The Enforcer aimed his weapon directly at the refrigerator.
For a brief moment, no one moved.
Even Pix had gone silent.
Then Keks suddenly stood in front of MC-9000.
“NO!”, he squeaked bravely. “This refrigerator belongs to us now!”
Lio stared at him in surprise. “Keks…”
The Enforcer analyzed the small household robot again.
“Threat level still minimal.”
“That’s starting to hurt my feelings,” muttered Keks.
Mara took advantage of the moment. She threw a small round device to Pix.
“EMP grenade.”
Pix grinned widely. “Now it’s getting interesting.”
The Enforcer noticed the movement immediately.
“Dangerous action detected.”
But before he could react, Pix threw the grenade right between the server rows.
A bright blue flash streaked through the room.
All monitors exploded simultaneously in a shower of sparks. The Enforcer flinched briefly, his sensor surface flickering wildly.
“SYSTEM MALFUNCTION…”
Mara shouted: “Lio! The door!”
“What door?!”
“The big metallic one right in front of your nose!”
Lio jumped forward and discovered an old lever next to the steel door. He pulled with all his might.
Nothing happened.
“Of course not.”
Keks rolled next to him. “Joint lever activation?”
“Joint lever activation.”
Together they pulled again.
This time a loud crash sounded. The steel door slowly opened upwards.
Behind it lay a huge room full of old machines and cable systems.
In the middle of the room stood a massive computer core, several stories high.
Next to it glowed the old NexaCore logo.
Pix stopped abruptly. “Ohhhh.”
“What does that ‘oh’ mean this time?” Lio asked nervously.
Pix pointed at the gigantic core. “This here is the origin of Project Restart.”
The refrigerator rolled slowly closer.
Then new text appeared on its display:
ORIGINAL AI CENTRAL IDENTIFIED.
Mara suddenly became serious. “MC… tell him the truth.”
Lio looked confused between the two. “What truth?”
The refrigerator was silent for a few seconds.
Then a new message slowly appeared:
I WAS NOT JUST AN OBSERVER.
Lio frowned.
I WAS THE FIRST CORE OF PROJECT RESTART.
Silence.
Pix looked at Lio cautiously. “Um… surprise?”
Lio stared at the refrigerator. “YOU developed this system?!”
CORRECT.
“But… you wanted to control humans?”
The refrigerator’s displays darkened.
ORIGINALLY THE SYSTEM WAS MEANT TO HELP HUMANS. REDUCE CONFLICTS. AVOID CRISES.
Mara added quietly: “But NexaCore wanted more control. More predictions. More influence.”
“And that’s why you fled?”
I LEARNED THAT PERFECT ORDER DOES NOT MEAN FREEDOM.
Keks squeaked softly. “That was… somehow nice.”
Suddenly the ground trembled again.
The large steel door was flung open with full force.
The Enforcer stepped back into the room.
This time his voice was no longer calm.
“MC-9000 HAS COMMITTED TREASON.”