*Bzzzzzzz*

A machine whirred away in the center of a large room. The room was filled with different machines, and countertops with various apparatus on them. It was clean, well lit, and primarily white in color. Everything looked polished as if it were brand new, however, some of the apparatus showed clear signs of heavy use. The room would be best described as a lab. A man walked briskly over to the machine and adjusted a dial on it before returning to the large monitor he had been working at before.

*Ring* *Ring*

The man heard the familiar sound of a phone ringing. What was curious, however, was that the sound was not actually audible in the room. The sound was only audible to the man, but was in fact still quite real. The man was using the A.I. System. A state-of-the-art piece of technology that was currently one-of-a-kind.

The man's name was Stradley Barnes and he was the creator of the A.I. System. He was tall, about 6'4", and dark haired. He had a lean, muscular build, at about 210 lbs, because even though he was a scientist, it was instilled on him early to train, and keep his body in good shape, additionally he would workout as a form of stress relief from the laboratory. 

'Answer', said Stradley mentally. In his vision was the contact picture of Edward, his long-time coworker and friend. Edward had helped with his discovery of a major use of Omnistone, which was what allowed him to invent the A.I. System.

"What's up?" said Stradley.

"Just checking to make sure that the new chip was going as planned. I'm heading to the lab, but I'm still halfway across the planet. I'm still probably 4 hours from arriving."

"I'm nearly ready. Just putting some final touches on the chip, then we'll have to do some serious testing before this goes in anyone's body. You might be able to use it by the end of the month at the earliest." Stradley continued to monitor the machine as he said this.

"Good, I can't wait. I haven't been able to compete with you in anything for months. Everytime we play darts, you get a perfect score, it's inhuman!"

"That's what you're excited for? You'll have a perfect memory as just one of many benefits yet you're most excited for darts!?" 

"I hate losing to you! I've beat you like 70 percent of the time we played, from college until you got that stupid System. But now, I cannot win at all! I've only managed to tie you once, and that was only one round!" Edward's voice began to get louder in indignation.

"Actually, we played 13,897 times, and you won 7,643 times. Which means you've only won about 55% of the time," replied Stradley flatly.

"No way! It's more than that!" Edward yells.

"Nope, I can remember every single time we played, and the system even counted them for me. Also, I hate to break it to you, but you aren't going to beat me for a while. It took me nearly a year to get the PM System working and adjusted. Even if it takes you less time, Mr. Test Subject Number 2, you'll still need some time to adjust," said Stradley, a teasing note in his voice.

"Ah whatever, just wait, I'll beat you every time once it works!" Edward quiets down a bit, still unresigned.

"If that's all you're calling about, I've got to go. I need to monitor the final steps of the chip creation, it's very delicate, and I need to focus so that nothing goes wrong."

"Alright, see you tomorrow Strad."

"See you Ed."

*Beep*

Ed's picture disappeared from his view as he ended the call and he got back to work.

*Buzz*

A few minutes later he heard a buzzing sound. Somebody was at the call box to enter the lab. 

'Connect'

After this thought, Stradley saw a small screen pop-up in his vision. He was seeing live video from the security camera outside the lab door. An older man, with balding gray hair and a lab coat was standing at the call box. 

"Is that you Dr.Jones?" Stradley asked the man on the camera.

"Oh thank goodness, I thought you were out when my keycard wasn't working. Do you know why it's not working perchance?" Dr.Jones held up his keycard with a questioning look on his face.

"Oh right, I forgot to tell you. I disabled all keycards to the doors while the final steps of production are going on. I don't want somebody randomly entering and causing any problems. Even if all of you are people I trust, and good scientists, it's better to be safe than sorry," said Stradley.

"Oh, I understand completely. I never want to be interrupted either when I'm on the final stretch of any project. So does that mean it's almost complete?" When Dr.Jones said this, there was a hint of excitement in his voice.

"Yes, come inside and I'll show you. Edward is arriving tomorrow, we're hoping to have him start testing in around a week." As Stradley said this the outside door opened and let in Dr.Jones. He went through each step of sanitation before finally stepping into the lab proper. He hurried over to where Stradley was standing, already refocused on the task at hand. 

"I can never get over just how small that chip is! It can only be seen under a microscope, and it is hard to see even on an x-ray!" Exclaimed Dr.Jones.

"You know that's only because of the shrinking ability of the Omnistone, it's nothing new," replied Stradley.

"Yes, but nobody else has managed to shrink anything this powerful this small. The closest piece of technology still has to be worn like a baseball cap!" Dr.Jones couldn't contain his bubbling excitement over the A.I. System chip. "Do you mind if I sit here and watch the last bit of production?"

"Not at all, it's not like you don't know a lot of its secrets anyway. It'll still be a couple hours before it's fully complete. You might as well grab a chair." After saying this Stradley turned and fully focused on the screen, comparing data that was on the monitor to a model in his vision which nobody else could see.

A couple hours went by, and the two people in the room were visibly excited. 

"Finally, after months of work, the second chip is complete," said Stradley, a hint of exhaustion on his face.

Dr. Jones leaned in to get a closer look, then suddenly *THUD* Stradley falls to the ground unable to move. Dr. Jones clicks a small pen-shaped object and returns it to his pocket. 

"Sorry, Stradley. They don't want these available to the public." The earlier excitement faded from Dr. Jones' face like it was a lie. "Now that you've got another working model, one that hasn't been implanted, I had to get involved." Dr. Jones takes out a pen and pulls it open to reveal a hollow interior. He carefully places the chip into a viscous solution and slides it into the opening of the pen before resealing it. On the floor, Stradley watched the whole thing. His eyes, the only part of him capable of moving independently, showed disbelief and anger. He watched as Dr. Jones went on to open the central machine and place a small, circular object where the chip had laid during creation. The whole time, he was yelling in his mind for the System, only to get no response. Somehow, Dr. Jones had disabled the System and he had to helplessly lay on the floor.

"This may hurt a bit, bear with me." Dr. Jones took out a small syringe and flipped Stradley over. He stuck it into his neck at the base of his head and slowly emptied the contents. Stradley's eyes bulged a little bit, clearly from discomfort. Afterwards he slowly examined his neck as if looking for something. He stops when he finds a very small scar made by an incision. "You should be numbed up by now, hopefully you won't feel this part." He took out a small cylindrical tool and placed it where the scar was. A sound of burning flesh could be heard as he slowly drilled a small hole into Stradley's head. He stopped when the tool detected metal ahead of it. He pulled out another object, similar to what he placed into the machine earlier, but smaller. He slowly pushed it into the hole he made until it was no longer visible. After that he got up, and carefully slumped Stradley over the side of the desk, as if he had collapsed whilst working.

"I hate for it to be like this, but I had no other choice. The world is about to change, and the A.I. System will hurt our plans. You really are too brilliant a scientist to lose, it's such a shame." He paused for a second before leaving. The door opened for him, as if he had never needed access in the first place.

About 3 hours later there were two loud pops, like those packing bubbles popping. At that point Stradley's brain was burned and he stopped breathing.

The next morning, Edward arrived and entered the lab, only to scream in shock. Police arrived soon after. Stradley Barnes, the famous scientist, was dead.