Chapter Text
“Everything will be okay, sweetie…” the older woman had an arm slung across his shoulders, rubbing them comfortingly. The boy groaned. He had really needed this job. He was supposed to be the child genius, the full computer programmer at 16. But the AI he had helped create alongside his two older coworkers had gone nearly rogue because of his adjustments, and now he was getting fired. Great.
The woman, Destiny, walked him through the hall where one of the C&A higher ups had asked to see him. Her dark hair hung over her shoulders as her chocolate eyes looked ahead. She, her husband, Shel, and Mike were the only ones that had truly respected him. At least two of them were the two he’d worked on this project with.
The two came across a large door with the company logo on it. The boy sighed, reaching out and turning the handle. The door creaked open, revealing a group of workers. Two of them were his coworkers on the project. One was the 3D modeling intern, Shel. She was the only person around his age, being almost 17. The others he recognized as the ones working on the twin project, which was more for analytical intelligence rather than a creative AI.
“Welcome, _____,” A man sitting at the end of the table in the room said professionally. “What am I here for,” the tired prodigy got straight to the point. The man glanced at the other workers, then Destiny, and sighed. “This is a very important conversation. I’d like to do this alone.” He gestured to everyone but himself and the prodigy.
Destiny cringed but backed away slightly, nodding to the boy. Everyone else got up reluctantly, as if they’d expected this. The man with shaggy hair and the one with glasses (his coworkers) both smiled at him as they left, though the shaggy haired one looked more confident.
In a few moments, it was solely him and the mysterious higher ranked man. He looked down at his feet, clacking the soles of his converse together. Maybe if he did it three times he’d be transported home. He certainly wished he could do that right now. The man across from him stood up and to the side, rolling his chair back in place.
“You aren’t in trouble, _____,” The man assured him. “We’ve seen how much you excel far beyond your coworkers at programming artificial intelligence from your recent ‘failures’ regarding the C.A.I.N.E. project.”
“Caine..?” The boy asked. He wasn’t aware that the project had a formal name other than creative AI.
“Thanks to your excessive knowledge of programming human emotions and creativity, it has given itself a name. Creative Artificial Intellegence Networking Entity. That only proves how advanced you’ve made it. So we’re giving you…a promotion of sorts.”
“Pro…motion?” The boy’s eyes nearly lit up. He could’ve sworn he was being fired for his incompetence and now he was being…rewarded?! But…it didn’t make any sense. He had given an AI the capabilities, thoughts, feelings of a human (which was admittedly very impressive if he said so himself) which caused it to go rogue, and if he was given a higher position…it might happen again.
“Indeed. You’ll be in charge of most of the program regarding C.A.I.N.E. from now on. Your coworkers will still be doing most of the coding, but you’ll mostly be in charge of…’training’ it, I suppose. We need true intelligence for this project, so we’ve chosen you, prodigy. Do not turn us down.”
The boy shifted uncomfortably. It was always a tad uncomfortable when someone called him prodigy. It was only a reminder of the expectations.
But this was amazing. He’d still get to work on the project, and be basically the HEAD of it for god’s sake! Who the hell would turn that down? “O-of course!” He breathed, thoroughly shocked.
The man walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “We greatly appreciate your calmness and lack of hesitation during this. It’ll make this part less difficult.”
…
What..?
“...difficult?” The boy said, nearly laughing nervously. He backed up slightly, and felt two cold, calloused hands on his shoulders. He yelped, and eventually felt them and some other hands force him down to the floor. He thrashed and yelled, but the grips of the guards holding him down were firm. A small headset came into view, held by the man.
Wait.
NonononONONONO-
“I’m sorry, dear. This is for the benefit of the company. Enjoy your promotion.”
The last thing he saw was the headset being shoved on his eyes as the world went blank.
Booting up. Player 001.