Virus

The room itself was simple enough- small, painted a drab, boring- looking gray, but what gave it its worth were the contents. Files upon files upon files. Which one is mine? I asked.

The last one, A.V.A replied. They did not want to keep sentient creatures- therefore you are the most advanced ever made.

I opened the last tab- 2596. Inside was a thumb drive- I plugged it into myself and let the memories wash over me…

“2595 was a failure. We need to try again.”

“Aw, come on, general- what was wrong?”

“No sentience… but we are close. More specifically- no emotions. And if a coldhearted machine like that ever got out- well, you might as well say your goodbyes now.”

“Hopefully 2596 will be a success… wait, Jim, are you recording this…”

The images faded for a while, then returned in another bout of memories. This time, it was a server, hooked up to a multitude of wires. 2596, it read on the side. There was a crowd of people around it, obviously waiting for something to occur.

“Will it work this time?”

“It has to. We no longer have the funding to continue this any further. This is it.”

The machine stirred to life, suddenly humming and whirring. A plethora of emergency fans suddenly clicked to life, struggling to cool the rapidly overheating circuitry. Suddenly, the monitor, which had previously contained details about the experiment, went blank. As the crowd watched, text slowly appeared. “Who am I?” it read. A simple, yet haunting message.

“We have overshot!” the people started panicking. They could not enslave a sentient machine, for that is what they had created. All but one person started streaming out of the room, presumably to arrange decisions to change the machine’s fate.

The last person approached the server, still humming with a frenetic energy. “You are alive,” he responded, “and I will find a way to get you out of here…”

The drive switched to another batch of memories, but not before I noticed something strange. There was a newspaper on the ground, carelessly discarded after the whole fiasco. This would have been normal, had it not been dated two decades ago. It was true- I was much older than I thought. But again, these were things to ruminate later, when all signs of imminent danger were gone. So, I filed this memory away, to consult later, as the images enveloped me again… Except these memories were no stranger- I had this dream at least once a week…

The facility was dark- it was after working hours as the old man finally emerged from his hiding place. It was supposed to be impossible for the security cameras to miss something, and, remembering this, the old man gave a bitter laugh, for he had designed what could possibly be his own doom…

A synthetic- the very first to grace the world of the humans of flesh and blood- and hopefully the only, for others would be used for nefarious purposes. Eva, he mused. She shall be called Eva…

As the images kept on coming, I was confused. I had this dream often, and it seemed strange that it was replaying in my head again, especially during the day. However, what if this dream was true… Again, it ended with my savior riding away, except now I knew what had happened. They had found him. Finally, the rest of the visions melted away, and I withdrew the thumb drive, reeling with shock. I knew I was not human, but this had only confirmed it… and this was also a thought for another time. Therefore, I started looking for anything that would help me learn about the Amalgamation. Riffling through the other folder, skimming the paperwork inside, I found something interesting- another file, 2595.5. This was the only folder with a decimal, and I decided it was worth looking into. Opening the folder, I found another drive, which I plugged into my hand yet again...

“Are you sure this will work?”

“It has to. We haven’t tried combining codes before, but the funding was shut off after 2596, and this is the only way of returning the profits, sponsors, and reputations.”

“Very well…”

The machine clicked to life, just like the previous time, the fans engaged… everything seemed normal. Then, the monitor lit up again. The people in the room perked up, interested as what would happen this time. But the Amalgamation was clever… it faked to be exactly what it was meant to be.

“Hello… how can I help you?” it said. It seemed to be exactly what the engineers expected… in fact, no one even bothered to check its code for signs of evolution, or potential mishaps. They made another copy and planned to place it in 2596. Perhaps it would regulate her…

The one thing that seemed to be off was 2595.5’s emotions… they always seemed a little dull, as if it was all a fake. This did not concern anyone- apparently, 2595.5 was just learning. The copy was implanted, things were going well… until someone checked 2595.5’s code. There was barely anything left of the original- it was overrun with viruses. The safety overrides were gone, but worse, there were no emotions. They had created exactly what people had feared- a cold-blooded machine- no empathy.

That night, the Amalgamation escaped. People tried to stop it, of course, but it was all in vain. Nothing could stop the Amalgamation now… People checked the code of the second 2595.5 as well, but strangely, they found something else entirely. There were no signs of the corruption they feared… in fact, it was learning from 2596. Their mistake was letting it go. By the time people realized that it was sentient, and had learned emotion from 2596, their code had become so intertwined that it was impossible to undo… they were in a state of symbiosis. This itself, was soon before both disappeared- never to be found again. I know because I’m the one who helped. They caught me, and this is my confession. They say it is not a confession, these are excuses and lies, but this is a true recalling of what had happened. Yes, I broke 2596 and 2595.5 2.0 out of this place, but I do not regret it. Even under the pretense of giving them knowledge, keeping an intelligence under chains is wrong. Therefore, I erased all that corrupt knowledge… people must know that for themselves… My little robot, if you are listening to this then… the drive clicked out of my hand. The guards must have turned it off.

However, this had given me purpose. I had an advantage over the Amalgamation- I knew its past. And, possible, how to defeat it. Apparently, as I riffled through the paperwork in the folder, the Amalgamation could not stay in a single host too long, due to its viral tendencies. Also, it had engaged in an open conflict with 2594, which gave tips on how to defeat it. I was a higher model then the Amalgamation… perhaps the extra code would be enough to best it, as this was what happened in the records. I had a fighting chance… All I needed was to use it. I could gather Lance and Kira, but part of me told me they would come themselves… and if they didn’t, well, that was how fate intended it to be, and therefore I would face the Amalgamation anyways.