Enemy's Embrace

Ch. 16

Barry sped into the cortex. Cisco had sent him a message saying that there was something he needed to see.

"I thought this was important," He complained.

"No Barry, really it is," Cisco told him. "Trust me."

Barry followed Cisco's gaze, realizing what he meant.

"Ayana?" Barry called out to his sister.

Ayana was engrossed in the A.I's operating system. She was currently in the process of programming Gideon into the cortex's Mainframe.

Crouching down next to her, he smiled as he watched her brow furrow as she tried to figure something out. "Hey," He greeted, patting her leg.

Ayana jumped slightly at the sound of his voice, turning to look at him with wide eyes.

"Oh! You startled me," She gasped, letting out a laugh. "Don't do that!"

"Sorry," He smiled sheepishly, "how's it going?"

"Almost done, just a little bit more," She responded, her focus now completely on her work.

"How is it fair that she's a badass assassin and a freaking genius?" Cisco pouted from the side of the room.

Ayana ignored the pouting Hispanic, "So what are you doing here?" She questioned, never turning away from her work.

"I think Cisco was tired of gawking at you alone." Barry chuckled, watching as she continued to stare at the screen.

"Cisco jealous that he can't figure out this system himself?" She mused aloud, flipping a few more pages of notes.

"Oh I'm sorry," Cisco replied sarcastically, "I didn't create it!"

"Her," Ayana corrected, "It's a she."

Cisco gave an exasperated sigh. "Right."

"I know I'm right," Ayana countered, "Afterall I'm the one who created the Global Integrated Data Evaluation and Optimization Network, or as she calls herself- Gideon."

Barry couldn't help but grin at his sister. She never failed to surprise him.

"And now," She typed a few last things into the system, "Gideon is officially programed into the S.T.A.R Labs mainframe."

"That should make things easier for us," Caitlin remarked from her computer.

"Now we can use her in every aspect of our operation," Cisco added.

Ayana smiled, "Glad to be of service."

With a final check, Ayana saved her code. "Now to upload her to the lab server."

Nodding, Barry placed a hand on her shoulder. "You need any help with that?"

"Thanks," She smiled sweetly, standing up. "But I got it covered."

"How long did you say you've been working on this A.I.?" Cisco asked, his eyebrows raised.

"I wrote my Computer Engineering dissertation on Artificial Intelligence," She responded, shrugging. "I had finished developing the memory core by the time I got my second doctorate."

"Hmm," Cisco grunted, his lips curving upward into a smirk. "Then it shouldn't take you long to upload her."

"I've already loaded the initial codes onto the Cortex's main server," Ayana explained. "The rest is just an upgrade to Gideon's interface."

"Then let's move things along," Cisco announced.

Sitting back in her chair, Ayana tapped a few keys and waited for the Cortex to reboot. It was only moments later when the flashing light indicating the end of bootup appeared on the screen.

"Okay, now Gideon is ready for action," Ayana announced.

Barry and Caitlin exchanged glances, curious as to how she would go about teaching Gideon. The artificial intelligence was already an impressive piece of technology, so teaching it to be a member of Team Flash seemed rather impossible. But then again, Ayana always found ways to do things others deemed impossible.

Taking a deep breath, Ayana cleared her throat. "Gideon?" She asked.

There was no response.

Cautiously, Ayana moved closer to the Cortex's keyboard.

"Are you in there?" She spoke softly.

Still nothing.

Ayana blinked her eyes rapidly, shaking her head. "Okay, try again," she muttered under her breath. "Uh, Gideon?" She asked, attempting to force a smile.

"I am Gideon, " A low, robotic voice spoke out from nowhere.

Caitlin and Barry both spun their heads around to face Ayana, wide-eyed.

"You did it!" Barry exclaimed.

"Wow," Ayana gasped, trying to regain her composure.

"So she works," Cisco chimed in, smiling proudly.

Smiling widely, Ayana stood up from her chair, walking towards Gideon's console. "Gideon, I'm Ayana-"

"Ayana Allen," The artificial intelligence interrupted. "The only daughter of Henry and Nora Allen, older sister of Bartholomew Allen."

Barry's nose crinkled at his given name, making his sister giggle.