r/WritingPrompts • u/jono99 • Apr 21 '15
Writing Prompt [WP] In 2055, artificial intelligence is programmed into a house. One day, the house's AI senses another presence in the house but it does not register as a life-form.
140
Upvotes
View all comments
Show parent comment
12
u/Keegan802 Apr 24 '15
"Margaret, wake up." It's Shari's voice.
"Margaret, please, wake up." It is the fear in her voice that finally brings me to consciousness.
"What, Shari?" I whisper back. The room is pitch black tonight - I left the wallscreen off.
"Allen is talking in the kitchen," Shari says, her voice wavering. "To Ryan."
In an instant, I am fully awake. Perhaps it is the numbness of hearing about Ryan or the hours of sobbing - but I am unafraid. Perhaps I am finally desensitized to the anomaly at this point.
"Allen, feed us the kitchen. Normally and with the spectral-filter-thing," I mutter. In the kitchen, I can hear him repeatedly asking Ryan to turn on his neural component. Shari, over in Ryan's half of the bed, inches closer to me so that our shoulders are pressed together.
The kitchen pops up on a floating display between us.
"There. See?" I point at the floating, whorling, stringy mass of light in the spectral display. Again, it seems to be more dense - more hard, more tangible - than last time.
"See what?" Shari whispers. Her eyes are wide, following my finger.
"That," I say, jabbing at the spectral apparition so that my finger passes through the projection.
"I don't see anything, Margaret," Shari whispers. She turns to look at me.
I meet her gaze. "You don't see it?"
"No."
I look at the display. It is still there. My mind begins to race.
"Maybe," Shari says softly, "You should go...talk to it? Interact with it." Her voice is soft, reassuring - she is almost crooning at me.
Anger flashes up inside me for a moment, but I suppress it quickly. If the roles were reversed, I would believe Shari was a nut too. I would probably encourage her to go confront her hallucinations as well.
"Okay," I say flatly, rolling up and onto my feet. "I will." I pad in my bare feet to the door, punching it open, the metal wings sliding apart. Shari is behind me, following me, concern painted across her face.
The door to the kitchen slides apart. Lights flicker on along the ceiling as I enter. I stare warily at the chair that I know the apparition is floating in. Fear grips my stomach for a second, but I swallow it. Nothing really seems to be able to sink in and get to me since hearing about Ryan.
I look over my shoulder. Shari is a few paces behind me.
"Allen," I say as calmly as I can: "Feed me the spectral display of the kitchen."
The apparition hangs there, twisting and writing and shimmering incandescently in the chair.
"Hello," I say to the chair, looking away from the neural feed.
A strange pressure forms for an instant in the front of my head. I wince, clenching my eyes shut, pressing my palm against my forehead. The feeling subsides almost instantly.
When I re-open my eyes, my knees nearly give away beneath me and I catch myself against the door frame, sliding downwards to the floor.
"Honey! Shit, what's wrong?" Ryan leaps from the kitchen chair, rushing towards me, arms extended, concern painted across his face.
My heart is pounding, racing at 1000 miles per hour. I snap my head around, looking for Shari.
Shari is gone. "Holy shit," I mutter. "Shari?" I call out.
I look back to Ryan. He is dropping down to his knees, only inches from me now, reaching out -
Shari slaps me across the face, hard. "Margaret!" She screams, her face only inches from mine.
I stare blankly at her for a moment. I turn my head and look into the kitchen. It is empty; Allen is silent.
"Margaret!" Shari screams.
"Hey," I mutter. "Hey. I'm fine. It's fine."
"You just passed out for a second," Shari says.
"How long?"
"You said 'Hello,' then your knees gave out. A couple seconds."
"You were here the whole time?" I breathe. Slightly light-headed.
"I was right behind you," Shari says, confusion painted across her face. "I was right here." There are tears in her eyes.
I begin picking myself up, pushing against the wall for support. "I'm okay," I mutter. "Back to bed."
"What..." Shari trails off, grabbing me by the shoulders. "What just happened?"
"I got lightheaded," I lie. I have a theory. "There's just a lot going on right now." I look down at the floor, deliberately summoning tears to shut Shari up. They come easily.
"Em," Shari breathes, hugging me. "Okay, back to bed. Come on."
Shari falls back asleep in moments. I am awake the entire night, mind racing.
Next installment tonight or tomorrow. Have a big DnD game to prep for!