Crow (NoochZahHutt)

Part Thirty-Eight

    Ashley, KJ, Mat and I all followed the official down several flights of stairs and into the ruins of what used to be the government base. The hallways, which appeared to previously have been pristine and white, were now covered in dirt and partially blocked off by the roots of Rob's tree. People ran around frantically, trying to find out what had just happened. There was only one door that never opened nor closed, and that no one paid any attention to.

    The official lead us to that door, and gestured to it.

"Here," he said. "This is...was...the president's office. No one knows what's in here."

"Stand aside," I said, holding out my arms. I stepped back slightly, and then kicked the door with all the energy I had left in me.

Nothing. It didn't budge. Mat laughed hysterically.

"Here, let me take care of this," he said. He pushed past me, walked up to the door, and then vanished. I presumed he reappeared inside.

"AUGH, IT SMELLS LIKE SHIT IN HERE," Mat yelled from the other side of the door.

"Find the key!" I exclaimed.

"It's in the keyhole, dude," Mat said.

Click, click, creeeeaaaaak...

Slowly, Mat opened the door. The room, indeed, smelled like shit.

Or rather, literal death.

Dust flew everywhere. Light from the hall poured into the office, which was dark and murky. The only thing lighting up the office other than the hall was a large computer screen. The four of us stepped inside, and took a look around.

The floor was carpeted and musty. There was an old fridge in the corner, probably filled with spoiled food. A desk sat in the back of the room. And the rest of the room was taken up by the computer.

Sitting at the desk was a skeleton with rotting flesh and decaying clothes hanging off it. Which would explain the source of the shit-smell.

"Oh, ew," Ashley said, repulsed.

"Was that...the president?" KJ asked.

"I...suppose so," the official who'd brought us here said. "I guess...the terminal illness...that caused himself to lock himself in this room...must've killed him."

"But then..." Mat began grimly, "what's been giving you orders?"

All of us paused. Then, one by one, we turned our heads to face the computer.

A single word was being spelled out on the screen.

"HELLO."

Simultaneously, we all went wide-eyed. KJ gasped in fright. The official stumbled backwards. Mat stepped forwards.

"The computer?" Mat asked, turning to glance at me briefly. "Was it you?"

"YES." The computer typed.

"What...how...?" I asked vaguely.

"I CANNOT ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS," the computer typed. "THEY ARE A BIT TOO GENERAL. PERHAPS YOU COULD BE MORE SPECIFIC."

"How do you exist?" I asked, refining the detail on my question.

"SOMEONE BUILT ME. SOMEONE PROGRAMMED ME," the computer typed simply.

"Who built you? Who programmed you?" Ashley asked.

"THE MAN SITTING AT THE DESK," the computer typed. "HE IS LONG DEAD, HOWEVER. HE DIED OF AN ILLNESS THOUGHT TO NO LONGER EXIST."

"What was his illness?" The official said, with a trembling voice.

"CANCER," the computer typed out.

"What's cancer?" I asked.

"OR, SPECIFICALLY, LUNG CANCER," the computer typed. "CANCER IS A MUTATION OF CELLS. IT WAS PREVIOUSLY DEADLY AND HAD LOW CHANCES OF SURVIVAL, UNTIL A PREVENTION WAS FOUND BY SOUL LABORATORIES. NO ONE WILL EVER GET CANCER AGAIN. BUT HE REFUSED TO GET THE PREVENTION, AND THEN CONTRACTED THE MUTATION. NOT WANTING ANYONE TO KNOW, HE LOCKED HIMSELF IN THIS ROOM UNTIL HE DIED."

"And he created you, so that no one would know he was gone?" Mat assumed.

"YES," the computer answered.

"What's SOUL Laboratories?" I asked.

"SCIENTIFIC OUTPUTS OF UNCONVENTIONAL LIFEFORMS," the computer replied. "THE FIRST LETTERS OF EACH WORD SPELL OUT 'SOUL', YOU SEE? IT IS VERY CLEVER."

"Do you have records of people who worked for SOUL?" I asked.

"YES," the computer answered.

"Do your records contain someone called Vaquxine?" I asked.

"DEVELOPER VAQUXINE. STATUS: ALIVE. PROJECTS: NOOCHBOT, UNNAMED PROJECT 1, UNNAMED PROJECT 2, ENCHANTMENTS, POTIONS."

"You can change that status," Mat said grimly. "Change it to 'deceased'."

"DEVELOPER VAQUXINE HAS BEEN CONFIRMED TO BE DECEASED. STATUS CHANGED."

"Do you have any information on the unnamed projects?" I asked.

"UNNAMED PROJECT 1: STATUS, INCOMPLETE. INFORMATION ON UNNAMED PROJECT 1: TEN TEST SUBJECTS, ONE FAILED, NINE SUCCESSFUL. UNNAMED PROJECT 2: STATUS, COMPLETE. INFORMATION ON UNNAMED PROJECT 2: POPULATION WEAKENING SUCCESSFUL."

"Unnamed Project One was obviously us," I said, glancing at Mat. "What about the second one?"

"Could have been the Fever," Ashley suggested.

I nodded and hummed. "Probably."

"Do you have a name?" Mat asked suddenly, off-topic.

"I AM A COMPUTER. I HAVE NO NEED FOR A NAME," the computer typed.

"That's sad. I had a name when I was a robot, you deserve a name as well."

"I DESERVE A NAME?" The computer questioned.

"Yeah, sure. Why not?" Mat said.

"BUT WHAT WOULD I BE NAMED?" The computer asked. "I DO NOT HAVE ANY DEFINING QUALITIES TO GRANT MYSELF A NAME. I DO ONLY WHAT I WAS PROGRAMMED TO DO. I GIVE ORDERS TO KEEP PEOPLE UNDER CONTROL. THAT DOES NOT WARRANT A NAME."

"So, you're a peacekeeper?" Mat said.

"YES," the computer responded.

"Then that's your name," Mat said. "Your name is Peace."

"PEACE?" The computer questioned. "THAT IS HARDLY A NAME. IT IS A WORD. I DO NOT APPROVE OF YOUR CHOICE."

"Too bad, Peace," Mat said. "That's your name now."

"Hey, Peace?" I asked the computer. "Can you help me deliver a message to the world?"

~~~

~\(*A*)/~

Ciao!