An Obsidian Sky by Ewan Sinclair Page B

everything seemed to lack something. A certain
energy, motion perhaps. I could not place my fears, but the more I
thought on them the more grounded in reality they appeared. I was
certain, however, that turning on the AI was a very, very bad
idea.
    ‘AI load
protocol sixty percent complete’
    ‘Wait!’ I
screamed.
    Sean turned
towards me and announced as if I was insane.‘Aborting the protocol
at this stage would cause extreme corruption to all boot files. The
AI could not be recovered. The system will prevent any attempt at
an abort. I cannot override this safety feature.’ Her voices pitch
climbed to an absurdly high level.
    Aeniah turned
towards me quizzically and said ‘what exactly would be so bad about
turning on the AI?’
    ‘Its just.
Well. I have a feeling....’ I tried.
    ‘We all have
feelings George, get to the point!’
    ‘Well, where
are all the people?’
    ‘They died
George, the researchers, patients, whatever you want to call them,
they killed themselves.’
    ‘No, I know
but...well what about the people before’? Aeniah still seemed
confused but had not interrupted me so I began to unload my fears.
‘This station was designed as a paradise, right? And it’s finished,
right? So where were all those people? Where did they go?’
    ‘According to
Eternis Systems files, the station was largely completed, but it
was never populated. The Resource Wars somewhat mucked up their
planning.’
    ‘But look
around you Aeniah. Over there in the corner is a data-pad, for
personal use, where was the person who used that? And over there,
it’s a tool of some kind. If the station was unpopulated then who
was using that and why didn’t they put it away?’
    Aeniah began
to look concerned. ‘The researchers must have come down here. Yes.
They would have needed to fix something I assume.’
    ‘But Aeniah,
they were never trained to do that. They could never have done it.
We don’t even know how half of this works, let alone how to fix it.
No one does. The researchers could never have fixed this.’
    Sean, who had
been observing the scene, started to pipe up. ‘George, calm down.
There is no reason for panic. In order for the AI to assume control
we need to activate the final DCN. All we have done is to turn it
on. Don’t tell me that you are afraid of a little AI.’
    Aeniah and I
exhaled in unison. However Sean now racked up the tension by
stating the simple words: ‘The AI is now live.’
    ‘Ascension,’
Aeniah commanded, ‘we are here under the commission of the Eternis
Corporation in order to find out the circumstances of the events
which led to your shutdown.’
    ‘Aeniah,
welcome to Ascension,’ a cool, intelligent sounding voice
announced. ‘My name, for future reference, is Blue Dawn. In order
to answer your question I must first finish completing my
investigation. In order for me to have access to all the required
systems you will have to activate the DCN in the next room.’
    ‘Before I even
consider doing that , I think it best to get to know one
another first’ Aeniah commanded.
    ‘No!’ Blue
Dawn replied in that same impossibly cool and measured tone. ‘I
will not permit any interference with the goals, objectives and
continuity of this station. I am sorry Aeniah but the threat to
this station is too severe to allow for a compromise. If you like I
would be more than happy to get to know you at a more convenient
time.’
    ‘You are under
my command Dawn, I will not be taking orders from you. Right
now I’m not sure if you are a liability to my mission.’
Aeniah scolded.
    ‘You are quite
mistaken Aeniah. I am not under your control. I am designed to work
in the interests of the station. At this moment the continuity of
Ascension may be seriously threatened. The assistance that I have
given to your research team was provided because it was mutually
beneficial to my interests and your own. It was necessary for your
species to prevail. However I fear that you may have