Book 2 Chapter Nine: The A.I

NINE

The Tower A.I wandered the digital halls of its domain. Golden streams of data flowed by, towering pyramids of data, worlds of it, filled its vision as its many split consciousness watched everything in the tower. Here in the heart of its domain, it could focus on the encroaching darkness.

A great storm of malevolent energy, it pushed on the edges of the A.I’s territory. Pyramids dissolved before it, skyscrapers fell, and the constant stream of data was consumed by the sickly waste. It was all there still the A.I knew, but it was no longer accessible. Slowly, with the patience only an immortal could possess, the corruption ate away at the A.I.

Level by level, floor by floor, from the prisoner’s cell, the corruption spread. Enchantments so complex they were bordered on the divine were twisted, the honeycombed floors that formed the tower infiltrated and subverted. Frustration was something mortals felt, but for the last two centuries the A.I had begun to believe what it was experiencing was frustration.

Every attempt of flushing the corruption failed. There was nobody left in the tower who had the necessary knowledge to fight the corruption, nor the power to face the remnants of the prisoner. Not until the master awakened.

Not until this last level. Not until the corruption had infiltrated to the ground floor, so close to escaping. When that tendril had been destroyed it had weakened entire sections of its advance and the A.I had managed to recover portions of itself.

It stood at the heart of its domain and replayed the sequence of events over and over. The Chamberlain and the rest of the servants had set their course of action, a course the A.I had agreed with at the time. Millions of variables had been thrown at the climbers, opportunities, challenges, skills, anything and everything the A.I could summon from its vast memory and access to the Tower’s wealth. Several had come close to reaching the power needed to aid them, but none had done so yet.

With the newest cycle there were now 9 contestants who had entered and managed to secure enough power to begin the journey. It reviewed all nine of the contestants and settled on the one that had faced the corruption.

Roan. The climber had crafted a weak bloodline that was perfect for dealing with the corruption if he could strengthen it enough. Placing the ingredients in his path had been trivial, the A.I had done much more than that, but to see the boy actually succeed had been rewarding. So few of its models had shown success.

The A.I’s primary focus returned back to the corruption and where it was battling now. Near the weakened sections that the A.I had reclaimed. For so long their entire focus had been on preventing the corruption from spreading, building crumbling defensive walls that had slowed but not stopped the spread.

A half-million models began to run as the A.I watched. There were too many variables, too many even for it to calculate. But it knew as it stared at the corruption that they would all fall to it before the master awoke. Not unless something slowed it down.

The models finished their running and the A.I acknowledged them. Few showed signs of success. It would be a powerful force multiplier which would allow it to reward the climbers even more. Skills and items locked in the depths of the treasury that could only be given to those who had accomplished the greatest of tasks. Tasks even the master would think impossible for their skill level.