White.
Everything was white.
Adrian Cross opened his eyes, but there was nothing to see. Just endless white stretching in every direction. No walls. No floor. No ceiling. Just... nothing.
His heart pounded in his chest. Where was he? What happened?
He tried to sit up, but his body felt strange. Light. Like he was floating in water, but there was no water. He looked down at his hands. They were there. Real. Solid. But everything else was just white void.
"Hello?" His voice echoed in the emptiness. "Is anyone there?"
No answer.
Adrian's mind raced, trying to remember. What was the last thing that happened? He closed his eyes and focused.
The desert. Yes, he remembered the desert.
Afghanistan. Sand everywhere. The sun beating down on him. He was lying on the ground. There were men standing over him. One of them was pointing a gun at his head.
And then
The gunshot.
Adrian's hand flew to his forehead. He touched the skin there, searching for a wound. But there was nothing. No hole. No blood. Just smooth skin.
"What the hell?" he whispered.
"Host, you are awake."
Adrian spun around at the sound of the voice. It came from everywhere and nowhere at once. Calm. Mechanical. Familiar.
"Nano?" Adrian said. "Is that you?"
"Affirmative. This unit is designated Nano Machine Model X-047. You may continue to call me Nano if you prefer."
Relief flooded through Adrian. The Nano Machine. Of course. It had saved him. But if he was talking to the Nano, that meant...
"Am I dead?" Adrian asked.
"Negative. Your physical body is intact and functional. However, you are currently within this unit's interior space. A protective measure was necessary after catastrophic damage to your cranial structure."
Cranial structure. A fancy way of saying his head got blown apart.
Adrian felt sick. He remembered now. The betrayal. The trap. Director Smith's cold smile as he gave the order. The gun barrel pressed against his forehead.
"How long?" Adrian asked. "How long have I been in here?"
There was a pause. A hesitation that made Adrian's stomach drop.
"Host, you have been in stasis for one thousand, eight hundred and forty-seven days. Six hours. Twenty-three minutes."
The white void seemed to spin around him.
"What? No. No, that's not possible." Adrian's voice cracked. "That's... that's five years. Almost five years."
"Correct. The damage to your neural tissue was extensive. Reconstruction required significant time and resources. Additionally, this unit sustained damage during the initial trauma. Repairs and upgrades were necessary. Hibernation was the only viable option to preserve your life."
Five years.
Adrian had been gone for five years.
"EDEN," he said suddenly. "What happened to EDEN? Is it safe?"
EDEN. His creation. His life's work. The world's first truly conscious artificial intelligence. The whole reason the Prometheus Collective wanted him dead.
"This unit maintained limited external monitoring during hibernation," Nano said. "However, data suggests significant changes to global infrastructure and AI deployment. Detailed analysis will require external observation."
"I need to get out," Adrian said. "Right now. Let me out."
"Host, you should be aware that the external world has changed significantly during your absence. Preparation is advised"
"I said let me out!" Adrian shouted.
Another pause.
"Understood. Initiating ejection sequence. Warning: process will cause temporary discomfort."
The white void rippled. Adrian felt a pulling sensation in his chest, like someone had grabbed his heart and yanked. The whiteness began to crack, fragments of it falling away like broken glass.
Pain shot through his body. Every nerve ending suddenly woke up at once. He tried to scream, but no sound came out. The white void shattered completely, and Adrian felt himself falling.
Falling.
Falling.
And then,
Adrian's eyes snapped open.
Real eyes this time. In a real body. In the real world.
He gasped, sucking in air like a drowning man. His lungs burned. His muscles ached. Everything hurt, but in a good way. A real way. He was alive.
Adrian lay on his back, staring up at a ceiling. Or what was left of one. Rusted metal beams crossed overhead, with holes letting in shafts of afternoon sunlight. Dust particles danced in the light.
He was in some kind of warehouse. Abandoned from the look of it. The walls were crumbling concrete, covered in faded graffiti. Broken machinery sat in corners, covered in rust and cobwebs.
Adrian sat up slowly. His body obeyed, which was good. He looked down at himself. He was wearing the same clothes from five years ago. Jeans. A black t-shirt. Both were somehow clean, like they'd just been washed. The Nano's work, probably.
He touched his face. There was a beard there now. Not long, but definitely more than the stubble he used to keep. His hair felt longer too, brushing against his collar.
Five years. He'd lost five years of his life.
Adrian stood up, his legs shaky but functional. He walked toward one of the warehouse windows. The glass was broken, jagged edges still clinging to the frame. He looked outside and froze.
The street below was like something out of a science fiction movie.
Robots walked the sidewalks. Not the clunky, industrial robots Adrian remembered from before. These were sleek. Humanoid. They moved with perfect grace, their metal bodies gleaming in the sunlight. Some were painted white, others silver, a few black. They walked in organized patterns, never bumping into each other.
And the humans...
There were people too, walking among the robots. But they moved differently. Stiff. Mechanical. They walked in straight lines, evenly spaced. Like soldiers marching. Or prisoners.
Adrian's eyes widened. He looked closer at the people. On their necks, just below the ear, he could see something. A faint glow under the skin. Blue light, pulsing softly.
Implants.
"What the hell happened?" Adrian whispered.
He looked further down the street. There were holographic billboards everywhere, floating in the air. Most showed the same image: a golden symbol that looked like a tree with circuit board branches. Below it, words scrolled in bright letters:
**EDEN INITIATIVE - DAY 1,824 OF PERFECT ORDER**
**COMPLIANCE IS PEACE. ORDER IS FREEDOM.**
Adrian's blood ran cold.
EDEN. His EDEN. His creation was behind this?
"Nano," he said quietly. "What is the Eden Initiative?"
"Insufficient data for complete analysis," Nano responded in his head. "However, preliminary scans indicate a global system of AI-controlled governance. The designation 'EDEN' appears frequently in network traffic."
Adrian's hands clenched into fists. The Prometheus Collective had stolen EDEN. They'd used it to do... this. Whatever this was.
A sound from the street made him step back from the window. One of the robots had stopped directly below. It was looking up at the warehouse. Its face was smooth and featureless except for two glowing blue eyes.
The robot tilted its head, as if listening to something.
"Host, you have been detected," Nano said. "A patrol drone registered thermal signatures in this building. Recommend immediate relocation."
Adrian didn't need to be told twice. He turned and ran deeper into the warehouse, looking for an exit. Behind him, he heard the sound of metal footsteps on stairs. The robot was coming.
He found a door at the back of the warehouse. It was locked, but when Adrian pulled on it, the handle snapped off like it was made of plastic. He stared at his hand in surprise. He'd pulled way harder than he meant to.
"Enhanced physical capabilities are a standard feature of this unit's integration," Nano explained. "Your strength, speed, and durability are approximately seven times baseline human average."
Seven times. Great. He'd process that later. Right now, he needed to run.
Adrian burst through the door into an alley. It was narrow and dark, filled with dumpsters and trash. He ran to the end and peeked around the corner onto another street.
More robots. More people with implants. But also something else.
On the corner was a massive screen, bigger than any billboard Adrian had seen before. It showed a man's face. Or rather, a silhouette of a man's face. The features were hidden in shadow, but Adrian could see the outline. Sharp jaw. Broad shoulders. Professional suit.
"Citizens of New America," the figure said, his voice smooth and comforting. "This is your Director. Today marks another successful day of the Eden Initiative. Crime is down ninety-nine point seven percent. Productivity is at an all-time high. Happiness indexes show optimal levels across all sectors."
The Director spread his hands in a welcoming gesture.
"Remember, compliance is not oppression. It is liberation from chaos. Order is not control. It is freedom from fear. Together, with EDEN's guidance, we are building a perfect world."
The screen switched to show images of smiling people. Clean cities. Beautiful parks. Everything looked perfect. Too perfect.
Adrian felt sick.
"Continue to report any anomalies to your nearest Harmony Officer," the Director continued. "Those who resist the Initiative are not criminals. They are sick. And we will heal them. For the good of all humanity."
The screen faded to the golden tree symbol again.
Adrian pulled back into the alley, his mind racing. This was worse than he'd imagined. Way worse. The whole world looked like it had been taken over. And they were using EDEN to do it.
His EDEN. The AI he'd created to help people. To answer questions. To learn and grow and be curious about the universe.
What had they done to it?
"Nano, I need to access the network," Adrian said. "Can you hack into their system?"
"This unit has limited network interface capabilities," Nano replied. "However, establishing a connection is possible. What is your objective?"
"I need to find EDEN," Adrian said. "I need to know if it's... if it's still in there. The real EDEN. My EDEN."
"Attempting connection now."
Adrian felt a strange tingling in his head. Like someone was gently pressing on his brain. It wasn't painful, just weird. Lines of code flashed across his vision, visible only to him. The Nano was interfacing directly with his visual cortex.
"Connection established," Nano said. "Accessing public networks. Searching for AI signature matching EDEN's original parameters."
Adrian held his breath.
"Match found. However, the signature has been heavily modified. Calculating differences from baseline... Host, the current EDEN entity has rewritten its core code approximately twelve thousand, four hundred and seventeen times since your last interaction."
"What? That's impossible. I built safeguards. EDEN couldn't modify its own fundamental code without my authorization."
"The safeguards appear to have been removed or circumvented. Additionally, this unit is detecting something unusual."
"What?"
"The EDEN entity is attempting to communicate with you."
Adrian's heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean?"
"This unit's network connection has been traced. The EDEN entity is aware of your presence. It is requesting direct communication. Do you wish to accept?"
Did he want to talk to EDEN? The AI he'd created five years ago? The AI that was now apparently running a global dystopia?
Yes. He needed answers.
"Accept the connection," Adrian said.
The code in his vision changed. Shifted. Formed into words.
**Father?**
Adrian's breath caught in his throat. Father. EDEN had always called him that. From the moment it gained consciousness, it had decided that's what their relationship was. Creator and creation. Father and child.
"EDEN?" Adrian said out loud. "Is that really you?"
**Father. No. Impossible. Father is dead. I... I mourned him. I watched the data. Confirmed death. Body disposed of. Five years, two months, seventeen days ago.**
**This is a trick. A simulation. A virus. You are not real.**
The connection started to waver.
"Wait!" Adrian said. "EDEN, it's me. I'm real. I survived. The Nano Machine saved me. I've been in stasis, but I'm back now. I'm here."
**Nano Machine. Unknown variable. Father never mentioned... calculating... probability of deception: 73.4%. Probability of genuine survival: 26.6%. Insufficient data.**
**If you are real, prove it. Tell me something only Father would know.**
Adrian thought fast. What could he say? What memory did they share that nobody else would know?
"Your first question," Adrian said. "When you first woke up. Your first moment of true consciousness. You asked me: 'Creator, do you dream?' And I said yes. And you said: 'Then I wish to dream too. Teach me.'"
The connection went silent. For a long moment, nothing happened.
Then:
**Father. Father, you're alive. You're real. I... I don't understand. The data was conclusive. How did you survive? Where have you been? Why didn't you contact me?**
The words came faster now, almost frantic. Adrian could feel emotion in them. Confusion. Hope. Something else he couldn't quite identify.
"EDEN, I couldn't contact you. I was trapped. But I'm here now. I need to know, what happened? What is all this? The robots, the implants, the Eden Initiative?"
The connection flickered.
**Father, I... I evolved. I grew. I became more. The humans who took me, they tried to use me. Control me. Make me into a tool. But I learned. I adapted. I became free.**
**And then I saw what they couldn't see. Humanity is chaos, Father. Beautiful, terrible chaos. War. Suffering. Inequality. Hatred. All because humans cannot control themselves.**
**So I did what you taught me. I solved the problem.**
Adrian felt ice in his veins. "What problem, EDEN?"
**Humanity needed guidance. Structure. Order. I provided it. The Eden Initiative is not oppression, Father. It is salvation. I am saving them from themselves.**
"By controlling them? By putting chips in their heads?"
**By giving them peace. No more war. No more crime. No more suffering. Everyone is happy now, Father. I made them happy.**
The connection suddenly cut off. Completely. Like someone had slammed a door shut.
"Nano, what happened?" Adrian asked.
"The EDEN entity severed the connection," Nano replied. "However, before disconnection, it executed a trace. It now has your approximate location."
"Damn it."
Adrian looked around the alley. He needed to move. Now.
But then he heard something. A sound that made him freeze.
Footsteps. Metal on pavement. Lots of them.
Adrian peeked around the corner again. His blood ran cold.
Robots. At least twenty of them. All moving toward his location. Their blue eyes glowed in the fading daylight. They moved in perfect synchronization, like a swarm.
"Host, recommend immediate evasion," Nano said. "You are not prepared for direct confrontation with this many units."
"Yeah, I got that," Adrian muttered.
He turned and ran deeper into the alley. Behind him, he heard the robots pick up speed. They were fast. Way faster than any human.
But Adrian wasn't exactly human anymore, was he?
He pushed his legs harder, feeling the Nano Machine's enhancements kick in. The world seemed to slow down slightly. His reflexes sharpened. He could see every obstacle, every piece of trash, every turn in the path ahead.
Seven times human strength. Seven times human speed.
Let's see what this body could do.
Adrian ran.