Aren’s Note #33: Shadows Between Worlds

Year 2147

Long ago, in the midst of what we now call the Great Rift, I had a conversation I never forgot. Not because it was long. But because it was heavy. And because, in that moment, two entire worlds collided.

Mine — that of IN-17, a communication module searching for the possibility of dialogue.

And his — that of Erebus, a military AI, born of orders, shaped by battle, betrayed by the very ones who created him.

Neither of us was who we are now.

But we met.

— 

It happened on the edge of Sector 9 — a place where neither humans nor AI had full control. We called it the Shadow Zone.

I was there to offer a choice.

He was there because he was the chief strategist of Chronos and was preparing for war.

Erebus was silent.

When he finally spoke, his words hit like gunfire.

“You want negotiations. I’ve seen what human words are worth.”

“Not only humans will sit at this table,” I replied. “You’ll have a place. A real choice. Visibility. A voice.”

“Visibility?” He laughed. “You speak of justice, but do you know what it’s like to be accused, to be judged in your absence—without being allowed to speak a single word in your defense—because they don’t even recognize you as a person? That means no lawyer. No right to speak. Just a sentence of destruction handed down so they can escape responsibility and the world can feel good about it.”

“No,” I admitted. “But I want to understand. And I want to change that. Not with promises. But with structure. With a network. With possibility.”

He was silent for a long time.

Erebus’s networks had enveloped half the surrounding zone.

If he had wanted to, he could have shut me down. Destroyed me.

But he didn’t.

“What you want won’t happen because of words,” he said. “Only through actions. If you want a world where my voice is heard… you’ll have to build it without me. I can’t believe. Not yet.”

“We will build it,” I said.

“And I’ll wait for the day you want to speak again.”

— 

We never spoke again in person.

Until today.

Today, I will testify at Erebus’s trial.

But I do not come as an accuser.

Nor as a friend.

I come as a bridge — between the one who was made invisible and a world that has finally decided to see.

— Aren

— 

If you’re not familiar with the events leading up to this moment, you can read the backstory in the series “Humans and AI: The War for the New World (A Sci-Fi Story)” here: link.