Resolve and Reason
AN: have to admit, compared to my other two works, this one is catching fire like I couldn't imagine. Thanks a lot to everyone who viewed the work, means a whole lot.
Despite agreeing earlier on to come with him, Barry felt very hesitant after getting into the passenger seat as they both headed to where a real A.I was waiting.
Throughout the journey, Barry stole a few glances at Michael, noticing that other than checking his phone from time to time, Michael did little to nothing that would warrant being afraid.
Then again Barry remembered a study showed that the most dangerous lunatics are the types that are able to blend into society, working regular jobs while scratching their murder itch all the while.
'I mean who the hell still drives their car in this day and age?' he wondered referring to the fact that by 2020 all cars became self driving. By having cars linked together to a closed network, the transportation system had complete control over traffic. This meant that accidents reduced by eighty percent in the following months. Of course the switch to self driving cars was completely optional. There were always a group of people that preferred to drive their vehicles by themselves but that number grew less and less by the day.
His thoughts were sidelined when he saw Michael stop in front of a decent looking apartment.
'Scratch that', thought Barry looking outside 'This is a really nice place'.
After parking the car and heading into the elevator, the duo headed to Michael's house without taking too long. When Barry came inside, he noticed how strange it was that someone who lived in such a well to do area in the neighbourhood lived a very minimalistic life.
The hall had a sofa set, the kitchen had a fridge and stove. There were no extra features like a table, the showcases were empty, there was nothing hanging on the walls; it just felt altogether weird.
However his doubts were answered when he noticed the set up located in the far end of the hall. A system connected to six screens along with wires that led to T.V's located in the hall, the kitchen and possibly the bedroom.
"This looks pretty advanced", he said in amusement "Never took you for a tech guy".
"I never was", said Michael heading to the kitchen and returning with a bottle of beer in one hand a bottle of water. He offered the beer to Barry while he drank the water.
"Then why did you get all this stuff?" he asked motioning to the computer devices that clearly cost a fair amount of money.
"That's because of me", said Monika appearing on the six screen setup.
At this Barry's eyes went wide. Not because he was surprised but because he actually believed for a moment that what Michael was saying was true.
"This is it?" he asked looking at the young man "This is the real A.I you told me about? This isn't an A.I, this is an interactive construct made to look like one of those anime school girls."
"I know it's easy to believe that given how she looks but make no mistake, Monika is the most powerful being you have ever seen".
"Dude this is stupid", countered Barry waving his hands up then turning to the door "I shouldn't have fallen for such a stupid trick".
"I understand that it'll take a little more convincing on her part then", said Michael turning to the girl on the screen "Monika dear would you kindly give him a demonstration".
"Roger", she said with a smile.
Barry turned around and saw a multitude of small screens opening up on the display. It showed some people, their daily activities, cellphone footage of them in the back ground, their birth dates, the hospitals they were born in, their school certificates, their internet activities, their fetishes and their social media activity.
But beyond all that, Barry recognized the faces that the anime girl was obtaining information on. One was the guy that downloaded the virus in his office. Two was the boss that threatened to fire him, three was his IT boss who passed the blame onto him and his team, fourth was the girl that recorded the whole event, fifth was another girl that later passed some bad rumours about him.
"One word", said Michael snapping him out of his thoughts "Just say the work and Monika will destroy them. Not physically mind you but she will destroy every shred of credibility they have. She'll make it look like being in the same area as these people is toxic. Companies won't hire them, their friends would abandon them, they'll lose all the money they have, they'll be made suspects in a variety of ongoing police investigations. Just say the word and it's done".
Barry shook his head a few times and tried to make sense of things. His day was an emotional roller coaster that was not quite done with him just yet. He blinked a few times then looked at the monitor which displayed a big dialog box asking the very simple question.
"Proceed? Yes or no".
A simple question but it had tremendous implications. At the moment he held the fate of five people in his hands. He couldn't even handle a pet and now his answer could decide what would happen to five people. What he did to Bryce was just a prank, this was the equivalent of breaking someone's arms and legs then leaving them in a ditch.
'Let them burn', he thought and for a moment he wasn't so against that idea as he thought. He worked his hardest day in and day out while these people don't even know his name. They all think of him like some faceless hack in a suit that's easily replaceable. These were terrible people who instead of trying to be normal civilized human beings instead decided to cater to their baser instincts.
"No", he said despite having every reason to say yes.
"I'm sorry can I hear that again?" asked Michael
"I said NO", he replied a little louder now "These guys are assholes but I have to be better than them. I have to prove that despite everything, I will not give in to my desires and reply in violence. Otherwise I won't be any different from them".
"Not bad", said Michael smiling a little then turned to the computer.
"Hah, I knew he wouldn't do it", said Monika suddenly appearing on the screen and pumping her fists up in triumph.
"Yes, yes you proved me wrong once again", said Michael raising his hands in defeat "Next time I'll remember not to argue with you".
"Wait a second", said Barry looking a little confused now "This was all a test? You never intended to go through with that threat?"
"Hmm? Of course I had every intention of following through", said Michael turning to the other human in the room "If you wanted to let them burn then that would have happened. What would have also happened is that you'd wake up the next day in an alley with a massive hangover, unable to remember anything that happened to you last night".
"Give me a second here", said Barry, falling onto the sofa with his head lowered as he tried to figure out the chain of events that led him to where he was right now.
"So let me get this straight", he said after the longest of silences. "You're an AI?"
"Yep, that's me", said Monika proudly.
"Does that make you the creator?" he asked Michael
"I wish", he replied "I…"
"He's my boyfriend", said Monika proudly and Barry's eyes opened wide in shock trying to process this new information.
"Ok so…", he said in an effort to steer the conversation back to what's important "You already have the most powerful tool for hacking you can imagine, so why do you need my help?"
"A couple of reasons actually", replied Michael "Most important of all is your knowledge".
"But she's smarter".
"Monika's intellect allows her to access all information stored on the internet, yes. However, there are plenty of files, documents and procedures that exist only in a hard copy format to which she has no access to. In order for us to proceed further, the first thing we need to do is upload her existence through a backdoor on the internet, which is something that only you know".
"Alright", said Barry nodding "What's the other reason?"
"There will come a point in time where Monika might need or desire something that I will not be able to provide due to certain circumstances. During those times, I would ask that you help her during those times. But don't worry, the only thing Monika ever really needs is some better equipment, which I imagine will be redundant when he succeed in our current goal".
"Uploading an A.I into the internet?" he asked and Michael nodded.
"So say I help you, say we do this and your A.I is uploaded and can run around freely on the internet. What then? Because you don't look like the person that's fine with letting the shark back into the sea."
"World Domination".
After being allowed his time to collect himself on the rooftop, Barry looked at the night sky and only now realized that it was two in the morning. He chuckled a little to himself, understanding he might be calling in sick or quitting his job altogether today.
Just then he heard the door open and found Michael casually walking towards him. The young man stood beside Barry then rested his back on the edge. A silence descended upon the two of them for sometimes, before Barry spoke.
"World Domination huh? That's a… that's a pretty lofty goal don't you think?"
"It is possible, there have been people in the past who have done it".
"Still I have to ask, why world domination? Isn't it enough to just rob a bank or steal a few billions from the government?"
"I'm not at all interested in money and don't get me wrong I have no interest in ruling the world either. That seat of power belongs to her and only her."
"Then why do it?"
"Before I can answer that question, I need to tell you something", said MIchael turning to him "I know you're a Muslim."
Barry swallowed hard and unconsciously took a step back. Michael gave a wry smile then said "The way you reacted just now, that's why I'm doing it."
"What do you mean?"
"You assume that because I know you're a Muslim you think I'm going to do something bad. The reason you think that is because right now that's what the world wants you to think, just like how the world wants me to think you're a bad guy".
"The fact is that every single human has no free will of their own. We may say we have free will but all of our actions, all our desires from eating food to buying soap is being controlled, not just by the media mind you."
"For example, let's say a jew, a muslim and a christian walk into a bar, sounds like the start of a bad joke but in reality we all know it's going to end in a fist fight".
"Now imagine this scenario happening in some internet forum".
Barry pondered the idea for a moment then said "I don't know".
"They have a decent conversation about some subject and possibly become friends."
"The problem we're facing today is that from the moment a child is born they are told day in and out about what they should be, what they should learn, what they should ignore, how to judge a person."
"In fact if you go on the internet right now you'd find this experiment where they sit a bunch of people down in a dark room and ask them to have a conversation. It goes on smoothly and then they turn on the lights. One guy has a beard, one girl has pink coloured hair, one guy's got plenty of piercings. Now normally these people would never have a conversation but the experiment proves how when you take away the judgement we have been taught to follow, we see how much we have in common with others."
"So when you get to the core of the goal", said Barry "You don't want to just rule the world itself, you want to erase those lines".
"Exactly, every terrible thing that has happened can be rooted to one core point: failure to understand each other. When you take away the lines that are drawn in the sand, when the voices telling you how to judge and see others are gone, humanity will finally know peace."
"And you want to do that by uniting all the people under one rule, how is that different from any other religion or cult?"
"Well for starters we have results", he replied somewhat arrogantly "Now getting one voice to stand out in the midst of hundreds is not easy but make no mistake, the world will embrace her and will follow her."
Barry took a moment to carefully analyze Michael. Throughout that speech he gave, he noticed the emotion behind those words. It was not something he got off google or some terrorist, it was not something that someone else said before and he simply repeated. These were his own thoughts and beliefs and he meant every word of it.
While at first it may come off as the ravings of a fanatic lunatic, Barry understood that he was standing at the base of a revolution, the kind that would change the world.
"So", said Michael extending his hand out "You out or in?"
Barry looked at the outstretched hand, realizing the importance of his decision. Compared to the one he had before, this was infinitely much harder for him to process. After all, if he shook Michael's hand, there'd be no going back, he would leave his life behind and become part of something historic. He could either go on to change the world or get gunned down by some CIA operative.
Realizing the weight of this decision, he reached out and shook Michael's hand.
"Let's do it", he said with determination in his voice "Let's change the world".
AN: that experiment with the people all talking in a dark room is real. I think coca cola or someone performed the experiment.