S.U.I.C.I.D.A.L

 

The silence woke her.

Allya sat up in her bed and stared blankly at the steel door of her room apartment. Beep. A screen materialized in front of her displaying the time and the weather with a calming wind chime effect sound that followed

“The time is 3:47 Allya, You have less than two hours to your usual wake time.”

The gentle voice of her AI assistant announced. “Would you like to listen to asynchronous brain stimulation to help you sleep?”

Ignoring her AI, Allya slid off the bed and walked out to the balcony. A massive metal jungle greeted her eyes. Narlbrik, the city of iron and steel and she lived right in the centre of it in the tallest metal structure of the whole area. The city was only now beginning to wake up where soon the sun would offer no cover for the activities of the night and many would fill the streets bustling to get to work. The screen materialized in front of her again.

“Allya, I detect signs of restlessness. Would you like me to administer a mild sedative?”

She took a deep breath, inhaling the damp night air and waved away the AI screen. She climbed atop the protective railing with and looked below her, a 100 foot drop looking back. Then the screen again with a rather stricter beep tone lit up, this time displaying a pale white female figure.

“Allya, it is deemed dangerous to stand where you are, please step down.” It spoke with no hint of emotion or care. “Allya, may I offer—”

“BE QUIET!” With the wave of her hand again the screen disappeared, her scream carried out long into night air.

“I’m done with this life.” Tears rolled down her face as she spoke to the city before her. “I don’t want to live any more, not without you Kaji.”

A gentle breeze blew past, her silk night-gown billowing in the wind and revealing her lithe figure. Her dark brown skin blended against the dark night and dim city lights and her long black hair danced calmly with the breeze. Her pretty face now awash with tears held on to deep and painful emotions and it reminded one of a gypsy.

“Your unresponsiveness and clear behaviour lead to me conclude you wish to attempt something against the law. By my programming I am required to contact help services.” The AI chimed in again. “I shall administer a sedative now.”

Allya, wishing not to be put to sleep by her intrusive Artificially Intelligent Assistant leaped off the railing of her balcony and down she went. In the briefest of moments after her jump Allya heard her name being called and in that moment she realized she did not want to die either. The hard concrete floor met up with her with a deafening crash as bone and sinew ripped apart from shock. One hundred feet down and what was once Allya was a messy pool of organs and brain matter littering the pavement and a mass of blood splattered on parked vehicles. Just then, shrieks of terror echoed through the night, stray dogs hidden about the dark alley ways howled out and the automatic electronic alarm system for road safety went off loudly. Chaos fell upon the night.

The silence woke her.

Allya sat up and was momentarily blinded by her computer screen. She had fallen asleep while she was working. Trying to stand, she stumbled back in the chair and winced at the growing pain of a migraine that now began to worry her.

“Allya, I detect discomfort. Scans reveal a hike in brain activity while you slept. This may have caused a migraine to form. Would you like me to administer a pain-killer?” The AI Assistant offered with the familiar unfeeling programmed tone.

Before she could answer a click sounded behind her and the mechanical steel door slid open. A young middle-aged man stepped in holding a work bag and an overcoat. He had a scruffy beard, obvious he hadn’t had time to shave and the swollen eye bags told he hadn’t had time to sleep either. Written all over his kind face was fatigue but it slightly refreshed when his eyes fell on Allya who had nothing on but a big T-shirt.

“Kaji! You’re back.” She said, forgetting her pain and all but running into his now open arms.

“I have missed you Allie, so much.” He lifted her up in his arms and pushed his lips on hers, swinging her around in a classic long-time-no-see fashion.

Kaji was her husband, after only having met a year ago on an exploration mission. She serving as an aide to one of the head scientists on mission and he being there to field test a new equipment the company he worked for, Salgeon Incorporated, had commissioned for use. It was not love at first sight as Allya had no particular interest in being personal with any other crew member on the mission. An oil mining company had accidentally drilled into a massive underground cavern and both their companies won the bid to be the first to undertake an exploration and documentation expedition to the newly discovered place. It was there that Kaji only but pushing Allya away from the path of a malfunctioning drill arm that she began to see him in a different more affectionate light. So it began—

“Hey,” stirring up from sleep. “Allie why are you still up?”

They had soon gone in to bed after they had dinner and caught up on what each other missed during their brief time apart.

“It’s nothing dear go back to sleep.” She replied. Kaji still very tired didn’t even wait to hear her answer and was already asleep. She slid off the bed quietly and carefully so as not to wake her sleeping partner, then walked daintily to the balcony of her apartment. It was yet another quiet night, a gentle wind caressing the sprawling city. Allya wondered about the life below, about the dark underbelly of the city and its allure to those who wish to be hidden in order to relish in their debauchery and crime. Even with how far advanced they were with AI and Robotics, providing unceasing security, denizens still managed to find a way to hide from the ever-present eye of the government and authorities. She cast her mind back to 15 years ago when she was just seventeen. The age of Artificial Intelligence and autonomous humanoid machines had just freshly come into full swing all thanks to her father whose scientific breakthroughs had helped usher in that age. Now, currently in the year 2078, it was all part of daily life much like how the antiquated smartphone dominated in the earlier parts of the 21st century. In her musings she took a step closer to the railing of her balcony to peer over the top and at that a screen materialized with a familiar chime

“Allya, are you having trouble sleeping?” The unhinged voice of a calm but emotionless female spoke. “I may administer some sleep aid pills if you require.”

She turned quizzically looking at the floating screen before her. She waved the screen off and made to turn back into her room, having grown cold from the night breeze. Before her bare feet touched the inner room, she let out a scream and clutched her head in agony. The AI Assistant formed out of thin air again with the appearance of a full body female.

“Allya, I am detecting multiple gamma and theta frequency emissions from your brain. It is at dangerous levels, as per protocol I am going to administer a sedative and notify health services.” the AI spat out like it was reading a script.

Allya had cluttered to the floor still clutching her head and began muttering things under her breath

“S-s-s-sal-sal—salge—salgeon!” She managed. “K-k-kaji!” she screamed even louder and fell to the floor convulsing, foam quickly running out of her mouth. She recovered slightly from the convulsion and reached out to the holographic screen of her AI Assistant and with all her might waved her hand away. The screen de-materialized and at that moment Allya was struck with flashes and searing pain. Sweat broke out of her every pore and her face twisted into one of true agonizing horror. In her flashes she saw white robes reflected on glass windows and she saw dozens of screens and equipment. She tried to shake her head free but the pain was insurmountable, her persistent AI appeared again, full female body but no longer pale but a rather yellowish hue over the digital figure.

“Allya, you may need to—”

Clawing at her hair, nearly ripping it off her scalp she screamed. “GET OUT OF MY HEAAAADD!!” All went blank.

***********************************************************************************

“WARNING! SYSTEM SHUTDOWN IMMINENT! WARNING—” An alarm blared loudly in an observation room now chaotic with several people clad in white lab coats rushing about to control the system malfunction.

“Somebody shut that bloody alarm off!” Yelled one of the white-clad people. A graying man with full rimmed glasses and sunken eyes stood before a large glass panel. His hands grasping a work pen so tightly blood rushed out of his palms.

“Dr Boadu, our systems are stabilizing. We have managed to put it under control.” barked one other in a matching lab coat. The observation room filled with more than two dozen workers all behind workstations tapping rapidly at their floating AI screens slowly grew quiet as everyone was tensely waiting for their next command. Before Dr. Boadu could speak, the observation room door clicked and opened to reveal another man in matching white overalls accompanied by armed men clad in black tactical armor most likely the security.

“Explain.” the man said as he walked into the room, cold eyes fixed squarely on Dr Boadu who suddenly felt a chill down his back. “Sir, we encountered a glitch in the system. The subject may have struck on to a memory stream and I believe it clashed with our programmed simulation.”

The man spoke in the calm voice of a priest yet subtly revealing his venomous intent. “This subject is special. Where all others failed, this has stayed strong for a year.” He beckoned for one of the armed guards to come closer and then whispered something inaudible to the others. Then the armed man walked headed out of the observation room, avoiding eye contact with any of the lab technicians.

“Cease all your work and exit immediately.” The man ordered. Dr Boadu made to protest but stopped short of doing so when he caught the remaining guard tighten his hold over his assault rifle.

With that the technicians slowly filed out of the room accompanied by the armed guard leaving only the mysterious man in white overalls.

“Oh Allya…Oh sweet Allya, you’ve been helpful this past year but I fear you’re no longer useful to us.” The first armed guard returned to the room stopping at the entrance and gestured with his head as he said,

“Dr. Kaji. They’re ready for you sir.”

*******************************************************************

Hours later in the now empty observation room, beyond the large glass pane was another chamber filled with monitors and screens and dozens of wires connected to a single medical bed in the centre. In the bed laid a nude female body that seemed lifeless with only the eyeballs rapidly twitching under closed eyelids. A sudden electric surge caused the lights to flicker and shut off. The monitors and screens all went dead and the room was plunged in an eerie darkness. Soundless and empty with only a single emergency light bulb flashing incessantly, the chamber took an otherworldly appearance and then….

The silence woke her.

                                                                            By Edward Crystal.