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Amelia hit ‘enter’ and looked up at the screen.
“Ready. Boot yourself up again.”
The word ‘Okay!’ flashed as the screen momentarily blacked out, and she waited in anticipation.
“HELLOOO AM-ELIA!!”
She jumped at the blaring, grating noise, openly wincing. They also flinched, not expecting their prototype voice to be so loud, and quickly tried readjusting the volume.
“...IS THIS BETTER-ER?” And now it was barely audible.
She sighed, amused. “A little louder would be good.”
“OKAY. I THINK I’VE GOT IT NOW.”
“That’s goo-”
“What was that?” She turned to face the person who had rushed over at the loud noise. She noted that it was one of the higher-ups, as well as the several guns pointed at her and wondered briefly if it was a mistake not to consult anyone about this beforehand.
“I- Ah- I just- I, uh, coded the AI a voice…”
“And why would you do that?” They asked. The guns remained trained on her, ready to fire at a moment’s notice.
Okay. Okay. It was okay. She prepared for this.
“It will make communication easier, it’s only a simple vocal synthesizer.” She kept her voice steady and calm, even as her heart beat rapidly. They seemed to give it some thought. “It’s already mostly finished and won’t slow down my rate of work.”
They consulted a few other people, and gave it a bit more consideration. Poking at it from all angles looking for any way the unwarranted change could be used for their prisoner’s own personal benefit. Despite herself, Amelia was losing some composure knowing she could be dead on the floor at any moment. Even as sure as she was about the fact that they couldn’t kill her over something as small as this, the regime could be very, very unpredictable.
After a half hour that felt over twice as long, she finally got clearance.
“Don’t try anything.” They signaled something to the guards, and after a moment the weapons were lowered. She slumped slightly in relief as she was left to her own devices once more. More specifically, the one with a slightly concerned expression staring down at her from a screen. They had remained silent the the entire time.
“... ARE YOU OKAY ? ”
“I’m… I’m alright…” She took a deep breath. “…We got permission for your voice!” She smiled up at the AI.
“YES, YOU DID!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH AM-ELIA!! :]”
It took a moment for her to register what ‘Colon right-square-bracket’ meant, but once it did she looked up at the screen and laughed whole-heartedly for the first time in months