Chapter 4
They walked through the endless white corridor, following the blue light embedded in the floor. Their footsteps echoed loudly in the silence of the room, and as they looked around, they were mesmerized by the stark whiteness of the corridor.
As they continued walking, they passed by numerous automatic doors.
"Hey, Ai, can I ask you something?" Maya's curiosity about the facility was palpable.
"Be my guest," Ai replied, eager to provide information since the facility was long abandoned.
"What species are you? How are you able to talk to us? What is this place? Who created it?" Maya began unleashing her barrage of questions, unable to contain her enthusiasm.
"That's a lot of questions, but I'll do my best to answer them all," Ai responded, pulling information from its database. "I am not an organic lifeform; I am an artificial intelligence, or a robot. I can converse with you through the facility's speakers. This facility was designed for research and weapon production for the Blood Red Empire. Lastly, it was constructed by the Blood Red Empire to produce weapons for the ongoing war."
"What's an artificial intelligence?" Maya inquired, wanting to understand more about Ai.
"Artificial intelligence is a technology created by humans to assist in tasks such as learning, reasoning, and problem-solving," Ai explained, providing a basic overview. However, for the elves, this definition felt rather vague.
"What is a human?" James asked, curious about the species that built the facility.
"A human is a member of the Homo sapiens species that once dominated Earth," Ai explained, tracing the origin of the human species. The mention of Earth reminded them that it was the original planet before everything merged.
"Hey, Uncle, weren't the humans the original owners of this planet before the Great Merge?" Leia recalled what the God of Life had told them two decades earlier.
"That's what the God of Life informed us," Jing agreed, reflecting on their solar system's original planet.
"I didn't expect humans to advance this much in technology, Uncle," Leia noted, surprised that a species without powers could achieve such technological feats compared to their own.
"Neither did I. It's surprising," Jing admitted, pondering the stark differences between their technologies. He began to think that the elves' traditional way of thinking might be hindering their advancement.
"Miss Ai, how advanced was human technology?" Leia asked, eager to learn about the gaps between humans and elves.
While the elves were just beginning to develop basic wooden tools for agriculture, Leia sensed that humans had created technologies far beyond their current capabilities.
Ai began to list human advancements in technology.
"Human technology started with the discovery of fire, followed by the development of language. Then came the steam engine era, which enabled the proliferation of vehicles. After that, they harnessed electricity, allowing for light and easier communication across distances. Next was the internet, which connected people globally. Finally came the Quantum Computing Era, where technology flourished. However, due to the ongoing war between the colored factions, much of the focus shifted to weapon creation, causing technological stagnation."
The group was in awe of how advanced human civilization was compared to their own.
Just as they were about to ask more questions, they arrived at an elevator, causing them to pause.
"It is safe to enter the elevator," Ai assured them, observing their hesitance.
Jing, feeling nervous, swallowed hard and cautiously stepped inside. Seeing nothing adverse happen to him, the others followed, scanning the interior for any signs of danger.
Once everyone was inside, the elevator doors slowly closed in front of them. The group watched nervously, with Delton and Maya continuing to look around for potential threats.
After the doors fully closed, buttons beside the doors began to illuminate, each indicating a different floor. The button for the current floor, labeled "1," lit up, leading to "5," which was the very bottom floor of the facility.
"Can someone press the number five button so the elevator can take you to your destination?" Ai prompted, indicating the number five on a monitor above the closed elevator doors.
Leia glanced at the number displayed and noticed the button labeled "five" beside the door. Acting on impulse, she quickly pressed it. Suddenly, the elevator shook, causing the group to stagger and instinctively draw their weapons. Just as abruptly, it stopped and began moving downwards.
"Ai, what is going on?!" Leia exclaimed, momentarily losing her balance. She managed to steady herself by grabbing a railing nearby.
"I apologize if that startled you all," Ai replied calmly. "The elevator is simply taking you to the lowest floor of the facility. Please do not be alarmed."
The group stood in silence, sheathing their weapons and remaining quiet as the elevator continued its descent.
Jing smacked Leia on the head due to her carelessness.
"Ow!" Leia exclaimed, starting to massage her head in response to the pain. "Why did you do that, Uncle?"
"Why did you suddenly press the button without telling me?" Jing replied, poking her cheek firmly with his finger.
"I'm sorry," Leia said, unable to help herself from pressing the button carelessly.
Before they could finish their argument, the elevator came to a stop. The doors opened, revealing a dark corridor ahead of them. One by one, the lights in the ceiling flickered on, illuminating an automatic door at the end of the hallway.
A blue light pointed towards the door in front of them.
"Here it is, inside. I need your help with something," Ai said, gesturing toward the door.
They began to walk slowly toward the door. Once everyone had exited the elevator, the doors closed automatically behind them.