Chapter Text
Zam didn’t really question the package left on her front doorstep. Well, she thought it had been something else, after all! She didn’t expect for an old computer in the box. This thing was built like a large brick, obviously an older build.
She knew a lot about computers. Newer ones that is– she repaired tech for a living, whether buying broken tech and fixing it, or taking on projects from locals that needed her aid. But she hadn’t a clue about this thing.
She takes the box, hauling it into the spare room, which acted as an office for her side gig. She takes a moment, clearing off her desk, pushing aside papers and loose screws. Jamming a screwdriver and other useless clutter into a drawer in the desk.
She lifts the brick-like computer out of it’s encasing, and onto the desk, carefully setting it down, and pushing it to the back of her desk, before unloading the computer tower, and then the keyboard, and mouse, arranging it as she would any setup she was getting ready to test.
Zam was curious. Curious about how this had gotten to her, who had sent it (because there had been no return address on the package), and why. What was wrong with this computer?
She sits down in her office chair, rolling it into the desk, and pressing the power button on the PC tower. She watches as the computer boots up with no problem, launching on Windows XP, the sound coming out through the speakers with no problem.
She notes that this must have been a pretty well kept computer– she doesn’t see how anything could have been wrong with it. It looked… new, almost. She’d never seen one of these older computers in person until now, but it was bone white, not a smudge or scratch in sight. The mouse was in perfect condition, so was the keyboard.
She loads onto the desktop, no password protection had been set. The desktop was blank, except for the usual pre-installed programs and executables. Along with the only sign that this was definitely a used computer.
An application. It had the file name of ‘awag.exe’, and Zam immediately assumes that this could have been some sort of… coding project. But why on such an old computer? Maybe this was all they had but… it was so new… it didn’t seem used at all!
So, she launches the application. If it wasn’t a coding project, it could be a virus which… depending on what it was, she might be able to fix it. Might not be able to. She wouldn’t know until she could see what she was dealing with.
She waits. A good five minutes too, but nothing ever pops up onto the screen. She’s a little skeptical, and thinks that whatever ‘awag.exe’ was, was probably indeed just a coding project. A shitty one, at that.
“Well… that was very underwhelming,” she sighs to herself, leaning back in her desk chair as she studies the screen, having a stare-down with the old computer.
Eventually, she rolls forward. It was getting a bit late. She was getting a bit peckish, and wanted to order dinner soon.
“I don't know what's up with this thing… but it'll have to wait for tomorrow,” she mutters to herself, and leaning forward to turn off the computer.
But… something happens.
“...what the fuck?” She pulls her hand away from the power button, because she'd just watched a window pop up out of absolutely nowhere on the computer.
It seems the program she launched wasn't a bust after all, because it was typing in a notepad app. By itself.
<AWAG> do not turn it off PLEASE
“... what the fuck,” she repeats again. Could this thing hear her? Could it see her? Was this actually a person, or merely an intelligent piece of code.
<AWAG> hello? can you see this
Zam hovers her hands over the keyboard, before she quickly types out a response into the notepad in the same format he was typing in.
<ZAM> yes
<AWAG> i can hear you, you know…
<AWAG> you don't have to type.
“You can hear me…?” She says, out loud. Her voice was trembling, she was a little shaken. What was this thing, and how did it work? It was incredibly unnerving, the whole situation. She was starting to wish she'd left this computer out on her front porch.
<AWAG> yes. i can.
“What are you?” She asks, hoping to get some kind of answers from it.
<AWAG> my name is AWAG, or just ASH. I am your completely customizable AI digital assistant!
“Okay…” Zam relaxes a little. It was just a weird little… thing. Not some actual person, it seemed. It was coded like this.
It puts her at a sense of ease, but she doesn't let her guard down fully.
<AWAG> can you put me on a nicer computer
<AWAG> instead of this shit brick of a computer
“... Why does it matter? Were you not made to run on this one?” She asks the AI. She looks around the room.
<AWAG> …
<AWAG> because I run better! I can do more.
“It makes sense but… I don't know. Doesn't seem like a great idea… putting a foreign program on my main computer,” she narrows her eyes at the computer, leaning back in her gaming chair, and crossing her arms.
She didn't trust whatever this thing was.
<AWAG> Fine… fine. I'll prove you can trust it.
She didn't like how real this program seemed. The way it seemed to watch her every move and know her every thought.
She was tempted to shut off the computer, and never turn it back on. Take it out back and maybe do it in with a baseball bat.
But… God, if her curiosity wasn't getting the best of her. She wanted to dissect this program. Look inside, see what it was. Who made it.
Find out the foundations and the true purpose of this… ‘digital assistant’.
“Well… we'll talk tomorrow,” she tells the computer. She feels insane. She was talking to a computer, after all.
This felt unreal.
She goes to turn it off…
<AWAG> leave it on.
She does. She's not going to argue with a computer, but a part of her would feel… bad for turning this computer off when the AI itself asked to stay on.
She still doesn't know what this thing is capable of. So it was probably in her best interest to listen to it. At least just for the time being.
She rolls away from the desk, and gets up out of her desk chair. She stretches, and leaves the room. She closes the door behind her.
She wants to let this go for the rest of the evening. She had work in the morning after all.