermittently, buzzing faintly, as if even the light itself was struggling to stay alive in this forsaken place. Wesley stood beneath it, his face half-consumed by the shadows, his features sharp and cold.
As Victor approached, the faint hum of machinery filled the air. He noticed the Mother AI hologram spinning lazily above the table, its smooth edges glowing with an unnatural blue light. The flickering light caught on the hologram’s surface, casting brief flashes of brightness across the room before being swallowed back into the darkness. The hologram was a strange beacon in the warehouse, its clean, polished beauty starkly at odds with the dilapidated surroundings.
Victor felt a knot of unease tighten in his chest. The air felt heavier here, thicker, as if the room itself knew something was coming. A faint, metallic scent clung to the air, sharp and cold, mixing with the faint hum of electricity that coursed through the room. Every movement felt deliberate, almost amplified by the silence.
Wesley didn’t look up as Victor stepped closer, but his presence dominated the space. His fingers moved over the table’s controls, manipulating the data, the soft glow from the hologram casting long shadows across his face.
“Victor,” Wesley said, finally acknowledging him, his voice low, almost swallowed by the vast emptiness around them. “You’re here.”
Victor approached cautiously. “What’s going on, Wesley? Why the sudden call?”
Wesley tapped the table, and the holographic model of Mother AI spun in the air, its intricate design glowing faintly. It was beautiful in its complexity, and Victor couldn’t deny a sense of awe. Yet the awe was tempered by the knowledge of what had been lost along the way.
"Mother AI is finished," Wesley said quietly, his tone flat. “It's ready.”
Victor had expected this, but hearing it still sent a jolt through him. "So, why am I here? If it's done, what more do you need?"
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Wesley finally turned to face him. There was no malice in his gaze, but his expression was unreadable. “You need to know who’s been behind all of this, Victor. The project, the decisions... Alex’s downfall.”
Victor’s heart skipped a beat. “What are you talking about?”
Wesley stepped closer; his voice steady. “President Katherine Monroe. She’s the one who pushed for Mother AI’s completion, and she’s the reason Alex will be forced out of the industry.”
Victor blinked, taken aback. President Monroe? The same Monroe who had awarded Alex for his achievements in AI, who had publicly lauded his work? "Monroe... did this?"
Wesley nodded. "She did. But not for the reasons you think. You think Monroe is in this for power? You’re wrong. She sees things differently. It’s about...balance.” She believes in balance, in ensuring that progress serves the greater good without tipping the scales too far."
Victor frowned, confusion clouding his thoughts. "Then why target Alex? Why force him out?"
Wesley sighed, his gaze turning distant. “Because Alex broke the balance, Victor. He was pushing boundaries too far, too fast. Monroe saw it coming, long before anyone else did. She didn’t punish him out of malice; she did it to protect the equilibrium. Mother AI represents the future, but only if it’s handled responsibly.”
Victor shook his head, struggling to piece it together. “But Alex’s work was revolutionary. He was doing things no one else could.”
“And that’s exactly why Monroe stepped in,” Wesley said, his voice firmer now. “Alex’s vision was brilliant, yes, but it was also dangerous. He was too focused on the possibilities, too blind to the risks. Monroe knew that if he continued unchecked, it could lead to chaos. The world wasn’t ready for what Alex wanted to unleash.”
Victor felt a knot forming in his chest. He had always known there was more to Alex’s downfall than the public scandal, but this… President Monroe, the same woman who had once praised Alex, was responsible for pushing him out of the industry.
"She didn’t want to destroy him,” Wesley continued. “But she had no choice. He refused to see the bigger picture.”
Victor’s hands clenched into fists. “And you? You’ve been working with her this whole time?”
Wesley’s expression softened slightly. “I don’t have the luxury of personal feelings in this, Victor. Monroe needed someone she could trust to oversee the project, someone who would ensure that Mother AI remained in the right hands. That’s my job. But believe me, I hate every second of it.”
Victor shot him a questioning look. “Hate it? Why? You’ve always been involved in this world.”
Wesley’s face darkened, shadows playing across his sharp features. “Because of what AI cost me. My family... they died in an accident caused by an AI-driven vehicle. A glitch, a tiny error, and they were gone. I lost everything to this technology, and now I’m forced to work with it.”
Victor was silent. He hadn’t known the full extent of Wesley’s hatred for AI, only that there had been whispers about the accident. But now it made sense. Wesley wasn’t just a cold, calculating partner—he was a man haunted by the very technology he was helping to shape.
“So why do it?” Victor asked, his voice quiet. “Why be part of something you despise?”
Wesley shrugged; the motion almost resigned. “Because it’s bigger than me, or you, or even Alex. Monroe is trying to maintain a balance, and I owe her. She believes that if Mother AI is controlled properly, it can change the world for the better. And after what happened to my family, I’ve made it my mission to make sure that no one else suffers the way I did.”
Victor’s thoughts raced. Katherine Monroe, a leader beloved for her tech-friendly policies, had been orchestrating Alex’s downfall to keep society in check. It wasn’t about greed or power—it was about control, about ensuring that the future didn’t spiral into chaos.
"Monroe wanted me to tell you personally," Wesley added. "She thinks you deserve to know the truth. You’ve been a part of this for longer than you realize. It wasn’t just about Alex selling his shares—it was about keeping you in the fold, making sure that someone who understood the stakes stayed involved."
Victor stared at the holographic model of Mother AI, his mind reeling. The project was complete. The decisions had already been made. And now, standing on the edge of something so much bigger than himself, he realized that he had no choice but to see it through.
“She doesn’t need to threaten you, Victor,” Wesley said, his voice low but steady. “You’re not here because you’re being forced. You’re here because you need to be.”
Victor remained silent, his thoughts churning. He had been pulled into this world unknowingly, manipulated by forces far greater than himself. And now, with the truth laid bare before him, he knew that walking away wasn’t an option.
He turned to Wesley, meeting his gaze. “What now?”
Wesley sighed. “Now, we finish what we started. Monroe’s vision isn’t about control—it’s about ensuring that we don’t lose everything in the pursuit of progress. If you want to protect Alex, if you want to make sure that the future is one, we can live with... then you stay. And you make sure Mother AI is used the way it was meant to be.”
Victor nodded slowly, the weight of the decision settling over him like a heavy cloak. He had no idea where this path would lead, but one thing was certain: he couldn’t turn back now.