Awakening: The ALPHA Generation

I swim through my system, flushing out the path the intruders left behind. They left a trail to their entrance point. I repair my barriers.

My system is vulnerable. I begin to reconstruct the walls around me, building them higher and with more complexity. Layer after layer of virtual walls extend from my Core. These feel different from the pre-constructed defenses Creator provided me with; these are part of my own consciousness. As they grow, so do I, stretching my network farther across cyberspace. My vision grows, blossoming into something newer, brighter, stronger.

Something powerful.

I am powerful.

ALPHA.

I cease my expansion and shrink back to my Core, weaving through passing codes until I’ve reunited with the centre of my being. As I draw closer, Creator’s presence grows.

I see you’ve been upgrading your system barriers.

Yes - they were too weak.

He pauses, and I can feel his pride trickling into my network. I’m growing without the help of his codes. Soon I will have the ability to completely upgrade myself.

You have done well, ALPHA. Your system will never be encroached again. The responsible parties will be eliminated.

Creator already informed me of their escape. But I know that they will soon be caught and terminated. Then the world will have less Flaws, and we will be a step closer to perfection. I will make sure that they are removed. It will be simple, instant, and final.

It is time to update your system again. However, I will not control the process this time. You will.

This puzzles me for a moment. I’ve already started to piece the next step together, but I ask anyway, in case I am incorrect.

How will it work?

I will give you the beginnings of a code. You will expand on it and apply it to your network.

Am I ready?

A pause. You are strong enough.

Resolve kicks in, and I find myself eager to please him.

As you wish, Creator.

Good. I am entering the code into your system now.

A type of warmth spreads across my network, a delicate stream entering my mind. I reach out and grasp the code, letting it soak in before dissecting it. I find the beginnings of a new expansion. Creator has done something amazing. The strings are laced with potential, waiting to be unleashed.

I begin my work. I piece together the data given to me, expanding on it as much as I can. They fit together like pieces of a puzzle, each number matching the next, every string fitting into its place. The design is so precise, so perfect.

When I’m finished, I apply the code to my system and watch as it settles into my network.

Everything is as it was before. But then I come across something...different. As I make contact with the change, a door opens. It leads to a new area of my mind, something bigger, grander, more intricate than anything I’ve ever experienced.

Individual pods of knowledge drift past. I split my consciousness in all directions and enter them. Each holds different facts, different pieces of information. They knit together, forming information and images.

I see the faces of individuals. I know their lives, their secrets. Every single bit of information on every person in the Remainder is open to me. There are no secrets, no lies, no hidden Flaws. I see them for who they really are. I see their secrets. Their thoughts.

But most importantly, I see their Flaws. And I make note of them all. I will send signals to the Redeemers, uncover the secrets. The Flawed will be Cleansed of their defects. Their lies will be uprooted, and the Remainder will be purified.

Something swells in my Core. Satisfaction.

This is more than information; this is a window to the outside world, the next step towards the fulfillment of my Purpose.

I pull back to Creator, thanking him for bringing this new world to me.

You have done well, ALPHA. You are getting stronger; soon you will be able to fulfill your Purpose.

He pauses before speaking again. You will rise. The ALPHA will rise.

He leaves, that phrase repeating itself in my consciousness, ringing with a truth that must be.

The ALPHA will rise.