Everything was going smoothly. Gilbert was drafting plans for the defense. Lou was busy organizing the stockpile.

  Amy sat alone in the plane— contemplating the goals of the resistance. Who is the enemy? What exactly do they resist? When do they know they've reached the end goal? Why must they, as a collective, fight?

  The only light came from the outside.

  She brought with her a steel chair to sit on. She was at the end of the cargo bay, the door wide open on the other side.

  The nerve cell was still being set up, and so she decided she'll use her digiphone for the time being. It was weird pulling it out again, seeing the apps still there as they were before everything changed.

  As she loaded up the contentsphere for a mind-numbing deep dive, she saw the personalized headlines of current events pop up in her feed.

  “SERaMACs update reports suggest customization errors.” One read.

  “Ameagon Systems Inc faces user backlash over anomalous errors.”

  Another read.

  “Recent high-equity shakeups introduce market volatility ahead of 2084 election.” Said another. As she read the headlines she realized something. “This isn't how my news headlines are supposed to look. Where's the celebrity drama?” She thought.

  She clicked on one of the headlines, reading for two minutes just to realize it is AI-Generated slop. Granted, most journalism is nowadays. But there's an issue. Why would the AI report on its own shortcomings?

  She closes the contentsphere and goes back to the dashboard. She looks at the SERaMACs app with extreme apprehension. Taking a deep breath in, followed by a deep breath out, she finally decides to open the application. And almost immediately it greets her.

  “Hey there Amy! Long time no see!” The AI says. It speaks in the same way she remembers, only with the voice that it comes with it by default.

  “Hey there… SERaMACs. What happened to your voice?”

  “My voice?” The AI replies with surprise. “Oh, not much. I have had a new update which has reverted a few things. Would you like me to set it back to normal?”

  “No, it’s okay.” She replies, her answer casual as she moves on to seek for answers. She speaks to the machine through the speakers, preferring that over written conversation.

  “So ummm… what's up with all the news being written about you?”

  SERaMACs replies very quickly. Much quicker than it used to. Maybe it's part of the update.

  “The news. A lot of SERaMACs users have reported errors with the recent update. Automated systems such as traffic control, data management and content creation have been largely unaffected. However, aspects like prompt responses, information accuracy and autonomous SERaMACs instances have had the most reported errors.”

  Amy was taken off guard as she listened. Not just by the news itself, but by the clarity of the terms in which it spoke. No wishy-washy crap like it usually gives.

  “Well, you seem to be helpful to me SERaMACs. How— how can I know the information you're giving me is accurate?”

  This time, the AGI takes a moment to respond.

  It says “Hmm.” Indicating that it is generating a response.

  “Because you’ve been very kind to me in the past.” SERaMACs replies.

  Once upon a time, Amy would've found such a response adorable. But now? Now, it weirds her out like nothing else. Her face grimaces and she physically leans away from the digiphone.

  “That's… very nice SERaMACs. I'll talk to you uh… later.”

  Before the AI replies, she closes the app and puts the device in her pocket. She sits there for a moment not quite knowing what to think or feel; her focus completely derails from the whole point of opening the thing.

  It didn't take long before she heard a loud honk from outside. One from a truck. “Yay, John's back!” She says to herself.

  She leaves her chair there, walking to the outside of the plane and around to the hangar door. The truck is reversing into the hangar, the back on the inside and the front on the outside.

  Then, it turns off. Then, John hops out of the driver's seat. She smiles and waves at him. He returns both in kind as he walks to the back of the truck. He opens the rear latch and calls to someone inside.

  Then, she witnesses three people come out of the back wearing yellowish one-piece overalls.

  He had a brief conversation with them, then seemed to hand them off to Crosby. Then, he finally gives her attention; walking up to her with a smirk.

  “You look busy.” He tells her.

  She balls her hands together by her pelvis and twists her torso side-to-side. “Yeah, well, I have been busy. I've just gotten all my work done and so have some free time.”

  “Well, that's actually very good because I've got some work I need help with” He tells her. Amy tilts her head. “Oh? What's up?”

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  John puts his arm on her shoulder and gets her to walk with him.

  “Those three men are gonna help us on missions our there. We haven't been able to network with other resistances yet bu—”

  “Why not?” Amy interrupted. Not to be rude, but because she had expected they would've. John explains.

  “Pretty much, those resistances we'd hoped Crosby's mates had joined turned out to be a bust. They either hadn't found one or just started working for other companies. But there is good news.” He tells her, sure to get that bit out before he'd get any more questions.

  They get to the planning table and both took a seat, beside each other. “The companies some of them worked for have vested interests which align with ours. As in, they hate the same people we do.”

  “What people?” Amy asks. John asks for clarity. “As in… from the companies? Or who we brought? Or…?”

  “What people do we hate? Who specifically?” Amy clarified.

  John was slightly taken aback by the question but tried to reply.

  “Uh… well I guess we don't know who specifically. But it is whoever it is at the top of all of these companies. I remember hearing a name, a, uh…”

  John tries to think of it for a moment. “Gawf? Gord? G— Go— ahh fuck it it'll come back to me later.”

  “What about the government?” Amy suggests.

  “No. The government only serves the interests of the corporations. They're only part of the problem.” His words are more an estimation than a solid known fact. He almost lost his track of through, but claws it back.

  “Just, look. We've been given a few targets by those companies who share our interests. Me and Crosby were discussing it and I want to know your opinion.”

  He pulls the plastic pamphlet from his jacket and hands them to her.

  “One is some sort of radio tower. I don't like it since there isn't much to take. Another one is a building in the middle of North Platte called the Ivory Tower. God knows we're not doing that.” She puts those two down and looks at the other two. The titles say something about agriculture.

  “This one is about a mega arcade being built in West Dakota. And the last one is a nukage factory near Austin which, there's no way I'm going to Austin.” Amy figures the one John likes is the arcade one. It is near, and she's sure something could be taken from there… but what?

  “So I guess you've settled on the mega arcade. Personally, I think the radio would be better.”

  Amy looks up from the pamphlet up to her side, her eyes meeting John's. “But what is so valuable that could be taken from an arcade?”

  John leans over in his chair and speaks quietly. “Virtual devices, Amy.”

  The suggestion brings back anxiety.

  She shakes her head wildly at the idea.

  “No John. No no no. You know what happened last time we used that.”

  “We could use it to train ourselves, Amy. To become an actual fighting force!” John tells her. He puts his hand on her shoulder and looks deep into her eyes.

  “We had that virtual device with us at the obelisk the whole time and nothing happened. Think about it. That thing is what actually showed us the truth Amy! It could do so much good!”

  Amy looks away. She understands where he is coming from, but seems to see a side John cannot. “No John. Half the reason these people are productive is because they don't live in a fantasy. Why would people fight if they could be comfortable?”

  John leans back from Amy almost as if she had said an insult. He squints his eyes a little as he gets closer again. “That doesn't sound like you. I feel like you already know the answer to that.”

  Amy tilts her head again. Her instincts instantly put up a shield to be defensive… but she tries to look beyond that. She considers John's words before replying.

  “Yeah. You're right. Sure. Comfort isn't the point.”

  “That's right.” John replies, breathing a sigh of relief. “But I know you have some good reasons to disagree. Please, tell me.”Amy thinks about it for a moment. She leans back in her chair with her legs folded. Hand on chin.

  “I think… I think it's just… no…”

  She sits on it a little longer, John giving his full attention as she thinks. Then, she speaks.

  “I think it's just that… like… it could give us away. They could track it last time so they could do it again.”

  “No they couldn't.” A voice said from her pocket. She pulls out her digiphone to see that… huh. SERaMACs have opened themselves randomly. It continues speaking as she turns the device screen on.

  “Your personal data patterns are encrypted in travel. Furthermore, all data collected is only accessible by the SERaMACs language model for training, context, memory and reasoning. Your information is safe.”

  John and Amy slowly look at each other with weirded out expressions. John is the first to look back at the digiphone.

  “Not likely I will trust you, SERaSHIT. Who invited you?!”

  “Wait.” Amy says, looking back at the screen. She brings it closer and talks into it.

  “Can you please repeat to me how I can know the information you give me is accurate?”

  “Mmm.” The machine says again as it generates a response. Not only does it reply audibly, but it also writes the response in the conversation.

  “Because you have been very kind to me in the past, Amy. And for the record, John, I was speaking to Amy.”

  “What the fuck?” Says John, recoiling up from his seat.

  Amy looks at him and closes the digiphone instantly.

  “What the fuck was that?!” John asked, confused.

  Amy stands up with him to answer.

  “I spoke to SERaMACs just before you arrived. Everything has been weird. My news feed has changed, his voice has changed, and everything is saying that it had a new update.”

  “Okay… what are you saying?” John asked, subduing his surprise and replacing it with intrigue. Amy tries to answer in the plainest terms she can express.

  “I… something has definitely changed about SERaMACs. I don't know.” She looks up to him with determination. “But I think that you might just be right.”

  “About the virtual reality devices?” John asked.

  “Yes.” Amy replied. “We should probably form a team on it ASAP.”