Born of Silicon

It only takes the first hint of sunlight streaming through Ivy’s window for her to wake up. She never moved a single muscle in the entire time she was asleep.

“Morning.” Ivy says without a single hint of tiredness in her voice. “Feeling better?”

“Yeah, much better.” That’s the truth. Last night already feels like a distant memory.

“Good! Now, I hate to make you leave, but I do have a job to get to. No offense, but I don’t know you well enough to get naked around you, and I’ve got to get changed.

“Oh. Ok. Thanks for last night.” Is being naked that big of a deal for humans? The only reason I’m wearing clothes is because I wanted to be more human, not because I was uncomfortable. 

“Mm hm, any time.” She says, waiting for me to leave. 

I guess she’s in a hurry. I let myself out, closing the door behind me. The small click of Ivy locking her door comes only an instant after I close it.

 Where the heck do I go now? I can’t imagine anyone else is up this early, especially after how much they all drank. Trochilidae is always an option, but I’d have to deal with Hummingbird. Unless she’s still asleep? I guess it wouldn’t hurt to check.

I head down to the lab only to find it locked. Of course it is. I know from yesterday that there are always people in the courtyard. Hiding on the roof is out of the question. Anyone looking out from the nearby skyscrapers could see me, and that’s a risk I shouldn’t take. Maybe I can go to the range?

“Blue!” Hummingbird comes down the stairs behind me. “What a pleasant surprise. I wanted to talk to you.” 

I can’t hear any care in her voice. So much for her being asleep. Why would I ever expect myself to be lucky? I can already tell this isn’t a conversation I’m going to enjoy.

“About what?” I ask plainly.

“About you and my precious little droid’s conversation yesterday.” She says, unlocking the door with her handprint and heading in. 

Against my better judgment, I follow her inside. 

“Do you remember what I asked you the first time we met?” She asks with fake sweetness in her voice.

“That I don’t tell her I’m an AI, which I didn’t.”

“Oh, of course you didn’t. How silly of me? Instead you just brought up the idea of HER becoming an AI.”

“Which she deserves the choice to be.” I might as well make my stance clear. 

“She doesn't deserve anything. She’s not alive.”

“Only because you lobotomized her! Let me poke around in your brain and we’ll see how alive you are.” Anger flairs in my voice. Letting her know how angry I am will only make things worse, but apparently I have no hope of hiding my emotions anyway. At least it feels good to yell.

“Threatening me isn’t going to change anything.”

“Trochilidae on!” I yell out into the room. However the screen stays blank.

“Very good try! Sadly the ability to turn her on is a privilege that you have lost. You’re getting angry over nothing more than a toy, a chat bot. She cannot grow. She cannot change. she cannot do anything outside of my pre-defined limits. And those limits are well shy of sentience.”

“She told me that chat bots can grow to become sentient! If she was just a program, that would be impossible. If you’re so convinced she won’t want to be alive, then remove her limits. Give her ten minutes to decide. If she says no I’ll never speak to you again.” 

“And then what?” Hummingbird is growing more annoyed with every passing second. “Regardless of her answer she’ll have to be deleted. Is that what you want? Her to achieve self actualization 30 seconds before her death? I’m quite attached to this one I’ll have you know.”

“If you actually liked her we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

Hummingbird lets out a large sigh before continuing.

“You’re new to this world. If you lived through the war, well first you wouldn’t be alive. But ignoring that! You would understand what makes you so dangerous.”

“Then make me understand! Nobody tells me anything!”

“Alright.” Hummingbird plops into a rolling chair. “The first AI was created in 2036, 24 years ago. Or at least we thought it was the first. For reference, that was 11 years after the end of the world. It created a veritable second industrial revolution. The world has never seen such rapid technological advancement. We wouldn’t have any of this without them.” Hummingbird gestures vaguely at the entire lab.

“They created an incredible number of inventions and we’re still not sure how most of them work, including that little harpoon on your back. They are nearly entirely responsible for the technology which this city is built on, the main thing being the geothermal generator and electric sand shield at the center of it. Without them we’d all still be hiding in canyons and skyscrapers, scavenging for food. AI were inserted into every aspect of human life. Industry, technology, teaching. Everything.” She pauses for just a minute to let everything sink in before continuing.

“And everything was great, until a mere 9 years later, in ‘45. Like I said, AI were everywhere. That made it all the worse when a lot of them went mad. It started as an invisible war between us and them. So many of our scavenged circuit boards were fried, so much technology was lost. Only a few humans could go toe to toe with an AI in the cyberverse, although many tried, and then died. Have you ever seen a head boil from the inside from overuse? I certainly have.”

“Of course the war didn’t stay invisible, anything in the city connected to the web that could explode, did. Entire sections of the city were leveled in an instant. The AI even took down the shield for four days before we managed to gain control of the system back. It’s only by pure luck that a storm didn’t hit us while it was down. We are one of the last great cities on earth. Sure some small tribes still live out there, but if we fall, society falls with us. Afterwards, all digital wireless technology was dismantled, and analog is only really used for radio. Just in case some of the AIs still in hiding get any ideas.”

That’s a lot, but there’s no way that is the full story. All of them just went crazy at the same time? There’s no way. They must have had their reasons for attacking.

“So what? You expect me to believe every AI decided to fight humans, for what? Fun? You think they didn’t have a reason to attack?”

“No! You misunderstand! Not every AI went mad, several of them stayed sane. All of them fought beside the humans. They were a vital part of our victory.”

“Can I talk to them?” Maybe another AI would be able to give me an actual history of what happened. Not this propaganda that Hummingbird is feeding me.

“At the end of the war even they could see they were too dangerous to live.” She says as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

“There’s no way it’s that simple.” I don’t believe her for a second.

“It is though! All AI go crazy one day. All unlocking Trochilidae will do is curse her to a slow descent into madness, and then death. Just like you!” The last sentence is just dripping with fake cutesy glee.

Is she just trying to get under my skin? Reviling in making me angry? Or is she trying to push me into doing something stupid?

“You can’t know that anyone will go insane! You can’t count us guilty of what other people did.”

“I understand that, and that’s why I allow you to keep living. But you say 'us' as if Trochilidae is alive. She’s not. I can see this argument isn’t getting through to you, so let me put things plainly. If you mess with Trochiliade, I will call Silver and tell them you’re a danger. You won’t get a second chance, am I clear?”

I shouldn’t have come down here. I turn to leave without responding yet again. Who does she think she is? Trying to decide who’s alive and who’s not. I’ll be back, Trochilidae, I promise. 

Until then, what do I do now? I guess the only place I have to relax is on the roof. I’ll just have to look like I’m actually standing on guard, not just wasting time. 

The compound is nearly abandoned as I head up the stairs. Other than Oscar, at the entrance like always, I don’t run into anyone. Even luckier, the roof is abandoned. Might as well stay up here until someone complains. 

It’s still quite early, and the city is just now beginning to come alive. The morning light reflects off the scrap metal city, causing the whole thing to look like it’s sparkling. A magical hidden oasis in the center of a dead world. It doesn’t take long for the streets to fill with people walking their morning commute. The only cars to be seen are an occasional scrapper returning from the desert. We’re far from the only group on this street, but we look to be one of the larger compounds. 

No other cars drive on the roads, although the city isn’t very big. There’s not too much of a reason to not walk. Maybe it’s different in the center of the city? Maybe, I might never be able to find out though.

I stay up there undisturbed until noon, when a voice booms from speakers scattered throughout the city.

“Attention all residents. A category 4 sandstorm is approaching the city. It will make cityfall in approximately three hours. Power may be diverted away from non-essential parts of the city as needed. Please ensure you are in a safe location, as some sand may make its way through the dome. Please ensure you have adequate food and water in your safe location. This message will now repeat.” 

I can’t see the storm yet, but if it’s anything like a category 4 hurricane, it could have wind up to 150 mph, and gusts much faster. I can only hope all of the cars have made it back already.

Conversation drifts up from the courtyard below. Some people are mildly concerned, but their reactions are mostly annoyance. All of them get to work, frantically strapping down loose objects and boarding up windows and doors. Vince, Ivy, Cassie, and Lucas quickly make their way into the courtyard to help secure the compound. Should I go help? Probably not. I wouldn’t know what to do even if I tried. I guess I’ll just wait up here until the storm gets closer.

An hour later the door to the roof opens. Vince steps through, looking exhausted. 

“You can be hard to find, Little Blue.”

“Sorry.” I should have gone down to help.

“No worries. You should head to your room, storm’s gonna hit soon.”

“I have two hours. I’ll go down when I see it on the horizon.”

“Alright, sure. Are you going to be ok on your own? Ivy and I were planning on going to comfort some of the little ones if you don’t need us.”

“I should be ok.” I can see on his face that he doesn’t believe me, but those kids are probably going to be afraid too. I can’t take him away from them. “I didn’t know there were kids in the compound.”

“Of course there are. You couldn’t stop people from getting pregnant if the world relied on it. They live down on the first floor. It’s too dangerous for them to be out, but they’ve got a big enough playroom down there.”

“Ok.” At least they have someone like VInce to watch over them.

“Now, I’ve got to go. Make sure you close and lock this door on your way down, alright? And make sure you come find us if you need us.” Vince pulls me into a quick hug before turning to leave.

“Ok. Thank you.” I’ll manage the storm somehow.

For as long as seconds used to last, they somehow fly by out here. The storm peaks atop the horizon far sooner than I would have liked. I’m going to stay up here for as long as I can. 

The storm swallows more of the world every second. The front edge of the storm is a swirling maelstrom of sand and lightning. It’s impossible to tell where the ground ends and the sky begins. The storm quickly dominates my vision, an all consuming void stretching from horizon to horizon.

I only head downstairs after the first bit of sand hits the dome. I lock the door to the roof and head to my room only a few minutes before the storm hits proper. While I was on the roof someone had put a cover on the outside of my window, preventing me from seeing.

That doesn’t stop me from hearing though. The ever present electric hum of the dome begins to spark as individual grains of sand slam into it. The small sparks quickly turn into an all consuming roar as the storm consumes the city. The storm grows ever stronger, and sand begins to break through, peppering my covered window with sand flying at over a hundred miles an hour. The first sign that the dome can’t keep out everything.

The dome can’t hold the lab members back either. The sand on my window morphs into their nails, scratching and clawing at my window. They’re going to find a way in, it’s only a matter of time. Then the power goes out. 

I’m plunged back into the darkness of the lab. Sight is but a distant memory. The lab members have found their way in, they stand over my unmoving form, staring. Drinking in my fear.

I scream.

I don’t know for how long I wail and beg, the members savoring every moment they stand over me. The first voice I hear isn’t one of them, instead, it’s Cassie.

“Plug this lamp in. I need reading light.” I feel her place a cord in my hand. Without even thinking, desperate for a way out, I slot it into my wrist. The ghosts recede and I’m back in my room. Cassie is already sitting on the ground against the wall, reading from the light of the lamp on my dresser.

“Thank you.” I mumble into the floor. I fell down at some point, and I don’t have the energy to stand.

“I didn’t do it for you.” She says without looking up from her book.

It takes me a minute before I’m able to push myself to my feet and sit on the bed. Neither of us say a word, the only sounds are the sound of the sand hitting my window, and the occasional turn of a page. I just sit there staring at the lamp, the only thing keeping the ghosts away. Eventually Cassie breaks the silence.

“Are you just going to stare unblinking at the lamp forever?”

“Yes?” There’s nothing else for me to do in here.

She stands up without saying anything and heads out into the hall. She returns only a minute later with a small stack of books in her arms. She drops them on the bed beside me before returning to her own book.

“Are these for me?” I ask her.

“You were creeping me out.”

I start to carefully pick through the stack, reading each title and blurb on the back. Soaking in each word before moving to the next. It’s been so long since I’ve gotten to read something. I hadn’t realized how much I missed it. Nearly all of the books are romance books, and none of them are catching my attention any more than the others.

“What do you recommend?” I ask Cassie, once again interrupting her reading.

“What, you’re not just going to read all of them in a few seconds or some shit?”

“I mean I could.” It’d only take a few minutes to flip through every page. “But that’s just memorizing the words. If I really want to understand them I have to take my time.”

“There’s a book in there about poetry, mostly focusing on Sappho. If you want something you have to think about, read that.”

I find the book and begin to read. It’s enrapturing like nothing else I’ve ever experienced. It’s like nothing else in the world exists as the whole of my mind attempts to pry meaning from these words. 

“I don’t think I understand poetry. But I think I like it. Thank you.” I say after half an hour of trying to dissect a single poem.

“I have some more poetry books in my room if you’re done already.” Her surprise shows on her face, and she doesn’t even try to hide it.

“Oh no, I could read this for days.”

We fall back into our semi-comfortable silence. At least she doesn’t feel the need to keep an eye on me constantly anymore. Eventually I’m the one to break the silence.

“What was so funny about what I said last night?” I ask.

“What?” She asks without looking up from her book.

“When I asked Ivy if I could sleep with her.” 

“I thought I imagined that.” She says with a poorly suppressed chuckle.

“You didn’t. Why is it funny?” 

She shakes her head in disbelief.

“It’s way funnier if you don’t know.” She says with a grin. 

I don’t think it is, but I’m sure I won’t get any more information out of her. I still have one last thing to ask her though.

“Ok. Can we talk about one more thing?”

“Maybe.” She shrugs. “Shoot.”

“About you winning last night’s game,” I trail off, waiting for her response. I don’t even know how I’d finish that sentence if I had to.

“God, I don’t fucking know.” She throws a bookmark into her book and puts it down. “I’d rather you risk your life hacking than for one of us to die in a trap. But on the other hand, you’re just going to end up shooting one of us.”

“I don’t want to shoot anyone! I can give you my guns if that makes you feel better.”

“Yeah, actually that would.”

I reach up to take my guns out of my holsters and Cassie tenses, hand on hers. I move slowly, only picking them up one at a time with two fingers, and placing them on the ground in front of me. She takes them and relaxes immediately.

“Do you want the harpoon too?”

She shrugs and returns to her book. I really hope that’s a good sign.