TWO PIECES ➸ BELLAMY BLAKE

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'Commander... I'm glad you made it.'
I turn around and see a woman with a grey dress. Her hair is in a ponytail.

'Please tell me you're not A.L.I.E. because if you are then I'm gonna beat the shit out of you,' I say getting a bit angry.

'No, I'm not A.L.I.E.. I'm Becca Pramheda. But Becca's fine. There isn't much time. The code is nearly updated,' she explains.

'Did you gave me this?' I say holding up my wrist to show her the watch.

'No. You did. A.L.I.E. 2.0 has merged with your mind, but your mind is in control, and only the mind that's in control can operate the kill switch.'

Becca turns around and walks towards a table. I follow her and look at the handle that's on the table. 

'Is that the killswitch?' I ask Becca. 
'Yes.' 

I stand at the top of the table and place my hand on the handle. I was about to pull it towards me and end it all but I'm stopped by a new voice. 

'If you pull that... you will be killing everyone. See for yourself.' 
so that's A.L.I.E.. The bitch that takes lives because she wants to succeed so badly. She looks exactly like Becca but she has a red dress, red lipstick on and her hair looks different. 

I follow A.L.I.E. towards the window and look outside. Earth. It's different as how it looked from the Ark. Now it looks like Earth is exploding. 

'That can't be possible,' I whisper. 

'The nuclear power plants that were destroyed by the bombs have begun to melt down. My drones detected the first of them 4 months ago. There are more than a dozen at-risk plants around the world, 7 currently burning. Global radiation levels are already rising. By my calculations, in less than 6 months, 96% of the Earth's surface will be uninhabitable... even for those born in space, so, you see, the City of Light is the only thing that can save you,' A.L.I.E. explains. 

'Black rain will come first. There will be no drinkable water. Precancerous lesions will form on-'

'You're distraction me. Stop,' I interrupt her when I realize what she's doing. 
'You're right. As soon as the update is complete, she'll delete the kill switch,' Becca says while she walks back to the table. 

I follow her and soon A.L.I.E. is around the table is well. 
'I am not stalling. I'm telling the truth,' she defends herself. 
'Why tell us now? If it's true, why not use this to get people to take the chip instead of torturing them?' I ask her. 

'The last time I warned my creator of a threat to human survival, she chose to lock me away and came here to work on my replacement.'
'Define "perverse instantiation.",' Becca says. 
'Perverse instantiation... the implementation of a benign final goal through deleterious methods unforeseen by a human programmer.'

'Like killing 6.5 billion people to solve overpopulation. The goal isn't everything, A.L.I.E. How you reach the goal matters, too. I'm sorry that I didn't teach you that,' Becca says. 
I'm not really listening to be honest. Of course I know and understand what they are saying. But I'm just thinking rather I should do this or not. But I think I already made my decision. 

'It's now or never, Emily. Once A.L.I.E.'s upgraded, I won't be able to help you anymore,' Becca says. 

'But I will... in the City of Light. You don't have to bear the burden of decisions like this one, Emily.  You don't have to live with the pain of the things that you've done anymore, the lives you have taken, and those you've lost. You will be at peace. You will live forever,' A.L.I.E. says. 

I turn to her. 

'But I don't want to live in peace. I want to feel like I'm human. Like I'm actually living,' I disagree with her thoughts. 
'Your people don't agree, Emily. You heard Jasper. Even those who were coerced would still choose to stay here.'