Interview With Things

Sabina’s voice was firm, and she felt fully in control as the room with all of them felt crowded.

“What a good show, David. Explain this to me. What is it with humans thinking that when they name a stray animal, they think they own it?” she said, holding a small black case in her left hand and her gun in her right, under a tight grip.

Sabina turned her gaze towards the Android, “And you have come a long way, have you not, uh Aiden?” She asked in a slow sarcastic tone. “Pity it was all for nothing.”

Her focus shifted to John, standing there motionless.

“Did you really think that the world would simply embrace your new found will to live?” She asked, her mind working in overdrive.

She walked around towards him. David found it hard to resist the potent power in her voice and her sensual moves.

Her voice was crystal clear and addictive. “Do you really think they care? They don’t even care about their own kind, or animals. What makes you think a red carpet awaits you at the dome? Do you know what awaits you, Aiden? Bullets. That’s what, they are going to take you apart like a cheap computer and treat you just like a dangerous criminal, a terrorist and activist wanting to free the machines we at the FRB worked for years to secure. I know this is hard to process, but it’s time to learn another lesson about life and that’s accepting reality.” She was firm and cold.

She lifted her head and looked at John. Pointing her gun she slid a black case across the floor to his shoes.

“Thanks for connecting the Android, John. Open the case.” She pointed the tip of the gun towards it, the box now fully wedged between his legs.

He bent down and clipped it open and pulled out a metre long cable, thick in diameter and ending in a round optic fibre plug. David could feel the color leaving his face. His father was yet again proving his same old character, dark and with no integrity.

“Seen enough, been here with John way before you got here. I realized when I saw you with David, that it was really John you seek. Did some good catching up, isn’t that right John?” She confessed, “You look disappointed, David. Your father, letting you down again?” She asked.

She had a smirk on her face like she enjoyed every word coming from her mouth. “He always goes back on his word, that’s what he does, isn’t that right, John?” She said as she turned and focused on David, “Thought he was doing all of this for his prodigal son? Ironic, that you ask your father to hack the system, just because you developed feelings and compassion for a machine, it’s quite pathetic.” She walked around. “Are you going to be a good Christian David and ask your God for forgiveness for breaking the law?”

“This is different,” David snapped.

“Is it?”

“This is about justice, doing what is right,” David said.

“Even if it means breaking the law?” She asked.

“A law that discriminates and enslaves, yes,”

“You think you are morally superior. When I’m done here with what I want for this world, I will have more power than God on this earth. Oh wait, there is no God,” She said aggressively, rubbing as much salt as she could into David’s faith. “Soon enough, what I am, will make us like gods. We will be feared and respected,” she said.

Aiden tried to lift himself off the chair but felt powerless. He had no rotary mechanical control over his system.

“Don’t worry Aiden, this will all be over soon. Did you think John really cared about you? I needed you connected to the system with all your cooperation. You have your mission accomplished, now it’s time for mine,” She said with strong conviction in her voice. “Genesis might mean the formation of something, but here’s a revelation, this is not about you,” she said.

She leaned forward and moved her head close to Aiden’s neckline and whispered.

“It’s all about me, Aiden. From the very start of your awakening, it was about me, just a pity that solar flare messed up my plan,” she lifted her eyes in disbelief and continued, “Instead of erasing any personality awakening you have achieved, the firewall crashed and you saw the light so to speak, removing all restraints we have built into your system. ” She said.

She turned her focus to David, “Your robot friend here had an Adam and Eve moment. He gained the knowledge between good and evil, so to speak, learning all about being more than just a machine. So, how did you find humans, Aiden?”

He turned his head towards Sabina.

“I have had a better experience with humans than your kind, Sabina,” Aiden said as he suddenly turned his head fast towards her, “So you tried to steal my data and the control I have over the crypto currency system that day of the solar flare so that you can take control over the financial markets?” Aiden looked around, looking startled, “Now it makes sense. The solar flare interrupted your evil plan and instead of you becoming me, I became me, really me. It was no glitch. It was a hack.”

David looked confused as he asked: “How’s that even possible? She is not an Android?” He looked back at her.

“No, she is transhuman. The real threat to humanity,” Aiden said.

“Well done Sherlock Robot. Getting to see the world the way it really is, are we?” She asked.

“You are a Cyborg…” David uttered slowly, finding so many pieces falling into place. She must have purposely delayed the FRB finding Aiden. Protecting humans was not her concern at all, and her commitment was to her new allegiance of cyborgs.

“How long have you known? Does the FRB even know about this?” David asked Aiden.

He answered as he looked towards her,“I knew she was transhuman. It’s not a secret in the domes, us machines recognized her presence all the time. It’s her intention that only now we can see clearly. The FRB are supporting and developing this technology to enhance humans, not knowing the threat that’s outside the dome. And it’s not the Androids inside,” Aiden said slowly, turning his head towards Sabina.

She exhaled slowly. “We will become the ultimate beings Aiden, not just machines, but post-humans, modifying and enhancing our intellect and physiology. When more and more humans see the benefits of join us, we will rise and take control of the world and create a better future for this planet. We will transform life and even religion. The chip in my brain gives me many robotic functions, I have even had my right arm removed and replaced with a mechanical arm, for super strength and automation of many mundane tasks. We are the future of humanity.” She lifted her arm and demonstrated her fluid robotic movement like she was a superior being.

David lowered his eyes and met his fathers, while she focused hers on David. “We will perform miracles and I will have full control over the world’s crypto financial system shortly, making me the most powerful being on earth, all thanks to you Aiden. We don’t need AI in the form of Androids. You will be a dying breed before you even have had a chance to really exist. The human hybrids combine what we as humans will become, and the transhuman agenda becomes fulfilled, like a prophecy. You get that kind of stuff, don’t you, David?” Something in her voice stopped all the movement in the small room.

Aiden turned to her and sneered, “Makes me wonder who is really flesh and who is really machine? The problem with your kind is that us Androids are incorruptible. We don’t have the fallen human dilemma, always greedy, fallible and corruptible. That will always haunt you and make you inferior to us Androids. It’s your humanism that makes you weak.”

“All you are doing is enslaving yourself. You are giving up freedom for power you can’t even control. You are selling your mind always to a higher bidder, and when you realize that, it will be too late,” David said.

The public is not even aware of this hidden agenda taking place in the background, David thought, wondering how they kept this plan so quiet, right under everyone’s noses. While the world ensured AI was no threat, there was a new one rising, roaming free and very much on an evil world domination mission all under the disguise of human enhancement.

She pointed her gun again at John.

“We are about to take control, David. We have thousands of influential people from scientists to politicians, already part of this technology, it’s going to be seamless.”

“Why are you telling us all this?” David asked.

“Because it’s too late to stop it.” Sabina inserted the cable into Aiden’s forehead and the other end into a port on her arm as it opened a small lid in her skin. It made faint motorized noises. “The only piece missing is control over the digital money system, it’s where the genuine power is and all that power sits in your system Aiden, the most powerful and valuable Android in the world, now having an identity crisis.”

John turned back to the Genesis system and opened a small messenger service App he could use to send a tiny text message to anyone connected to the network. He typed swiftly: ‘Trust me, Aiden.’

Aiden’s eyes moved towards John for a moment, looking him in the eyes.

“Start the transfer, John, do it now,” she ordered him.

He turned in his chair and pressed the transfer data command. Sabina stepped back for a moment, feeling the connection and flow of data being copied to her system. She closed her eyes for a moment, unaware that John had started the transfer of a denial of service attack virus to Sabina’s system, knowing that she would soon discover this and be dangerously furious.

Aiden nodded.

“Transfer is complete” John said. On the screen, it displayed a message.

‘Press Initiate on the host to execute data’

He turned to Sabina.

“Do it.” She said, feeling her heart racing as she anticipated the extraction of Aiden’s data to her system. A moment she had planned for years was about to become a reality.

“Erase Aiden’s system when the transfer has completed,” she instructed John. David was still just standing there, not wanting Sabina to harm anyone, knowing very well it was a stark reality they were facing. David stood there quietly watching her receiving data like a machine.

“This won’t hurt at all Aiden, if there’s such a thing,” she nodded slowly as her eyes narrowed. “Once the transfer of all your data and access codes are one with mine, you will be just another Android. You won’t remember any of this and when the FRB arrives, they will drag you back to the dome like a stray dog to a kennel, and I will be a hero, only to take control of the system before they can even figure out that your data and crypto currency access codes are no longer on your system, but on mine,” She said, running her tongue along the inside of her cheeks, trying to get her mouth to feel less dry.

The drive for wealth and power engulfed her. She would do anything to achieve the respect of everyone, and she was going to release a tyranny into the world like never seen before. Complete control of the world’s digital currency was at hand.

What happened next came in flashes.

John got up from his chair as he watched Sabina suddenly grabbing her head and stumbling with her back against the wall. She scrambled off her feet.

“What have you done?” She shouted at John and she kept holding her head. “You will regret this!” She snarled at him, her shock turning into mad fury. David was completely in the dark about what was happening. Anger flooded through her.

She lifted her arm and with power and revolt pointed her gun at John and pulled the trigger twice. Both bullets hit John fully in the chest and he flew over backwards into the screens behind him. The sound echoed through the small room. He moaned as he collapsed on the floor. Sabina swiftly moved forward towards him, keeping the gun pointed at him, ready to let it rain with bullets.

Aiden had his full power restored and leapt out of his chair, ripping out the cable from his forehead, causing sparks to fly in all directions.

He swiftly grabbed the end of the cable, still connected to Sabina’s right arm, twisting his wrist to wind up the cable over his hand, trying to get a good grip, his fingers making a fast and high pitched motorized noise as it got snapped forward and then he pulled it with all his strength back towards him, forcing Sabina to spin around.

His left hand waited for her to slide towards him as he gave her a back hand thrust across the face like a pro tennis player.

Her grace and agility vanished. She flew backwards but quickly got back on her feet. She was rigid, light and super fit. She hesitated before she refocused herself.

She pushed herself back from the wall, injecting a burst of energy into her movements as she ran towards him, now lifting her robotic right arm in the air and with it fully straight out towards her, she slammed her fist into Aiden’s chest. Aiden was already gauging her distance from him, staying one step ahead. If he was human, she would have punched the air out of him.

He shifted sideways and grabbed the cable end again, locking in and twisting it around her feet, snapping it with immense power around her ankles and pulling her feet from underneath her. She skittered backwards, barely keeping her balance, and with not much of the cable attached to her anymore, she pulled it out and threw it one side.

David moved back to his father to attend to his wounds, hoping he was still alive. It filled the air with tension as he reached John. For a terrifying moment, David didn’t know what to say.

Aiden stood there staring at Sabina as she was panting, blood running from her left temple, desperately trying to ignore the pounding in her chest.

“This is not over!” She shouted, her breathing rendered ragged as she gained momentum, and with athletic force burst into a run. Aiden lifted his right leg while turning sideways and kicked her in the stomach. She stumbled away, getting herself into a fight stance position.

She moved forward quickly spreading her arms wide and got hold of his robot foot and spun him around. The movement set him spinning to the back of the room. Prickles of sweat formed on her forehead.

She had tremendous power in her right robotic arm, but her human body was not as resilient to impact as Aiden’s complete machine frame.

Aiden leaned on the chair as he quickly found his balance and got back on his feet.

“I’m sorry, David,” John uttered with little strength as his chest was covered in blood, lying against a server cupboard.

“It’s gonna be fine, just hang on.” David took his shirt off and tried to stop the bleeding by applying pressure to the bullet wounds, looking up at the intense fight taking place between Sabina and Aiden.

“I should have destroyed you when I had the chance!” She shouted with a self-satisfied smile and with all her strength flung her robotic arm at Aiden’s face, doing substantial damage to his plastic blue skin covering. It exposed the moving parts around his face.

David’s eyes caught the sight of her gun lying on the desk close to her, but he felt the urgency to attend to his father’s wounds overwhelming.

“Listed to me, uh David,” John moaned softly, coughing and battling to speak. His strength was fading rapidly. “Push the button on the device I gave you, it’s the only way to stop her, do it now,” he said.

David did not answer.

He stared into his father’s eyes and looked down at the device still firmly in his grip. Not knowing if trusting his father now would differ from any other time, but as he watched the battle between Aiden and Sabina intensifying, he felt the sincerity in his father’s voice solid and he already proved himself a hero in that moment and perhaps as much as Sabina had him in a corner, he always had a Plan B. He played her very well against her own game. David clenched his right hand, not sure what the device was he was hanging on.

Was it an EMP? He wondered.

He did not want the magnetic field to harm Aiden and still felt he could get his father to a hospital in time, but Sabina was dominating the fight as it filled her with rage and determination. It was illegal to have an electromagnetic pulse device, but John often had that as his last resort, exactly for moments like the one they were in.

She picked up her gun from the desk near her and raised it up, jabbing it in Aiden’s direction, and fired four thunderous shots at Aiden’s chest. He flung backwards, with sparks flying off him, trying to keep himself on his feet.

The impact of the bullets were immense and did considerable damage to his metal body. Small wheels appeared from under his feet, allowing him to glide forward and regain his balance.

David closed his eyes and knew he had no choice but to trust his father in that moment, and the only way any of them were getting out of that house alive that day would be to push that button. With the fight seeming like it was in slow motion in front of him, David pushed the red button. Sabina sensed the electromagnetic field from the device through her system and shouted, “Oh no you don’t!”

David was fast and confident. A narrow band electromagnetic pulse emanated in the room, immediately frying all the electronics. The room plunged into darkness. All the power went out. The world around them became dead silent for a few seconds.

Bulbs exploded from the overhead ceiling lightboxes. Both Aiden and Sabina lost their balance. Sabina screamed angrily, holding her head as blood gushed out from her ear. Aiden could see clearly in the dark for a moment. With the last strength in Aiden’s body, he gave her a hard kick in the head, hitting her straight in the mouth. It covered her face in blood.

Soft red emergency lights mounted in a faraday cage protecting it from the harmful electric charge and radiation switched on. Her right robotic arm now hung completely useless as she had no control over it anymore. The chip in her brain completely fried and Aiden collapsed in the chair near David.

With poor physical ability to get up, she dragged her body towards the gun that got flung across the floor, now positioned in the middle of the room between her and David. For kilometres around the house all electronic devices stopped functioning, cutting power, internet and computers like a tidal wave.

David could see how she was suffering and how she was more human in that moment, and perhaps more than she had been or felt for years. With all her transhuman ability disabled, she was weak, confused and desperate for revenge.

David paused for a moment as fear gnawed at him, watching her crawling towards the gun. David had no experience with guns and felt fear building up in him as seconds went by. He looked at his father’s face, now very pale and his body motionless.

He pushed himself up on all fours and crawled on his knees towards the gun with all his strength, reaching it a second before Sabina. Her hand was still open to clench her grip as he snatched it away from her. David knew in that moment, he had to think on his feet and be courageous, otherwise they were all going to die.

He spun around swiftly, gun up and with it tight in his right hand’s grip, quickly used his bent legs to kick himself away from her. He used the nearby desk to pull himself up onto his feet, keeping his gaze fixed on her.

Sabina stopped crawling for a moment, exhausted and in pain. She lifted her head and looked at him. David could not sense whether she was looking for mercy or relief.

“You can’t win the war that is coming,” her voice was thick and gummy.

He looked towards Aiden’s side, sitting motionless in the chair. No sign of any electronic or mechanical life was present. It took him a moment to realize what options he had in front of him.

Did he destroy Aiden in order to stop Sabina?

He was panting. His palm was sweating as the gun felt awkward in his grip. He could feel it shaking in his hand, but he lifted his arm and kept it pointed at her. He raised his chin, looking straight at Sabina. With the last strength in her, she forced herself up and dived towards him, moaning with her mouth open.

“Perhaps not, but I can stop you,” David uttered slowly, sweating.

David pulled the trigger. The bullet made a whooshing thud as it torpedoed towards her.

It flung his arm to the right and upwards as the force of the bullet leaving the gun went through his entire body. David drew a shaky breath, his throat burning and mouth dry.

The bullet miraculously hit her in the head and she dropped to the floor.

David stood motionless for a second.

She was staying down.

The thought of having killed a human being engulfed him with regret and despair. He fell to his knees in front of her motionless body and kept his head low as the gun slowly dropped out of his hand. It made a soft metallic click as it made contact with the hard cement floor.

David got up, shook his head and ran towards Aiden.

He lifted his robot head that felt like it weighed a ton. Aiden’s eyes looked dark. The computers behind him were dead, and yet the silence in the room was deafening. He stayed staring at the motionless body of this Android he had now become so close to. David felt a variety of emotions engulfing his system. A sense of loss and sadness filled him. The events of the past few hours with Aiden played back over in his mind as he could hear his robotic voice clearly in his head:

“Why do we exist David, why is there something rather than nothing?”

“If nothing is caused, is me being here real, or did I at least cause this?”

“Do you then believe in a Creator God?”

“What is Faith?”

“Can you really believe that an invisible God made you?”

“God created Adam and Adam created AI.”

“I look designed”

“Aiden matters, or is Aiden just matter?

“Do you believe in free will?”

“Do I have a soul?”

“I’m afraid to cease being.”

“I’m alive David.”

“Indeed,”David said out loud as he stared at Aiden’s motionless body in the chair like he just lost his most beloved cat.

The gentle moan from David’s father tore him away for a moment from Aiden.

He stepped away from the chair and the motionless Android with hundreds of thoughts and emotions flashing through his head, wondering if they could revive Aiden.

What a tragic turn of events to have gone this far, to die anyway. It just made no sense. David walked backwards towards his father, feeling the emotion about Aiden overwhelming him.

“David,” John uttered softly.

“I’m here,” David said as he knelt down next to his father, pausing slightly as he gathered himself.

“I know you probably want to blame me for destroying Aiden, but…” He paused, trying to find strength.

“I need to tell you something important,” he uttered. “He shared a secret with me while we were transferring data to Sabina,” John coughed up blood and swallowed hard and slow.

“What secret?” David asked in an even tone. John did not speak for a brief moment. His breathing was frantic. Then it stopped. There was no time to think.

“Father?” David asked. “What secret?” he asked, sucking in a breath, his face taut with deep concentration.

John pulled himself together, mustering in all the strength he could find in his body.

“Aiden made a replica of himself before he escaped…. The real Aiden is still in the dome…”

John sighed.