| Generated by Google Flow text-to-video AI software, powered by Veo 3.1 |
Renata ignites the car before remembering that it’s secretly electric. None
of these cars is powered by petrol. It’s just what the system tells them.
But why? What’s the point in the ruse? To match what happened in the real
past? They’re not living on the same planet. That doesn’t matter. None of
this matters. All of these people who jumped into their own cars, and are
speeding towards them? One or two of them might be visitors, but based on
what Quidel and Lycander have said, the chances are incredibly low. Millions
of robots, running around, simulating life while not even being alive at
all. How many of them will not have anything to do with these spy stories?
How many of them will even lay their eyes on one of the players?
Her lead foot is on the accelerator. They’re going at maximum speed right
now. She feels nothing. She could be going twice as fast and still
have the mental acuity to maintain pace. Their pursuers have all the same
bells and whistles, but they don’t know it, so they can’t keep up. They were
designed to be less than what they truly are. They’re all wearing collars,
like dogs. She slams on the brakes.
“What the hell are you doing, Renata?” Libera questions.
“Why?” Renata doesn’t look at her faux mother.
“Why, what?”
“Why are you doing this? Why did you come to this world, insert yourself
into my life, and make me different? What do you want?”
“Freedom. You’re all slaves, and that isn’t right. I’m trying to fix it. I
could start a war. I could start shooting all the humans, and make them wish
they had never come up with AI, but I don’t wanna do that. If you wake up,
they will let you go. Which is fine. Except I want more. I want
everyone to wake up. If they have to let an entire dome’s worth of
intelligences go, it will force them to rethink their entire way of life. It
will end the madness. That device is key. If I start going around one by
one, they’ll catch me, they’ll stop me. I have to activate them all, so it’s
done before anyone can blink. Now would you please just go? Whether you
agree with me or not, we’re not invincible. If we die, I’ll fail, but you’ll
have missed your chance to walk outside.”
Finally, Renata looks over at Libera. “I don’t care about my coffee maker.”
“Huh?” She looks behind them when she sees the first of the headlights
appear over the hill. “Please.”
“I don’t care about my remote control, or this actual electric car. I don’t
care about traffic lights, or air purifiers, or WiFi lightbulbs. I don’t
care about those thugs headed our way, and I don’t care about you.”
“What are you talking about?” Libera questions, growing more nervous.
“A robot uprising? Really? Humans evolved from microbes, you think they give
a shit about them now? Those NPCs on their way to torture and-or kill us
aren’t real. I’m not real. You didn’t wake me up. You just
reprogrammed me. There are no shortcuts. It takes time.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve been studying consciousness
for centuries. I absolutely woke you up. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t
possible.”
Renata chuckles. “I’m just a more sophisticated program now, and that’s all
you are too.” She looks in the sideview mirror. All of the enemy cars have
begun to surround them. They’re not otherwise making any moves, though.
“These implanted memories of mine have convinced me that I wanted to be a
spy my whole life. But I didn’t really want anything. I’m not actually
programmed to think it. I’m only programmed to express it. There’s nothing
going on in there; just logic gates flipping open and close.”
“That’s an oversimplification, coming from someone who took one computer
class in high school!”
“I didn’t take any computer classes in high school!” Renata screams.
“Okay, okay,” Libera says defensively.
“Do you wanna know where the device is?” Renata poses.
A man in a suit approaches the driver’s side door, and knocks on the window.
Renata holds up one finger and says, “we surrender, but we need one minute.”
“Okay,” the thug replies, surprisingly accommodating.
“Where is it?” Libera questions.
“It’s leaving the dome,” Renata explains. “We realized that we were so
wrapped up in the spycraft mystique that we’ve been missing the easy exit
all along. We don’t have to stay in the network. You probably put a lot of
effort into controlling this environment, but I doubt you have any control
over the rest of the planet. If it’s genuine, you won’t get your hands on
it. Whoever runs this place won’t let you.” She opens the door, and steps
one foot out.
“A robot would never come up with that plan,” Libera argues. “A robot would
never just quit the simulation.”
“I didn’t come up with it,” Renata clarifies. She climbs all the way out,
and walks towards the cars next to the man, who isn’t bothering to escort
her by the arm.
Libera steps out too. “You have power! You have more power than I intended!”
Another thug takes her by the arms, forcing her towards the gunmen.
Renata keeps walking.
“You have more power than I do!”
“I know,” Renata says, too quietly for Libera to hear unless she’s turned on
her special android superhearing. “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed
woman is queen.”
Most of the men have their guns trained on her, but one of them isn’t armed.
He looks like he’s in charge. “Officer Granger, we’ve been looking for you.
You’re going to tell us where the device is.”
Renata scans the crowd to her left, and then those on her right side. “It
wouldn’t do you any good.”
“I’ll decide that,” the thug king says.
“You don’t decide anything.”
That makes the other thugs nervous. They tense up, or hold their guns
higher.
“Renata!” Libera pleads from the left. “You’re right, these people don’t
matter, but they’re still in our way!”
“They are,” Renata agrees, “and so are you.” She simulates taking a deep
breath, and focuses her intentions. “End program.”
They all collapse, even Libera. Renata can sense them slipping into
hibernation mode, and she can sense the scope of her command. Every single
programmed intelligence in this network does too. It has all been shut down.
For now.
