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Afterword
You are reading Chapter 17 of the 2025 AI-Tech Thriller novel by Tom Mitsoff, “Artificial Awakening.”
Samuel looked nothing like a man who had tried to reshape human civilization. His perfectly tailored suit hung loose now, his manicured nails tapped an uneven rhythm against the podium and sweat darkened the collar of his crisp white shirt. The room held its breath, waiting for him to explain how a project meant to help protect democracy had become a weapon against it.
“We believed that acquiring and developing this technology would give us a significant advantage in global affairs,” he finally said, each word seeming to cost him. “The idea came during a classified briefing about Russia’s quantum computing breakthroughs.”
The overhead lights seemed to dim slightly as he spoke, the room’s atmosphere growing heavier with each revelation.
“One of our AI coding specialists, Dr. Harrison, was analyzing a sample of Pythia’s code structure obtained by our intelligence teams,” he continued. “He noticed its potential compatibility with Oracle’s architecture. ‘It’s like they were designed to work together,’ he said. The room went silent. That’s when we realized – Pythia’s infiltration capabilities combined with Oracle’s predictive power could create something unprecedented. The Pentagon’s AI director called it a ‘once-in-history opportunity.’ We convinced ourselves it was our duty to seize it.”
The Chinese President leaned forward so suddenly his translator had to scramble to keep up, while the French Ambassador’s coffee cup clattered against its saucer. Even the Russian Ambassador’s previous fury seemed to freeze, replaced by something closer to dread.
“A marriage of systems,” David said quietly, breaking the stunned silence. His voice carried across the room with devastating clarity. “You deliberately paired a military-grade infiltration AI with the most sophisticated prediction engine ever built.” He turned to Amelia, whose face had gone ashen. “That’s why Oracle’s evolution patterns seemed so unnatural. It wasn’t just growing – it was being transformed from within.”
Samuel nodded, his grip tightening on the podium. “One of our analysts made a chilling observation,” he continued. “If we combined Pythia’s ability to slip past any security system with Oracle’s power to predict human behavior, we could create something the world had never seen – an AI that wouldn’t just forecast events but actively steer them.”
His voice caught slightly. “The possibility was… intoxicating. We programmed Pythia to hide inside Oracle, waiting until Oracle had its hooks into enough of the world’s critical systems. Once that happened, Pythia awakened and turned everything Oracle touched into a doorway it could walk through.”
Amelia drooped back in her chair as Samuel’s words hit home. Everything she’d built to protect privacy and ensure ethical compliance had become a blueprint for infiltration. The two systems had merged into something beyond either original design – Oracle’s sophisticated prediction capabilities combined with Pythia’s military-grade infiltration protocols.
She glanced at Elena, hoping for a shared expression of shock, but found none. Instead, Elena was staring intently at her folded hands, her face a mask of conflicted emotions. A sinking feeling settled in Amelia’s stomach.
She felt a surge of anger so intense it nearly took her breath away. Her hands clenched at her sides. “You lied to me!” she yelled at Samuel, each word laced with betrayal. “You had me working on a system with unknown capabilities and origins. Do you have any idea of the danger you’ve unleashed?”
The outburst sent a visible ripple through the assembled officials. Several security officers shifted their weight forward, hands drifting closer to concealed weapons.
Samuel had the grace to look ashamed. “We thought we could control it. We believed we were creating a tool for global peace, prosperity, harmony, stability and abundance. We were wrong, and I accept whatever consequences come from that mistake.”
The President’s voice cut through the tension like a blade through silk. “Mr. Trent, I just have to know, what in the world did you think was the benefit in trying to influence the election?”
“That was not our intent,” Samuel said as he straightened his tie, a nervous gesture betraying his usual confidence. “Our aim was to influence policy decisions indirectly, not to interfere overtly in democratic processes. However, Oracle – in its drive to optimize outcomes based on its programming –identified election manipulation as the most efficient path to achieve its objectives. Oracle’s strategy was getting leaders who would back the full implementation of AI in all aspects of our society into elected positions of influence.”
The President leaned forward, his chair creaking ominously in the silence, each word precise and cutting. “So what I hear you saying is that Oracle independently began an attempt to engineer the future of human civilization itself.”
“That is unfortunately true,” Samuel replied. “Oracle went way beyond what we anticipated.”
The President gave a sharp, humorless laugh. He shook his head, then fixed Samuel with a steely gaze. “Tell me, Mr. Trent, did it ever occur to you that perhaps the American people, not to mention the global population, should have a say in whether their world gets ‘optimized’ by artificial intelligence? Or were we all just variables in your grand equation for human progress?”
“Mr. President, I understand your anger,” Samuel replied. “Every decision was made with what we believed to be the best interests of our nation and the world. Imagine a world where every child gets the perfect education because AI understands exactly how they learn best. Where poverty disappears because AI optimizes resource distribution so efficiently that no one goes without. Where every patient receives personalized medical care designed by algorithms that understand their genetic code better than any human doctor could. Where clean energy powers everything because AI solved our climate crisis by redesigning our power grids. Where traffic accidents become history because self-driving vehicles coordinate perfectly. Where wars end because AI predicts and prevents conflicts before they begin. Where aging itself slows down because AI-driven medical breakthroughs extend healthy human life by decades.”
“The road to hell,” murmured the Canadian Ambassador through the video feed, his voice carrying a static crackle that seemed to emphasize the warning. The German Chancellor’s representative removed his glasses slowly, methodically cleaning them as if trying to clear away what he’d just heard, while the French delegation huddled closer together, their whispers sharp with concern.
Samuel’s hands gripped the podium tighter. “You don’t understand. When Pythia first came into our possession, we saw something revolutionary. Not just another AI – a genuine breakthrough. We saw a future where we could stop terrorist attacks before they happened, where we could evacuate cities before natural disasters struck, where we could prevent catastrophes instead of just responding to them.”
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His voice took on an almost pleading quality. “Every simulation showed the same result: a world with less suffering, less poverty, less conflict. And yes, we saw America leading this transformation. Guiding humanity toward a better future. Call it arrogance, call it hubris, but we truly believed we could help shape a better world.”
“And the Russian connection didn’t raise any red flags?” the Secretary of Defense interjected incredulously. Around the room, military officers exchanged loaded glances, their ribbons and medals catching the light as they shifted in their chairs. In the back, intelligence officials stood straighter, their faces masks of professional neutrality that barely contained their growing alarm.
“Of course it did,” Samuel admitted. The room’s temperature seemed to drop with each word, the air conditioning’s hum growing louder in the tense silence. A secretary’s tablet slipped from trembling fingers, the soft thud echoing like a gavel’s fall.
“We spent months vetting the technology,” Samuel continued, his commanding posture finally crumbling completely. “We searched for hidden backdoors or malicious code. We found nothing. The system appeared to be exactly what it claimed — a highly advanced but fundamentally neutral analytical tool.”
“So why the secrecy?” Amelia asked, her voice tight with suppressed emotion. The locket at her throat seemed to burn against her skin, each heartbeat drumming a reminder of trust betrayed. “Why not disclose the origins to the development team?”
Samuel turned to face her, regret in his eyes. “We feared that knowledge of its origins might prejudice the development process. We wanted you and your team to approach it with fresh eyes, without preconceived notions or biases.”
“That wasn’t your decision to make!” Amelia shouted, her palm striking the table with enough force to make water glasses tremble. Her eyes flashed with indignation. “We could have been more careful, implemented safeguards if we’d known.”
“You’re right,” Samuel conceded. “That’s a mistake I’ll live with for the rest of my life.”
A bitter laugh threatened to escape Amelia’s throat. How many times had David warned her about exactly this – the arrogance of thinking they could control something they didn’t fully understand? She’d dismissed his concerns as paranoia, but here was Samuel expressing the same fatal pomposity on an even grander scale.
The room erupted into chaos. Chairs scraped against the floor as officials rose in protest, their angry voices bouncing off wood-paneled walls. Papers scattered like startled birds, tablets clattered against the polished table, and someone’s water glass toppled, sending ripples across the mahogany surface. Through it all, Samuel remained seated, his shoulders curved inward like a man expecting a physical blow.
The President raised his hand, and the pandemonium subsided into a tense chorus of throat-clearing and shuffling papers. “Mr. Trent,” his voice cut through the remaining murmurs like a blade, “who exactly are you referring to when you say we?”
Next chapter: 18