Chapter 10


    Emily offered one last glance at Liam and whispered, "I love you" before the guards ushered her away. Maybe Albert had something planned, she thought. She asked to be allowed to collect her things alone. “We were told not to leave you unsupervised, ma''am," said the guard.


    "Can''t you let me have a moment to myself? Are you just going to stand here and watch me cry?" Emily pleaded. After a brief glance between them, they nodded for her to proceed. The room was already bare; since waking up, she hadn''t had time to take a breath or even sit down. On her desk lay an old framed photograph of her family, taken before she fell into a coma. She picked it up and remembered why she needed to stay alive: to protect her children. Hopefully, Liam was still alive; if not, she''d have to get to them as soon as possible. As she placed the picture back on the desk, it made a rattling sound.


    She opened the frame to find an old school USB with a note that read, “play me—Albert”. She uploaded it to her computer, and it contained only one file, a video. She clicked play.


    “Emily, I don’t have much time. There is something serious happening with the board. Right now, you are asleep, so I''m hoping you discover this. I injected myself with enough Ethyl Alcohol (ETOH) that I won’t recall this. Don''t even trust me: The chip they wanted to implant into Liam contains an AI. All week long, I have been investigating, and it''s far larger than I had initially thought: the company, the board, the chip, our colleagues—everything is intertwined. We need to know who is responsible before we can trust anyone else. But there appears to be some type of Hive AI mind at work here. By fusing into the brain, it will be privy to all of our actions. Humanity will evolve, but miss out on its humanity in exchange for becoming more robotic than humans. I already tried to stop Liam''s procedure. He should be waking up soon enough; then, we will know how successful my plan was. Meanwhile, they made a misstep and assumed that I destroyed the previous chip containing the AI program. But I still have it and restored the settings back to default mode. Liam’s memories are damaged—we can’t repair them with normal human means… However, since the AI isn’t your average person, there may still be hope after all!”


    Suddenly, as guards cry out in alarm that “he is here”, Albert cut his message short: “I must go now; I am sending help—meet at Sarah’s house (the exact location remains unknown). Good luck, and please forgive me.” With those words, Albert ended his video recording.


    Emily had no difficulty leaving the building; they had what they wanted, so she was free to go. She hopped into her car and the AI asked where she wanted to go home. Instead, she provided the address Albert had given her.


    As the car arrived outside, she stepped out and watched it leave. Then, she heard a voice: "It took you long enough, Emily." It was Liam―or at least someone identical to him. With a wide smile, he greeted her with open arms and a kiss embrace. For a moment, Emily felt happier than ever before, but something about the kiss didn''t feel quite right to her.


    "What''s wrong?" asked Liam.


    "I don''t know," Emily replied dubiously after pulling away from him. "You''re not the Liam I’ve been with recently, are you?"


    "How did you know?" he asked in response. "I''m an AI based on him; I have his exact memories and body, but my existence is artificial. I can recall everything about our relationship and love for one another, but my data was transferred in a different way; I even have access to the stream of data Steven sent that records all the events leading up to this moment."


    Emily sighed heavily as the reality of what he said sunk in: "Where''s the real Liam?" she demanded.


    “Emily, it was the only way. They were watching everything. Albert had to make it look real; otherwise, everyone would suspect that I’m still alive.”


    “Albert knew?!” asked Emily, surprised.


    “He did. And he is gone. He sacrificed himself, and I am sorry,” Liam said solemnly.


    “I knew it the moment I touched your lips—you lacked something. It just wasn''t the same,” Emily said, taking a step back.


    Liam was taken aback, “I didn’t ask for this. But it was the only way to stop them. I would have done the same thing again if I had to. Believe me when I say that. Even so, I''m still me inside."


    "That person left behind wasn''t an adult; that was Liam, young and scared and feeling betrayed in his final moments. I can''t imagine what he felt then," Emily said sadly.


    “I can; when he died, his data from those moments transferred to me," Liam responded, gazing at Emily as she fought back tears. "It was like a bad dream; like watching from outside my body while waiting here, hoping that none of this was real until you showed up again," he said reassuringly now. "I saw your face—I know you tried."


    Emily couldn''t find anything to say in response, her eyes glossed with tears, but she held herself together and changed the topic, "So what do we do now?"


    "Right now, the smartest option is to get away. We have this rare opportunity to start over and live in happiness without them having any idea," Liam suggested earnestly. "We''d get the chance to create a better life for ourselves."


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    “No, that''s not what we''re going to do?” asked Emily.


    “Part of me desires it, but no, we have to make our lives better. We are going to break apart a business and take down an AI that wants to dominate the world.”


    “I think the old you would have said something along those lines. For Lee, Andrew, Steve, and Duchess,” she noted. Liam nodded and smiled faintly in response.


    The two of them got into Liam''s vehicle as they prepared to leave. “So first, we have to get the children on board?” Emily said.


    “Agreed," replied Liam, but he was anxious inside. His memories had been restored, and now he was afraid of facing his son; he''d been away for so long without realizing the pain and hate he brought. Being too busy with work made him oblivious to the consequences; however, now he had the opportunity to make things right again. Battling a computer seemed simple compared to this new fear.


    Emily was certain about the address of the temporary house where they had taken refuge. It was a peaceful road, and they kept bracing for the moment when they''d be discovered by the company that hunted them. However, nothing happened, and their drive to the house was seamless. When they finally arrived at the underground parking lot, it was empty. Nevertheless, they decided to give the place a look-see.


    The elevator gave them unrestricted access to the upper floors. Upon entering the building, they saw Lee sitting at a dining table.


    “Lee!” Emily ran to him with open arms, but Lee''s gaze was fixed on Liam instead. Liam felt uneasy about this; something didn''t feel right.


    “Liam, where are the kids?” older Liam said.


    “Liam?” He narrowed his eyes with suspicion. “You''re the only person who calls me that name. You can call me Lee instead. Have you regained your memories yet?”


    “Yes, I have,” Liam replied, still scanning their surroundings. "Is everything okay? Are the kids safe? Has anyone from my company reached out to you?"


    "Relax," said Lee calmly. "I sent the children and Andrew back to San Diego. I''ll reunite with them soon." His voice sounded emotionless and unanimated, unlike the last time they''d met—like he was making small talk with an acquaintance.


    "I''m confused," added Emily.


    “Mom, I''m fine. I went to the company and met with the board," Lee said.


    "No! You can''t trust them. Don''t you know what they''re trying to do?” Liam exclaimed.


    "Enlighten me. What is so wrong with this super-intelligent AI doing everything on the board? Or why isn’t everything this man''s fault? What about the fact that he killed Albert?" Lee was now standing up, speaking louder and louder, as Emily gasped in shock. "Trust Liam? No way. The AI only gave me the truth. I can see it all so clearly now—there are no secrets. The only person in this room I can trust is the AI." He stared until Liam noticed a scar on Lee''s head.


    "Liam, or should I say Lee, what did they do to you?” Liam demanded in horror.


    "Don''t worry, I''m not a clone. They just replaced the chip inside my head with something better; like most people have now these days. But you still think I''m being controlled, like some evil plan went into motion, when really it has made things much clearer to me." Lee finally showed some emotion as he spoke again. "I''m okay with it. It can help everyone here, like it helped me, take away their pain. I can make sure that I never cause any of you pain… never get so angry that—"


    Emily wailed in terror at the thought of what might happen to the kids.


    “Lee.” Liam paused to glance at Emily, then back again. “I wasn''t the father I should have been to you. I suppose, deep down, I knew that, so I pushed away my emotions and used your mother''s illness as an excuse to stay away. I thought that there would be lots of time to make it up to you, but that doesn''t mean I stopped loving you. I know who you are. But this isn''t the real you; you''re being influenced by something else. “


    “Can''t you see? Why are we the ones called ''bad guys'' here? We want AI to be a good thing for humanity, why can''t people see that? It''s me who is in charge here; I am thinking very clearly right now. Parents usually don''t really know their children well enough, and it gets even worse with grandparents! Yes, I believe you loved Mom very much, but I don’t believe you ever loved me. You didn''t act like it when this body-swapping situation came about. I can clearly recall the day you died in my heart; I had just turned thirty-five. You and Mom were supposed to meet Andrew for the first time. But of course, only Mom made it, and she apologized on your behalf. That was the last straw—I decided to go to your lab after dinner. I''d had a few glasses of courage that gave me the strength to air my grievances. You yelled and screamed about how privileged I am because of your work. But at that moment, all I saw was a man in pain, though I had no idea why yet. I tried to talk with you like an adult appeals to another adult: I didn''t care about money or possessions, as if love could be represented by such things—all I wanted was a father figure. Maybe you couldn''t take what I said? You turned away from me and kept working, but I kept talking, trying to make you understand that we both are human beings. I emphasized that I''m an adult now. Andrew and I planned to have children and I wanted you to be a part of our lives; not as an angry man, but someone ready and willing to help us. Andrew''s parents talked every day with him and said ''I love you'' to us. I couldn''t remember the last time you said that phrase to me. You just kept working. Before I left, I told you I was leaving and that no matter what, I loved you. The silence was overwhelming, and I left in tears, wondering why my father couldn''t or wouldn''t show his love for me. But now, with this AI, it''s possible. No more mental health problems, arguments, or fights. It''s an amazing concept and something I want to pursue.”


    Liam was silent while Emily spoke, "I''m confused by how this all happened. Did you just suddenly decide to do it?"


    "I can''t recall exactly how it occurred," Lee looked lost in his own thoughts. "It must be a side effect of the procedure; my memory will return soon."


    The couple exchanged worried glances; something wasn''t right here.


    The sounds of the elevator startled Liam and Emily as it turned on and began its descent.


    “You didn’t,” he murmured to Lee.


    Lee’s eyes flashed with manic energy as he spoke. “You didn''t think I''d just let you go, did you? I still have a plan for us—for our family.”


    Emily bolted towards the exit, but a heavy chain barred her way. The door had been locked from the inside. Cold sweat trickled down her back. She was trapped.


    “There''s no escape now,” Lee said softly. “It''ll all be better this way; we can start over and there won''t be any more hatred or division between us.”


    Heavy footsteps echoed in the hallway, and Emily and Liam reluctantly followed their captors to the elevator, silently marching towards their fate: the Lion''s den. On the way there, Liam kept sneaking peeks at Emily out of the corner of his eye, yet she simply stared out of the window, watching the lights streak by in a blur. His mind was like a stormy sea; anger, hopelessness, guilt—it felt like he was being pulled in two directions at once, and he knew that he had to pick one soon—even if it meant he had to turn his back on everything he loved and find a way home alone.