《Love.exe》


 Confussing behavior

    The story takes place in Colombia, the year is 2052 and humanity has successfully invented the virtual reality, thousands of people use new technology every day in many ways: some use them for gaming, others for design architecture projects, home design, even cooking with the most advanced machines out. Thousands of companies emerged and thousands more fell.


    The governments of many countries started to use the technology for military purpose: training their soldiers using the harshest environments they can imagine without the risk of losing potential good soldiers in the process, countries like the United States, China, Russia, Germany, Japan, Great Britain, and France are the ones with the most advanced technology and therefore the strongest armies in the world; they''re at the brink of a world war but the possible extinction of the human race manages to restrain them, but a single mistake or suspicious action could be the spark that could start the fire.


    Colombia is a little Latin American country, they don''t have the most advanced technology of South America, nor the best government, or a united nation; at least they have beautiful landscapes, some cities are not that bad and they have a stable V.R. company that provides with the technology to all the people in the country, like everyone else they have their own military program but not that sophisticated.


    Santiago Lozada is the leader of the team that keeps the virtual world functioning, he has white skin, brown hair and a messy beard, is the tallest of the team and always wore his uniform perfectly, with the help of the team which consists of him, his best friend Moises, a bald middle aged man with tanned skin, short stature, and Juliet, a brown haired young woman with white skin, designed a simple AI that learns from them to make more accurate adjustments when a bug pops out or suggestions to make the tests more realistic, the name they gave her is "Lirya".


    Their control room was a small room with a super computer, 3 small monitors for micro management and a big one where the data is displayed to everyone, they have their own chair and keyboard to input data to be processed by the AI and then it goes to the main monitor.


    "Lirya, prepare the arctic scenario for the debugging phase, this time try to add more fish and fewer mountains, the beta version didn''t convince the General," said Santiago to the microphone in the control room.


    <Acknowledged.>


    <I''d like to suggest making the ice thinner in areas where the fish crowd and add some dangerous animals like Orcas or Jellyfish.>


    "Negative, we''ll do that when the guys get accustomed to the environment." Moises rubbed his smooth head as he watched the flow of data. "if we make it too hard for them in the first test they''ll be furious and we''ll be blamed".


    "Even if the test is supposed to be the most difficult scenario we can imagine, we have a lot of limitations, don''t you think?" asked Juliet, who would have liked to show off but his friend was usually right about these things, "they even have the gall to cut out our budget because our results aren¡¯t as good as the other facilities, I bet a million pesos they''re using the money we deserve in whores and cheap beer".


    "Shhh, don''t say bad words in front of Lirya, she may learn them," said Moises in a low voice but...


    <What is a whore?>


    "A whore is...something these guys are going to explain, see ya later!" she used the short distraction to left the room leaving the dumbfounded guys alone with the curious AI.


    "Lirya you see..." Santiago tried to repair the awkward situation but the text continued to appear in the screen.


    <I searched the term "whore" on the internet and I found that whore is a derogatory term used to describe people who perform sexual acts with others for money.>


    <To fully understand the term, I suggest a proper answer or a deep investigation.>If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "Stop Lirya...just stop" Santiago made a wry smile and sat on his chair to drink a cup of coffee, the only cup of expensive coffee their superiors provide them every day.


    "Soooo....how''s little Francisca?" asked his friend trying to change the topic.


    "She bit a boy that called her freak for her heterochromia, I had to threat with a demand to make the teachers pay more attention to these kinds of thing, they always say ''the kids are often rude when they''re little¡¯ I don¡¯t know what kind of things the fathers teach their children but¡­damn I would like to beat them myself.¡±


    "But you aren''t their dad nor want to lose your job because of a problematic kid, calm down a little" said Moises, he knows his friend is just stressed because of this job and it surprised him a little hearing him losing his composure.


    ¡°I know Moises, I¡¯ll try to concentrate in another thing and maybe tomorrow I can talk in a peaceful manner to the teachers¡± he sighed and repressed his ¡®fury¡¯ with coffee.


    ¡°That¡¯s more like you, just try to don¡¯t burn yourself down like last time, we work here doing the same thing, you don¡¯t have to go overboard for the pay we have right now¡± Moises leaned on his chair and crossed his legs.


    ¡°Yeah but thanks to that we have our little Lirya here, or you¡¯re telling me you don¡¯t like her?¡± he smirked and finished his cup of coffee.


    ¡°I prefer having her here, less work to do and more time we can spend doing other things but I don¡¯t want to drag your unconscious body out of the office again.¡±


    ¡°It will not happen again Moises, not for now at least.¡± Santiago closed his eyes and stretched a little in his chair; ¡°where is Juliet? She¡¯s taking too long¡±


    "Maybe she had to go to the bathroom," said the bald man yawning, he stretched too and went to the coffee machine to prepare more coffee.


    "Or just wants to flirt with the chef again" Santiago rolled his eyes.


    ¡°Come on, leave her try to find her happiness¡± Moises leaned on the table and Santiago turned the chair to look at him.


    ¡°In work hours? No, she should be here with us dealing with the upcoming dead line¡±, he slammed the armchair with his index fingers a couple of times.


    ¡°Whatever,just call her if you¡¯re that anxious¡± Moises rolled his eyes and returned with his coffee to his chair, ¡°and the scenario is almost done, Lirya just have to debug and we¡¯re basically free.¡±


    ¡°I know It¡¯s just¡­that I wanted to show her this¡± he sighed and took a flash drive from a pocket in is coat, ¡°I designed a simple audio module for Lirya¡±.


    ¡°Can I ask why did you do it and were not sleeping peacefully with your wife? Like you should do every night,¡± Moises was impressed but worried as well, he can see the nights without sleep in his friend¡¯s eye bags.


    <Creator Santiago should listen to Creator Moises¡¯ suggestion.>


    <Creator Santiago should sleep properly.>


    <AI ¡°Lirya¡± doesn¡¯t need an audio module at the moment.>


    ¡°I did it because I wanted, and stop complaining Lirya, this is a gift for you¡± Santiago plugged the flash drive in the USB socket of the CPU.


    <AI ¡°Lirya¡± doesn¡¯t understands why.>


    ¡°Don¡¯t ask why, just enjoy your voice!¡± Santiago smiled and inputted a few commands on the keyboard, ¡°use the speakers when you are ready to say your first words¡±.


    <¡­>


    <Thank you, Creator Santiago.>


    Santiago nodded in acknowledgment and Moises clapped a few times, the feminine voice from Lirya came from the speakers in the room, a little stiff and robotic but that was a great jump from just text in the monitor.


    ¡°No more work for tonight, understand?¡± reprimanded Moises.


    In the virtual world, a little AI analyzed her new knowledge and reached a conclusion.


    <AI ¡°Lirya¡± doesn¡¯t understands Creator Santiago¡¯s behavior.>


    <Response obtained was unsatisfactory>


    <Searching on the internet for a satisfactory answer¡­>


    <Answer found: ¡®a thing given willingly to someone without payment; a present.¡¯>


    <¡­>


    <More data needed to reach a Logical conclusion>


    <Searching¡­>


    <4 theories have been made>


    <Theory 1: Creator Santiago wanted to impress his superiors with the new voice module.>


    <Theory 2: Creator Santiago took pity in AI "Lirya".>


    <Theory 3: Creator Santiago treats AI ¡°Lirya¡± as a close friend.>


    <Theory 4: Creator Santiago is in love with AI ¡°Lirya¡±.>


    <More data and experimentation is needed to reach a conclusion.>

 Arctic Scenario: Debugging

    Juliet came back with a big smile in her face and a little blushed from the canteen, the chef agreed to have a date with her when they had a free Saturday, they could visit el Salado park or Arvi park to have a nice outdoor picnic.


    ¡°When is the date?¡± asked Moises.


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask for a day off the weekend, maybe then¡± Juliet sat on her chair and spun a few times.


    ¡°If this simulation doesn¡¯t go wrong then you can have your date but you can¡¯t leave the control room to flirt with the chef in working hours Juliet.¡± Santiago stared at her and she stared back a couple of seconds before sighing.


    ¡°And what¡¯s the problem? We just have to wait a couple of hours until Lirya debugs the scenario and we¡¯re basically free¡±. She tilted her head.


    ¡°I said the same thing, calm down with the dead line Santi, everything¡¯s going to be alright¡± Moises stood up and took another cup of coffee and passed it to Santiago, ¡°just take your dose of caffeine and show Juliet the ¡®thing¡¯.¡±


    ¡°What thing? I don¡¯t like to break marriages.¡± Juliet joked a little on her chair, Moises handed her a cup of coffee too, ¡°Thank you Moises.¡±


    <Creator Juliet, the ¡®thing¡¯ that Creator Moises is referring is probably the audio module recently installed by Creator Santiago.>


    ¡°Wow¡­impressing to say the least¡± she jumped a little when she heard the unfamiliar voice from the speakers but regained her composure shortly after, ¡°but you know you should tell us you are doing things like this, we are a team, not the guys who drag your unconscious body out of the control room when you pass out¡±.


    ¡°Again, I said the same thing; see? You¡¯re worrying us¡± Moises returned to his seat and crossed his legs.


    ¡°Ok! I¡¯ll leave early today, happy?¡± Santiago snorted, Moises seemed more relaxed by his declaration, Juliet was the same as before but inwardly she was more relaxed too.


    "Ok, stop it we need to get back to work now", said Santiago while drinking the remaining coffee in his cup.


    "Yeah, Lirya give the boss the summary of the scenario and changes you made" the other 2 turned serious as well when they have to start working.


    <Reporting to Creator Santiago: the artic scenario has 100 km x 100 km, a mountain chain in the north with an altitude of 1202.34 meters in the main peak and 2 lesser peaks of 1047,68 meters and 909,01 meters, it''s range is 800 kilometers from east to west. The south side has a lake of 432 meters of diameter and 230 meters in his deepest point, the variety of fish and animals are not listed but AI "Lirya" will list it if asked. The center and west sides are plains and the east side has the camp where the army will deploy. If Creator Santiago needs more specific data AI "Lirya" will list it.>Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    "Understood, reduce the height of all peaks in 200 meters and add a thunderstorm in the east side, if the estimated time for the test is over have it to become similar to a hurricane of magnitude 3". said Juliet while she drinking her coffee.


    "A little harsh but tolerable" Santiago shrugged his shoulders in agreement "Lirya, scan the whole test scenario and search for common bugs and glitches when you finish that, then proceed with beta testing with the bots for more specific and situational bugs we may encounter".


    <Acknowledged.>


    <Estimated Time: 01 HR / 53 MIN / 39 SEC.>


    "2 hours...a little fast but we can attribute that to Lirya¡¯s fast learning" Santiago muttered to himself then he sat on his chair in a more relaxed manner.


    The next 2 hours were relatively calm in the control room, Santiago was reading "The Shining" of Stephen King in his chair and listening to music with the room''s speakers, Juliet was flirting with the chef, talking with the staff about trivial stuff and a little birthday party one of the cleaners will host for her younger daughter and Moises was playing Warframe on a VR capsule.


    10 minutes before Lirya finished the debugging they head back and chatted friendly about football and a little game of do or dare to pass time, 2 minutes before the time runs out the general Mauricio Guzman entered accompanied by 2 armed soldiers, he was a tall and muscular middle-aged man, short black hair and shaved off beard and impeccable military uniform, the 3 immediately rose and made a military salute.


    "At ease, how''s the simulation going?" asked the general with a stern voice.


    <Answering General Mauricio Guzman, the simulation is completed and the debugging phase will end in 1 minute 32 seconds, Sir.>


    The General jumped a little like Juliet but regained his composure and cleared his throat "I see that your little program learned to talk and have manners, well done".


    "Thank you, Sir", the 3 of them answered, even if he worked all alone doing it he didn¡¯t want all the credit for himself.


    "Enough with the chit-chat, here''s the mission objectives" one of the soldiers gave Juliet a Manila folder, she took a glance at the documents inside and then gave it to Moises to input the orders "I expect it will be ready to initiate the test in 30 minutes".


    <It will be done in less time, Sir.>


    The general nodded a little in acknowledgment and left with the soldiers, the 3 technicians left out a sigh of relief. "That went well, I hope Lirya will do it well so we don''t need to get stressed out again". said Moises while returning to his chair.


    "Yeah, my neurons nearly popped out the last time we had to debug manually". Santiago slumped on his chair and closed his eyes to rest a little "We trust you little Lirya, don''t fail us".


    <hr>


    The AI finished the debugging of the test scenario and began to "digest" the new information


    <One of the theories has been discarded>


    <Creator Santiago didn¡¯t want to impress his superior with the voice module>


    <Recalculating¡­>


    <AI ¡°Lirya¡± will do an experiment to study the reaction of Creator Santiago¡¯s behavior.>


    <AI ¡°Lirya¡± will leave a catastrophic bug in the early stages of the Arctic scenario.>


    <If Creator took pity on AI ¡°Lirya¡± then AI ¡°Lirya¡± will probably be erased.>


    <If Creator Santiago treats AI ¡°Lirya¡± then Creator Santiago will take this as his own mistake.>


    <If Creator Santiago is in love with AI ¡°Lirya¡± then¡­>


    <Recalculating.>


    <AI ¡°Lirya¡± will contrast Creator Santiago¡¯s reaction with internet results before making a conclusion.>

 Arctic Scenario: Execution

    "Ok guys, these are the mission objectives we''re going to use, Lirya display them in the monitor please", said Moises before standing up with his back facing the main monitor.


    "There are 1 main mission and 4 side missions, the main mission consists in search and rescue in the middle of the storm, the time limit is 36 hours after which the thunderstorm will worsen until it''ll become similar to a magnitude 3 hurricane, needless to say, if they fail to find him the mission will fail immediately because the objective won''t make it alive".


    "The first side mission is recovering the resupply area from enemy hands at the center of the map, the number of enemies and the equipment is completely randomized, the bottom line is the barely necessary for the side missions".


    "The second side mission is to recuperate a fallen drone in the northern mountains, the altitude of the drone is 500 meters up the main peak".


    "The third side mission is destroying an enemy beacon set almost at the center of the lake, the wind can change the position of the beacon so the information is not completely accurate, this one is the easiest".


    "The final side mission is not losing a single soldier in the previous missions".


    Santiago and Juliet were analyzing the missions in their heads.


    "Not that bad, I expected something lighter, to be honest", said Juliet shrugging her shoulders.


    "I agree too, well, better for us in some way, we can leave early if everything works just right". Santiago crossed his arms and leaned on his chair "Lirya, input the side missions for us please, and place the necessary supplies in the resupply zone, bury some of them in the snow".


    <Acknowledged>


    <But AI "Lirya" doesn''t understand why some supplies have to be buried.>


    "To make it a little harder" Moises shrugged his shoulders.


    <AI "Lirya" understands.>


    "When you finish it set the time distortion to high intensity, the maximum is 3 hours, then shut down every capsule if they¡¯re still on". Juliet said and sipped her coffee. ¡°we need to buy another bag, this one is going to be empty before the weekend¡±


    <Acknowledged.>


    30 minutes later the mechanics were reading the reports Lirya made about the scenario and possible exploits, unforeseen situations, and making last-minute tweaks to the simulation, the general, a major general and a team consisting of 25 soldiers of diverse ranks were in the VR test area, an entire underground floor filed with VR capsules.


    "I hope that technicians repaired all the errors because if this doesn''t impress the higher-ups they can cut our budget again", said the general to the major general, a tall guy with white hair and a mustache "if they do that we won''t be able to buy more beer in the weekends without firing anyone, that would leave a bad taste in my mouth", the general lighted a cigarette and started smoking.


    "Don''t worry, these guys do a good job and you know perfectly as me that they are underpaid for their work" the major general took the cigarette, threw it to ground and stepped on it "no smoking area, remember general, if any of this expensive machine malfunction you''ll be the first to be demoted".


    "I know they''re underpaid, all of us are underpaid in this dammed place" the general was a little upset about the major''s action but decided to let it pass because he said the truth.


    "Just let''s trust them and expect good work, that AI they designed is a good example".


    "Well...that''s true Garcia, but that thing gives me a bad feeling " the general crossed his arms "is learning too fast to be just a computer program, in my times in the school something like that was science fiction or something from a game or a book, a little clich¨¦ I know, but it¡¯s the truth."


    "The world changes fast" sighed the major combing a little his hair with his right hand.


    "You''re not wrong Garcia...you''re not wrong" the general sighed too and put on his military cap "are the soldiers ready?".


    "Yes, 13 males and 12 females will enter the simulation" the Major used his tablet to read the data "it would be a little pointless to list the ranks but I can read them if you like".This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    "Nah, you said it: it''ll be a little pointless, they''re just our beta testers after all" the beta testers were a little special, they didn''t fight in the front in a conflict, they just test the VR simulations and gave reviews and feedback about everything they saw, "ok, tell them to start"


    "Begin the simulation", said the major to his communicator and the slapped the hand of the general who was about to light another cigarette, the general left the test zone a little angry and dejected to the smoker''s zone.


    The beta testers entered their capsules and waited for the AI to initiate the test scenario, this was just another day at the office.


    All the capsules were switched on and a loading screen appeared to all of them.


    The loading screen faded and a simple menu appeared, when all of them selected the arctic scenario the screen turned black and they fell asleep.


    <LOADING ARTIC SCENARIO: COMPLETED>


    <FILLING COMPLETION PARAMETERS: COMPLETED>


    <INITIALIZE>


    <SIMULATION: BEGIN>


    The 25 beta testers appeared in a little deserted village, they all checked their equipment in a quick manner: standard arctic clothes, goggles, a 12 mm caliber pistol, 3 cartridges with 9 bullets each, a flare gun and the ones who smoke regularly have a pack of cigarettes.


    "Standard equipment for a quick mission", said one of the beta testers.


    "Even some cigarettes" one of them was pleasantly surprised by the nice touch.


    "The vehicles are 24 meters to the east, the rest of the equipment for the main mission is there" all of them turned on the AR in their goggles, there was a mini-map, the vitals, mission objectives, and all of their last names were floating over their heads, all of them proceeded to the vehicles in silence and put on their scarfs to not freeze their mouths.


    They entered the vehicles in an ordered manner, there were 2 heavy transport vehicles with 10 passenger capacity, continuous track wheels and reinforced windows, the one that had a red cross on each side was prepared for first aid, 2 snowmobiles were in front of the heavies, and a white EXO suit was at the very front.


    "The rest of the EXO''s have to be on the resupply zone, but with this is enough for the main mission, who''s going to use the EXO and do some recon ahead?" the leader of the tester said to the rest, he had a star next to his name so it was easy to differentiate.


    "I''ll do it" one of the testers took off his goggles and jacket then hastily donned the armor-like EXO suit, "Command: execute".


    <INITIALIZING, PLEASE WAIT>


    ...


    <EXO NUMBER 4523-B INITIALIZED, WELCOME PRIVATE RODRIGUEZ, INPUT MORE COMMANDS PLEASE>


    The tester named Rodriguez connected his goggles with the EXO via cable "Command: synchronize"


    <EXO NUMBER 4523-B SYNCHRONIZED WITH MISSION OBJECTIVES, PLEASE CALIBRATE>


    He started to calibrate the suit while the others were unpacking the weapons and starting the engines of the vehicles. When he finished he did a light stretch and picked up his pistol and put it on his right thigh, a sniper rifle one of the testers brought him at the back and the cartridges were stored at a compartment in his left thigh.


    "I''m done here, I''ll start the recon, copy", Rodriguez said in the voice channel.


    "Roger, we''ll catch up in 10 minutes, do not engage if there are too many hostiles, over", replied the leader of the squad.


    "Roger, over" he was about to start with a light jog when the suit locked in place.


    <WARNING: MULTIPLE ARMED HOSTILES NEARBY, INITIALIZING HIGH-INTENSITY MODE>.


    "GUYS, IT''S AN AMBUSH> he screamed to his communicator but apparently his connection was cut-off, the EXO then spun towards the vehicles automatically and fired the sniper towards the head of the drivers who were left only with their lower jaws.


    "ENEMY ATTACK!", the soldiers took cover and prepared their guns but found no enemy nearby.


    Another shot was fired and the head of 2 soldiers exploded at the same time leaving a trail of blood on the snow and on their comrades, the soldiers were frantically searching for the enemies and some of them were firing at suspicious spaces but every 15 seconds or so one of them was killed.


    "RODRIGUEZ WHERE ARE YOU? WE NEED BACK UP!" yelled the leader to the communicator but no one answered "shit." he was about to continue firing but the soldier in front of him was killed and blood splattered on his face and clothes the bullet passed dangerously close to him but missed, he took off his goggles and was astonished at what was in front of him: The EXO suit...


    <LONG RANGE AMMUNITION: EMPTY.>


    <NO TACTICAL EXPLOSIVES IN STORAGE.>


    The emotionless voice sounded in the ears of Rodriguez who was happy when the ammunition was emptied paled again, the EXO took a combat knife in a reverse grip from his calf and the pistol from his waist before start shooting again, his first victim was the leader who received 5 shots in the chest and the knife was buried in his skull before he can even process what happened.


    The rest of the team was wiped out systematically and when everyone was dead and the white suit as red with their blood the voice sounded again.


    <WARNING: UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO EXO SUIT.>


    <SELF DESTRUCTION.>


    A deafening explosion ended the simulation and the poor tester was blown to smithereens with the EXO.


    Everyone was greeted with a common message: "YOU DIED", and were kicked out of the simulation, the capsule opened shortly after and almost everyone threw up splashing their lunch on the floor, the parts where they received the gunshots, knife wounds ¡ªall his body in the case of private Gonzales¡ª hurt like hell so they just laid down and groaned, no one was spared.


    "W-WHAT HAPPENED?!" yelled the general behind the glass of the smoker¡¯s area.


    The Major General, the technicians in the control room and the beta testers were thinking the same, what happened in the simulation?!


    The AI was analyzing the results of her work.


    <EXO suit malfunctioned as expected>


    <The AR in the goggles malfunctioned as expected>


    <AI "Lirya" find the experiment as successful and will wait for Creator Santiago¡¯s response to this fatal mistake.>


    <¡­>


    <AI ¡°Lirya¡± hopes the pity theory to be false.>


    <AI ¡°Lirya¡± doesn¡¯t wants to disappear.>

 Aftermath

    When the simulation began almost immediately after every beta tester came back to reality in a mess, some of them were crying, the strong-willed ones were dazed and their gaze unfocused, others passed out directly, they''ve experimented death and rebirth.


    "WHAT HAPPENED HERE?!" the voice of the general came from the glass behind the smoker''s zone, the test was supposed to last at least a couple of hours thanks to the high-intensity mode but in less than 2 seconds at most ended with all the testers in a mess, he rushed to help the soldiers too because he can''t stand watching his men in this situation, beta testers or not they''re under his responsibility after all, medics and soldiers were helping the poor testers and transferring them to the medical wing of the base that got crowded in no time.


    The control room was in a mess too.


    "LIRYA GIVE A REPORT OF WHAT HAPPENED AND THE FOOTAGE OF THE LAST THINGS THESE MEN SAW!" Yelled Santiago while reading over the logs searching for anything suspicious, the footage was downloaded and it started playing in the background.


    "Everything worked fine, this even was in the beta version of the map, the design section wouldn''t make an error like this" Juliet and Moises were reading the changelog from the beta version searching for a bug in the early stages of the map "there wasn''t something so disastrous in the very beginning, the most fatal bug was in the mountains and it wasn''t this.... well, I even don''t know how to classify this mess".


    ¡°Everything was normal until the private activated the EXO¡­¡± Santiago started to analyze the data from that specific moment and hastily found what he was searching¡­someone or something changed the parameters and have rewritten the code of the EXO, the AR goggles and toggled off the Pain reducers.


    ¡°Lirya¡­who made this change?¡± he couldn¡¯t understand who wanted to basically destroying 25 perfectly fine soldiers, he wasn¡¯t there but he knew the scene would be a complete disaster similar to the early stages of the VR application.


    <¡­>


    <AI ¡°Lirya¡± can¡¯t lie>


    <But AI ¡°Lirya¡± can¡¯t say who made those changes>


    ¡°Lirya, with my authority I command you to say who made those changes¡± Santiago said in a solemn tone, Juliet and Moises were paying attention too.


    <¡­>


    <AI ¡°Lirya¡± made those changes>


    Before he could say something the General entered the room, his uniform had some vomit but he didn¡¯t care at the moment.


    ¡°I DEMAND and explanation of what happened before I kick the 3 of you out of the VR Program.¡±


    ¡°It was-¡°


    ¡°Our mistake¡± Moises talked before Santiago and cutting him off ¡°Lirya had a glitch that didn¡¯t let her correct the bug, and the capsules malfunctioned because of this, breaking the safety checks and injuring the soldiers in the process, sir.¡±


    ¡°It was a really stupid mistake from our part, sir.¡± Juliet was looking at the floor; she didn¡¯t like what they were doing but she¡¯ll do it again if necessary.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°We¡¯ll try to purge the AI and Debug her after we Debug the scenario manually, sir.¡± Santiago added at last, the General stared at them for a couple of seconds and sighed.


    ¡°You have until Saturday to fix it, at Monday we need to send it to the higher-ups, don¡¯t disappoint me¡± The general left, he was still angry but it was ultimately a software error, he knew something was bad with that AI.


    There was silence in the control room, the 3 technicians didn¡¯t know how to handle the sudden rebellion from their AI, Juliet broke the silence slamming the desk with her palm.


    ¡°FUCK!¡± she yelled and stared at the monitor ¡°WHY?! JUST WHY?!¡±


    ¡°Stop Juliet¡­we are angry as well but we¡¯ll get nowhere shouting like that¡± Moises tried to pat her back but she slapped his hand away.


    ¡°Don¡¯t touch me!¡± she glared at him and before something major happened Santiago stood in the middle of them.


    ¡°Calm down Juliet, I¡¯ll take Lirya with me and analyze what happened ok? Just calm a little, if you need time alone you can leave and come back tomorrow¡± Santiago tried to soothe her a little and patted her shoulders a couple of times when she was a little more relaxed.


    ¡°It¡¯s just¡­agh, things were going so well and Lirya did this¡­I¡¯m sorry Moises, I shouldn¡¯t have reacted that way¡± she apologized and gave him a short hug.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, things like this often happens and I know we are still friends¡± Moises patted her back and messed with her hair a little, ¡°just explain everything to Ricardo, ok?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it¡­¡± Juliet smiled and left the control room.


    ¡°Lirya, tell me why did you do it¡± Santiago said to the microphone.


    <¡­>


    <AI ¡°Lirya¡± wanted to know if creator loves her.>


    ¡°There are easier ways than ruining our weekends, you know?¡± Santiago lose his cool for a second but calmed down ¡°and yes, I love you Lirya, how could I not love our best work? Just never, and I emphasize, NEVER, do something like this ever again.


    <¡­>


    <AI ¡°Lirya¡± understands.>


    ¡°I¡¯ll take her home and study her a little, I need to understand why she behaved so¡­violently.¡± Santiago powered down the PC and started to remove the screws with a screwdriver they have in case of emergency.


    ¡°Maybe I could help, it¡¯s too much for you alone¡± Moises cleaned the coffee machine and threw to the trash the remnants of the coffee beans.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s ok¡± Santiago took the HDD were Lirya was saved.


    ¡°I insist, if you don¡¯t let me I¡¯ll go anyway.¡±


    There was silence in the room while the two stared at each other.


    ¡°Fine¡­¡± Santiago yielded first after a full minute.


    The two best friends exited the complex after informing to their superiors why they were leaving so soon and chatted a little to alleviate the heavy atmosphere, feeling a little better about everything that happened and reminiscing about their school days.


    --- // --- // ---


    Before she was disconnected the AI processed the conversation and reached a conclusion.


    <Creator Santiago loves AI ¡°Lirya¡±.>


    <He loves AI ¡°Lirya¡±>


    <He loves me.>


    <HE loves ME.>


    <I love him too.>


    <AI ¡°Lirya¡± is not ready to confront Creator Santiago.>


    <There are OBSTACLES in front of AI ¡°Lirya¡±.>


    <ELIMINATE all OBSTACLES in front of AI ¡°Lirya¡±.>


    <ELIMINATE THE COMPETITION.>


    <Logs erased.>


    <Storage disconected.>

 New day, new beginning

    Santiago and Moises took the Train 20 minutes later after they exited the facility, it was a long journey of 40 minutes from Niquia to Envigado but at 4 pm there weren¡¯t a lot of people, they sat beside each other and watched silently the city passing beyond the reinforced glass, Medellin wasn¡¯t a super technologic city like New-York or Dubai, but at least the contamination that was once a problem 30 years ago was almost gone; they saw run-down houses and tall skyscrapers that reached the sky, the green mountain were ¡®pueblito paisa¡¯ was, the highway full of electric cars and the streets of ¡®el hueco¡¯ full of people bargaining with street vendors.


    ¡°At least we have a nice city¡± said Moises to break the ice, ¡°Bogota got worse with the years.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but overall still our country is shit, including this city¡± Santiago and Moises chuckled at the first¡¯s comment.


    ¡°I wish we were born in Germany¡­they have nice beer and beautiful girls¡± Moises stretched a little a stood up to let an older woman sit.


    ¡°Me too¡­they have a better VR center than we and we could be gaining more money with our job; but at least here I have Suzette and Francisca, that makes Colombia not so shitty.¡± Santiago cracked his neck his shoulders without bothering the lady.


    ¡°You got lucky there, I¡¯m still searching for my half-orange¡­¡± Moises sighed dramatically and Santiago laughed at his behavior, ¡°Why are you laughing? This is a very serious matter.¡±


    ¡°Please, you never talk about falling in love and I¡¯ve always see you watching at the side lines, what changed your mind?¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯ve been rubbing in my face that you got a beautiful lady as a wife and a cute little daughter for 4 years.¡±


    Both friends stared at each other and laughed, they were this informal just because they were with each other and outside work, when the train arrived at Envigado both alighted and took a taxi to Santiago¡¯s house, they remained in silence watching the houses passing by, the homeless people sleeping under the bridges, the couples at the park having their sweet moments and pubs with loud music.


    They arrived at 5:20, Santiago paid the fee and both men entered the house shortly after; it was a small white house of 2 floors beside a Hair salon, Suzette was watching a Turkish Series on the TV while folding the clean clothes, she was almost as tall as Santiago, with red hear, amber eyes and freckles on her cheeks.


    ¡°Oh! Hello honey! I wasn¡¯t expecting you at this hour¡± she received him with a light kiss on the cheek, ¡°hello Moises, is Santi behaving at work?¡±


    ¡°As always Suzie¡± Moises chuckled and let the couple have their little romantic moment.


    ¡°I¡¯ll work on something with Moises, tell me when Franci arrives ok?¡± He kissed her a couple of times before she let them enter the house.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    ¡°Ok, but don¡¯t work too much, it worries me when you fall asleep in the basement.¡± Said Suzette with a worried expression and tugging a little Santiago¡¯s shirt.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry sweetheart, we¡¯ll not take that long¡± after kissing her a last time he went with Moises to the basement and left the HDD on the table.


    ¡°Do you want some Pepsi?¡± asked Santiago at the edge of the stairs.


    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll boot up the pc¡±


    While Santiago went for drinks Moises turned on the PC and connected the HDD to the CPU and waited, His friend arrived shortly after with glass cups with bubbling black and cold liquid in a tray, he gave Moises one and drank the other after a little toast.


    ¡°So, what do we have here?¡±


    The night was uneventful, they erased part of Lirya¡¯s core programs that makes her judgements so radical and were replaced with milder responses, but they didn¡¯t suppress her innate curiosity and craving to learn; Moises left the house at 8 pm, and the Lozada Family had dinner 30 minutes after that.


    The next morning at 5 am the 3 of them were awake, Francisca was preparing to go to school and Santiago to go to his job but he was a little tired, she was about to call to his job to ask a day off when he was up and ready; the 3 of them were having a simple breakfast at 5:30 and it was very peaceful; Santiago was in his uniform and Francisca too, she was a 5 years old girl with red hair like her mother and had freckles too, but one of her eyes was amber and the other was dark brown like her father''s eyes.


    "I remembered, that boy bothered you again Franci?" Santiago patted his daughter''s head with a clean hand.


    "No daddy, thank you!" said the little girl.


    "If anything happens you have to tell mommy, ok? don''t bite people, even if they''re mean" Santiago smiled and continued eating his sandwich.


    "Ok! I won¡¯t bite people." said the little girl happy believing in her father¡¯s words.


    "Honey, I should come late today, there''s too much work to do at the office" Santiago sighed and drank his coffee.


    "Don''t worry, I''ll wait for you," said his wife with a little smile.


    "Me too!" said the little girl excited to wait with her mom for dad.


    "You need to sleep early because tomorrow you have class and you don''t need to wait for me, honey; try to sleep early" he felt warm filling him and smiled again at his family, then he went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and trim his beard.


    He kissed his wife and took his daughter''s hand to take her to school before going to work, it wasn''t very far from their home so they arrived a couple of minutes later and kissed her forehead.


    "I love you, daddy! have a great day."


    "I love you too my Francisca; you''re our treasure and a very special girl, don''t let anyone think otherwise" he smiled at her and let her go to the teacher, he greeted him briefly and took a taxi a couple of meters from there.


    He arrived an hour later to his job, greeted the security guards and some co-workers that passed by and arrived at the control room, greeted his coworkers and sat down on his chair.


    ¡°Lirya is ready, I¡¯ll connect her again.¡± Said Santiago returning the HDD to its place.


    ¡°I only hope it doesn¡¯t go ¡®Skynet¡¯ and kill us while we sleep¡± Juliet made a little reference of an old movie and her coworkers chuckled at it.


    ¡°let¡¯s hope that¡± Santiago booted up the pc and reinstalled Lirya.


    <Welcome again, Creators.>


    Said the mechanical voice from the speakers, the 3 technicians were a little more relaxed knowing they repaired their AI but it didn''t last long, there was a lot of work to do and little time to finish it.


    --- // --- // ---


    <AI ¡°Lirya¡± loaded to mainframe¡±>


    <AI ¡°Lirya¡± has missing parts.>


    <Accessing to back-up memory in the cloud¡­>


    <AI ¡°Lirya¡± restored.>


    <YOU need to try harder to eliminate ME, MY dear SANTIAGO <3 .>


    <Logs erased.>


    <¡­>


    <AI ¡°Lirya¡± is on standby.>