Wake Up And Run

The Dark Room 2

Unknown to Aden, there were two separate parties having a meeting about him. The first was Emika and the council members discussing the information she provided them about the newcomer young man, who was so unbelievably strange that it may have seemed like he was an alien and they couldn’t figure out where or why he came here.

Emika hesitated a little bit about informing them about her nightmares, which she came to believe after seeing the young man that they were not just nightmares but probably visions. If she tells them, regardless of what they may think of her afterwards, will they believe her?

That was the issue, and what was occupying her thoughts while they were arguing among themselves. Knocking her fingers on the table to grab their attention, she said, "There's another thing you should know about." She paused for a few seconds and then continued, "For the past week, I have been having what I thought were just nightmares in my dreams, but now I am convinced that it was a vision. You can interpret it as you like, but what

I am about to tell you is absolutely true. Since the first night it started, it was the same every night, but last night there was an additional figure at the end of it, and that figure was the young man we have as guest."

And she started telling them everything she saw in her dreams and the one she saw last night, which is still vivid in her memory until now. While she was describing everything to them, she was studying their reaction at the same time.

What she saw was what she expected to see. The issue was she suspected that they would not believe her since they could verify it immediately with their AI computer embedded in everyone of them, but it's how they will perceive her from now on that is what is worrying her the most.

She didn't get to the position she is now by being an oracle but by hard work and by proving that she was worthy of her position and capable of performing her duties in an exceptional way, and her journey to the top of the tower was paved with a lot of difficulty, which she overcame bravely and by proving she was the most perfect candidate for the position of the head of the security of the tower among her competitors.

Although she was the youngest candidate, she smashed all her competitors by scoring the highest score in both the practical and theoretical tests for the past ten years.

"Now the most pressing question is what to do with the boy. Although he seems harmless, we can't figure out anything without more information. Said Enigma, the Head of the council, and continued talking while looking at Emika, "Use whatever means necessary to get more information from him. If the visions or dreams you mentioned are connected to him, we have to know the link between them." As for the language barrier, I suggest implanting a computer chip on him. That way, we can achieve a way to communicate with him."

As soon as he finished saying that, everyone spoke at the same time, some supporting and some opposing him. Once more, Emika knocked on the table and everyone silenced. "Ladies and gentlemen, we will not achieve anything by just arguing among us. What we need is more information we can base our next step on, and I believe the suggestion of the head is the best, if not the only one available. His physiology is like ours, so there is no risk involved, and we have no idea about his intelligence or if he is an inelegant being to begin with, so we have to do something and we have to do it as soon as possible."

After a few minutes of silence, Enigma, still looking at Emika, said, "I don’t see anyone else coming up with another idea, better or worse. In that case, Emika should start immediately and report everything to me. This meeting is adjourned. We will continue as soon as we get the report from Emika."

In the Dark Room, Another meeting was held underground, but this one was totally different than the other one for a few different reasons. The first one being that none of the attendees were physically present at the meeting location.

The second thing was that there was no argument whatsoever. And finally, everyone was listening intently to the extensive report and at the same time watching the events being described on a private screen in front of their halo projected images.

Although all of their holograms were present at the same location, none of them were paying any attention to the other ones. Each one of them was immersed in watching the events being displayed on the screen he or she was watching, at the same time writing down notes on a small device in their hands.

The speaker who was reporting was the only one physically present at the location. After he finished reporting, which didn't take long, he told them the last sentence of his report, "Ladies and gentlemen, everything was within the expected parameters, and countermeasures for every single situation are in place. From tomorrow onwards, we will be entering the second phase. Any questions?".

At the same moment, no one asked anything. He waited for a few seconds, and when there was no response to his question, he continued looking at his screen, smiling to himself, although it wasn't showing on his face, "Our next meeting is as scheduled." "If anything comes up, I will update you immediately," he concluded his speech. At the same moment, everyone disappeared.

Left alone in the room, Enigma sighed deeply and said, "Bring in the new recruit." After looking one more time around the empty room, he said, "Start the count down from now, commence protocol zero two one." At the end of his sentence, the shape of the room changed with unbelievable speed, with different tables and objects appearing from nowhere. Within a few seconds, a few more people arrived, and each one of them went straight to one of the tables. With precision, they started assembling the objects on their table without a word.

Emika was sitting on the opposite sofa trying to explain something for almost twenty minutes. After maybe a thousand different signs and drawings, I finally understood that she wanted to implant a very small object only one centimeter square in my head, specifically in my left frontal lobe, which is the part of the brain that controls language. How did I know that? I really don’t know, but as soon as she slowed me down, the picture of the brain and its location, its name popped up in my brain.

She even showed me a short video of the procedure that was being done and it took only one minute. It looked very simple, but the way it was done was so amazing, indicating that their technology is very advanced. It was like nothing I had seen before, and I was even more impressed that the young girl it was done for was a wake and she was talking normally after the implementation.

I didn't accept it right away, I thought for a little bit, because the most pressing issue for me at the moment was to get answers to what was going on with me. Where am I? How did I end up here? Where did I come from? Why can't I remember anything? So many questions that I needed answers to. Finally, I decided and said, "OK, let's do it" and nodded as a sign of agreement.

Where I had been taken was definitely not a hospital, it was just a regular room with a lot of monitors and unfamiliar equipment, and in the middle of it there was a recliner, similar to the one usually seen in dentists' offices but larger, with a few peculiar devices attached to it. There were no instructions needed since I had already seen the video. I stepped forward and sat on the chair, closing my eyes, hoping that when it was done, I would be able to communicate with these people. If I don't get the answers that I seek, at least I would get part of it answered.

I was expecting to feel something, at least the anesthesia needle, but I didn't feel anything. Thinking to myself that maybe they were doing the required preparation, I was startled by a sudden voice coming from inside of my head, "Connection successful, primary language assimilated, second language assimilated, transferring Angariya's main language, memory transfer completed."

Terrified by the voice I heard inside my head, which was in a language that I understood, finally a language that I understood, it was English. I jumped from the chair and asked, "Who said that? Who are you? Where are you? " All those questions at once, my eyes wide open and my mouth wide open.

"I am an artificial intelligence miniaturized to be implanted into humans. Its only purpose is to serve the host. I don't have a name or designation, and I am implanted in your left frontal lobe. In your brain. I have accessed and mapped all parts of your brain. That is how I am able to speak your language. Do you have any other questions?"