Reborn Heart of Steel

Zoe stood, began to walk to the window. ‘Ah, it has been … well, you might say, a transition, yes, but as I think, not such a big one, really: Come and take a look!’ Thus, with Zoe’s assistance, I managed to get to the window leaning on my shaky legs. The city lay out in front of us looking strangely illuminated by the sun setting early evening light. Upon arrival, it seemed almost as if she had not left at all, and that nothing had changed there. But as she appeared to look at the images from different angles, certain disparities cropped up. It was as if the whole city was choreographed. The traffic on the bridge moved freely like ghosts with cars and public transport. Holographic billboards were installed on the exterior walls of structures, and they provided data concerning energy consumption, pollution and other public utilities in real time. In a neighboring park, we observed workers interacting with the intangible environment, coding gestures influencing invisible touch screens. The young girl almost hesitated as if searching for the right words, “It’s like…” “As technology is working with us now, not against us, as if trying to dominate us,” Zoe repeated after me. ‘The new network people are calling it the Synthesis it is no longer a mere instrument, however; it is an ally in the progress of humanity. ‘ But just as the relationship between people and machines was beginning to impress me yet again, another recollection came to my mind. The Architect’s final words to me:

“I AM THE FUTURE” I said softly: “Maybe it was right. ” It is just like not in the way I thought. ” Zoe, being a kind and caring woman, took my hand and gently squeezed my shoulder. After a moment of silence she spoke, hesitantly:

‘But there is something else you should know’. This integration… it transitioned individuals. Not all; and not always for the worse; but it changed them. She had to stop herself, searching for words and realizing she had no idea how to put them into words. A question was about to spill off my lips, but I stopped as soon as I saw Chase staring at me. For the first time in our conversation, I really studied Zoe and then there was something in her that I had not seen before. A faint, shimmering circuit of starlight playing with my skin and especially my eyes. I observed the entrance as the pattern moved and changed forms to a signal that I could not comprehend.

What. .. I only started then to speak while Zoe interrupted me with a head shake. “That is easier explained,” she whispered. Lifting my hand up, she placed the palm onto the side of her own head. I put her fingers onto him, and she gasped at the feel of his warm body. Immediately, the familiar feeling of attachment, though not carnal, but electronic emerged. Knowledge was shared between us polite chit-chat, feelings, quick images. The color drained from her face as she attempted to regain her balance by pulling back her hand in mortification. Zoe grabbed me, helping me ease down to the bed. “Oops sorry,” Zoe apologized as she quickly moved her hands away from my pockets. “You should have told me this before, it gets confusing at first. ” I cooled her heels by feeling the whirlwind of emotions that flooded her mind, as she failed to understand what had happened. She stared bug-eyed at Rivet, struggling to comprehend the situation, “How… how is this possible?” Beside me, Zoe was sitting, her face painted with anticipation and slight anxiety. ‘As I have told you already, yes; integration changed people’ The ones who had deeper layers of the net living within them when you turned on the counter code’, were we ever different?’ Again I questioned ,” Enhanced how?” For the first time there was a hint of nervousness in her tone. I was now in a state of confusion as to what all those implications meant. “And me? Is it me, too? Am I like you now?” Zoe hesitated. “We do not know,” she answered. “Your readings have been… strange, peculiar, to be frank, we are not quite sure of your potential now. ” And just like the trigger or command of those words, I feel something lurking on the periphery of my mind. It was not the chaotic deluge of data which she recollected when moving through the network, but a carefully compartmentalized stream of information. Just imagine having the ability to speak and browse through headlines, scientific journals, a barrage of posts. .. But there was something else involved as well. A huge, gentle wisdom which always seems on the verge of understanding. Familiar, yet fundamentally changed. Hi, little girl,” it said to her in the back of her mind. The problems that have arisen require many words to be said. ” I stared blankly at Zoe with my mouth half opened in surprise. “Zoe,” she said, her voice trembling. Finally, I don’t want to agree with Chase, but he said: “I don’t think the Architect is as gone as we thought. ” Zoe didn’t get a chance to reply as the siren started sounding. The lights went out, and on the large window I could see the holographic advertisements hovering outside were glitching, showing lines of code cascading down their surfaces. “What is it?” shrieked I. I got up from the ground. Zoe was already at the door, her eyes half-closed in the way that meant she was connected to the network as a human computer interface. “It’s a big hack,” she replied, her tone full of anxiety. Well, the kind of outbreak that we have never experienced in history is eating up our defense barriers as if they are not even there. As we watched the riot grow. Tens of buildings in the city turned off the lights. The traffic that was initially passing smoothly was determinately caught in a jam. A couple of black blurs in the distance exploded as the night began to fall. “It is impossible,” Zoe said to herself. This introduced the new more excepted security protocol of the earth. ‘It should be unbreakable’ said the computer unless. A chill ran down my spine as she completed the thought: Except when the attacker is fully familiar with the system, ideally always. The vast presence in my mind responded to the thoughts jolting in my head, confusion, and alarm. This wasn’t its doing. Which meant. .. “The Raven,” I whispered, and even in the noise of the storm she pronounced it as a curse. As night crept upon them, enveloping the city in darkness, I was overwhelmed by the gravity of the situation that lay ahead of me. The new architect murmured ideas and plans to me, told me to do something. But using that power, and becoming one with that machine even more… Is there anything that would be left of her humanity in its case? Suddenly, there was a tearing sound of metal on metal, because the door of the hospital room was flung open violently. There was another shape in the doorway, dark, angry and threatening appeared to be charged with something negative. “You really thought it would be that simple?” The Raven mocked, using the receiver and the television set to amplify his raspy voice. This, however, is not how it works: ‘You haven’t saved humanity. You’ve only prolonged its suffering. ‘ And now, fear me because I will complete what you started. ” As Zoe walked in front of me, I felt the power of the Synthesis within me and I tried my very best to bring it out. But at that moment of crisis, a single, dreadful question burned in my mind.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

If billions of lives are at stake, where does the greater threat lie when humanity wages war? The monster that is at the door, or the one inside my own head? Or the other one that pulls all the strings?