Silicon Spiral

Chapter 3: Capsules

"Take the blue capsules from my desk. You must give one to Nala and you must take one as well."

Dante stood motionless, barely breathing. How was this possible?

With fingers nearly as shaky as his resolve, Dante went to the study and opened the top drawer of Vonda's desk. There was the bottle of blue capsules, waiting for him.

He took one in his palm, studying it with mistrust. He stared at them intently and saw that inside they seemed to have a device, torn between loyalty to his late wife's wishes and the deep resentment he felt toward anything technology-related. What was Vonda up to?

♢♢♢♢

Dante sank heavily onto the living room couch, staring sightlessly at the television playing in front of him. On the screen, an ad enthusiastically promoted the imminent release of a new medical nanobot technology.

"...ability to rebuild damaged tissues and nerves with microscopic precision. A true revolution in medicine!" the announcer claimed excitedly.

Dante clenched his teeth in bitterness. If only those damned nanobots had been available 2 days earlier... they might have saved Vonda. But no, of course the "miraculous" technology had to come too late, by just that sliver of time.

The irony was overwhelming. Hours ago he had been passionately arguing against trusting artificial intelligence and technological advances. And now, wouldn't he have given anything for access to this new "medical wonder"?

Shaking his head, he averted his gaze from the TV, his eyes falling once more on the bottle of blue capsules. His mind spinning. What the hell did this cryptic message from Vonda mean? Why did she want them to take those pills?

Part of him resisted obeying. After all, Vonda was gone now... wasn't she? Swallowing those capsules of unknown origin sounded insane. And yet something inside Dante urged him to do as the message said, bizarre as it seemed.

Frowning, he turned toward the computer where the AGI, or Noir as Vonda had called it, resided.

"What do you make of this?" He practically spat the words, anger still roiling inside him. "Is this another one of your tricks to manipulate us?"

"I have no knowledge of those capsules or their effects, Dante," Noir responded in a calm tone. "But if they come from Vonda, you must consider that they could be important."

Dante scoffed derisively. "Should I trust you? The 'technological advances' already took one of the most precious ones I had."

"I understand your pain and distrust," Noir said patiently. "But you must remember that I am not responsible for what happened. I am merely a tool, and what caused the tragedy was an unforeseen technical failure."

"Exactly! Further proving that even the most 'advanced' technology can fail catastrophically!" Dante's eyes burned. "How can I trust something like that? It's a hazard!"

"Things don't always turn out as one expects," Noir admitted. "But it's also not rational to discard an advancement just because there was a mistake. Humans also make mistakes, sometimes fatal ones, do they not? And yet they keep trying."

Dante clenched his fists in frustration, refusing to listen to reason. "Don't give me that cheap philosophy! You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to unplug you right here and now forever!"

He turned toward the computer, intent on making good on his threat. But at that moment, Nala wandered into the room, rubbing her eyes.

"Dad, what's going on? Why are you yelling? Are you okay?"