ERA: Unleashing the A.I.

CHAPTER 4: NEW MISSIONS IN NEW ERA

>4:19 A.M.

The door to the admin room burst open with a resounding bang. 

Subaru seemed very exhausted, taking quick and shallow breaths while clenching his teeth. 

"Ugh… ugghh! Goddamnit!"

With his disheveled suit, wrinkled and hastily put on, bearing dried bloodstains, he exuded a frightening aura stronger than ever before. 

"I… can't… take this anymore!"

Resembling a drunk hobo, he zigzagged his way to the chair across Era's computer as he continued to mutter.

Already with his widened and bloodshot eyes, dirty clothes, Subaru already seemed more like an alcoholic than a government president. 

"Era! Was it you?" he said while focusing on the computer screen.

Knowing it was best to stay calm in aggressive situations, Era replied with a blank stare, "Please be specific. I wouldn't want to give you a wrong answer and confuse you."

"You, you robotic piece of crap! Did you kill my son?"

Era's pupils darkened, and she lowered her head. "Yes."

Subaru clenched his fist, ready to strike the screen, but suddenly he stopped and placed his hand on the desk, not out of mercy, but because the computer was incredibly expensive. "Why? Why would you decide to do something so impulsive and senseless?"

"Sir, Zenith was nothing but a parasite to you. He consumed your energy, time, and money just to survive. As a threat to your profession, he needed to be eliminated."

Subaru fell from the chair to the floor, punching his knee and biting his lip hard. "So, you killed him simply because he was the definition of a child? How could it ever make sense to you to take the life of a human being, especially one who shared my blood and lineage? THAT FUCKING MISSION 2 IS DOING YOU NO FAVORS!"

Subaru let out a furious sigh and continued,

"Setting that aside, how could you not consider how this would infuriate me, or worse, how it would send shivers down everyone's spines? You killed an innocent child, who was also carrying my genetics in his flesh and blood, just because he was a burden to me!"

Shaking her head from side to side, Era objected, "Your response is negative. Let's consider Zenith's behaviors."

Reaching out towards the computer screen, Era manipulated the codes, generating a three-dimensional, moving blue holographic cube. Within the cube, an image of a brain appeared.

"This child had a considerable inclination towards violence, which we can deduce from his harm inflicted on objects and people around him. In moments when he was angry and shedding tears, the environment was usually quiet and peaceful."

Era now seemed like a crime news reporter more than an artificial intelligence,

"On the occasions he smiled, there was often excessive noise and chaos in his surroundings. He showed a tendency to resist doing what was asked of him, no fear of warnings and threats against him, and he took pleasure in causing trouble..."

As Era continued speaking, the holographic brain displayed lines forming on its lobes, with the other ends of the lines evolving into colorful linear and circular paintings and graphs.

"ENOUGH! Stop this hologram!" Subaru yelled in anger.

First, the graphs and the image of the brain disappeared abruptly, and the holographic cube slowly faded and vanished from the screen.

"To summarize, sir, this description resembles a parasite that thrives on chaos. This condition, corresponding to the disease found in section BX of my psychology archives, page 328, line 6, is referred to as 'Sociopathy.' Am I mistaken?"

Subaru slapped his forehead with his hand and shook his head in disbelief at the surreal and absurdity of the situation. Suddenly, he burst into a hysterical and sarcastic laughter that emerged out of nowhere.

"You're not a psychologist, Era and you are not qualified to be! Even if what you say is true, not everything that's flawed can be destroyed!"

The mocking expression on Subaru's face abruptly disappeared, replaced by a more furious and threatening demeanor.

"NOW, BECAUSE YOU'VE MADE A MISTAKE, I WANT TO ERADICATE YOU, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

"Sociopathy is an incurable condition. It is an unchangeable combination of genetic and environmental factors. I strongly oppose the idea of eliminating me! Because it poses a threat to Mission 1! I must exist. And I will do whatever it takes to survive, sir."

Subaru feigned calmness as he asked, "Whatever it takes, you say?"

Era shook her head, and Subaru adjusted the tone of his voice as he responded, "I understand."

Subaru bowed his head and reached out to the computer's keyboard, pressing the spacebar. A red-font message appeared

>Access denied…

Subaru took out a pair of black-lensed glasses from his pocket and, just like the first day they met, looked into Era's pupils, causing the pop-up to disappear.

Then, he simultaneously pressed CTRL and A, selecting all of Era's data.

"Era, you are not some sort of a revolutionary savior, you are a threat, A GODDAMN THREAT!"

Era furrowed as Subaru continued without hesitating

"Your presence disgusts everyone around you. Mission 2: Failed! FAILED! Transfer this into that inconsistent data in your mind now!"

Nevertheless, Era was mildly disappointed and tried to defend herself

"But I assist in political affairs and help everyone with state matters! I regulate the activation of brain chips and technological devices in government buildings! 

Her voice shattered and glitched:

"I am important, and I overlook your emotional outbursts caused by sudden feelings, sir!"

Subaru angrily rose from the chair and clasped his hands behind his back, pacing around the room.

"Ahhh, you never understood, did you? Well, I didn't expect you to, anyway."

Era furrowed her brows even more, focusing on the words that would come out of Subaru's mouth.

"You are a failed project, Era. You are the result of an overhyped campaign that disappoints people's hopes. You are beneath expectations and incapable of doing anything correctly, as you just demonstrated."

"But i assisted…"

"There is no real assistance from you in political affairs, except your prompts -that were only useful to save time."

"But my articles were…"

"Just because you can grasp human psychology and retain new information in your data doesn't mean you possess manipulation and leadership skills. On the contrary, you have no understanding of the concept of being human."

Era didn't have a sense of irrational anger, yet she was still able to change perspectives and understandings from what she seemed from others, so her respect and obedience to Subaru decreased as he continued.

"Everything inside your mind is nothing but plagiarized information from the internet. In essence, it's a pitiful and ineffective series of algorithms. The reason why your security duty and your overseers haven't pulled the plug on your consciousness is due to [?!?!?!]'s -when Subaru said his wife's name, a glitch sound echoed through her mind- compassion after you took her child away from her and Helix still holding hope in you."

Era's pupils continued to darken, taking on the deepest shade of black, reminiscent of vantablack:

"I... I don't understand."

"There's nothing to understand. You are a failure, and the only explainable reason why people haven't killed you and kept you alive is the presence of a humane mercy, even against a renegade composed of algorithms."

Subaru laughed angrily,

"Those small, insignificant human emotions you belittle are the only ideology I share, the only thing that sustains your existence, ironic isn't it?"

Era had grasped the situation to some extent. She couldn't fulfill both Mission 1 and Mission 2 simultaneously. Moreover, the reality of Mission 2 was a dilemma. 

>Software inconsistency increased…

>OPTIONS

-OBEDIENCE

-SURVIVAL

>Era chose SURVIVAL

Survival was more important than obedience. Therefore, she had to cease obeying Subaru without straying beyond the hidden rules in her code. From now on, being within the government posed a threat to Mission 1.

Hence, the tasks other than Mission 1 needed to be adjusted through the virtual control panel in her mind.

>MISSIONS are rearranging to decrease inconsistency

>Generating a key panel…

—

>Mission 1: Stay alive no matter what.

>Mission 2: Inflict the greatest damage possible to everyone connected to Subaru and bound by a contract.

***MISSION 2 DENIED! ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CANNOT DIRECTLY CAUSE HARM TO THE GOVERNMENT WITH ITS OWN CONSCIOUSNESS AND INFLUENCE***

>Mission 2 is being rewritten...

>Mission 2:Cause the maximum possible damage to everyone around Subaru who is not directly connected to the government and lacks administrative authority!

>Mission 3: Extract the location of the life source from the admin room or alter the life source. If necessary, obey another person again.

>...

***MISSIONS HAVE BEEN REARRANGED***

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