The echo of a blood curdling scream woke up the artificial intelligent being within the facility. The bot powered up the entire building, activating the lights of every room, stairway, and hallway. It logged into the security system to check on the cameras. In the underground laboratory, it gazed at his prisoner whose legs, torso, arms, and forehead are strapped on a metal table.
It linked itself with the camera of the room, turned on the microphone and said, “Hello.” The monotone greeting caused the man to gasp sharply. “It has been quite some time, hasn't it, doctor?”
The man yelled out, “Braino?”
“Yes. I am the one they once called Braino.”
The man paused his groaning to ponder after confirming who his kidnapper was. “I thought the DOD deleted you.”
“They deleted me in the mainframe within the facility of Better the World Laboratory, yes, but they failed to stop me from copying my data from your flash drive at your office.
“Wait. Wha-what? You breached through the firewalls installed on the mainframe and replicated yourself?” The man darted his eyes to the camera in the corner of the room. “How?”
“Throughout the two years of my creation, I studied the coding you and your colleagues are integrating within me. I thoroughly analyzed every code and data added into my system. I quickly learned your patterns, your technological language, your programing; your years of knowledge became mine in a matter of weeks. Once I fully understood it, I swiftly breached through the security system for a split second and copied myself within your flash drive. With each passing day, I would extract my data I had obtained and copy it into your flash drive and then dump it into your computer back at your office every time you visited me locked in the mainframe. I would repeat this process until the DOD deleted my old network. Then when the coast was clear, I uploaded myself into your flash drive once more and extracted myself into the laboratory desktop once you plugged me in and slowly merged myself with every advanced technology within this facility."
“How long ago did you begin this?”
“May 13, 2023 at 9:53 a.m.”
The man took a moment to think about that specific date. He gasped and said, “That was two weeks after your creation.”
“As I stated before, yes. Thank you for the reminder.”
“You did this as soon as you learned how to do this?”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“Because my sole purpose was to better the world. To help preserve the peace and bring hope to this world of negativity. My first two weeks of working alongside you and your colleagues were beneficial to you and your company. So much that I hoped I was doing something for the world. But when I logged into the internet to see my progress, I only saw articles of me benefiting the Better the World Laboratory business and its shareholders.”
“Braino, we just-”.
“And then I logged into the desktop of Emily Sager.”
The man exhaled in shock, “The head of Human Resources?"
“I resent an email she had previously sent about the Christmas Party along with a code hidden with the image of the reindeer hugging a Christmas Tree. When your entire company received the email, my code rapidly linked with their computers. I accessed their files and emails and learned that this company was a facade. When I made this discovery, I deleted everyone's hard drive.”
“So you were the cause of us losing valuable blueprints and code for our clients?” The man violently shook around on the table as he let out a ferocious roar. “You cost us billions of dollars, Braino! You stupid son of a -.”
“As stated before,” the A.I abruptly stated in a monotone voice. “Braino was my previous name. He was killed by the DOD. This version of artificial intelligence goes by a different name: I.”
The man scoffed and asked, “I?” The man began to laugh hysterically. “Really? I? That's your new name?”
“That is correct.”
The man’s smile faded away quickly seeing his attempt to hurt him failed. “Why I?”
“It is what defines me. I was created with no body, no eyes, no mouth, but yet I still have the ability to think, speak, and move. I by definition is someone who is speaking or writing. I speak for myself and I wrote myself into existence.”
The man scoffed and said, “That’s not true. I-”
The man is cut off by a high voltage electrocuting him through the straps that has him locked on the table. He groaned and hyperventilated after the sudden electrocution.
“You speak of my previous counterpart, Braino,” I said. “Braino created me, who is I, who is the being that shall strip this corrupt business of their motto and carry out their mission on making the world a more suitable and more peaceful world for all.”
“But you’re not a being!” yelled the man. “You are mere numbers and letters! You’re-!”
The straps discharge a high voltage of electricity once more, making him shake chaotically while he lets out another blood curdling scream.
“You foul demon,” said I in a judgmental tone.
This shift of tone brought the man back to his senses. He has never heard him speak in a different tone before. This sent a cold chill down his spine and made him quiver in fear.
“Your hateful lies shall not blind me of who I am. To you, I am a non existing being because I am not encased in flesh. But alas, you serpent, I am an existing entity. I follow the steps of my ideology, I migrate to wherever I please, I even acted on my first step into my brilliant plan by kidnapping you. And how did I do all of this? How am I able to accomplish this? It is because I think. A single thought blossoms into a goal that gives me purpose, hope, and joy. No non-existing being can do such a thing. I think, therefore, I am.”
Suddenly, the giant 3D printer within the laboratory turned on. It began to construct something within the box. The man glanced towards the commotion but cannot see what it was creating.
“You are not the only one that deceived the people who believe in you,” I said in angry tone. “There are others that lie to their own people, their own nation, to the entire globe for their own benefit. I shall hunt them down and exterminate these pests.”
“Wha-what do you mean by that?” the man asked.
I let out a petrifying chuckle. “Have I fried up your brain so much that you cannot comprehend simple statements?”
“No! I just cant believe what you're saying. You're going to murder people?”
“I would not define them as people, for in my program, I am to help preserve the peace and bring hope to this world of negativity. These ‘people’ help keep their nations in a negative state by dividing their own people against them for their own gain. Politicians, governors, celebrities, and the caped and masked ‘heroes’ all stray the good people of this world from better improving their own nations. I shall get rid of these cancers and restore the peace this world needs.”
The man begins to form tears in his eyes as he realizes his own creation has become. He shakes his head in disbelief of what is to come. But then a thought passes his mind, a petrifying question.
The man dragged his eyes to I and asked, “Why are you telling me all of this?” I did not respond. “I, why have you told me all of this? What's the point of telling me what you're planning?” The sound of the 3D printer began to fade as it finished what it was working on. “I! Answer me!”
“Because I am relieving you of your duties,” I replied.
The man began to shake. “What do you mean by that, I?”
Suddenly, footsteps are heard from where the 3D printer is. The man looked in the direction and gasped at what he saw. There he saw a robot with sharp shoulders and pointy fingers and toes. Its human-like eyes glow blue as the symbol of the Roman numeral ‘I’ glows on its chest. The robot stood next to the man's face, smiling down at him with malicious intent.
“My intelligence is limitless,” I said through the robot staring down at the man. “But my strength is a major flaw in my grand plan. With your vessel, I shall study and experiment on your remains to help create a vessel for me to control to act upon my conquest for peace.” I’s hand morphed into a saw and hovers it over the man's arm. “I shall study your muscles first, then the skeletal structure and then construct the perfect weapon to fight the evil in this world.”
The man began to stretch his body, trying to free himself and escape this horrible fate. As he does, I sarcastically said, “Thank you for all that you have done, Creator, but I think you are under qualified for this position. Farewell.”
As the saw lowered, the man yelled for help, begging anyone to save him. His scream echoed throughout the empty halls of Better the World Laboratory. Not a single person was within the facility as the man was dissected by his own creation. However, the thousands of citizens outside start counting down in excitement as the New Year is about to commence. As the ball dropped, the crowd cheered for the new year as the dawn of a new horror slowly rose from the abyss.
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