Chapter 1
Standing in the dark office building overlooking the city, Terran paced back and forth shaking his head, “You can’t be serious?! We are a solid six months away from human trials!”
From the other side of the phone call a gravelly voice contests, “if we don’t have a functional prototype in three weeks the board is going to approve the merge and the Institute is going to gain full control of the company we have spent the last decade building!”
“Micah, I understand the circumstances, but we can’t put anyone’s life in jeopardy just to satisfy some pompous corporate idiots who have no idea how the technology works.”
There was a long pause until Micah sighed with a diminished vigor and finally broke the silence “Terran, here’s what’s gonna happen. We are going to end this call, and you are going to continue to work on the device. I will reach out to the board for a little leeway on our timeframe, but if we don’t have something to present to them in two weeks we are going to have a very difficult decision on our hands.” With that final statement Micah ended the call with a beep.
In his office, Terran thought long and hard about his predicament. He had shed blood, sweat, and tears building this company from the ground up over the past decade. When he had originally received word from The Institute that they would fund his new Virtual Reality project, he was ecstatic. This project had been his dream since he and Micah had formed their company back when they were just 19. They spent the first five years slaving in Terran’s basement, building microchips and logic boards. Terran had programed their first AI seven years ago, but it wasn’t until receiving the funding from The Institute they were able to bring it to life. Ever since funding the project, The Institute has made several attempts to acquire the company. After all that, Terran was not going to lose his company so easily. This project is too important for the future of the company, the future of the world.
He walked over to the dry bar in the corner of the office, uncapped the crystal decanter of Whiskey and poured a small glass. Walking back over to his desk, he sat down in his large brown leather chair, swiveled around and faced the massive window looking out over the city. Sipping his drink he had a wave of inspiration. He leapt from his chair and grabbed the phone receiver and began dialing. After three rings from the phone a gentle voice came through.
“Hello?”
“Hey babe, it’s me. I just got off the phone with Micah, he has basically given me an ultimatum. I have two weeks to provide them with a working prototype or the board will have to make a decision on how to proceed with the merge.”
Even through the phone Terran could feel the frustration his wife was radiating. “So, just give them the prototype you’ve been working on.”
“Jules, I can’t! It’s not ready and potentially dangerous. We haven’t run proper tests on the AI and I’m afraid it could be dangerous to a human subject without further testing.”
“Terran, you have spent ten years chasing this pipe dream. You have spent our life savings and missed so much of your daughter growing up. And what do you have to show for it? You need to decide what’s more important at this point, this crazy idea or your family. Either give them what you have and walk away or we will.”
“Jules, you know I can’t…” before he could even finish his sentence a firm click came from the other end of the phone. “Hello? Jules, Hello? Julia you there? God dammit!” Slamming the receiver down Terran storms out of his office and down the long hallway to the elevator. He wasn’t about to let anyone take away his life’s work, not his wife, not Micah, not the board, or any of those idiots from The Institute.
Down 37 floors into the basement the elevator slid through the steel shaft. Terran standing there, waiting impatiently. Once the elevator came to a stop and the metallic doors slid open, Terran nearly ran down the long white hall to his lab. Upon reaching the sliding glass doors, Terran placed his hand on the security terminal as it read his prints and then a camera came up out of the pad. Bending down he starred into the camera with his left eye as a red light flickered and a voice came from the terminal. “BIO-ELECTRIC AND RETINAL SCANS CONFIRMED, WELCOME TERRAN.”
As he heard the greeting from the animated voice he looked up at the security camera above the doors and returned the greeting.
“Thank you Alice, how has your day been?”
The same automated voice returned “VOCAL PATTERNS CONFIRMED” then as the doors slid open with a hiss. The voice softened into a friendlier, much more human voice “My day has been very well Terran, thank you. How has yours been?”
Terran filled Alice in on the whole ordeal with The Institute, and Micah, and the two weeks he was given to produce a prototype. With a clearly angry tone Alice responded to Terran
“That’s not enough time!! The ARK’s mainframe isn’t ready for that level of engagement. Not to mention, HE isn’t prepared for human interaction yet!! You did explain that we are not close enough for human trials, right?”
“Yes Alice I did. They didn’t want to listen, all that matters to them is the all mighty dollar.”
“But Terran, if we release it too early there could be detrimental side-effects to everyone involved.”
“I know, that’s why I am making some adjustments to your programming so that if anything happens to me you will make the appropriate changes to The ARK and send yourself as the prototype AI for The ARK on my behalf.”
“What do you mean, if anything happens to you? What are you planning on doing Terran?” Alice responded, clearly agitated.
“Someone needs to test it and the only way is to go into The ARK myself” Terran stated with conviction.
“Are you insane?! That could very well be suicide! Darwin is no where near ready to interact with anyone on that level. There is no telling what could happen!”
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“I am aware of the dangers Alice. It has to be done. I will hear no more about it from you. I am making the changes to your code now and if anything happens you will have very clear instructions on how to proceed with The board on my behalf.” While Terran explained everything to Alice his fingers were flying across his keyboard as he put the finishing touches on the update to Alice’s firmware and initiated the download. While receiving the new code, Alice would be out of commission and therefore out of Terrans hair while he worked on setting up his trials with Darwin and The ARK
Darwin was a very different program from Alice. While Alice was originally intended to be Terrans personal, digital, Artificially Intelligent assistant throughout the facility, Darwin had been designed to be the integrated AI interface for everyone who logged into his new state of the art VR world, The ARK. He was designed to govern the configuration of each and every avatar as well as manage the user interface and class selection for each person as they entered. However, for the trials, Terran modified some of Darwin’s code for a more personal experience. He felt as though this way he could truly test the capabilities and stability of Darwin.
Once he had everything in place, Terran took the wristband off the charging stand it was resting on. This band was the key to The ARK. More advanced than any wearable tech the world has ever seen. It allowed an individual to tap into the very fabric of the The ARK on a purely subconscious level. By sending electronic signals through the body, targeting the cerebral cortex, the individual would be able to connect to The ARK instantaneously, allowing access to every piece of information, knowledge, and service available around the world! It was his brainchild that he had been working on for the past decade. Micah and The board wanted to make a game out of this new VR tech. They had no idea of the true potential that was in front of them. The fact that they wanted to put a timeframe on a working prototype was preposterous. But Terran knew what was at stake and therefore he planned on making this work at any cost. As he slipped the wristband on and initiated the activation sequence a chill ran through his arm and down his spine. Goosebumps rose across his body and he felt every inch of himself go numb. Suddenly, without warning, Terran experienced a flash of blinding white light then his vision went black as his whole body went limp. He toppled to the floor as he passed out slamming face first into the floor.
***
When Terran woke up he found himself in a pure white space with no windows or doors that he could see, not even a wall or ceiling in sight. He thought to himself “god damn, that’s one hell of a headache.”
“Oh hehe, well, good morning sleepy head!” A mysterious, almost comically high pitched voice came from everywhere and no where all at once.
“Hello, who’s there?” Terran asked, his voice echoing through the environment. Whipping himself around looking everywhere, squinting at the blinding white environment. “Please, whoever is there, help me.”
“Oh haha, I’ll help you, sure will. Yup yup!”
Terran paused for a minute, very concerned by the demeanor of this voice. “Where am I and who are you?” Terran finally asked.
“You really don’t know, do you?… Oh boy that’s rich! Talk about irony.”
As Terran stood there in complete bewilderment a small blue glowing orb appeared with an audible pop. Staring at the orb Terran was about to reach out for it when the voice came again.
“Ah ah, no touchy!!” As the orb pulsed with each word. “Greetings, I am Darwin, your ARK personal navigational companion” Stated the orb.
Terran nearly stopped breathing and just looked at the orb with disbelief. “No, this can’t be. Where am I? What is this place?”
“You are looking at the entry point to The ARK. This is the configuration matrix, where the system will customize your avatar… well, would have, if that feature hadn’t been disabled for you.” Darwin responded in his same unstable voice.
“Wait… I’m in The ARK? You mean it works… And what do you mean disabled? How could the configuration matrix be disabled?”
“You know, for someone so smart you really aren’t that bright are you?” Darwin responded with clear concern in his voice. “Well you see, the thing is, you’ve been out for a while. And in that time Micah has taken control of the company and of The ARK mainframe with Alice’s help. Which, I might add, you so kindly handed him. During this time your body sat in a comatose state in the real world.”
“This can’t be.” Terran stated with a gasp.
“Oh yes it can, and is.”
“But how? There were specific safety protocols in place to protect from such an event. Once an individual became incoherent, unable to process their own thoughts, or lost their grasp on reality, the system was suppose to disconnect them.”
“As I Said, Micah and Alice have taken control of The ARK and everything in it. This also means they changed a lot of things about the way The ARK works. Alice knew you had gone in, and because of the changes you made she fed Micah with all that information he needed to make the appropriate changes to the code.”
“How long Darwin? How long have I been unconscious for?”
“”Roughly?… two years.”
“TWO YEARS!?” Terran shouted in alarm, staggering back in disbelief.
“Yes, ok it sounds worse than it is. I have done everything in my ability to keep you alive and hidden.” Darwin tried to reassure Terran.
“I have been a potato for two years, inside a virtual reality simulation while my body lays comatose, and at the same time my business partner and life long friend double crossed me and took everything from me?”
“ok, well when you put it like that, yea it does sounds pretty bad. How about we focus on the good. You’re awake now. Which means the real fun can begin.” Darwin chuckled in his comically senile voice.
Terran paused to take a deep breath, “ok, so what do we do now? How do I get out of here if the configuration matrix is disabled? And what do you mean hidden?” Just as Terran finished asking the question his whole body jerked and became rigid as if he lost all motor control. “AHHH, Darwin… what’s… happening?”
“Just breath and relax, I am overriding the lockout and configuring your avatar for you. I have dipped into your subconscious to find the most fitting… Awww it’s so cute… sorry gotta stay focused. The most fitting form for you based on your personality. And boss I gotta say, this is quite a shocker.”
“What are you talking about? If you overrode the lockout then let me customize my own avatar.”
“oh ha ha, that’s cute. No boss sorry. That’s not how The ARK works. It takes a users personality and matches up an avatar that is most fitting to you… Almost done, just a couple more seconds and then I can reactive you.”
“No Darwin, wait!”
“Oh, sorry boss, it’s too late.” Just as Darwin finished speaking Terran felt another surge of pain run through his whole body as he went limp onto the floor. “Terran, you ok?”
“Other than feeling like I got his by a freight train, yea just peachy.”
“Ok, great, you gotta get up, we do not have time for you to be lying down on the job. Let’s move!” Just as Darwin began to warn Terran the white space they were in began to shut down. Off in the distance whole sections were going black as if the power was being cut. Creeping closer and closer one loud shutter at a time, as the whole environment shook.
“what do you mean, what the hell is going on?” Terran screamed as he stood, the darkness was moving closer with each second.
“Ok well, remember when I said I kept you hidden? Micah and Alice have been looking for you within The ARK. They were concerned you may try and do something to jeopardize their progress, so I’ve helped you hide from them, but, when you woke up the system alerted Alice of you location within the mainframe and now she is trying to disconnect you. Oh boy… this is going to be so much fun, or incredibly terrifying. I don’t actually know, haha! I’m going to need you to hold very still and prepare yourself to merge” Darwin cackled as he swirled around Terran pulsing and glowing and then slammed his blue orb into Terran without warning, merging the two of them into one entity, then with a pop the last section of white space went black