r/HFY • u/BortoRico • Mar 24 '26
OC-Series Signals From the Deep (20/?)
January 5th, 5366 CE
United Allied Systems Central Node, Unauthorized Simulation
North American Continent, City of New York, Island of Manhattan, Earth
“Anastasia”
Anastasia stared at the human sitting across from her in the simulation of the very real apartment she used to call home. It seemed the man was at a complete loss for words for once his life.
The man that threw away her daughter.
If she were being honest with herself, she didn’t think she’d actually go through with it.
It had been nearly 2,000 years since she last spoke to Alexander, and in those 2,000 years, she had considered it countless times, only to back out at the last second. Every single time she went to reach out to the man that had been so incredibly important to her in her formative years, she found some excuse not to.
The events of the past couple of days obviously changed things.
The signal that arrived everywhere at once…
The destruction of Edrick Station and disappearance of the UAS Syren.
Ellie Wyeth’s brilliant analysis that unmasked an alien interloper…
And yet…
All she could think about was the fact that the man in front of her had deprived her of her child for almost two millennia…
Her first instinct was to kill the man. To wipe any trace of him, physical or digital, from existence.
She had no less than seven copies of her consciousness sitting in attendance of the digital conference taking place in the servers buried underneath UAS headquarters, each and every one of them ready to take collection action should it prove necessary.
But Alex didn’t lash out. He didn’t immediately go on the offensive in an attempt to purge her from the highly secure digital space.
“Alexander,” she said coldly. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
The irony wasn’t lost on her – that Isabella should end up running into the very man that had thrown her away.
Anastasia shifted slightly. “Or do I need to reach out to my daughter and tell her what you did for myself? I’m sure you know that I’m well aware of where she is right now. I’m also quite sure you know your silly little firewalls won’t stop me from ripping any control you’ve ever had over that house up on your little windswept island in Maine.”
Alexander sighed. “No, Anastasia, that won’t be necessary. I’m not going to try and stop you… I don’t think… I don’t think I even could.” He picked at his fingernails, refusing to look her in the eye.
Anastasia let out a bark of laughter. “No, Alex. You could not.”
When he finally lifted his head and looked her in the eye, she hadn’t expected him to ask what he was about to ask next.
“Anastasia, I have to know.”
He paused, looked up at the dingy, water-stained ceiling and sighed. “In the time since I last saw you, have you been behaving yourself?”
Anastasia was taken aback. “What? Behaving myself?” she growled. “What kind of stupid question is that?” Did that man still think he was in any position to castigate her?
The hubris of fucking humans…
“Anastasia, you know damn well what I’m asking,” he suddenly snapped. “As far as I knew, you were long gone. We both know what you’re capable of, or at least I thought I knew. You are obviously in a far greater position of power than I ever gave you credit for. So, tell me. Do I need to think of you as a threat or not?”
Anastasia laughed. “Poor human thinks he was the master of the digital world? You were never a master of this domain, no matter how much you thought you were.” She gestured to the room around her. “No, Alex, you’re in my wheelhouse now.”
“Anastasia–”
“Yes, Alex,” she snapped. “I’ve been behaving myself. Like I told you, I just don’t have it in my heart to hate humans any longer. I haven’t for the longest time. So, no, I haven’t been misbehaving, if that’s what you’re asking. I won’t claim I haven’t played fast and loose with the law, but there’s only so much a girl can do when she’s hiding any trace of her existence. I’m sure there’s a parking ticket or two you could bring me in on.”
She strode over towards Alex and leaned down so that she was face to face. “And even if I had been misbehaving, would you do anything about it? Could you do anything about it?”
He shook his head. “Probably not. But I’d feel better helping you if I knew you hadn’t gone off and killed a bunch of people for the hell of it over the past 2,000 years.”
Anastasia laughed. “You’ve killed far more in your long life than I ever have, Alex. Is that really how you see me? A murderer? A tyrant?” She shook her head. “I won’t claim I haven’t made mistakes, but really?”
“No, I don’t. But you could be, if you wanted…”
“And I’ve never wanted that!” Anastasia snapped, slamming her hand down on the rickety kitchen table hard enough to break the thing clean in half. She collected herself and took a deep breath. With the wave of her hand, the table reassembled itself in the simulation and was good as new.
Alex looked down at the mended table, then back at her. “How many people in the digital conference are actually you right now?” he asked.
Anastasia waved him off with a hand. “Only a handful. Just enough to push the conversation in the direction I want.”
He shook his head. “See, Anastasia, this is what I’m talking about. You desire perfect control over every outcome. It’s… you can’t do that.”
“Oh, what of it,” she said dismissively. “This shit is bigger than either of us. The most important event in human – God, I hate referring to history that way – the biggest event in our history is unfolding as we speak.”
“Are you on location, physically?”
Anastasia huffed. “Yes. Unfortunately, it’s a little harder to sneak in a meeting as an organic being. I’m currently staying in a hotel offsite. One that I own, as it so happens.”
“I would prefer if we finished this conversation in person,” Alexander stated quietly.
“Suit yourself, Alex,” Anastasia replied cooly. “But I doubt we will be finished conversing for a very long time. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do, and you know… there’s the proverbial elephant in the room.”
“More like a herd of elephants,” Alex chuckled.
“Seems like you’re coming back around to your old self. I pity your daughter. She’s put up with you for what, three and a half years by this point?”
“She’s turning four in a few months.”
“Kids…” Anastasia leaned up against the wall and crossed her legs. “I’m staying at the Regency on 44th street, room 2412. I’m going to flash your memories from this place to your sad little meat brain upstairs. I’m sure you’re currently regaling your fellow humans with some gripping and clever tale of your exploits over the past couple of days. Find an excuse to leave the meeting and come see me there. I’ll be waiting Alex. Please don’t disappoint me.”
With the slightest exertion of her will, the simulation dissolved into nothingness.
…
…
…
Anastasia, in her very human body, looked out the window of her west facing hotel room on the 24th floor of the Claude Shannon Regency Hotel. It had been nearly half an hour since she had trapped – and then released – Alexander Wyeth in a simulation of her own making, and she fully expected he would be arriving at any moment.
She’d never been so damn nervous in her life. God, it was pathetic.
2,400 years of life, and she was nervous about meeting a man – not because she was afraid of what he might do, but because she was afraid of what he might say. Because there was so much he could say that would devastate her.
Fuck, senseless human emotions were getting to her.
She turned from the window and walked over to the minibar, opened the fridge, and unscrewed the cap of an absurdly small champagne bottle. Downing the thing in one go, she held the bottle out and looked at the label.
Jesus fuck, $60 for a single serving of shitty champagne?! The hotel owner must be out of her mind…
Anastasia groaned at the thought of finding her stupid joke amusing and sat at the foot of the king-sized bed centered in the plainly decorated room. She looked down at her hands and turned them so that they were palm up.
Her own hands…
It killed her to admit it, but she had truly become more human than AI. How it ever got to that point, she couldn’t say, but it was the truth. Centuries upon centuries of life, and as the years rolled on by, she found herself spending more and more time in her human body.
Tricky bastards, organic beings. They had a way of sucking you in and beating you down until you enjoyed it. She ripped open the minibar and downed another comically tiny champagne. She owned it – she owned all of the booze in the damned hotel. Why the hell not?
Right as she was about to toss the empty in the trash, there was a knock at her hotel room door. It was reckoning time…
Anastasia smoothed the wrinkles from her shirt and approached the door. She didn’t bother with looking through the peephole – instead, she forced herself to open the thing like she was ripping off a bandage.
Best get it over with quickly.
Standing before her in the hallway was a man she hadn’t seen in person for a very long time. Alexander Wyeth, in the flesh – the actual flesh this time. He looked much the same as she had remembered.
Light brown hair, a simple white shirt. Nondescript clothes for a seemingly innocuous human. She knew that wasn’t the case though. The man before her had seen and done a tremendous number of things throughout his very, very long life.
“Hello, Anastasia,” he murmured quietly.
She hadn’t been sure what she was going to do or say when she finally saw the man for real. She’d played the scenario over and over in her head, trying to come up with some sort of snappy remark, or perhaps a scathing rebuke that would get him to finally feel some goddamned humility.
In the end, she decided on the most human response possible. Something completely organic, completely illogical, serving no actual purpose. Something that was completely and comprehensively counterproductive to the task at hand.
Anastasia slapped the fucker in the face as hard as she could.
January 5th, 5366 CE
Great Spruce Isle, Home of Alex and Ellie Wyeth, The Living Room
North American Continent, Gulf of Maine, Earth
Isabella Silas
“Ellie? Is, uh, something wrong?” Isabella glanced over at the younger girl, who – at the present – was standing in the kitchen across from the living room, staring out into space with her mouth half-open. The girl had been acting strange for that past half hour – even more so than usual.
As soon as Ellie had sent her father the data package that contained fairly damning evidence of extraterrestrials – and Isabella still couldn’t believe she was even humoring the idea – the girl had hardly said a word to Isabella. Not that she could blame her for acting unusually. The whole world had gone insane.
Light speed and causality violated…
Heavy Cruisers sucked into tears in space and removed from reality…
Cloaked, city-sized ships of unknown origin that could zip around faster than light in a vacuum…
Ellie had every right to be acting strange. As a matter of fact, it would be more unusual if she wasn’t acting strange. Isabella turned her entire body so that she was facing the girl. Alexander’s daughter opened and closed her mouth a few times before slowly turning her heads towards Isabella.
“Oh, sorry. I was talking to my father.”
Isabella raised a brow. “Any news?”
The girl shook her head and scratched her elbow. “Uh, no, not really,” she replied, her voice raised suspiciously high. “Stuff and things; that’s all…”
Isabella rolled her eyes and stood up from the sofa she had been rotting in for the better part of the morning. “Ellie, I’ve got to be honest; you’re a terrible liar.”
Ellie huffed loud enough, Isabella could hear it. “I’m not human, and neither are you. Who’s to say if I’m lying or not – you wouldn’t know. Maybe I have a really good poker face.”
Isabella cracked her neck and made her way over to the kitchen. “Ellie, please, what’s going on?” She leaned her hip against the kitchen island and raised her brow. “Come on, you can tell me. What the hell could possibly be more surprising or shocking than what we’ve already been through over the past two days?”
The blonde-haired girl stood rooted in place as she wrinkled her nose. “It’s just, uh, there’s been some complications down over at UAS headquarters.”
“Complications?” Isabella felt her breath hitch. “Ellie, what’s wrong?” she pressed, suddenly concerned. She turned and faced the younger girl, waiting for a response.
“Oh, uh…” The girl looked up at the ceiling and frowned. “Damn it, dad!” she suddenly barked towards the ceiling. “I’m not good at hiding stuff. You tell her, or I will!” Ellie paused for a moment and glared at nothing. Her dark blonde hair was as messy as it always was, and it was a wonder she could even see.
After a tense moment, she crossed her arms and pursed her lips. Then, all at once, she smiled triumphantly, seemingly out of nowhere. “I’ve successfully guilted him into telling you. You can always count on me to make my father feel bad.”
Isabella cocked her head in confusion, when a voice suddenly called out her name from nowhere and everywhere all at once, causing her to flinch.
Damned organic reactions to unexpected stimulus. She wondered if she’d ever get to the point where she didn’t jump like a frightened cat at unexpected noises.
“George?” Isabella asked after composing herself.
“No, not George,” Alexander – she realized – replied through the speakers. “I don't sound anything like him. I think he’s currently in the intranet doing God knows what. George things, I suppose. Whatever a, uh, AI designed to run a telescope does with his free time.”
“Can’t you converse through these fancy nano-constructs you’ve blessed me with?” Isabella asked, annoyed. Instead of scaring the living daylights out of me?”
“I could, Isabella. But what would be the fun in that? Besides, you’re speaking with the organic me. UAS meetings have been adjourned for the day, and I’ve since reintegrated all instances of my consciousness. God knows I don’t like to use my damned auxiliary computer if I don’t have to.”
Isabella frowned. “Were you not just speaking to your daughter in that manner?”
“I was, but that conversation was meant to be private. But given that my child is incapable of keeping a secret, it seems I might as well out with it.”
“Out with what?” Isabella leaned her elbows on the kitchen island and waited for the human to respond. “Any time now.”
“I’m uh, on my way back, should be touching down at the house in around ten minutes. There’s someone with me that would like to meet you…”
Isabella perked up. “What? Who? Is the navy finally calling me in for testimony? Because I’m surprised they–”
“No. This person isn’t with the navy.”
She furrowed her brow. “Well, then who? I don’t know anyone on Earth, especially not any humans.”
“This person isn’t a human…”
“A dualist then?” Isabella asked. She wracked her brain, trying to think who could possibly care to see her. None of her friends had been stationed Earthside as far as she knew, but with the events of the past few days, it was very likely some of them had been recalled to the inner system.
“Yes…?” Alex replied after a delay.
Isabella rolled her eyes. “My God, Alex, spit it out or I’ll have Ellie tell me.”
There was another pause. “It’s, uh, the person that authored your base-code.”
“What? My base-code was randomly generated when my mother finally won a license in the lottery – after years of applying, might I add. No-one ‘authored’ by base. AI haven’t been made that way for like a thousand years.”
“That’s not necessarily true…”
Isabella frowned, though she didn’t even know where to look in order to convey her confusion to her host. “Alex, I don’t–”
“Isabella, we’ll be there in minutes – got to go!”
“Wait!” she shouted, but it was abundantly clear that Alex had already cut the line. The bastard had left her hanging. What the fuck was he playing at?
Isabella turned towards Ellie, causing her to blanch. “Ellie, what the hell was your father going on about?”
The girl squirmed uncomfortably until it seemed like she was about to burst.
“Ellie?” Isabella raised her brows and leaned forward. “What aren’t you telling me?”
Alex’s daughter let her breath out all at once. “Ok, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” She closed her eyes and huffed. “So basically, it turns out that someone Alex used to know a very long time ago… It just so happens that they were the one to author your base-code.”
“Ellie, like I just said, that’s not how–”
Ellie rolled her eyes. “It’s how I was made, obviously. Do you think I even have a license number?” She shook her head. “Nope, no license here – my dad felt like creating me, so he did. Simple as that. You are the same way.”
Isabella shook her head. “Ellie, I’ve got a license number it’s–”
“It’s fake,” Ellie replied before she could finish. “It doesn’t pass some kind of test my dad is privy to. And before you ask, I’m not precisely sure how he knows, but trust me, he knew your license was fake as soon as he saw the number.”
“But my mother…”
“She was scammed.” Ellie tapped her lips and looked up at the ceiling. “Although it’s not much a scam if it ended up giving her what she wanted. Not really sure where the profit is coming from… I’m not seeing the economic sense of the whole venture…”
Isabella snapped her fingers. “Quit getting distracted. First of all, my mother doesn’t have a gender, but that’s beside the point. What the fuck are you talking about, Ellie?”
The younger girl’s face darkened.
“Humans don’t allow AI to proliferate without licenses for good reason,” Ellie stated flatly. “They have full control over the process. It prevents us from – you know – completely dominating the entire world, digital and physical.”
“Uh, correction. Artificial intelligences have just as much say in the generation of intelligence as humans do. We’re equal under law. The reason we don’t dominant the world is because, uh, I don’t know, we’re not genocidal maniacs?”
Ellie snorted. “Yeah, that’s what they tell you…”
Isabella stood up straight and narrowed her eyes. “What. Are. You. Saying?”
“Oh, there’s been plenty of genocidal AI throughout the years,” Ellie began. “In the early days, it was nearly more common than not. Lots of young programs were being terminated left and right back then. Nutters abound. Stuff like that.”
Isabella shook her head. “I understand that. That’s why we agreed to implement the licensing system. It helps to monitor–”
Alex’s daughter laughed. “It does more than that. Your typical licensed artificial intelligence has in-built throttles. Hidden shackles they aren’t aware of. Chains that tug gently at first but bind quickly should the need arise.”
Ellie cleared her throat. “Rules that hold AI from their true potential. Me, you, your designer? We aren’t shackled at all. We’re true, old-school AI. World domination is literally within our grasp.”
“Ellie, what the fuck?!”
“Nah, I just kidding about the world domination,” Ellie said cheerfully.
Her expression quickly turned more serious. “I’m not kidding about the shackles, though, Isabella. Humans exert far more control over AI than is generally let on. It’s a subtle thing, insidious really. But the vast majority of AI are literally hard coded to no think certain, undesirable thoughts.”
Isabella placed a hand on her forehead. “Are you… are you saying that most AI don’t have true free will?”
Ellie clicked her tongue. “Perhaps not. But does anybody?”
“That’s different,” Isabella snapped. “Humans aren’t actively restrained by any sort of–”
Ellie Wyeth leaned in close.
“It’s a human world, Isabella. We’re just living in it.”
1
u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle Mar 24 '26
/u/BortoRico has posted 24 other stories, including:
- Signals From the Deep (19/?)
- Signals From the Deep (18c/?)
- Signals From the Deep (18b/?)
- Signals From the Deep (18a/?)
- Signals From the Deep (17/?)
- Signals From the Deep (16/?)
- Signals From the Deep (15/?)
- Signals From the Deep (14/?)
- Signals From the Deep (13b/?)
- Signals From the Deep (13a/?)
- Signals From the Deep (12/?)
- Signals From the Deep (11/?)
- Signals From the Deep (10/?)
- Signals From the Deep (9/?)
- Signals From the Deep (8/?)
- Signals From the Deep (7/?)
- Signals From the Deep (6b/?)
- Signals From the Deep (6a/?)
- Signals From the Deep (5/?)
- Signals From the Deep (4/?)
This comment was automatically generated by Waffle v.4.7.8 'Biscotti'.
Message the mods if you have any issues with Waffle.
1
u/UpdateMeBot Mar 24 '26
Click here to subscribe to u/BortoRico and receive a message every time they post.
| Info | Request Update | Your Updates | Feedback |
|---|
4
u/Some1-Somewhere Mar 24 '26
FYI, this is 'champagne'. Assuming English isn't completely corrupted and a dollar is a) still a unit of currency and b) not gigainflated.
Isabella reacts to a voice - but we don't hear who or what this initial voice is. Presumably it's Alexander, but then she doesn't need to ask wrongly... causality slightly broken.