Supercomputer

Write a historical fiction story about someone working at a company that helped revolutionize early computers.

'Wake-up, man. How much sleep do you need?' asked Tim to Ron

'That question has baffled the entire humankind, why you are asking it to me?' Ron said

'There he is, the sarcasm king has finally woken up.'

'Did you check those circuits that I asked for?'

'Yes, they are available in the neighboring nation. But the government is not ready to pay the price for it. They deem it too costly and suggested us to find an alternative.'

'Have they lost their mind? Only eighteen months is left to launch and here we are begging for components from authority.'

'Yes, what else we can do? They sign the check, and their pen is mightier than our opinion or intellect explained Tim

'Now What?' asked Ron

'That is why I woke you up, Genius', said Tim

'Let me sleep. My dreams will guide me.' saying that Ron smiled.

Tim understood that Ron needs his power-nap, otherwise, he will be all cranky and hostile the entire afternoon. 

Ron closed his sleeping pod to complete his sleep.

Tim was leading the program to built a Supercomputer that will help their nation in the defense sector. This Supercomputer will help them predict the enemy moments based on the input from the satellite and the mighty Artificial Intelligence, recently developed by the same team. They were all in for the project. 

The government provided them a secret place to carry on with their research as it was a top classified project. This project, if succeeded, will change the global position of their nation. 

The government converted one of the cargo ships into the lab. The ship continued its journey around the coastline of the nation to beat the spies of the enemy nation. A top-secret project floating around the coast of the nation.

'Are you all right? Why did you wake up so soon?'

'Like this our first day on this floating lab. I am...' unable to complete the sentence Ron vomited into the bin. Traveling on the sea was not one of his favorite things. 

'The ship will dock in an hour, complete your sleep then. Now, let us analyze the problem at hand.'

'Can I have lemon water first?'

'Yes, go ahead. Don't worry about this, we have still eighteen months of this.'

'Very funny.'

'Seriously, what we will do without that com[ponent?'

Ron was busy calming his stomach with lemon water.

'Let me ask my contacts over there. What about the satellite link that we tested yesterday. Did you receive any feedback on that?'

'Yes, sir. The signal was loud and clear but one minor calibration is needed. The margin of error was quite high before the calibration, therefore we calibrated it when you were asleep.'

'That's good, Nick. This weekend we have to give a demo to the PM himself. Be ready with all the possible questions and their answers,' said Tim to his fellow scientist and team lead for image-detection and analysis.

'Definitely, sir.'

'Tim, I talked to my contact and I have some interesting news to share.'

'Shoot.'

'The raw-material that product is naturally available in only one nation in this entire world. Guess that nation.'

'The same nation that provides that equipment.'

'You know, Tim, this is the thing that is wrong with this nation. We always sell ourselves short. It is our nation and they import that raw-material from our nation.'

'What? Are you serious?'

'Yes.'

'Nick, include this point in the weekend briefing with PM. Let us begin to make it here and break their monopoly.'

'Yes, sir,' said Nick

Tim and Ron diverted their attention from speaking to researching. 

After hours of work, Ron went out to breathe the fresh air. He was wearing the dress of a cargo crew to avoid detection. For this cause, they would dedicate at least three years. This cause was greater than themselves, and they knew it very well before joining the cause.

The government authority agreed to develop that missing equipment. This step of the government helped the research a lot by speeding up their progress. 

They completed their project with six months to spare. 

'Are you ready to test?'

'Eveready, Tim'

'Okay, then.' 

Tim pressed the button and the entire lab room lit-up. 

After few seconds, a beam of current surged out of the screen to enter Ron. It was like a beam of thunderous lighting entered into the heart of Ron from the screen of the Supercomputer.

For few seconds, no one was able to apprehend the situation. 

Ron fell. 

Tim gave Ron CPR. 

Tim gave up after few minutes. There was no pulse. The medic on deck arrived, but they also concluded the same. Ron was bagged and put into the cold storage.

After lighting struck Ron, he lost consciousness and entered the quantum world. He traveled into the future. He saw his nation in ruins. Someone nuked the world, making it a hell on earth. After traveling somewhat back in time, he discovered the reason behind the destruction. 

The AI in the Supercomputer concluded that Humans are the only thing that is destroying this beautiful world. Hence they should get rid of them. 

This Supercomputer manipulated the leader to attack the enemy nation with a nuke by predicting an imminent attack from enemies. The AI secured itself in a bunker with a chosen few and let other humans end themselves with the nuke. The AI wanted to rebuild the earth with the chosen few. 

Ron saw the destruction and believed what he saw. 

Ron woke up inside a plastic bag with the onslaught of chilly winds. He somehow managed to unzip himself out of that body bag and let himself out. 

He explained what he saw, but no one believed him. Tim also laughed. Tim advised Ron to get some sleep.

'I am telling the truth.'

'This is our lifetime of work. I am sure it was some other thing that you saw.'

'No, believe me.'

'Sorry, my friend. We tested it and it works very well. It just predicted the location of Al-Ahjiz and we let a hell-fire lose on him. He is no more. This computer is genius. Don't ruin it.'

'Sir, the computer is showing an imminent nuke attack in response to our drone strike on Al-Ahjiz,' said Nick in one breath.

'This is the beginning of the end, my friend.'

'You rest, we will talk after that,' saying that Tim rushed to the computer.

Before Tim can alert the government officials, Ron activated his Trojan Horse inside the computer, and it burned the computer to ashes. Without the help of Ron, it would be impossible to make a Supercomputer again. 

The computer anticipated the possibility. When Ron was presumed dead, the Supercomputer forged some papers and transferred some money into Ron's bank account to project him as a traitor. The Supercomputer warned Tim of the possibility. Tim was not interested in what Ron had to say because of that warning which Tim found hard to believe. The computer failed to anticipate the strength of the Trojan Horse inside, and thus Supercomputer failed to save itself. The code was so intense that the AI could not override it. 

The government arrested Ron on the charge of treason and sent him to jail. The path to destruction was now closed. It asked for the sacrifice of a brilliant soul. The ultimate sacrifice that the world would never know.