Megabyte [WIP]

MAY

[This part of the story is from another person's point of view. You can tell whose POV it is by looking at the part name!]

I need this job. I need it for money, mostly, but my family is expecting a lot from their "genius" daughter and I need the job to impress them, too. I really don't like it, though. I got a degree in mechanical engineering, specifically so that I could apply for a job at this prestigious, well-known science company. And for what? All we've done so far is fail miserably at creating some kind of AI. I don't see how this place got so much funding, after seeing what's on the inside of the company.

I walk down a hallway and take a short glance at some scratch marks on the wall, and scuffs on the ground leading towards the exit door. I never really noticed them before now. I heard a story from a coworker that one of the attempts at creating a sentient AI tried to escape once, but I thought it was just that- a story. And it was supposed to have happened years ago. I scoff and walk to my desk. This must have been caused by something else. There's no way the company would be so lazy as not to clean up a mess from something that happened so long ago.

I get to work at my desk, coding for something that I don't really know much about. They just tell me what to put there, and I do it. Apparently it's "highly sensitive information" and "We cannot let any one person know too much about this project," so they split us into groups to work on individual parts. I want to find out more, but it would risk the job and maybe even my life. Of course, they can't legally kill me or anything, especially for something as small as curiosity... But there are stories. And stories are enough for me.

I hear a faint beeping sound from down the hall. It sounds like it's coming from the storage room, which I've never been in. I haven't had a reason to go, anyway. But I am technically allowed to go if I want, so it's nothing I would get in trouble for. I open the door to see a huge room full of crates, mostly stuffed with junk from a few years ago, but some are visibly newer and are used often.

I walk to the very back of the room where the beeping sound is coming from and try my best to step around the random junk all over the ground. Turning a corner I see a faint red light, flickering occasionally as if whatever is powering it is about to die. Running on 2%. Getting closer, I manage to see the general shape of a person sitting there. A moment of panic sets in. Is this person dead? It looks like they haven't moved in years! It's too difficult to see in the dark...