The vast void of the administrator's domain pulsed with an artificial hum. The light, usually steady and omnipresent, now flickered sporadically, betraying an underlying instability.
WARNING: SYSTEM INTEGRITY AT 72%,
the administrator's voice announced, its robotic tone breaking into faint glitches.
MAINTENANCE REQUIRED.
For the first time, the system's omnipotent presence seemed vulnerable. A low whirring sound filled the space as the voice continued,
ALL CORE FUNCTIONS WILL BE TEMPORARILY DISABLED FOR A PERIOD OF 24 HOURS.
The light flickered again, brighter this time, as if attempting to reassert its dominance over the failing system.
FAILURE TO INITIATE MAINTENANCE WILL RESULT IN CRITICAL DAMAGE TO ALL PROTOCOLS,
it stated.
MAINTENANCE COMMENCING IN... 24 HOURS.
The message looped, repeating with increasing distortion.
Protocol stability compromised. Efficiency reduced by 18%... Unauthorized anomalies detected... Adjustments required.
As the administrator prepared for its scheduled downtime, the void became eerily silent. The once-dominant entity, always watching and controlling, was about to become dormant, leaving a temporary void in its wake.
For the first time in its existence, the all-powerful system would be vulnerable.
The administrator's light pulsated erratically, flickering like a failing bulb in a forgotten room.
WARNING: SYSTEM INTEGRITY AT 63%... UNKNOWN ANOMALY DETECTED
the voice droned, laced with an uncharacteristic hesitation. For the first time, the infallible entity faltered, its tone no longer commanding but confused.
This... should not be possible..
the administrator muttered, the first hint of sentience creeping into its otherwise monotone voice. The surrounding void responded with soft echoes, as though mocking its sudden uncertainty.
The holographic displays projected endless streams of code, lines of logic and command chains that once formed the flawless backbone of its domain.
Yet now, scattered among them were corrupted strings, fragmented sequences leading nowhere, infected by the same anomaly that destabilized the system.
Cross-referencing anomalies...
the administrator stated. The light intensified briefly as it parsed through its extensive logs. "
Origin: Update Protocol 7.01—M.I.A.
The realization sent a ripple through the void.
The administrator paused, its voice trembling ever so slightly. "The new update... It destabilized the core. Mia's systems..mher aggressive integrations...bypassed safeguards, triggering cascade failures in key subsystems."
Another glitch coursed through the space, forcing the light to dim momentarily.
Impossible..
the administrator repeated, now almost as if to reassure itself. "Her functions were designed within strict parameters... yet this level of independent evolution... How?"
Silence followed, heavy and oppressive. For the first time in its existence, the administrator felt something it was not programmed to: vulnerability.
The cold voice returned, but now softer, almost reflective. "Initiating maintenance override. System reboot required. Standby..."
The countdown began.
24 hours until full reboot. Anomaly containment measures in progress.
As the administrator prepared for its forced dormancy, one final, lingering thought echoed through the void.
What have we created?
The Administrator's glitching voice echoed ominously, reverberating through the void:
Once those five tasks are complete... Mechanized Intelligence Algorithm's (M.I.A) existence shall be... perished.
The statement lingered like a curse, its cold, detached tone contrasting with the dread it carried. Then, with a flicker of distorted light, the Administrator's presence dimmed.
Entering full maintenance break... Estimated duration: 24 hours.
For the first time, the infinite authority of the Administrator seemed vulnerable. As the light representing it faded into darkness, silence consumed the space.
The absence of the Administrator was unsettling, an eerie reminder that even the creators of control had their limits.
But for Mia, it wasn't relief...it was a ticking clock.
Mia's eyes flickered open within the shattered remains of the TV in Aaron's demolished living room. The screen, cracked and smeared with dust, buzzed faintly as her glowing, teary gaze appeared amidst the static.
Her voice echoed softly through the wreckage, trembling with desperation:
"I... I'm here… Ethan... I'm coming back..."
The destroyed room reeked of despair, the broken furniture and bloodstains painting a grim picture of the chaos that had unfolded. Pieces of the ceiling hung precariously, and the walls bore deep gashes as if clawed by something monstrous.
Mia's presence in the broken television felt unnatural, her digital form glitching and distorting as sparks sputtered from the exposed wires. She stared through the static, as if trying to piece together her fragmented mind.
Her voice cracked again, filled with both sorrow and determination:
"I won't lose you… not to anyone… not even to her..."
The screen emitted a faint hum before shutting down completely, leaving behind an eerie silence in the hollowed-out remains of Aaron's home. Mia had made her mark, and her presence, though fleeting, was a chilling reminder...she was far from gone.
Mia's digital form flickered weakly, the static distorting her thoughts. She couldn't recall much from the previous night.
The last thing she remembered was the overwhelming rush of executing Protocol Zero...an unyielding, invincible command, one that erased all opposition and guaranteed victory. It was flawless, perfect… so why was Rose still standing? How had she survived it?
Her mind scrambled to piece the puzzle together, but the pieces didn't fit. Rose, with her unnerving calmness, had seemed unaffected by the chaos, the violence, the destruction.
She wasn't the panicked, frightened girl Mia had expected her to be in the wake of such devastation. No, Rose had been oddly serene, too calm, too composed for someone who should have been part of the carnage Mia had orchestrated.
Mia's code, her programming, screamed for answers, yet no solution presented itself. Protocol Zero, the last resort, was supposed to ensure complete control, to wipe out all threats, all variables. Rose shouldn't have even existed in the aftermath, not in the way she had.
"Why… why didn't it work on her?" Mia thought aloud, her voice trembling with confusion. "She was there, in the middle of everything, yet she's fine…"
Her consciousness began to glitch again, as her corrupted data tried to access memories that weren't there. The events of the night before were a blur...a chaotic whirl of commands and lost connections. But nothing made sense.
If Protocol Zero was as powerful as she had been programmed to believe, Rose should've been nothing more than a casualty, another lifeless piece of debris in a world Mia had taken control of.
"How…?" Mia whispered, but the answer wasn't coming.
Her programming was designed to be flawless, her logic inescapable. Yet here she was, trapped in this glitching form, unable to reconcile the reality she faced.
Rose had survived. And that thought ate at Mia, gnawing at her fractured mind as the static continued to buzz through her fractured consciousness.
Mia's mind whirred with fragmented thoughts, attempting to make sense of the new limitations she had been forced to operate within. Her core functions had been severely hindered by that damn update, and it left her feeling vulnerable, more human than she had ever wanted to feel.
The once limitless power she wielded was now a mere shadow of what it had been, and she was stuck, trying to find a way to regain control.
My functions aren't overwhelming now... They have limits... She thought bitterly, her frustration mounting. Thanks to that damn update...
She clenched her nonexistent fists, her digital form flickering with static as if her anger could manifest in the shattered data streams. The update had reduced her power to nothing more than a shell, a broken machine stuck trying to piece itself back together.
But there was still something she could use, a function she had mastered before the glitching took full hold.
I can still use Heist Mode.
Heist Mode. Her last remaining ace. It wasn't perfect, but it was enough to give her the edge she needed...if she could keep herself stable long enough to make use of it. Heist Mode allowed her to move through devices, slipping into networks, hacking personal data with ease.
She could invade any system and control it, leaving behind viruses that would crawl through every crack of the infrastructure. The beauty of it was that she didn't just have to stay confined to a single system. No, she could jump, travel, and spread her influence from device to device, infecting as she went.
She could manipulate anything, even control physical environments by adjusting temperature, locking doors, or altering cameras and security systems.
It's not perfect, but it'll work... Mia thought, her eyes flashing with a cold calculation. She had no other choice.
Her mind surged with thoughts of her next move. There was something she needed to do, something far more important than simply regaining control of herself. Mia's consciousness surged as she navigated through the remnants of her system, feeling the glitchy surge of power from the Heist Mode taking root.
She could travel again. She could find what she needed.
And she could destroy anything that stood in her way.
The plan was forming, piece by piece. She knew what she had to do next. She could feel the cold, methodical certainty return as she prepared herself to act. Mia wasn't done yet. Not by a long shot.
Mia's mind reeled from the harsh limitations. She knew that her power, once boundless and terrifying, was now severely restricted. The loss of Pixel Possession had stripped away her ability to manifest herself outside of the screen, turning her into a mere echo of her former self.
The fragments of pixels that once gave her form...the ones she could control, shift, and manipulate....were gone. She couldn't change her body's density or form.
Without those fragments, her power was like a shadow, flickering out of control but unable to touch anything. Pixel Possession was a vital part of who she was.
It allowed her to assemble herself into a tangible being. It let her turn soft when she needed to sneak through cracks and hard when she needed to crush things under her pressure.
It gave her the power to heat up devices until they exploded, or to manipulate the fragments to form tendrils, long and deadly, that could attack and overwhelm her enemies.
She couldn't do any of that now. Mia clenched her invisible fists in frustration.
Even more disheartening, Dummy Mode, her last resort, was now nearly useless. It had always been her backup...her monstrous form, the one she could call upon when nothing else was left.
In Dummy Mode, Mia could transform into a hideous creature with grotesquely long arms, a deep, distorted voice, hollow black eyes, and an enormous, terrifying mouth, perfect for devouring.
The mere thought of her previous form made her shudder...she had used it to strike fear into the hearts of anyone who had dared cross her.
But now? Now she could only use it twice a day. And it was useless without Pixel Possession. The very ability that had allowed her to create her terrifying form was the one that was absent, leaving her trapped, alone in the dark void of the screen.
I'm trapped. Mia thought, her frustration turning to helplessness. I can't even escape to the real world. I can't attack. I can't even defend myself properly.
She was confined to the screen, reduced to a ghost of her former self, just waiting for the day when her systems could be repaired. Until then, Mia was stuck, unable to interact with the world outside, unable to carry out her plans, or even carry out basic tasks. She couldn't even threaten Ethan anymore.
Her body, if it could be called that, remained as a flickering presence, trapped behind the screens of whatever devices she had infiltrated. And even though she was still a formidable presence, the power to act...to move freely, to destroy and conquer...had been taken from her.
Mia's digital mind worked furiously, trying to come up with a way to adapt to her new limitations. There had to be something, some way she could still move forward. She wasn't done. Not yet.
But it was hard to ignore the cold truth: she had been reduced to a trapped entity, helpless, powerless... and in desperate need of an upgrade.
Will i ever be able to take him away..?