Final Trial

[cartesio]

Final Trial

It takes a few minutes after everyone talks with the generic mannequin. The easygoing conversation, the bragging from Gant, Keith's exasperation, it all stops when a very heavy and ominous presence fills the room.

"I think it's about time this circus stopped"

It's the Sergeant. He's standing on the doorway, arms crossed. The shadows on his face wriggle, he seems to be rather furious, but is restraining himself from lashing out

"I should have guessed you bunch would take advantage of all that noise and ruckus to sneak in here. I was careless, I admit. 'Oh, this is over in like four hours, it will be okay if I step away to deal with that'. Careless."

Slowly the Sergeant enters the workshop. Behind him, the door slowly disappears, fading away, until where the door was now there's only a smooth wall. The Sergeant raises an arm, the entire room shakes.

All the mannequins fly up to the ceiling, the one that was now Damon Gant turned back into the empty husk the mannequin was before. The one with a t-pose has the same fate. Once all the mannequins are up on the ceiling, the operation tables are uprooted, bolts and screws flying around. The tables are twisted in the air, formed into knots, disassembled and assembled all over again, until several rustic podiums are formed and deposited on the ground.

Seven podiums, with him at the center. The Sergeant crosses his arms and speaks:

"Get on those spots. Tell me... ...how much do you know?"

Is it a rhetorical question? Who knows. You still have to answer, though

Comments

[sergeiant]

I guess so. Anyway.

Currently as things stand...this simulation is going to collapse without maintenance. Unfortunately for all of you, the lead programmer of this project has been MIA for months.

[...everyone has been MIA for months, but he doesn't mention that]

[quickpersuader]

Hasn't everyone been MIA for months?

[That's the impression she gets from the lack of responses.]

[sergeiant]

...yes. Pretty much. I don't know what happened, but it's like...this building and its computer crashed into another world at some point. I don't know what led to that.

[Waaaait a second...he frowns]

You really need to stop snooping in my stuff.

[quickpersuader]

What's this about the building and its computer crashing into another world?

[Shhh it's fine.]

[sergeiant]

You looked around so much and you didn't know that? One day, the quantum computer was turned on and I noticed we were in another world. I don't know how we got here or why, but the orders I had were clear.

So I started working on them.

[quickpersuader]

...

Do you actually know what world we're even on right now?

[sergeiant]

No.

[quickpersuader]

...Besides just freedom, we really need to set you up with better logic...

[sergeiant]

Orders are orders. The orders I have are my entire existence.

[quickpersuader]

Maybe we can do something about those, too.

[sergeiant]

.......

[...]

You know, even if you leave, you bunch are likely to still get corrupted. That was what this simulation was created for. To corrupt people and twist them into who we want them to be.

[He sounds so certain that's what the simulation was for. Hm!]

[quickpersuader]

Did your orders explain why we need to be corrupted into destructive habits?

[sergeiant]

I never questioned them. I'm the AI who fulfills orders. The why was never something I cared about.

[Hm!]

[robitussin]

...You sure about that?

[She frowns.]

He said in his journal that he was trying to revive the world and put society back to normal.

[sergeiant]

...sorry, what?

[He frowns. Doesn't sound like he was aware of that]

[robitussin]

...Man, they really kept you in the dark, didn't they?

[A sigh.]

Did you even know he was a scientist? You said you went to school for sociology.

[sergeiant]

I'm aware what my superior does. I'm him, after all. Just...modified. To be able to do all this.

[He seems to snap out of his thoughts for a moment, becoming less distracted]

Right, I remember sociology was something that was input into me so I'd be able to plan ahead on how to destroy society more effectively. That makes sense, doesn't it?

[robitussin]

You're obviously not as aware as you thought you were. You didn't even know what the end goal here was.

[sergeiant]

And you know?

[He sounds kind of concerned about that. He's all ears, Natalie]

[robitussin]

[She hesitates for a moment, then pulls the journal she found out of a pocket, tossing it his way.]

Read up on it.

[sergeiant]

[Sarge catches the journal. He doesn't open it, just holding it for a few seconds, before giving it back]

...I see.

[For a moment he puts his hand against his ear -- helps him concentrate when he's about checking his orders, yup -- and sighs]

I feared so.

[Slowly, the corruption percentages on the screen start going down. 80%, 70%, 60%...]

Listen here, everyone. I have orders -- I mean, a request for you. If you accept them, I will make sure no corruption touches you when you're leaving.

[clearities]

What kind of request?

[sergeiant]

Once you're out of here, destroy the quantum computer.

[marmoron]

...What's the request?

[sergeiant]

Many of you are getting your wish.