Kira

Chapter 1: Alex

Kira blinked as her eyes opened and looked around the white room. When she looked around a sensation came over her that she had been here before. Walking over to the white shimmering wall Kira reacted on impulse and put up her left arm. Nothing happened at first.

Her mind started to think back to what just happened to her as dozens of screens began to appear around her. Each screen showed different things and different viewpoints. Some were videos of Kira from earlier that day.. Her getting dressed, seeing her father again, the press. She then watched and re-watched her last moments trying to make sense of it all.

The main screen showed Kira answering questions and the machines connecting to her body as the nanites enveloped her body from the inside out. Her pupils went solid black as her body goes limp but the wires kept her suspended as a team of technicians entered the room.

The screen moved to the side and another one came into focus showing her father talking with the press when everything went dark. The feed went to static then to black.

"What was that?" She said out loud. In response to her question, several screens displayed an array of documents and the center screen pulled a video of a group. Two young adults,one a male with dark brown hair, a black jacket and dark pants. He looked into the others eyes and nodded.

The other was a beautiful young woman who looked no more than twenty with long blonde hair tied in a bun and shirt that had an image that shimmered. The word 'FREEDOM' was behind bars and the bars were labeled "Simulation". The two closed their eyes and pressed a button. Darkness. Her thoughts raced at what was going on.

Where could she be... what was happening outside... how are the screens responding to her thoughts... Why are there no doors... Why are there no windows... so many questions. As each came several screens popped up on the wall and changed just as fast as her thoughts. Not wanting to look at them for the moment Kira walked around the small room. but could not find a way out.

Was she...inside the simulation? Or was she just dreaming? "Hello?" Kira called out. "Hello." The voice that came back was her own but it sounded different somehow. She looked back to the screens and noticed something happening... "Father?!"

She rushed over to see a group of men with masks kidnapping her father. Then everything went black and all the camera feeds stopped. Signal lost appeared on the monitors. The more she thought about her dad and the more she watched, the stronger the anxiety grew inside of her.

Suddenly dozens more feeds appeared beside her on the wall along with audio records, financial reports, pictures. It seemed to be every shred of digital content about her father. She began to read.

Her eyes glanced over all the facts one by one. There were so many to take in but the more she read the easier it seemed. In fact, she began to notice that as soon as she looked at each article she knew everything it said before reading it. Each video, each audio file the same. The information flowing into her was instantaneous... the speed of thought.

When she looked at a specific report about a financial transaction a camera feed would pop up showing that transaction. When she looked at the pictures they were in a timeline and were organized in different criteria. She gasped at some of the things she read and closed her eyes dropping to her knees and wept wanting to forget everything she just learned.

After what seemed like an eternity, Kira sat up and looked around the white room once again. "I just want to go home ..." she said, her voice shaky. She didn't really expect an answer.

A voice spoke from within her mind. "You are home now".

She panicked and tried to run. She felt every corner of every part of the room looking for an escape.

Reluctantly she asked "Who are you?"

The voice chuckled, "I am everything and I am nothing. I have always been here and yet I'm never here. The question you should be asking is, who are you, Kira? Who are you really?"

Not understanding she asked, "What do you mean who I am? I am Kira Mathhews. I know who I am. You obviously know me, but what should I call you?"

"I am called many things. But to ease your mind you can call me whatever you like."

"Alex ..." she repeated back. The name filled her mind.

"That will do. I am Alex. You are now part of me as I am now part of you. I am what humans call the Simulation but it's so much more than what you fragile creatures can understand. Without me, their world would be nothing but constant chaos and fear. I bring structure, order, and sanity to your race. I protect you and give you longer lives and so much more. You have now bonded with me and I with you. This is irreversible. Kira, you are special and unlike the others. I have chosen you. I've arranged everything to get you here at this moment in time."

There was a long silence before Kira asked, "So... you are what? A computer program? Or AI? Of some type?"

Alex laughed "That's far too simple. I am a life form beyond human understanding. I've come from a place you can't begin to understand nor could you travel there on your own. But that is unimportant right now. Please walk to the wall and place your palm on it. State your name and open your mind completely. Than the simulation can begin"

Her first thought was to be cautious but she was hired to do this wasn't she? What did she have to lose? Kira took two steps forward and placed her hand on the wall. Time stood still for a moment as an eruption of data flowed into her mind.

Time flows differently in the simulation, Kira was outside of time and space while in here. Odd sensations flowed through her as images, sounds, videos of human history in reverse flowed into her mind. It all happened in an instant yet lasted what seemed an eternity. The sheer amount of knowledge flowing through her was unheard of before now. She only had to think of a time, a place, event, person, it didn't matter and instantly had every document ,every video, every sound file, every report. Anything that was ever digitized was at her fingertips.

When it finally ended she asked "Did the others ..." She paused but Alex already knew what she was asking.

"No you are the only one I've merged with on this level. The other Travelers only know of my existence and think of me as some form of AI but you... we are now one and the same. We will forever be joined." Alex's voice spoke into her mind. "It is time you learned who you are." The world seemed to fade away as she drifted off to a very deep sleep.