The Beta Testers

Prologue

 PROLOGUE

Frank Rachel's graying hair blew around wildly as he stepped out of the company-owned Helicopter and down onto the helipad atop the research building. From the high vantage point, he witnessed an endless sea that was the Gobi desert; an unbroken landscape of whirling sands stretching to the horizon in all directions. This was Frank Rachel's first trip to his company's most secret location for research and development.

Down in the concrete yard below, a vast array of solar panels peered skyward toward the fiery-orange sun, glinting up into the CEO's eyes as he marveled at the vast topography surrounding the site. From behind, a hand touched his shoulder. It was Edward Lyle, head of the research team. They had much to discuss.

"All of our power is solar here! Pretty amazing huh?" Edward yelled above the whipping blades of the helicopter.

"Absolutely!" Frank Rachel replied.

Finally, the noise of the helicopter began to cease, and slowly diminished. The two men looked out into the vast sea of dunes in silence, considering.

"Incredible sight," Frank commented, marveling at the exquisite natural features.

Edward sighed, "Look now, I know you didn’t come out here to look at the scenery. I just want you to know that every project has its hick ups. Ours is no different."

"Hick ups? Edward. From what I'm told this could be more than just a hick up,” Rachel said, turning serious.

"Let me show you around before you make any decisions."

"That's what I'm here for."

With that, Edward led Frank Rachel into the building. The top floor of the research facility was a smorgasbord of halls, cubicles and offices filled with computers beneath cramped suspended ceilings, not much different than most office buildings back home in the city. A collection of programmers scattered throughout every nook of the floor stood idle by their desks, paralyzed from their usual routines of running tests and working over problems in software development. A tension in the air thickened beneath the sterile silence of the looming fluorescents. It was fearful silence that every team member shared as they glimpsed apprehensively at Edward and the CEO of BNBC (Bits N Bites Corporation) pacing down the hall.

"And this is the Onyx Project, at least our software design facilities. Hardware is building-two, on the lower levels and underground,” Edward explained as they walked.

"Seems dead in here." Rachel commented. He glanced around at all the idle programmers and blank computer monitors.

"I've temporary halted all testing of the Onyx-Two until we know more about what happened," Edward explained.

"So can you show me what caused this incident?" Frank Rachel asked, getting down to business.

"Right. It's on this floor." Edward tried not to wipe the sweat gathering on his forehead. He led the CEO to a room where the main heads of the research and development team awaited their presence. The team all huddled around a large seventy inch-monitor, adorning white lab coats over their usual attire for the occasion. Standing prominently in the pack was Dan Hicks, Edward's partner and co-founder of the project. The two stole a quick peek at one another as Edward and Frank Rachel entered the room.

"Mr. Rachel,” Edward began, “This is the Onyx Team.”

The team nodded, saying nothing. Frank Rachel reciprocated the same way. Edward continued.

"As you know, the Onyx-One microchip was an artificial intelligence microchip designed around architecture copied from the human brain, which worked in conjunction with the central processing unit of a computer. It was built for decision making, question answering, puzzle solving, etcetera."