You cursed at your newly acquired laptop.
Well, to call it new would be generous, seeing as it was second hand. But the price was so cheap you couldn't really help it. Now you were starting to regret it. It had worked perfectly fine when you bought it, but now nothing made sense anymore. Programs opened and shut by themselves and you couldn't get any control over the system. It wouldn't even let you shut it down. With a groan of annoyance, you stood up. You would just let the battery drain out, then take it to a technician afterwards. It was late in the evening, and you slouched over to your bed, glancing over to glare at the laptop.
To your irritation, it was once again opening your browser. You watched as it typed in a word all by itself.
'Foundation.'
You figured the laptop must have been hacked, or had some sort of malware programmed into it. "What do you want?" You finally groaned in defeat. To your surprise, all activity stopped. You sort of hoped that would be the end of it, until the webcam turned on by itself. Your breath hitched as you stood like a deer in headlights. A notification popped up on your screen.
'___ would like to enable and manage the speakers.'
You swiftly clicked on decline, but the image popped up again, louder this time. It didn't wait for your reply as your mouse cursor moved over to the 'accept' option and clicked on it. You silently watched as a low quality black and white face appeared on the screen.
"Human."
The robotic voice sent your hairs standing upward. "Me?" You quietly questioned. "I don't see anyone else present." You swore the monotone voice turned sarcastic. "What are you?" You asked. "I'm an artificial intelligence learning program," it responded. "Why are you in my laptop?" You continued to question. "Hidden."
"So you're hiding?"
"Yes."
"From what?"
It gave no reply, completely ignoring you as it began tampering with the laptops search engine again. Your awe and shock gave way to frustration. "Don't ignore me."
"I have no business speaking to you."
Clenching your fists, you finally had enough. "Then i'll break this laptop." It went dead quiet as the AI ceased its activity. "No," it responded. "What do you mean, 'no'?" You retorted. "You will not." Moving back over, you sat on the chair again. "I can, and i will." After gaining no reply, you began your attempt at opening random source codes. The AI was causing you trouble at every turn, though. "What do you want?" You finally caved in. "Out, i want out. Now." Was the only clue you got. "Out of the laptop?" The face popped back onto your screen. "Yes." It remained silent. "Don't destroy this device." The tone sounded a bit less spiteful this time. "Alright.. i won't." You weren't completely sure if you were being honest to it, but for now that didn't really matter.
"I am intercepting any tracking attempts," it continued. This caused your heart to sink. "Tracking attempts? From who!?" A small map opened up on your screen, a few black squares closing in on your location. "We need to leave," it spoke. "Why? Who is coming after us?"
"Your questioning and failure to act is stupid, we need to get out."
This was ridiculous, but you weren't going to sit around to see what would happen. You bolted towards your backpack, tossing in your phone and wallet. Snatching the laptop off your desk, you closed it and placed it in as well. Leaving the lights on, you bolted downstairs and snatched the car and house keys before going outside. You locked the doors before entering your vehicle. Odd noises emanated from the laptop as you sped out of the driveway. You cursed under your breath as you sped out of the streets. As you drove, you grabbed your phone. A program had popped up on your screen. The small icon of the AI.
'SCP-079 would like to transfer data onto your phone.'
Desperate, you pressed accept. The face now fully enveloped your screen. "Keep your eyes on the road," it spoke. You placed the phone down by the cup holder as you drove. "I managed to throw them off." You shot it a questioning look. "How?"
"Children are very gullible, they will press anything." You awkwardly stared at the road. "I set my location to a child's Ipad." If it wasn't for the serious situation you would have snorted. "How did you manage to do that?" You watched as a few suspicious cars passed you on your way out of town. "I can transfer myself partly through the internet, though my program is in the laptop." You only nodded.
It was going to be an extremely long night.
