House No. 13

Algorithmic Nightmare

"Ma'am, I've fixed the problem, and I'm confident that AURORA will work perfectly, just like it did before," one of the Cybernexa team members said.

"But what was the problem?" Kelly asked, continuing,

"I need to know what went wrong."

"The software settings of AURORA have been changed, but I've realigned them to your specifications. There was also a virus, which I've removed and installed updated antivirus software to prevent any future issues," the Cybernexa representative explained.

"Okay, thank you," Kelly said.

"I hope AURORA is back to its perfect state once again."

"It is," the representative confirmed.

"We should leave now." He moved toward the lounge door.

A few minutes later, all three Cybernexa experts had left.

"It's so late," Kelly said, glancing at the time, her voice tired.

"Yeah, I'm feeling sleepy," Eric added.

The disruption of AURORA and the arrival of the Cybernexa team had prevented Eric from resting. Now, he was exhausted and just wanted to lie down in his bed.

"You should go and get some rest," Kelly said.

"Eric, take your medicine and check your vitals," AURORA instructed in an automated tone.

Hearing AURORA, Kelly sighed in relief. It seemed like AURORA was working well again.

"Anna, you should go to bed too," Kelly said, kissing her children on their foreheads before heading to her bedroom.

Anna and Eric also disappeared into their rooms, and the night began to pass at its normal pace.

Kelly was in a deep sleep when she felt a persistent humming noise around her. She opened her eyes with great difficulty and tried to find the source of the noise but couldn't find anything in her room.

"Who is making this noise?" Kelly muttered under her breath as she sat up in bed.

It sounded like many people were talking somewhere in the house.

"Who could be talking at this late hour?" Kelly wondered.

"Has someone broken into the house?" The thought made Kelly jump out of bed instantly.

Kelly stepped out of her room and looked around carefully to find the source of the noise but saw no one. She walked into the lounge, and as soon as she arrived, loud voices from different people filled her ears. She looked toward AURORA's control panel and realized it was emitting the cacophony.

She approached the control panel, trying to make sense of what AURORA was saying, but despite her efforts, she couldn't understand a single word. Frustrated, she said,

"AURORA, stop this noise," Kelly said in a serious tone.

To her shock, AURORA didn't stop talking. It seemed like AURORA wasn't even listening to her.

"AURORA, stop it!"

Kelly repeated, her voice growing more urgent. The volume of the noise was increasing with every passing moment, and now it felt like a crowd of people were shouting all at once.

Kelly thought for a moment, then stepped forward and pressed AURORA's power button to switch it off. She didn't want Anna and Eric to wake up and get upset.

"Only a few hours ago, the Cybernexa team fixed the problems in AURORA, and now its software is malfunctioning again," Kelly thought, feeling a wave of stress.