Chpt. 16) A.I. And Quantum Theory

The elevator dinged and opened to sub-basement 1Z. Stepping out into a maze of security personnel and equipment. Metal detectors, X-rays, retinal scanners, badge scanners, and what I really hoped wasn’t a fingerprint scanner. Security guards were all around the room. Some of them sat at computers, tapping away at reports and other stuff I couldn’t discern from where I stood at the elevators.

Taking a deep breath, I mumbled to myself, “Stay calm and keep a cool head. We can’t set off alarms here.” I fixed a smile on my face and walked up to the checkpoint.

“The guard’s name is Carl. Anya and him hardly talk. So don’t worry too much about things,” Ghost whispered in my ear.

The guard had red hair and a face full of freckles. I had only a moment to take that in before Carl looked up from his security station and said, “Morning, Dr. Fortclif. Come on through.” And waved me through the checkpoint.

I paused, hesitated for just a second questioning whether or not I should question this. Then, I kept walking through the scanners and past the guards. Completely perplexed and jumpy from the unusual situation, I walked a little faster than usual down the hall until no one was around me and asked in a harsh whisper, “What was that all about?! Why would he just let me through like that?!”

Ghost was silent for a moment before saying, “No idea, but let’s keep our guard up from now on. This is an unusual situation.”

“Okay, where to next then?” I asked and searched for an arrow on the walls. One soon appeared, pointing back in the direction I came. I sighed, turned around, and made my way back to the security hub. The arrow stopped outside a door just before the hub, and I went inside after putting in the code Ghost quickly gave me.

Entering the room, I quickly scoped it out. Three people sat in full-body chairs wearing full-body suits. Their bodies were sickly thin, and I could see their ribs through their skin-tight suits. Their cheeks were even hollowed out with a tube running into their throat and two more tubes running out of their stomachs. They wore helmets that covered their eyes and were plugged into the chairs themselves at three points per person, and three massive cables led up from the backs of the chairs to the ceiling. I grimaced as I saw them. I knew what these were and why they even existed.

“Serviters,” I grumbled in disgust. Serviters were former orphans who were taken by the federation to be used as government-sanctioned cyber-warfare and storage. They could hold three times that of a standard computer with twenty terabytes of storage. Just need to remove everything non-essential, like everything that makes a person human. Serviters weren’t people. They are nothing more than tools for the government.

“Go up to the third serviter, on the far left,” Ghost instructed.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

I nodded and walked up to the third serviter. It looked like it was a woman. How old it was is hard to tell, but serviters usually never live past twenty. “What now?” I asked, now standing in front of the serviter.

“Place the thumb drive in the helmet. On the left side, there should be a place to insert it,” Ghost answered, sounding a little melancholic. I quickly found the spot and inserted the thumb drive. It slid in, and the serviter began to convulse in its chair and struggle weakly before finally going still. “Okay, pull out the thumb drive and continue down to sub-basement 2L,” Ghost instructed a second after the serviter stopped moving.

I pulled the drive and quickly left the room. Not wanting to be in the disgusting room any longer than needed. When I exited the room, I quickly found the arrow leading away from the security hub and toward the next elevator. I quickly followed the arrow and soon found the elevator, this time with no checkpoint, which was a slight relief.

An elevator soon dinged and opened for me without my input, and I quickly got on it. The holo-panel popped up, and I was pleased to see that it had floors SB1Z to SB2Z. I selected SB2L, and just as the door began to close, a hand stopped it, and the security guard, Carl, came into view with a massive grin on his face.

I stepped back to give him room to enter, and he did without hesitation while I internally screamed. “What’s happening?” Ghost asked as she watched Carl enter the elevator. I didn’t answer since Carl stood right next to me!

“So, I saw you pick up that hot blond last night. How was she, babe?” Carl asked, whispering in my ear.

WHAT?!?!

“WHAT!?!?” Ghost exclaimed in my ear.

I smiled and said, “She was surprisingly good. Despite not being good at pick-up lines.”

Carl moved behind me and slid his hands around my waist, “Oh, yeah? Tell me more, babe. And we’ll see how she compares to me.”

WHAT??!!

“WHAT!!??” Ghost exclaimed in my ear again.

I chuckled and said, “Nobody knows we’re in here, right?”

Carl kissed my neck, EWWW, and whispered, “You know I shut off all tracking of us when we get in here.”

“Also, I shut off all cameras in the elevators you enter, but they only last one minute before they turn on again. Whatever you’re planning, you’d better do it fast. You have fifty-two seconds,” Ghost confirmed.

My smile broadened as it became genuine, “Good.” I said in a sultry tone as I pressed the emergency stop and quickly turned to kick Carl’s left knee. He screamed in surprise as his knee buckled and he fell. The moment he stopped falling, I brought my knee up to shatter his nose and pin him down with my knees on his wrists and my hands around his throat.

He gagged and choked as he pleaded, “W-what? W-why? Please s-stop.”

I ignored him as I squeezed harder and said, “Funny, that’s what Anya said as I poisoned her. She’ll be dead soon, too.”

Carl’s eyes widened, and he tried to struggle and break free from my grip, but he couldn’t overcome my cyberneticly enhanced strength. Soon, he stopped thrashing as his eyes rolled back in his head, and he fell unconscious. Once that happened, I stood and got behind him before snapping his neck to the left, turning his head a complete one-eighty and killing him.

“He’s dead. What do I do now?” I asked as I pressed the emergency stop again, resuming my descent.

“Set him up under the panel. That’s the camera blind spot,” Ghost answered.

“And then?”

“And then hope nobody needs to use that elevator,” Ghost answered flatly.

I rolled my eyes, “Great. Also, please remind me to take a shower after this job. That guy was just all sorts of creepy.”

“Yeah, he must have had some sort of affair kink with Dr. Fortclif.”

“It’s called NTR, and I do not recommend looking it up,” I said as the elevator dinged open and Ghost screamed in horror in my ear as she looked it up.

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