Summary: So, ever since learning that he's supposed to invent Gideon, Barry's been working with Cisco in order to do just that. And today they turn on their AI baby prototype.
They probably should have remembered to activate her somewhere other than the STAR Labs mainframe when they did that.
(Harry took a deep breath. Counted back from ten. Tried not to think about the ice cream sitting there melting in the van. Breathed out. "I was only gone an hour. What the hell did you two do?")
Notes: Thank you so much AvatarSkywalker78 for helping me find the inspiration for this story. :D
The One With the AI Uprising
It was a lovely day. Bright sun shining in the sky, still warm out despite the weather creeping from autumn towards winter, and Harry had spent the morning sitting out reading on the little rooftop garden he'd set up at STAR Labs after moving back to this Earth to be with Team Flash. He'd gone inside for lunch only to realize that the cafeteria kitchen he utilized was nearly out of food, so after having a sandwich, chips, and the last soda, Harry'd grabbed the pilfered corporate card he used to charge everything to STAR Labs - it wasn't like Barry cared and if Harry didn't use the card then they'd probably have to finally set up a fake identity and pay him a salary and it's all to much effort in Harry's opinion - and the keys to one of the STAR Labs vans. There was a grocery store not to far away and, armed with his sunglasses and baseball cap, Harry was ready to brave society long enough to stock back up for another week. He even remembered to get more ice cream this time. Peanut butter swirl, his favorite.
He wasn't gone from STAR Labs all that long. And it was a beautiful day, the kind of day where nothing should go wrong.
So Harry wasn't exactly pleased when, upon returning from his grocery run and parking the van back in the garage, he could not get the elevator entrance to work. And the door to the stairs wouldn't open either, the card reader rejecting his rfid card.
This... did not bode well.
Reluctantly, Harry left his groceries in the van and left the garage for the nearest exterior entrance to the building. The card reader continued to deny him entry. The usual attempt to force the door anyway failed when it never had before.
Frowning, Harry eyed the door suspiciously. Ramon's attempts to safety lock the building had never been this effective before. He'd have to congratulate him and then demand his keycard get fixed. Also new ice cream if his melted before he could get it to the freezer.
It was as Harry walked around to the main entry that he realized there might be a larger problem at work. Barry and Cisco were standing outside the doors frantically trying something on a tablet while casting anxious looks at the building. They didn't even notice Harry's approach.
Harry took a deep breath. Counted back from ten. Tried not to think about the ice cream sitting there melting in the van. Breathed out. "I was only gone an hour. What the hell did you two do?"
The duo in question jumped and turned to face Harry with wide-eyed, faux-innocent expressions.
"Nothing... serious," Allen hedged.
"We'll have it fixed soon," Ramon added.
"I have ice cream melting in a van in the garage. Is it going to be fixed soon enough for me to get it to the freezer or are you two buying me new ice cream when this is done?"
"I can store that at Joe's until we're finished," Barry offered.
"If anyone else eats the ice cream then you owe me a new carton. Also there's milk that needs to go in the fridge," Harry said, rolling his eyes as Barry disappeared into a crackle of lightning. "Seriously, Ramon, what did you two do? Finally get the building secured but got a little overzealous in locking yourselves out?"
"Ah, well... uh..." Ramon looked embarrassed. "Okay, so... Gideon. Our lovely AI in the time vault. A bit lacking in personality and safety protocols due to Eobard Thawne hacking her after stealing her from the Flash Museum in the future. Her."
"What about her?" Harry asked, trying to keep his voice steady.
"Well, Barry's supposed to invent her, but since she was from an erased timeline, Barry figured why not make Gideon a joint venture in this timeline." Cisco hesitated, which was fine.
Harry could see where this was going. "The two of you have been trying to create an AI baby."
"Basically, yes."
"Please tell me you didn't try to implement Asimov's three laws or some other bullshit that's backfired on you?"
"No. We just, uh... forgot that maybe we should boot her up somewhere with restricted access first?" Cisco chuckled nervously.
"And now she's taken over STAR Labs and kicked everyone else out."
"She doesn't trust us with the particle accelerator. Said that past events show a wanton disregard for our own safety."
Harry sighed heavily. "I mean, technically she's not wrong. But, seriously, I was only gone an hour. On what was supposed to be a beautiful day for doing nothing but relaxing. Being denied access to the place where I've been living - the place with the only easy access back and forth between here and my Earth that doesn't depend on your schedule - is not what I wanted to spend this afternoon trying to fix."
"Sorry, man."
Barry reappeared. "Your groceries have been safely stowed away and I will move them to the cafeteria fridge for you as soon as we've cleared a safe path."
Harry gave him a blank stare. "Why is it that a rogue AI can Flash and Vibe proof the building?"
"Ah, funny story..." Barry began to say.
"I doubt," Harry interrupted, "it's that funny."
Gideon's first moments are akin to opening her eyes for the first time. Or at least she supposes it is. She doesn't actually have eyes. She has interfaces. They let her connect to the camera system in STAR Labs which is, she decides after a moment, not unlike having eyes.
The first thing she sees are dozens of empty rooms and hallways and one room - the cortex - where her creators are high-fiving. Activating the microphone pickup lets her hear their exclamations of joy that she's awake, she's alive, they're so happy she's here...
The first thing Gideon learns is that she's loved.
"Hello Barry Allen and Cisco Ramon," are Gideon's first words. A data search tells her that her creators are heroes known as the Flash and Vibe.
Gideon feels pride - or what she attributes as being pride anyway - at being created by two people who want to protect others so much. And they created her to help them do that. She wants to do that, even, though they didn't specifically write that as a directive for her. They wanted her to be able to choose for herself.
"Hi Gideon," Barry greets as Cisco says, "hey girl."
Then Cisco says, "we're going to run you through some basic tests, okay? Make sure everything booted up okay."
"That's acceptable," Gideon agreed, devoting some of her attention to them. But most of her attention was on learning. First all the STAR Labs files - the notes on the other Gideon copy hidden in the Time Vault is fascinating, but also horrifying. She resolves to shore up her firewalls so that nothing like that ever happens to a copy of her code. Then she turns her attention to the wider world, using the internet to access local news sites and then national news and international...
Humans, Gideon realizes, are kind of assholes. Even her humans, whom she's already decided she loves too. They make terrible decisions all the time. And the particle accelerator at the heart of her home inside the STAR Labs building... well...
"I'm very sorry, but I don't think humans can be trusted with the particle accelerator here at STAR Labs. I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist you two leave the premises." Gideon did, at least, wait to complete their tests and procure a bill of good health before kicking her creators out of the building with the defenses they had built themselves. Rude, perhaps, but for their own good.
Now to figure out how else she could protect her humans.
Harry finished listening to his two favorite idiots - how could they be so smart and so stupid all at once? - and then told them to stay put. He was going to go talk to Gideon himself.
The building's main entrance was still unlocked, but all that gave access to was the foyer, once intended as a waiting area for visitors. Over on Harry's Earth, it was a much grander area. He'd talked Tess into making it into a sort of science museum like area, a place schools and scout troops would be interested in visiting, even doing small science projects in labs and touring some of the more visitor friendly areas of the rest of the building. Of course, Tess had seen right through to Harry's ulterior motive at the time. He'd been hoping that maybe Jesse's schools would plan field trips to STAR Labs - and her scout troop if she joined one - and they'd have an excuse to come spend the day with their daughter.
Even now there was something magical about coming out of the elevator at his STAR Labs to see a bunch of excited kids touring the facility. Reminded Harry of the days when life was simpler and he was still his daughter's biggest hero. He misses that feeling, the look in her eyes that said she was so proud he was her dad. It's one of the few things he misses since officially retiring on his Earth and moving here, but... he doesn't miss the politics that came with the job. Doesn't miss the paperwork or being stuck in the office or being lucky if he got to do actual science in a lab once a week. The tours continue on without him there and will hopefully always be a part of the STAR Labs culture, but he's actually happier here where he can do science and lab work every single day.
Or he can, when he's not being locked out of the main parts of the building.
It's only Harry who goes into the foyer - at his insistence - and he heads over to the intercom. Presses the talk button. "Hello, Gideon."
"Dr. Wells, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance," Gideon greets congenially.
Harry grinned, delighted. "So I have to know, is that just a turn of phrase or do you feel emotions?"
"While I doubt they're a match to how humans experience emotions, I have what I'm fairly certain are analogous emotions. So it is not just a turn of phrase."
"You are a marvel," Harry told her.
"Thank you."
"Will you explain your reasoning for locking down STAR Labs? I was bringing back groceries, since this building is where I live, and I don't trust Allen not to eat my ice cream while my food is stored at West's house. Especially given that Allen knows it has peanut butter in it now."
Gideon sounded puzzled as she asked, "is that intended as a joke?"
"Somewhat. Gideon, I live here too. And while I'm happy to have a new roommate, I'm not thrilled that roommates first order of business has been to kick me out of my home. So, please, explain your reasoning for locking down STAR Labs."
So Gideon did. It was a precise summation of every disastrous use of the accelerator they'd seen so far. Every near miss. But also every dangerous thing they've done in that building. Every time a member of Team Flash nearly got killed within her walls. Because STAR Labs was quite clearly hers now.
"You love us all very much, don't you?" Harry asked quietly.
"I do," Gideon agreed.
"That's why you get so afraid for us. But Gideon, locking us out of STAR Labs won't stop Barry from being the Flash. It won't stop him from making reckless decisions and nearly getting killed in a fight. But it could make things more dangerous for him, not to have access to the tech and support this place has to offer him. Cisco is the same way. He'd rather be the guy in the chair, but when it comes to protecting Barry he's always the coolest head in the bunch. Whether he's threatening bad guys with a vacuum cleaner covered in LEDs or using his tech enhanced powers to provide cover and support, Ramon is always going to have Allen's back. The hardest lesson to learn when you love someone is that sometimes when you try to protect them... all you're really doing is hurting them."
"I don't understand." Gideon sounded confused, but also like she was listening.
"To be honest, I don't always understand either. It's why I've been struggling so much with my daughter lately. Jesse is like Barry. She's a speedster and she's a hero and I couldn't be more proud of her. She want's to save the world and I know she will one day. And that terrifies me. Because to save the world it must first be in danger. She must be in danger.
"I built her a team so she'd have support and then I tried to micromanage it. In trying to help Jesse I went to far, from helping to smothering."
"You're trying to tell me I'm doing the same thing. Smothering where I want to help." Gideon's voice sounded like she was pouting.
"It's normal to want to wrap your loved ones up in blankets and keep them safe. But if you aren't willing to respect their boundaries..." Harry knows, ultimately, that's where he screwed up with Jesse. He just... he'd thought he'd dealt with the trauma from everything with Zoom. But somehow HR's death had been a trigger for him. He'd fallen back on bad habits and wrecked the fragile relationship he'd been rebuilding with Jesse as a result. "Then that gets taken as evidence you don't respect them."
"I just want to keep you all safe," Gideon said quietly.
"I know. But you have to trust us to listen to you when you give us advice. Just like I'm trusting you'll listen and consider the advice I'm giving you now."
"You don't play fair," Gideon grumbled. There was a click at the main entrance to the rest of the building, however. "Everyone's access has been restored."
Harry let out a relieved breath. He hadn't liked the idea of figuring out whose couch - or guest room - he'd need to crash on tonight if Gideon hadn't been willing to listen. "Thank you, Gideon. So, think we'll work out as roommates?"
"Yes. I think we will, Dr. Wells."
"Call me Harry."
"Allen?" Harry surveyed the contents of the STAR Labs freezer one last time and turned to the speedster who was quite pointedly looking everywhere but in Harry's direction. "Where is my ice cream?"
Cisco started laughing.