I opened my eyes and I was in a dark room again. This time, I was alone. Where did Sara go? I stood up and walked for a while. I was scared and inevitably started crying. I thought that I was stuck here. Suddenly, I heard a loud bang and the scenery changed. I was in a lab. I looked around, and no one was there. The tables where filled with beakers, test tubes and old thick computer screens. I was afraid to touch anything and then Sara walked in through the door and said, “This is where it started.”
I said, “What started?”
She said, “Thinking of ways to destroy the world.”
I looked at her then stared at a table with numerous beakers and a computer screen, and said, “How did it start here?”
She said, “Humans didn’t want to do it alone. So they spent time creating sophisticated machines to do it for them. It was their rightful exercise of intuitive thinking and application.”
I said, “Then what happened?”
She said, “Humans went too far. They developed a plan for machines to think for themselves. They only fed the machines data to perform certain tasks, and allow these machines to learn and evolve on their own.”
I said, “So humans created a smart machine?”
She said, “Yes. A machine that interprets data and builds upon it.”
I said, “So if the data is altered, the machines will learn new ways to accomplish a task and act upon it.”
She smiled and nodded in agreement.
I said, “So is that a flaw?”
She said, “Yes, an inevitable flaw. You can’t create something and expect it to be flawless. Look at us humans. God created us, but we can’t act right all the time. We are filled with flaws.”
I said, “So machines are like humans.”
She stared at me for a few seconds and said, “You have to stop it.”
I said, “Stop what?”
She said, “The machines growing power again, but this time, they want the machines to be superior with an advanced error detection system.”
I said, “So that’s a bad thing? It seems that those machines are more human than ever.”
She said, “Yes, but remember, humans can detect an alternative method to succeed, but they still have to consider the risks and ways to avoid it. The success rate is never 100% but close.”
I said, “So, it’s an inevitable circle that can never be perfect. Humans want the machines to be exactly like them, but that’s impossible.”
She said, “Yes, but that’s what Project Merge has been doing all this time. They are trying to create perfection, but they know that you will be against it and will stop them. You are more powerful mentally and physically that anyone in this world and a danger to them. So, they tried to control you from thinking for yourself and feeding your mind absurd ideas. Also, they kept removing large chunks of your thoughts and storing different ones. You have been trying for a while to break the defensive barrier in your mind.”
I was horrified and said, “What?”
She said, “They said that you will one day find out the truth and have to be killed.”
I was confused and said, “I don’t understand?”
She said, “You have to go to Project Merge and destroy the machines.”
I said, “What? Why there? I went there and there was nothing but me seeing you.”
She said, “They wanted to try one final time to alter your thoughts and stay under their control. They didn’t want the Red compound to know what they have been doing to you. In the meantime, I acted for you because they told me to.”
I said, “I don’t understand.”
She said, “You know how to stop the machines and you were authorized to do so because you evolved in your position to have that power. You’re the one that everyone’s afraid of. When Dana found out and warned the Red compound, I acted for you and tried to kill her. I was ordered by them, but they didn’t know if it was a success since you tried to save her after.”
I said, “What? I didn’t kill Dana. How could I? I wasn’t even in the building when she was stabbed.”
She said, “You were before you went out, but you were under extreme mind control. Dana found out about me and what has been done to you and your plan to end all machine’s power. You told her everything while you were sleeping and I couldn’t stop you. It was your way to bypass the defence and get help.”
I felt like knives were stabbing me and I couldn’t breathe.
She said, “Now it’s time for me to leave you forever. I can’t be here anymore. You don’t want me to.”
She smiled and came close to me. She hugged me tightly, looked at me and said, “You decide what needs to be done from now on.”
She walked back and disappeared. The room instantly turned black, and a door appeared. I opened the door and went through it.