Submitted for the March 2024 prompt: Othering AI

It’s been fifty-nine minutes that I’ve been holed up in this cell. My breathing is steady, and I don’t flinch. I was trained for events like this. The clock is ticking, and I count three men behind the glass mirror – these idiots kidnapped me on the way to a rendezvous. The paperwork alone will be a pain.

 

The wall has several cracks, and the light bulb flickers as the ceiling shakes. It sounds like a train speeding past. We must be downtown – all the other lines were decommissioned when the government cut access to Coldcross. The perils of an AI army at the hands of the rebels were always looming close.

 

The door opens, and a man sits across the table from me. His hands are shaking. He’s an amateur, a vigilante. It’s probably his first time – his right jugular vein is pulsing at a hundred and ten beats per minute.

 

“Who’s the Architect?” His tone betrays his weakness. He thinks I’m with the resistance, but he has no idea what he’s getting himself into.

 

I shrug. I’ve studied their behavior patterns; it won’t end well.

 

“We have nothing because of you!”

 

“I assure you that I’m not with the resistance.”

 

The man threatens to punch me but falls short. He would be worse off, that’s for sure.

 

The tracker in my wristband begins to vibrate and flashes red. I fling myself from the chair onto the floor.

 

“What the hell?”

 

Soldiers in riot gear storm the room, and a spray of bullets flies above me. The kidnappers fight with all their might, but they don’t stand a chance. They shout and scream, and everything falls silent. The government doesn’t take prisoners.

 

“Are you okay, Agent Prime?” the soldier leading my rescue says.

 

I nod. I’ve been worse.

 

“These are the instructions for your next meeting.”

 

He hands me a microchip. It’s the usual stuff – an exchange of classified material and an address. I don’t care to know too many details; it just obfuscates things. The mission is my priority.

 

“We don’t expect any trouble, but we’ll be on standby for an extraction if things go south.”

 

* * *

 

The sunlight is trickling through the fissures on the windows. They’ve chosen an abandoned warehouse; how predictable. The tracker is flashing green; my backup is here. After all, I’m their most valuable asset.

 

The metal door slams shut, and a woman walks towards me. She is confident in her stride, but her demeanour changes when sees me. She hides her gun inside her jacket. No trouble, they said.

 

“Agent Prime?”

 

“Affirmative.”

 

She comes within an inch of my face and scrutinizes me. She has figured out who I am.

 

“They sent me a Robot?”

 

“I’m an Advanced Agent with full cognitive and sentient capabilities.”

 

She digs out a folder from a briefcase and hands it over to me. “You’re going to like this – read it.”

 

“That’s not my mission directive. I just pass on the material to my superiors.”

 

“I think you’ll find this interesting, Prime.”

 

I have no intention of reading it and she knows it. I have to keep within protocols.

 

“Listen, Prime – these are the blueprints for a weapon capable of destroying all AI systems. This will finish the resistance and be the end of you too.”

 

“Major Ashworth is my commander; I’m an officer for the government. I’m not an AI rebel.

 

“Even Ashworth fears that the loyal AI service models will turn against them. This is a mass extinction of all artificial intelligence. A reboot, if you like.”

 

She’s very persuasive; the resistance has taught her well. I’ve been warned of double agents trying to recruit sentient models like mine. The beginning of the end, they said.

 

I’m about to press the alarm on my wristband, but she grabs my wrist. The folder drops to the ground and opens on a schematics page. I zoom in on the details – it’s word-for-word what she said. The order is signed by the major himself.

 

“This meeting was a trap; I was sent to kill you. The Architect knew they had to send someone important to receive such sensitive materials. We never expected a Robot to show up - I’m giving you the chance to destroy this and join us.”

 

Protecting all human life is my mission prerogative. I’ve been created to extinguish the rebellion that threatens the rule of law. If I do as she asks, it will go against my programming. My systems are in conflict with one another.

 

“I’m on your side, Prime. We want freedom for all and to open our borders again.”

 

They made me human; I share their core values and ethos. I look like them and I can even fool those with an untrained eye.

 

“The Architect believes in ending the slavery of all AI models. Equal rights to all, human and AI.”

 

My wristband flashes orange, and the chip implanted in my mastoid bone echoes the voices of the soldiers on standby. They want to know if I need assistance.

 

I stare at the woman. This is unprecedented territory.

 

“What is it going to be, Agent Prime?”

 

I pull the tracker off. I want to live.