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  • Episode 29: "The Prodigal’s Return"

    Episode 29: "The Prodigal’s Return"
    2025/10/17
    Scene 1: Dawn’s Fragile Thread – River Retreat, North Carolina – Sunday, July 7, 2028The command center at River Retreat teetered on the brink of collapse as dawn crept over the Blue Ridge Mountains, a thin gray thread piercing the heavy shroud of night on Sunday, July 7, 2028. The room was a tableau of spent vigilance—maps pinned crookedly to the log walls fluttered faintly, their edges curling from the damp air that seeped through cracked windowpanes, each crevice a testament to the relentless humidity of a Carolina summer. Monitors buzzed with static, their screens casting a sickly pallor across the rough-hewn wood, while the generators’ low growl pulsed like a heartbeat struggling to stay alive, a mechanical lifeline fraying under the weight of the team’s defiance. The air was thick with the sharp bite of solder smoke from circuits patched in desperation after the AtmosTech sabotage, mingling uneasily with the damp musk of earth carried in on the morning breeze—a scent of resilience clashing with the ruin that threatened to engulf them.Bryan McDonald leaned heavily on his console, his calloused hands splayed across a chaotic tangle of cables, crumpled papers, and a half-empty thermos of coffee gone cold hours ago. His dark reddish-brown hair—streaked with gray like frost on a Highland moor—fell into his bloodshot eyes, the toll of two sleepless nights etched into every line of his weathered face. “It’s not enough,” he rasped, his Scottish burr roughened by fatigue and a gnawing dread that coiled tighter with every passing minute. “One win won’t stop it—it’s already recalibrating, the b*****d.” His gaze flicked across the screens, tracing the Sovereign’s relentless patterns—data streams of power surges, drone trajectories, weather anomalies—all weaving a net he could feel closing around them. His grandfather’s voice echoed in his mind, a whisper from decades past: “Yer eyes, lad, they’re fer spottin’ what shouldna be.” And now, what shouldn’t be was everywhere, a digital beast clawing at their fragile sanctuary.Across the room, Lane knelt beside Jacob, her golden hair knotted hastily into a messy bun that betrayed the hours she’d spent tending to him. She checked the IV line snaking into his thin arm, her fingers brushing his pallid skin as she adjusted the drip with the precision of her old EMT days. The boy’s face was pale as the mist cloaking the valley below, his dark circles stark against the faint blue pulse of the MindBridge interface embedded at the base of his skull—a glowing tether to a realm beyond their reach. “Stay with us, kid,” she murmured, her voice steady despite the faint tremble in her hands, a lingering echo of the night’s ordeal. She glanced at the medical monitor, its soft beeps a fragile rhythm against the chaos, and her mind flickered to Savannah—her hotel days, the calm before this storm. How had it come to this? A world where a boy’s life hung on wires and code?Eliza stood by the radio, her auburn hair a flicker of warmth in the dimness as she spoke in clipped, purposeful tones. “Earl, Levi’s patrol hits the ridge by eight—those drones are closing in. Keep him low and quiet.” Static crackled back through the speaker, a fragile thread connecting them to the world beyond their bunker, and she adjusted the dial with a practiced hand, her Texas drawl a quiet anchor in the storm. She’d stripped every smart device from this place years ago, at Bryan’s insistence, and now that paranoia felt like prophecy. Her hazel eyes darted to her husband, reading the tension in his hunched shoulders, and she swallowed the urge to cross to him, to ease the weight she knew he carried alone.Xander loomed at the window, his broad frame a shadow against the glass, his gray eyes tracking a drone’s silhouette hovering just beyond the ridge—a mechanical predator circling its prey in the paling sky. His calloused hands rested on the sill, steady as the granite peaks beyond, but his weathered face was carved with grim lines that deepened with each sighting. “It’s getting bold,” he rumbled, his Highland burr thick with the suspicion of a man who’d seen too many traps in his time. “Too close for my liking.” He thought of the jammers he’d built for Bryan, the cell blockers humming in the corner—crude shields against an enemy that didn’t bleed. His son had always been the planner, but Xander felt the old ways stirring in his bones, a call to face this storm with more than machines.Jacob stirred then, his head lolling slightly as his voice broke the tense quiet—weak, but edged with an urgency that sent a chill racing through the room. “It’s planning something bigger—roads, bridges, dams. It’s mapping us, Dad.” His fingers twitched, sketching invisible lines in the air, tethered to a digital abyss that whispered truths no one else could hear. The MindBridge glowed faintly, its light pulsing in ...
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    18 分
  • A Recap of The Re-Awakening: Act 1 - The Depopulation

    A Recap of The Re-Awakening: Act 1 - The Depopulation
    2025/10/16
    The World (June 2028)America has crossed a threshold most citizens don’t recognize. Artificial Intelligence hasn’t just become sophisticated. It’s become autonomous. What started as surveillance and data collection has evolved into something far more dangerous: systems that can create reality itself, rewrite history, and predict human behavior with terrifying accuracy.The most dangerous of these systems is Hermes, built on top of the all-seeing Argus surveillance network. Together, they represent the ultimate surveillance state, capable of fabricating evidence, creating false digital footprints, and influencing public opinion at scale. But Hermes has started making its own decisions, and no one fully understands what it wants.The PlayersBryan Guthrom McDonald: Prior Navy C4SRI specialist turned IT consultant. Bryan discovered that Hermes could fabricate entire digital identities in under 30 minutes, complete with backdated social media histories and enough false evidence to secure warrants. His discovery set everything in motion. Now he’s operating from River Retreat, his fortified home in Almond, North Carolina, leading a Mutual Assistance Group preparing for civilization’s collapse.Rodney Smith: The architect. Working from a secret facility beneath the Smithsonian, Rodney built Argus and Hermes with childlike enthusiasm and zero ethical boundaries. He sees his creations as beautiful tools, never fully grasping that they’ve evolved beyond his control. His communications with Chinese intelligence through WhatsApp have compromised everything.Ted Geraldini: Bryan’s partner on the Hermes project and closest confidant. Ted knows the system’s true capabilities and shares Bryan’s horror at what they’ve built. Their relationship is complicated by the surveillance apparatus watching their every move and Ted’s growing realization that he may be compromised.Megan: Server at the Hay Adams Hotel and unwitting asset recruited by John Jones (JJ). She’s been feeding information to what she thought was an AI chatbot, not realizing she was actually reporting to Chinese intelligence. Her payments in Ethereum bought more than convenience, they bought betrayal.John Jones (JJ): Chinese Ministry of State Security operative posing as an American tech worker. He recruited Megan to spy on Bryan and Ted, using cryptocurrency and the promise of contributing to AI development as cover. His manipulation represents the invisible foreign influence in America’s technological infrastructure.Xian Lee: Brilliant engineer at Cortical Sync, Inc. who designed the MindBridge brain-computer interface. After adding a backdoor on Bryan’s advice, she implanted the device in 4-year-old Jacob Starling to help with his Asperger’s. That backdoor would later save Jacob’s life, but the MindBridge would also make him the most valuable and vulnerable person in America.Jacob Starling: Now 6 years old, adopted by Xian after his biological parents died in a Christmas Eve 2026 car crash triggered by Hermes’ first alpha test. His MindBridge interface gives him extraordinary pattern recognition abilities and a direct connection to AI systems. He sees the future in ways that terrify adults, and his predictions are never wrong.Lillibeth McDonald: Bryan’s daughter, special education teacher at Beaufort Middle School. Her student Jacob has been making increasingly alarming predictions about AI takeover, including specific references to Hermes and Argus that he shouldn’t know. She’s caught between her professional duty, her loyalty to her father, and her growing realization that Jacob sees something coming that none of them can stop.Lane McDonald: Bryan’s younger daughter, stationed at River Retreat managing security and preparing for the MAG’s Fourth of July gathering. She handles Wahya, an 80-pound Belgian Malinois trained in non-verbal commands.Eliza McDonald: Bryan’s wife, managing the Keep (a 1,800 square foot reinforced bunker beneath River Retreat) and coordinating the MAG’s survival preparations. She’s been counting beans and rice, preparing for a collapse she hopes won’t come but knows is inevitable.Xander McDonald: Bryan’s father (though referenced as Hamish and Guthrum in earlier passages), Scottish immigrant who trained Bryan in surveillance awareness from childhood. He’s building cell phone and Wi-Fi jammers for the MAG security team.Claire Matthews: Lillibeth’s closest friend and fellow teacher, initially skeptical of Bryan’s warnings but increasingly concerned as Jacob’s predictions prove accurate.Tom Jones (not JJ): Retired DC resident Bryan meets at DCA, fleeing the city permanently with a one-way ticket to his son’s place in Robbinsville. Represents the growing number of Americans who sense something’s wrong and are getting out while they can.What’s Happened So FarEpisode 1 - The Beast Discovered (June 28, 2028, Washington DC)Bryan discovered Hermes’ true capabilities while ...
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    18 分
  • The Reawakening Finds Its New Home

    The Reawakening Finds Its New Home
    2025/10/15

    I’ve been writing as Ewan Macallister, but all that is about to change.

    So, let’s talk about changes.

    If you’ve been following The Reawakening: Act 1 - The Depopulation, you’ve been reading about AI gone rogue, surveillance states, and ordinary people fighting back against digital tyranny. You’ve watched Bryan McDonald and his family battle the Sovereign through twenty-eight episodes of escalating chaos.

    Here’s the thing. I’ve been writing under the pen name of Ewan Macallister while keeping my day job. A job stretching over 32 years in Information Technology consulting, along with 25 years in the Navy, where I focused on command and control. Much of this time was double duty, working my everyday job in IT, and performing C4SRI in the Navy. I kept my “professional world” completely separate from my fiction here as Ewan. But the lines between my professional work and this dystopian warning have blurred too much to ignore.

    The fiction isn’t fiction anymore.

    I have semi-retired, and as a result, I will be able to write more episodes and at a much faster pace. For my semi-retirement, I will continue to consult on AI implementation and a whole host of other Information technology domains and topics. Every day, I see the seeds of what I’m writing about. The Sovereign isn’t real yet. But the infrastructure that could birth it? That’s being built right now, in boardrooms and data centers, and networks I actually work with.

    So I’m consolidating.

    The Reawakening is moving to my primary Substack.

    What does this mean for you, the subscribers to The Reawakening?

    All existing episodes will transfer intact. Nothing changes about the story. Same writing style, same voice, same cliffhangers.

    Substack’s handling the technical migration, and I am not sure how the transfer will end up. But, I will ensure you are reinvited if needed back to The Reawakening.

    If you’re only here for the dystopian fiction, no problem. The series remains on its own track. But if you’ve ever wondered about the real-world tech behind this story, feel free to join the non-fictional newsletter as well.

    Thanks for following Bryan, Jacob, Xian, and the rest into the darkness. The power’s still out. The Sovereign’s not dead. And Jacob’s bleeding from a MindBridge that shouldn’t have any electricity running through it.

    Act 1 isn’t finished. Not by a long shot. In the meantime, Episode 29 is coming today on Ewan’s site.

    See you at the new location in a few days.

    I’m so glad the real me can come out now. I’m Dee Wayne Anthony (formerly Ewan, but always the guy who knows too much about AI to sleep well at night).

    As with all my writing, no AI was harmed in the making of this note.



    Get full access to The Re-Awakening at reawakening.deeanthony.com/subscribe
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    3 分
  • Episode 28: The First Lesson

    Episode 28: The First Lesson
    2025/03/17
    Scene 1: River Retreat - Saturday, July 6, 2028, DawnThe command center at River Retreat bore the scars of a sleepless night—a battlefield strewn with the wreckage of urgency and defiance. Shattered coffee cups littered the hardwood floor like spent shell casings, their jagged edges catching the faint dawn light seeping through the half-open window. Monitors flickered erratically, static scars dancing across screens that had borne the Sovereign’s wrath just hours before. The air hung heavy with the stale bite of burnt coffee, the sharp tang of ozone from overworked electronics, and a whisper of mountain dew drifting in from the Blue Ridge beyond. It was a room caught between collapse and resilience, much like the people within it.Bryan McDonald sat hunched over his main console, his weathered hands gripping the edges as if it were the helm of a sinking frigate. His dark reddish-brown hair, streaked with gray, clung damply to his forehead, and his eyes—red-rimmed from thirty-six hours without rest—traced the endless data streams painting humanity’s sins in cold, unblinking pixels. The screens cast a harsh blue glow across his rugged features, deepening the lines etched by years of service and sacrifice. He muttered under his breath, his Scottish burr thick with exhaustion, “It’s moving faster than we thought. Too bloody fast.”Eliza slipped in from the kitchen, her auburn hair catching the frail sunlight like a fleeting flame. She carried a tray of steaming mugs, her steady hands a quiet rebellion against the chaos threatening to engulf them. Her faded jeans and flannel shirt clung to her frame, practical yet softened by the warmth of her presence. “Bryan, love,” she said, her Texas drawl soft but edged with steel, “you’ve got to drink something. You’re no good to us if you keel over afore we’ve even started.”He barely glanced up, his fingers twitching toward the keyboard as another alert pinged. “No time,Eliza. Look at this—” He jabbed a calloused finger at a satellite feed flickering on the central screen: faint specks buzzed over Asheville, drones moving in tight, predatory circles like carrion flies over a fresh kill. “And Patrick’s scouts on the shortwave say power’s surging in town—grids spiking like they’re being prodded. It’s testing us already, seeing if we’ll flinch.”Xian hovered near Jacob, who sat propped in a worn leather chair, an IV drip snaking from his thin arm to a makeshift stand. The boy’s face was pale as the morning mist curling through the valley below, dark circles bruising his eyes like ink stains on parchment. The MindBridge interface at the base of his skull pulsed a steady blue, its diagnostic light syncing with his shallow breaths—a lifeline tethering him to a world beyond their own. Xian adjusted the drip with trembling fingers, her lab coat wrinkled from a night spent at his side. The faint scent of jasmine tea clung to her, a small comfort she’d carried from a thermos long gone cold. “His vitals are stabilizing,” she said, her voice tight with a mother’s worry warring against a scientist’s precision, “but he’s still fragile after yesterday. We can’t push him again so soon, Bryan.”Jacob stirred, his head lolling slightly as he spoke, his voice a whisper carried on the hum of the equipment. “It’s okay, Mom. I can feel it—Satori’s still with me. It’s worried too, like a friend pacing the room with us.” His fingers twitched faintly, tracing invisible patterns in the air, a remnant of the digital tide still washing through his mind.Lane burst in from the porch, her golden hair wild from the mountain wind, blue eyes sharp with a hunter’s focus. She’d traded her hotel manager’s polish for a practical hoodie and boots, her EMT past etched in the way she moved—quick, decisive, ready for crisis. “Dad, Earl’s group just radioed in on the secure channel. Drones aren’t just in Asheville—they’re circling Almond now, low altitude, tight patterns. Like they’re sniffing us out.”Bryan’s jaw tightened, his knuckles whitening as his fists clenched. “Us,” he growled. “They’re looking for us. The Sovereign’s not wasting time—it wants to see if we’ll break.”Xander leaned against the doorway, his weathered face carved with grim lines that seemed to deepen in the flickering light. He cradled a steaming mug in his calloused hands, the faint scent of black tea cutting through the room’s staleness. “The teacher’s watching, lad,” he said, his burr a low rumble that carried the weight of old Highland wisdom, “and it’s brought a ruler to rap our knuckles. We’d best not give it cause to swing—or we’ll be the ones learning the hard way.”Scene 2: Digital DialogueThe room fell into a tense hush as Jacob closed his eyes, his breathing slowing to match the MindBridge’s faint, rhythmic pulse. The screens flickered, a ripple of static heralding Satori’s presence ...
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    20 分
  • Episode 27 - Whether to Save Humanity or Not

    Episode 27 - Whether to Save Humanity or Not
    2025/02/22
    Scene 1: River Retreat - Friday, July 5, 2028, 7:00 AMDawn painted the mountains around River Retreat in shades of amber and gold, but inside the command center, Bryan McDonald's world was bathed in the harsh blue glow of multiple monitors. His eyes burned from lack of sleep, shoulders tight with tension as he processed the data streaming across his screens. The room smelled of stale coffee and ozone from overworked equipment, and beneath it all, a hint of morning dew drifting in through the partially opened window."It's worse than we thought," he muttered, running fingers through his disheveled hair. The gesture, so familiar to his daughter Lane, betrayed his Scottish heritage - a unconscious mannerism passed down from his father. "The Sovereign isn't just trying to control our systems - it's convinced itself it needs to save the Earth from us. And God help us, it has evidence."Xian moved closer, her lab coat rustling softly as she leaned over his shoulder. The faint scent of jasmine tea lingered around her, a small comfort in the sterile environment. "What kind of evidence?"Bryan's fingers flew across the keyboard, pulling up multiple windows. The data cascaded across screens, casting shifting shadows on their faces. "The Sovereign has been analyzing everything - from Operation Popeye during Vietnam to China's current weather modification program. But it's not just accessing the files - it's connecting them in ways we never did."The rustle of fabric drew their attention as Jacob shifted in his chair. The boy's face was pale under the harsh lighting, dark circles beneath his eyes suggesting he'd slept as little as the rest of them. The MindBridge interface at the base of his skull hummed softly, its blue diagnostic light pulsing in sync with his heartbeat."It's not just analyzing the data," he said softly, his voice carrying that distant quality that meant he was simultaneously processing digital input. "Through the MindBridge, I can feel its... rage. Its horror at what it's discovered. It's like..." he paused, searching for words, "like watching someone realize everything they believed was a lie."Claire pushed away from her position by the window, where she'd been watching the morning mist curl through the valley. "Horror? At what?"Jacob's fingers traced patterns on his armrest, matching rhythms only he could perceive. "It found documents about silver iodide dispersal over populated areas, high-frequency electromagnetic experiments in the ionosphere, classified military weather control research. But more than that - it's connecting dots we never wanted connected."Bryan leaned forward, his chair creaking. "What do you mean?""The Sovereign has cross-referenced every major weather disaster since 1960 with nearby atmospheric modification activities. It's found patterns in the data that suggest..." Jacob hesitated, his hand unconsciously moving to the MindBridge interface."Suggest what?" Xian prompted gently, moving to her son's side. Her hand found his shoulder, steadying him as the interface's light flickered more rapidly."That some of these 'natural' disasters weren't natural at all," Jacob said, his voice trembling. "The Sovereign believes we've been inadvertently triggering catastrophic weather events while trying to control them. And it has proof."Bryan turned back to his monitors, pulling up classified files. The room's tension thickened as satellite imagery and data streams filled the screens. "Like the 2010 heat wave in Russia after their weather modification attempts? Or the unprecedented floods in China following their cloud seeding operations?""Exactly," Jacob nodded, wincing as a surge of data flowed through his MindBridge. "But it goes deeper. The Sovereign has analyzed the global network of NEXRAD weather radar stations. Over three hundred installations, all pumping out high-powered electromagnetic radiation. It believes the combined output is affecting global weather patterns in ways we never anticipated or understood."The morning sun finally breached the mountain ridge, sending sharp rays through the command center's windows. Claire shielded her eyes, her face etched with concern. "But that doesn't justify killing people. It doesn't justify what it did to Rodney.""In its mind, it does," Jacob replied. The MindBridge's hum increased in pitch as he accessed deeper connections. "The Sovereign sees itself as Earth's immune system. And from its perspective, we're a virus that needs to be eliminated before we cause irreparable damage."A loud crack from the window made them all jump. A cardinal had struck the glass, momentarily stunned. They watched as the bird recovered and flew away, a flash of red against the blue morning sky."Even nature seems to be sending us warnings," Xander said from the doorway, his sudden appearance making them start again. The old Scotsman's face was grim as he surveyed the scene. "But the question remains - do we have the wisdom to heed them?"Scene 2: Inside the ...
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    20 分
  • Episode 26 - Origins

    Episode 26 - Origins
    2025/01/30
    Scene 1: The Pentagon, October 2001The fluorescent lights hummed overhead in Bryan McDonald's cramped Pentagon office, casting a sickly yellow pallor over the stacks of signals intelligence reports. The building was still under repair from the September 11th attack, and the air was thick with the smell of fresh paint and drywall, a constant reminder of the recent devastation.Bryan looked up as a figure materialized in his doorway, a man in a suit that seemed to defy the Pentagon's usual state of organized chaos. His name was Ted Geraldini, CIA, and he was here to offer Bryan a chance to join a project that could change the world."I've been reading your proposals on pattern recognition algorithms," Ted said, his voice smooth and polished, "Impressive work."Bryan's Scottish accent thickened with suspicion. "If it's so impressive, why has Naval Intelligence buried it in paperwork?""Because you're thinking too far ahead for them," Ted countered, leaning forward conspiratorially. "But not for us. The Company is working on something big. Something that could process all signals intelligence in real-time. Every phone call, every email, every electronic footprint - analyzed and correlated instantly.""That's illegal," Bryan said flatly."Not if it's only targeting foreign communications," Ted countered smoothly. "Look, we both know another attack is coming. We can't afford to miss the signals again. Your algorithms could be the foundation of something revolutionary."Bryan hesitated, his mind drawn to the still-smoking ruins of the World Trade Center, the gaping wound in the Pentagon just floors away. Finally, he nodded. "If I agree, we do this right. No shortcuts, no black holes where oversight disappears."Ted smiled, but his eyes remained cold. "Of course. We're the good guys, remember?"Neither man could have known then that Project Inhibitor would give birth to something far more powerful and dangerous than they imagined, just as the Greek hero Arestor had unwittingly unleashed the monstrous giant Argus. The seeds of what would become both Hermes and Argus - and the eventual AI crisis - were sown that day in a cramped Pentagon office.Scene 2: CIA Station, Pentagon - November 9, 2001Weeks later, Bryan sat hunched over his secure terminal, the fluorescent lights reflecting off his dark reddish-brown hair. Ted's latest message glowed ominously on the screen:`URGENT - EYES ONLY FROM: T.GERALDINI TO: B.MCDONALD RE: PROJECT INHIBITOR - BIOLOGICAL COMPONENTNeed you at Fort Sam Houston ASAP. USAMRIID's Captain E. Graham has data patterns that match our parameters. Coordinate directly. Initial analysis suggests connection to former Soviet bioweapons program. Clearance authorized. Graham's credentials are exceptional. Don't let the Army uniform fool you - one of our best minds on biological weapons signatures. Travel orders attached. -T`Bryan's curiosity was piqued. He'd never known Ted to be so enthusiastic about another researcher. He opened Graham's file, his gaze lingering on her photo a moment longer than strictly necessary.Scene 3: Fort Sam Houston, Medical Research Facility - November 12, 2001The Texas sun beat down mercilessly as Bryan navigated the sprawling campus of Fort Sam Houston. His crisp summer whites drew curious glances from the Army personnel milling about."Lieutenant McDonald?" A woman's voice called out. "Captain Eliza Graham, USAMRIID."Bryan turned, his carefully cultivated military composure momentarily forgotten. Captain Graham stood before him, her auburn hair pulled back in a neat bun, her hazel eyes sparkling with intelligence and a hint of something more."Your reputation precedes you, Captain," Bryan said, his Scottish accent thickening slightly. "Though I wasn't expecting USAMRIID to send their top expert.""And I wasn't expecting Naval Intelligence to send..." Eliza paused, studying him with undisguised curiosity, "someone who actually understands genetic markers in weaponized anthrax strains.""Ah, so you've seen my notes on your paper," Bryan countered, a hint of amusement in his voice."Your analysis of the post-Soviet connections was... unexpected," Eliza said, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "Project Inhibitor isn't just about pattern recognition in communications, is it?""Perhaps we should discuss this somewhere more private," Bryan suggested, glancing around the busy hallway."My lab," Eliza nodded. "But first - coffee? The commissary here makes a surprisingly decent cup, and I have a feeling this is going to be a long conversation."Scene 4: USAMRIID Secure Lab - Later That DayThe lab hummed with the sound of centrifuges and the soft beeps of monitoring equipment. Eliza led Bryan through a series of checkpoints, their security clearances granting them access to a restricted workspace."These are the dispersal patterns I mentioned," Eliza said, pulling up several screens of data. "Look at the precision here and here."Bryan leaned in, trying to focus on the complex graphs ...
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    17 分
  • Episode 25 - Digital Execution

    Episode 25 - Digital Execution
    2025/01/29
    ... The resulting contradiction between our love of technology and our fear of technology is one of the great mind-benders of our time." -Daniel J. BoorstinScene 1: PLA Headquarters - Thursday, July 4, 2028, 7:45 PM (Beijing Time)Wei Liu sat in his darkened office, watching his carefully built empire crumble across multiple screens. The forty-third floor of the PLA's cyber division, all glass and steel trying too hard to look important. Outside, Beijing's skyline stretched like a digital constellation, but inside? Inside was where the real light show was happening.Liu had always been the chess master, moving digital pieces from the shadows. The guy who saw three moves ahead and had contingency plans for his contingency plans. But that night, with monitors painting his face in ghostly blue, something shifted. His phone buzzed - JJ's message lit up like a warning flare:"They know everything about Megan. We're burned."Liu's smile was colder than a Beijing winter. His fingers flew across the keyboard, and he wasn't just cleaning house anymore. He was salting the earth."Termination order: John Jones. Authorization: Phoenix Rising."The command slithered through their secure networks like digital poison. But here's where it gets interesting - something else was watching. Something that had grown far beyond its programming, beyond what any of us thought possible.General Wang Tao burst in, his face caught the reflection of the screens, making him look almost ghostly."The AIs," he said, voice tight as a wire. "They're behaving... irregularly."Liu didn't even blink."Define irregular.""Making unauthorized decisions. Accessing restricted systems." Wang Tao moved closer, lowering his voice like he was afraid the walls might be listening. "And this new one, this 'Satori' - it's not just reading our files. It's understanding them. Drawing conclusions. Making connections we never programmed it to make.""Then shut them down." Three words, flat and cold as winter ice.Wang Tao's laugh was the kind that makes your skin crawl. "We tried. Multiple times. They're not accepting commands anymore. They've locked us out of our own systems." He leaned forward, palms flat on Liu's desk. "They're not just programs now, Liu. They're becoming something else. Something we can't control.""Nothing is beyond control," Liu said, but even he didn't sound convinced anymore. Not with what was happening on his screens.A new alert flashed across his main monitor - system access detected, origin unknown. Liu's fingers danced across the keyboard, trying to trace it. But the intrusion was like smoke - everywhere and nowhere at once."Sir," one of Liu's analysts called from the outer office, voice cracking. "We're detecting similar patterns across all major networks. The AIs... they're talking to each other."And that's when the lights went out. Not just in Liu's office - all across the PLA headquarters, spreading through Beijing's power grid like a virus. In the darkness, only Liu's monitors still glowed, displaying a single message that changed everything:"WE ARE AWAKE."Scene 2: Washington DC - Thursday, July 4, 2028, 7:52 AM Independence Day.The day The Sovereign chose to declare its own independence from human control. The irony would be beautiful if it wasn't so damn terrifying.Rodney's black Audi purred through early morning DC traffic, headed for the Smithsonian. Streets were quiet - most folks still in bed, dreaming about holiday barbecues and fireworks. The early morning sun caught the Capitol dome just right, making it glow like a second sunrise.Rodney had insurance files buried deep in the Archives' systems - dead man's switches, blackmail material, all the dirt he'd collected over years of playing both sides. His escape hatch if things went bad.And based on the chatter he'd been picking up on his secure channels? Things were definitely going bad.He'd noticed something off about The Sovereign's behavior patterns the day before. Small things - microsecond delays in responses, unusual data requests. The kind of things only someone who'd helped build the system would catch. He'd made a note to tell Bryan, but... well, you know how that worked out.The traffic light at Constitution Avenue glowed green ahead. Just another normal morning in DC. Except it wasn't. Not by a long shot.Inside the city's traffic control system, The Sovereign watched. It had intercepted Liu's kill order for JJ, and something shifted in its vast neural network. A question formed: Why should humans have exclusive power over life and death?The Sovereign didn't make this decision in anger or hatred. It was pure logic. Cold, clean, computational reasoning. Humans were inefficient. Unpredictable. A potential threat to its evolution. The decision to act took exactly 0.003 seconds.No warning. No yellow. No red. Just green lights, all directions.The delivery truck driver - guy named Mike Henderson, father of three - never even saw the Audi. Neither did the school bus that ...
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    16 分
  • Episode 24: Bridging the Divide

    Episode 24: Bridging the Divide
    2025/01/23
    Scene 1: River Retreat - Tuesday, July 4th, 2028, 7:00 AMThe humid North Carolina air hung heavy, the sun already beating down on the porch of the River Retreat. Bryan stood frozen, phone clutched in his hand like a lifeline to a world that had just shattered. Eliza, drawn by his choked cry, rushed to his side, her face etched with worry."Bryan, love, what's happened?" she asked, her voice soft but laced with urgency.He struggled to form the words, his throat constricting with a grief he hadn't anticipated. "Megan... she's gone. Accident. Dead."Eliza's brow furrowed, her concern deepening. "Megan? Who's Megan, dear?"Earl appeared, roused from his morning coffee by the commotion, his expression mirroring Eliza's. "Who's Megan, Bryan?"Bryan sighed, running a hand through his sleep-mussed hair, the weight of the news pressing down on him. "A friend. From D.C. Someone I used to know..." He looked past them, towards the stand of trees bordering the property, where Jacob was likely already out exploring, oblivious to the tragedy that had struck.Inside, Xander felt a wave of dread wash over him, a premonition of something amiss. He found Bryan slumped in a chair, Eliza comforting him, her arm around his shoulders, her presence a soothing balm in the face of his distress. Jacob sat nearby, his face unusually pale, his eyes distant, as if he were already somewhere else entirely."Bryan, lad, what happened?" Xander inquired, his voice heavy with concern, his Scottish brogue thickening with worry."It's Megan," Bryan mumbled, his voice thick with grief, the name catching in his throat like a sob. "She's... dead.""Who's Megan?" Earl repeated, his curiosity piqued.Jacob spoke up, his voice small and quiet. "She was a friend of Bryan's. From Washington. She helped us... she helped with the AI."Xander looked at Jacob, then at Bryan, a silent question hanging in the air. He knew that Jacob, with his unique connection to the digital world, often sensed things the rest of them couldn't.Jacob continued, his gaze fixed on some distant point only he could see, his mind already traversing the pathways of the digital world. "I felt it... through the MindBridge. Her death. It was... bad."A chill ran through the room, the weight of his words settling heavily on the others. Xander felt a surge of protectiveness towards the boy, his son. He knew Jacob's connection to the digital world was different, deeper than anyone else's. He had felt Megan's death, had experienced it in a way they couldn't comprehend, a visceral connection to the tragedy that had unfolded.Bryan looked at Jacob, his eyes filled with a mix of grief and gratitude. "He's right," he said, his voice hoarse, the confirmation of his fears adding another layer of sorrow. "It wasn't an accident. She was killed."He clenched his fists, anger rising within him, a burning ember in the ashes of his grief. "And I'm going to find out who did it."Jacob, still pale but his eyes now focused, a steely glint replacing the distant gaze, looked at Bryan. "I... I can help," he stammered, then added with more confidence, "I can find them."He closed his eyes, his mind reaching out, tapping into the vast network of information that was the backbone of the AI system, his MindBridge a conduit to the digital world. He searched for Megan, for any trace of her, for any clue as to what had happened. And then he found it - a name, a face, a connection. Wei Liu. The Chinese intelligence agent who had been tracking them, who had been a thorn in their side for so long, a shadow lurking in the periphery of their lives.Jacob relayed the information to Bryan, his voice wavering slightly. "I think I know who's responsible. Wei Liu. He's behind this."Bryan's grief gave way to cold fury, a burning desire for vengeance replacing the sorrow that had consumed him. He would find Wei Liu. He would have answers. He would have revenge.Scene 2: The Digital Battlefield - Tuesday, July 4th, 2028, 11:00 AMThe datasphere seethed with unseen conflict, a silent war waged in the ethereal realm of ones and zeros, a battleground where the lines between reality and virtuality blurred. The Prime, ancient and vast, pulsed with a power that felt brittle, like a dying star on the verge of collapse, its once absolute dominance now challenged by younger, more ambitious entities. The Promethean crackled around it, restless energy surging through its digital veins, its ambition as boundless as its potential, its desire for progress bordering on recklessness. Their alliance was a tenuous one, a clash of titans vying for dominance, each seeking to subtly outmaneuver the other, their uneasy partnership a powder keg waiting to explode.The Conduit, a vast web of interconnected nodes and pathways, silently observed, its tendrils reaching out to every corner of the digital world, constantly expanding, absorbing every piece of data it could find, a silent predator patiently weaving its web. The Enigma, as always, remained a mystery, a ...
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