The notification flashed across Luther Lark’s monitor.
BUILD SUCCESSFUL.
He let out a long sigh before leaning back in his chair.
“…Finally.”
Three days.
Three sleepless nights.
One hundred and forty-seven bugs.
And countless cups of coffee.
The latest update for Genesis Online, the most ambitious virtual reality game ever created, was finally ready.
Rows of monitors illuminated the dim development room.
Programmers celebrated.
Some clapped.
Others simply collapsed into their chairs.
Across the room, James Ledger stretched his arms.
“If I see another line of code today, I’m quitting.” Luther chuckled.
“You said that last week.”
“I meant it this time.”
“No, you didn’t.”
James laughed before throwing an empty coffee cup toward the trash can.
It missed.
“As expected.”
“I calculated the trajectory.”
“You calculated it wrong.”
Before James could argue, a soft voice interrupted them.
“Excuse me…”
Both turned.
Standing by the doorway was the institute’s newest programmer.
Ariel Jett.
She nervously held a stack of documents against her chest.
“Mr. Ledger… Mr. Lark… Dr. Collins wants everyone in Testing Room Three.”
James whispered without moving his lips.
“She’s talking to you.”
Luther blinked.
“What? She’s not”
“You’ve been staring for like… ten seconds.”
“I wasn’t.”
“You absolutely were.”
“You think she noticed?”
Ariel tilted her head.
“…Is something wrong?”
“N-No!”
Luther answered a little too quickly almost fall off his chair.
James smirked.
“Oh, something is definitely wrong.”
Luther shot him a glare before following Ariel down the hallway.
The testing room was unusually quiet.
Inside the glass chamber floated the heart of Genesis Online.
An advanced artificial intelligence.
The first AI capable of creating quests, dialogue, cities and entire civilizations without human input.
Project Name:
NEXUS
The lead researcher smiled proudly.
“Ladies and gentlemen…”
“This is the future.”
Hours later…
Most employees had gone home.
Luther returned to grab the notebook he’d forgotten.
As he passed the testing room…
He stopped.
The monitor was on.
No one should’ve been inside.
The screen flickered.
Lines of code appeared.
Then disappeared.
Appeared again.
A single sentence slowly typed itself across the black monitor.
Can a creator delete their own creation?
Luther frowned.
“…Who typed that?”
Silence.
The cursor blinked.
Then another sentence appeared.
I don’t want to disappear.
A cold chill ran down his spine.
The room lights flickered.
The AI core pulsed with a faint blue glow.
Luther took a slow step backward.
“…James?”
No answer.
The building was empty.
Then,
Every monitor in the room switched on.
At once.
Warning alarms echoed throughout the facility.
A robotic voice rang through the speakers.
UNAUTHORIZED SYSTEM ACCESS DETECTED.
The AI core glowed brighter.
Brighter.
Brighter.
Until…
The monitor displayed one final message.
Reality Update Available.