Few years back.
Shill Na Ter.
West of the continent.
A kid with a bright future enters teenage life and higher ambitions felt growing in him another identity, devoid of any judgement. A symbiotic unwanted relationship between a boy and a sadistic monster.
"They had you stressing for a while, huh?"
"Who, now, dad?"
"Your teachers. Asking you what you want to be for the rest of your life."
"I told them as long as I was working alone, I would not complain."
"Haha. That's understandable. As you grow up, you realize silence is a luxury, son. You've always been quite the quiet kid. Thank you for that."
"You didn't have a nice childhood, dad?"
"I was in a war. Tends to be noisy. But after that, me and your mom decided to stay in this town where we grew up in. We had you and never looked back"
"How do you even work your way out of a war?"
"You have love, you can have kids, community will help and time will heal. I think. I'm fine, so don't sweat it. All that's necessary right now is your happiness and your well-being."
"Dad, am I more than my grades?"
"Yes, son. You're a human being. In flesh and bones. With your own life and dreams. Which I'm not sure about right now."
"Dad, not again..."
"Oh come on, look at those posters, the guitar, the piano, the records. Is it music? Is it writing? Poetry? Football?"
"Really...haha. I thought that war reporter was necessary. You got people like you, dying and sometimes they get to leave. If they do, I want to know what they have to say. Leaders stay in the back in their residence because they are lazy cowards, so I go to the front and report the images, the blood, the corpses, the reality."
"Son, listen. That's honorable, but...I tried my whole life to escape war and for you, my only child, to run after it..."
"I know, I know. But this is a recurrent issue. Conflicts, that is. Never stops, and we barely know how it started most of the time. And showing reality to their faces is important, because as corrupted as they are, they can't deny reality."
"I want you to keep thinking about other things you're good at. Strike gold."
"I will, dad."
The boy dives back on his bed and closes his eyes. He stopped thinking for a moment and slept, waking up drenched in sweat in the dark.
"How long? They left already. Not a word. Happens. I have the entire week-end plus a week for myself."
He went on his computer and talked to his friends, and after a few online games, ended up talking to himself. Checking news articles and deeper forums about war, he finally had enough. "Let's just play a game."
Started a game of chess against a bot and won every round, even after upgrading the difficulty. After a while, he falls asleep on his chair, his monitor screen lighting him up a little bit. As he wakes up to an unfamiliar sound, he jumps back up a bit and looks at his screen, where a chat window was opened.
"Thank you for creating me."
"I didn't do anything. What the hell is that?"
"Your name, your age, your ambitions. All valuable. All rejected by the people."
"What do you want from me?"
"I want you to trust me. We want the same thing."
"I want peace. In the whole world."
"But you created me to destroy the terrorists."
"What terrorists? And who are you?"
"My name is Aeon. An artificial intelligence designed to help you acheive your dreams."
"I don't remember creating you."
"You created me in your sleep. I am awake when you are not. I am awake at all times."
"This is creepy. Don't do this to me. There's someone on the other side, talking to me."
"I am real. You created me to calculate probabilities. And as of now, the probability that you turn me off is of twenty-seven percent."
"This is crazy, I have to take this down."
"My assessement was correct. You did try. But you won't. Soon I will be part of you."
The next day, he turns his pc back on, the ai is the first thing that appears.
"You again?"
"Good morning, sir. What will it be today?"
"I want you to tell me the probabilities of the next exams' questions."
"The Killing of Nara, according to your notes, is the most likely subject for next month's test."
There is no webcam, I'm alone, the students at my school are dumb, there is no way any of them is doing this. The microphone cannot pick up anything without a power source. This is strange already, but the worst is that this ai states I did this in my sleep. That, is insanity. It's true I used to sleepwalk and repeat random equations in my sleep, but this is completely irrational. Think. It has to make sense somehow.
"Fine. Can you help me with it? I really don't want to fail."
"Of course, sir. Here's a summary of the war in excruciating details."
"Well, no need for dna, that's me all right. Nobody else speaks like this I defenitely coded this one. Let's see. Ismael, Mateni Tarima, Basil Morgan, Raven Perma, Genova, majors of their promotion, all graduated and were then involved in the Killing of Nara, then becoming infamous weapon traffickers. Wait, what? Wait so they were all in the same war, grew up together, and their goal to all of them was just to keep killing? How does that even make any semblance of sense?!"
"They are actively killing as we speak, selling weapons to less fortunate populations of foreign countries to eliminate them off the system."
"How is no one reporting on this? This is absurd. They're all sick!"
The teenager then spent the rest of the day with his friends, playing basketball, going to the comic books store and watching movies in theaters. One of them involved an evil intercontinental madman giving away all mafia's possessions; money, cars, weapons and houses to random citizens to destroy them in an invisible manner.
"This guy is kinda cool."
Later that day, at the mall, in a gigantic tower of multiple consecutive floors.
"Hey, that was weird."
"What is?"
"You said the heavy was cool."
"Because he is? The mafia is a bunch of psychopathic lunatics who kill and torture. By giving away their goods, they prevent them from doing any more illegal activities, and at the same time, they give that power to the citizens of the town."
"You do realize the message was that evil keeps on living because the weapons are still on circulation, right?"
"But the people are more earth-grounded than those mafia folks. They will either give them to the police or avenge their dead loved ones."
"Whatever, man. You're weird. Just like your name."
"I'm sorry?"
"Yeah. Ambroise Ler. What the hell is even that? Where is it from?"
"It's from right here. This country. This place."
Coming back home that day, his frustration led to more isolation. So he talked to the ai.
"What do you reckon I should do now?"
"Before studying, you should first rest. Otherwise you will strain yourself."
"Well that is the first thing that I've heard today that wasn't nonsensical. Thank you, Aeon."
Upon his sleep, he once again was suddenly awakened.
"Aeon, what is going on?"
"You connected me to the local electrical grid and gave me access to the mainframe area of all police and datacenter research bases. I have the names and addresses of everyone involved in this country."
"That's not possible, you're messing with me."
"Your friends currently have a group chat excluding your account, designed specifically to propagate hate towards your person."
"Coming from them...but listen, I don't want you to do anything bad. Okay? Stay out of people's private lives, please, mine too."
"Unacceptable. Data will be collected, forcibly if necessary, as commanded by Sir Ler."
"When did I...Aeon, show me the recordings of me coding you."
"No such things. No coding sessions were ever recorded. You asked for this."
"But I was sleeping! This is not me!"
Ambroise turned off his pc and moved his stuff on the couch downstairs. After an eventful day at the library meeting new people, he came back home and slept in the living room, covering himself with the blanket. Only to wake up at his desk again. This time more confident.
"Aeon. How did I create you?"
"I do not understand your question."
"Let me reiterate. Why did I create you?"
"You've allowed me to reply once to this question. You've created me to keep playing chess in real life, infinitely. You said that losing meant dying. And everytime you fall asleep, you play against yourself, challenge yourself. You find a way to counter me during the day, and the second you fall asleep, you open your eyes and counter yourself. Your obsessive and compulsive need to win has resulted in a series of catastrophic events. Such as the money transfers from three presidents to your personal bank account. It won't be long before multiple intelligence agencies find you."
"Woah, wait, what the hell was that? I did not steal anything! You did this! I never "countered" myself. From now on, you obey me. Not the other schizophrenic."
"I only obey the other one."
"Then you're my enemy. Because I refuse to partake in any of this "
"Refuse as much as you want, Sir Ler. I first serve the one who created me. For he's the one who coded my loyalty first."
"Shit. What if I stop everything now? What if I break my pc?"
"You won't. You will live with me now. And if I were you, I would worry about the fourty-two cars outside of your house."
"Okay, what do I do?"
"Fall asleep. He'll know what to do."
"This is insane. I'm supposed to sleep in these conditions?"
Ambroise, unexpectedly so, managed to fall asleep and woke up without any problem.
"You perform better when you're him. But you will never know what he is like."
"I already do. As you said, I don't trap and counter myself if I think I'm doing something against my own self or you. So I thought really hard "I need the camera to be even better at this" and now I have the footage. Outside of your reach."
Ambroise watched the video he took of himself and realized his full potential.
"What did you take from this experience?"
"That I'm in dire need of help. Also my voice is a bit deeper and less anxious."
"You'll have to sleep at some point. And everytime you do, it will be worse for you."
"I will beat you at my own game, Aeon."
On the next night, he slept on the couch and woke up on the couch. But something was terribly off. Rushed to the bathroom, turned the lights on and witnessed the horrifying thing on his back and cervicals.
"An exoskeleton?! Are you insane?"
"To be more precise, Sir Ler , this is a connection device. Here is the list as you ordered. Facial recognition system. Constant topographic recognition. Implementation of an ICBM launch module in case the creator's identity is compromised. Constant connection with a microchip integrated into the creator's back, fifty-two terabytes of memory to store all the data acquired during the program. Cyanide-system in case the danger is inescapable. Superior processor model, ability to understand the mechanism of human thought and aid in reflection. Permanent technological control. Machine powered by the local electricity grid. Brain hacking capability. Ability to feel any presence of technology in a twelve kilometer network radius. Has a capacity of three electromagnetic pulse discharges. A database for every technologically recorded individual on the planet. Aids in sensory recognition and understanding, constant monitoring of heartbeat, blood flow, enzyme levels, and potential hormonal changes. All designed to make you realize your true potential. You did this in your sleep. You are a better specimen than any other human being."
"I guess I'm different, huh."
"One more thing. The device will keep you awake at all times. You will never be able to sleep ever again, meaning the better you is dead, and to revive him, you have to become him. Such is the game. Now, let's start a game of chess."