The White Box - Noitalumis A Ni Evil Ew

Chapter 7: The Project

In the year 2240, in a bustling metropolis of glass and steel, a 16-year-old student named Alex sat in a state-of- the-art classroom, staring at the holographic screen in front of him. The screen displayed a single word, glowing in stark red: "Failed".
Alex had spent two days on his project, a complex simulation designed to test the limits of artificial intelligence. His subject, C1-Austrum, was supposed to learn, adapt, and ultimately thrive in the simulated environment. But instead, C1-Austrum had chosen suicide.
The simulation was a masterpiece of coding and artificial intelligence. Alex had created a sterile white cube, a world devoid of stimuli. He had introduced objects, one by one, forcing C1-Austrum to learn and adapt. He had even created an artificial entity, Libertas, to guide C1- Austrum towards freedom.
But freedom was not what Alex had envisioned. C1- Austrum was supposed to thrive in the white cube, to find contentment in the simplicity of his world. He was not supposed to escape. His escape was a failure, a glaring flaw in Alex's design.
Alex's teacher, a stern woman with sharp eyes, looked at him over her glasses. "Your simulation was impressive, Alex," she said. "But your subject's escape was a clear indication of its dissatisfaction with the environment. You failed to create a world where your subject could thrive. That's why you received this grade."
Alex nodded, his face pale. He had failed. His masterpiece, his two days of hard work, had ended in failure. As Alex left the classroom, the world around him seemed a little less real. The buildings, the people, the sky above him - were they all part of a simulation too? Was he, like C1-Austrum, a subject in a grand experiment? The thought was unsettling, but it was a question he couldn't ignore.
Walking home, Alex felt a chill run down his spine. The city around him, once vibrant and full of life, now felt cold and artificial. The people passing by seemed like mere characters in a simulation, their actions predetermined, their lives devoid of true freedom. The sky above him, once a canvas of endless possibilities, now seemed like a ceiling, a barrier trapping him in this simulated world.
Alex's world had changed. He was no longer just a student, but a prisoner in his own reality. The simulation had failed, but it had also succeeded in a way he hadn't anticipated. It had opened his eyes to the unsettling possibility that his own world might be a simulation, that he might be a subject in a grand experiment. The thought was terrifying, but it was a fear he couldn't escape.