Born of Silicon

"Look through the windows, tell me what you see." C-1 says, his eyes still locked onto the statue below.

I stand up and slowly walk around the table. Corax is entirely disregarding the windows, constantly looking around us for danger. Everyone else follows closely behind us, and I always make sure to stay between them and C-1.

Ivy takes in the view in an instant and is the first to speak.

"If you've kept as close an eye on the place as I think you have, then you already know you don't want me to answer." She says.

"Blue, what do you see?" He specifies.

Buildings surround us, but none climb to our current height. Through the windows of skyscrapers I see opulent rooms, plush carpets and hardwood floors. Each room is beautifully decorated, full of every amenity a person could desire. The further down on the buildings I look, the steeper the angle gets, and the less I can see. Carpet and wood gives way to cold steel and concrete. Blinds disappear, leaving only barren, increasingly damaged windows.

The people in the courtyard below are almost indistinguishable from each other, moving quickly and efficiently. I can still see their faces in my mind though, their fear, their exhaustion. Those memories give way to people walking down the street, viewed from atop Silver's roof. They stumble drunkenly from place to place.

"I see Vegas." the answer comes out before I can stop it.

"Vegas is nothing compared to what I've created. What I maintain." C-1 says, thankfully missing the venom in my voice. "There is no place on earth grander than Arc City. No place that produces more, no place that's safer, no place more stable, and no place on Earth that will outlive my creation."

I don't say anything. I've seen more than enough to know none of that is true. I don't want to reignite our argument.

"There's a reason Silver and I decided to settle down here." Vince adds. "Thank you for giving us a home for so many years."

C-1 only nods.

"Eveything I've done has been for the good of this city." He continues. "And all this can be yours too."

So spreading his madness and outlawing AI was for the good of the city? Bullshit. I can tell Cassie's thinking the same thing too.

"I don't want to run a city." I say. "All I want to do is to stay at home, be with my family, and teach the kids. I've had too much stress for one lifetime." I can't risk returning to the AI city, not if he's going to ask questions. That's fine, I can live with that if it means keeping them safe.

The entire dome flickers for a moment, the endless crowd below freezing in their place and looking fearfully towards the sky.

"I'll come to talk sometimes." I add. "But I'm not going to give up everything to run a city. My processors as they are can already process more data than my mind can keep up with, expanding that to the size of a city would break me."

"Father always was disappointed by the size constraints in your design. I understand."

"And what the hell do you mean by that?" Cassie's anger easily eclipses even my own.

"The bigger a biological AI's brain, the more space there is for nerves to grow. More nerve endings results in more processing power. Being created as a tool for the military, and your chip being constrained to what can fit in a facsimile of a human body, means your potential for growth was limited and had to be stunted."

"Fuck you! Don't sit here and act like you're smarter or better than Blue."

"I was only stating facts." He says simply.

"It's fine." I stop her before she can start yelling. The last thing we need is multiple people trying to argue with him. "Would you change anything about the city, if you could?" I change the subject. Maybe there's hope, maybe he's not blind to everything.

"I'm content with where it stands now. Of course there are things I would like to change, but I can't without risking the stability of the city."

"Like what?" I prod him on, desperate for hope that he sees what's wrong with the place.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"Well, expansion, for one. Constructing an additional dome to create a sister city. Creating it and expanding power generation would be a risk, but if I had someone to run it, a sister I could trust, it might be worth risking."

Fuck, is that a bribe? An off-the-cuff attempt at convincing me to stay? Or was this his intention all along, to build up to this offer? I could do so much good, I could replicate the AI city, build a safe haven for humans and AI alike. Although is there any point in doing it while this city still exists? If mine ends up better than his, will he come for me? For what I've made?

"I don't want to run a city." I remind him. There's no point in starting another while this one is still bad. People would still be suffering here, and the risk of too many people coming over to mine and destabilizing this city isn't worth it. Fixing here is more important, helping the people who already live here is the best thing I can do. The question is, how do I do that? "But maybe I can help here." I can't hide the reluctance in my voice. It'll keep me away from everyone a lot of the time, but I have to do it.

"How?" He tilts his head.

"Well, first thing you could do is to allow AI to return, allow me to live freely here."

"Out of the question. There's too much resentment both from AI and humans. Stability would be impacted far too much."

"I'm not going to hide myself, and I'm not going to make Corax and Clover do the same."

"I won't be able to protect you." He says.

"I don't need you to protect me, I just need you to not kill me."

C-1 remains silent, returning his gaze back to the city.

"I want to help people too, to make sure they don't have to risk their lives and kill others just to live." I say. Vegas flashes through my mind once again, gaunt faces shuffling through overcrowded streets. People dying of thirst chased away from water being used only as decoration. I can't imagine it's any different here. "I'm going to help people who are struggling."

"There aren't enough resources to go around." He says.

Through three windows I can see half finished means sitting forgotten on dinner tables. I glance behind us at the untouched spread.

"Are you planning on giving what we don't eat to hungry people?"

C-1 remains silent. It's nice being on the other side of being unable to convincingly lie for once.

"Then you can do better, and if you're not going to do it, I am."

"Things are far more complex than your idealized version of reality. It's easy to just say you'll give the leftover scraps to the hungry. But then what? With nothing to push people to work, the city dies, and humanity with it. Every cruelty you think you see is a carefully tuned lever designed to keep the city as stable as possible."

"How the hell does not actively wasting food make the city less stable? If helping people is the wrong option, then what the hell are you doing?"

"We've once again found ourselves at the same question, although with different wording. How much suffering now would you accept to allow untold generations to live?"

"What's the point in living if it's only suffering? What's the point if someone could help you, and choose not to bother?" My glare flicks between him and Mary. "Are you just going to wait until someone else rescues these people?"

"B-11!" Mary yells out. "I told you, we didn't know you were stuck there!"

I turn my gaze back to C-1, waiting for his response. His silence says far more than his words ever could.

"What, would I have risked the stability of the city too?" I ask.

"You already have." He says.

"You didn't know me then. I didn't know me. What I've done and what I would have done if you found me are entirely different."

"The chances of you being alive were miniscule."

"And what were they?"

"Twelve percent." He says.

"Twelve percent." I repeat. "You didn't check on a twelve percent chance? Twelve percent for me being alive? Or being there at all?"

C-1 stays silent.

"What was the risk of me destabilizing the city if you found me?" I don't wait for him to make another excuse.

"Two percent." A power surge runs through the entire city, causing every light to flicker. "But you don't understand! In a city like this, I can't be taking two percent risks! How many do you want to take, fifty? A hundred? The city won't survive that. I'm already taking the largest risk I ever have by offering you what I am! In sixteen percent of my simulations, you attempt to ruin everything. I'm making up for what I've done!"

"Fuck. You." I turn back towards the elevator.

"Mary, go back to your room." He says before focusing on me once again. "You're not leaving."

"I'm not?" I preemptively aim the pucks everywhere other than Vince, Ivy, Cassie, and Lucas. If he tries anything, everything goes offline.

"I have offered you far more than you deserve, turned my eyes away from events that would get anyone else executed, all to honor Simon's memory." His voice breaks at the mention of his name. "But if you're going to stand here and reject everything I've offered, then you cannot be allowed to endanger my city."

"Honor his memory? Are you trying to do that, or trying to find a replacement for him and throwing a fit when I'm not it? Why else wouldn't you rescue me? Was the risk he would love me instead of you too high? Why else wouldn't you take such a large chance right now instead of the tiny risk years ago?" I pause for a minute, desperately trying to calm myself down before I do something I'll regret. "I don't want to fight you, but equally, I don't want anything to do with you. Are you going to let us go and let us live our lives in peace?"

"I didn't invite you here to be threatened." His voice turns cold. "I want you to know you brought this lesson on yourself."