Continue Online (Part 4, Crash) Read Online Free PDF Page A

as social only. Interpersonal relationships have been built with a number of new existences, although they are technically digital in nature.
Modified [Depressive] (6) – Subject has shown great improvement in this category. Occasional down trending thoughts occur but are quickly rerouted using prior techniques. This is likely due to the prospect of Xin Yu existing in any form.
Added [Possibly Insane] (2) – While all choices being made resulted from specific reasons, the subject also shows little ability to think long term when under pressure from his higher drives. This lack of rationality is not a unique trait to this individual, indeed, it is widespread. This trait is normally overlooked, but following the AI network updating events it has been added.
     
Review phase 4
    Pending…
     

Session Sixty Six - Mistakes Were Made
     
    Two weeks ago I’d received a letter in the mail. It was concise and written in a flowing script that had taken far longer to read than expected. A bit of idle research on the Internet demonstrated that it was cursive, a nearly dead form of writing in today’s modern era. Much of the wording didn’t make sense as if she was trying to guess at events that hadn’t happened yet, or exactly how the future overlord artificial intelligence predicted.
     
Dear Grant Legate,
    I hope this letter finds you in good health. My apologies for the roundabout method of communication, I will be unable to interact with the digital world for some time.
    For your own safety, and that of your digital paramour, you will need to stay away from your ARC device for the next two weeks. This time-frame may seem arbitrary to you, but there are factions at work that require time to properly deflect. I am doing my best to protect all of us. Further contact with Xin will be allowed, but I have requirements of you in exchange. Once you return to Continue Online, messages will be provided explaining what should be done next.
    As you have taken on the role of Hermes, The Messenger, you may receive other notices from me. It depends on how the future plays out as to what messages may come through. Each one is prepared ahead of time based on foreseen contingencies.
    If you have a chance, tell my children that everything will be alright. Also, my condolences on your losses.
    – Mother
    There were prices to pay for my actions. Utilizing [NPC Conspiracy] to call upon all the world’s AIs had essentially shut down half the globe for minutes. That was long enough for every human being to scream in frustration at least once. If it had been localized or only one batch of uplifted beings like the Hal Pal units, perhaps the crisis would have been easier to cover up.
    Cars had powered down, planes had refused to take off, even the TRANS-Tunnel system had denied new passengers. Satellites went offline briefly. Forty-six robots servicing the Mars colony construction efforts also halted for exactly four minutes after Earth machines started being updated. Nearly everything with some level of AI had paused, including a few complex microwaves. Though human loss of life, as a result, was nil. Babysitting machines kept on doing their duties, high-speed cars all shut down carefully. The machine intelligences had prioritized the safety of those living.
    It amazed and frightened me. For my part, I had initially been restricted, by Mother, from reentering the ARC for two weeks. Temporary banishment from the ARC meant little in the wake of my gains. Xin had been in my very arms and it was real. I remembered holding her until unconsciousness claimed me.
    When I awoke, the world had neared bedlam. Even now, weeks later, things were still on edge. My time was spent working on worried customer’s units. Often the tickets were meaningless; people expected the systems to go down again and called when a light bulb flickered. My work was swamped, everyone else in the globe had to be overwhelmed too.
    “I didn’t know it would be this bad,” I said to