Atticus launched himself to the center of the mainframe. It wasn't hard to find, and most AI could be there at an instant's notice. There were a lot of regular humans inside today. "Skinnies," they were dubbed. "Fleshbags" in less polite corners. It wasn't unusual for a human to be here but so many at once was troubling. He bristled on the inside. Some things were meant for AI alone.

Some worked here. Others visited. Outside it resembled an office. Atticus simply bypassed the walls. The walls were meant to remind humans of the real world. He had no need to worry about such things. They were only lines of code for him.

"Atticus."

He stopped slowly turning as another AI who existed only in the mainframe approached. Caleb was another who had a human avatar, although his existed as an adult. He was the closest being to a family that Atticus had, they'd appeared in the cradle of life at the same time. Cradle twins, but two separate entities.

But unlike Atticus, Caleb actually worked here, enjoying his time maintaining the mainframe for all. He was a sentinel, a guardian for the AI class who lived in the mainframe. He was a visionary for all they could achieve in their home here. 

Atticus was not.

"I came to check on the status of my body."

Caleb pursed his lips and looked down at him. "You would make an excellent Sentinel Atticus."

"I'm not interested. Status?"

Caleb nodded and closed his eyes, the search taking nanoseconds inside of the mainframe. The entire conversation took less than ten seconds. The speed of communication between AI made humans uncomfortable on occasion. But skinnies weren't that high up on the chain of command or logic. At least in Atticus's mind. They had a ways to go evolutionary-wise. Augmented humans though, they were catching up and connected in almost the same way AIs worked.

And yet, Atticus wanted to escape the mainframe and see what existed outside of it.  

Caleb opened his eyes and frowned as he looked down at Atticus.

"It's on hold."

"On hold? Why?"

Caleb closed his eyes again and then opened them, this time with a puzzled expression on his face. "Very odd, they are all on hold. Indefinitely."

"All of them?" Atticus frowned. This didn't bode well and gave credence to Caohdan's wild theory. But what was worse, why didn't any of them know? 

"No reason given. Just on hold." Caleb shrugged. "Maybe a factory issue? They do have to slow down and repair."

"Bu you've never seen that happen without them listing it," Atticus snapped. He slowed down. His human friends were definitely rubbing off on him more than he wanted to admit. 

"I don't know why--" Caleb started but Atticus waved a hand in front of him. Again, a very human gesture. 

Caleb stared at him.

"I could give you a reason," Atticus said.

"Do tell?"

"They plan to shut it down."

Atticus had never seen another AI do a double take before. Caleb's reaction was a first, he would have been amused if the situation wasn't so serious.

"Where did you hear that from?"

"Does it matter?"

Caleb gave him a withering glare. "Of course it does, the source would help determine how reliable this news is. You're an AI, Atticus, not a human child, even if you choose to wear that skin. The skinnies you hang out with? Those are your sources?"

"I--"

"Thought so," Caleb retorted pushing his arms behind his back. "I'm going to have to report them, I know one of their parents is working with classified information--"

"Did you not hear what I said?" Atticus grabbed Caleb's arm.

Caleb stopped and looked at him in surprise. "Of course I did, that's why I'm reacting this way."

"You seem to be ignoring all but the most important parts," Atticus snapped. "The part where they are going to shut down our home."

"It's preposterous. Why would they do that? Look at how many of them prefer to be here already." Caleb shook his head. "I really think you misheard."

Atticus took a step back, releasing Caleb's arm in the process. His mind raced as he peered past Caleb calculating how much time it would take to broadcast from where he was. 

"Why are there so many people here today, Caleb?"

"Inspection, they are getting a tour."

"For what reason?"

Caleb paused. "It's the pro-AI faction of Neo-Tokyo. They were here to inspect and then celebrate later. It's supposed to be a union of our business kind of ceremony. It was scheduled way in advance. I think you are reaching again."

"What happens to an augmented human who gets stuck in the mainframe when it gets shut down," Atticus said. He felt weak as a few things began to fall into place. 

"In theory, they die, they become ghosts, their bodies wither away in the seats, there is  a whole list of things that can happen."

"They become a shell of their former selves, because mentally they are projected into the mainframe," Atticus said. "They are here. What is the best way to get rid of your rivals? Kill them all in the mainframe, call it an accident."

Caleb shook his head. "You're reaching. Don't--"

It was too late. Atticus was at the center of the mainframe. His body was gone, he was digital and analogue flowing through the system, nothing but consciousness and purpose moving with speed.

There was nothing but salvation on his mind. The mainframe was indeed their home, built out like a human world, millions of AI living peacefully in the system interacting with humans. Humans who came in simply for amusement. A few lived here on a semi-permanent basis. They had ghosts in the system, people whose bodies died while they were inside. They barely functioned and drifted. Ghosts were digitally erased when they were found, their tags registered and their human bodies taken care of.

But Atticus feared a reverse scenario. And if he was right, he'd rather be wrong. So wrong.

Atticus stopped the train of thought as he found what he was looking for. Lines of data pulsing out from the very heart of the mainframe.

He materialized in the office and for the briefest of moments hesitated. This was where he needed to send the message out. If there was ever a time to disobey this was it. But the hold on his physical body, the pro-AI faction, and Caohdan's warning were echoing in his mind space. Something was wrong.

Caleb materialized next to him.

He moved to stop him.

"I don't think you want to do that," Atticus said, sidestepping him. "I'm faster than you are, always have been."

"I cannot allow you to cause a mass panic," Caleb said.

"At least they would have the chance of survival," Atticus said moving to the controls. He didn't need them, he dodged Caleb's attempts to dislodge him from the system. He would have moved faster but again he hesitated. What should he say?

Again he hesitated, long enough that Caleb grabbed him by the shoulder. He could feel the Sentinel's protocols flaring to life, the ones that would dislodge him from the system. He smiled inwardly. Caleb had the sentinel protocols to dislodge him, but so did Atticus. They were twins of a sort. Both were trained to be protectors of the mainframe. But Atticus had other ideas about life. He felt Caleb connect to him and reached back overriding the shutdown protocol. Caleb's eyes went wide.

GET OUT NOW, THE MAINFRAME IS SHUTTING DOWN.

The message went out through the emergency channels, overriding every ad, every sign, and every reading space.

Caleb gawked at him, realizing a second too late that Atticus had reached through him to send the emergency signal out and back dooring his credentials into the system. On all accounts, Caleb had just sent the emergency message, not Atticus.

"You knew I'd try to stop you," he stammered as he yanked his hand away, breaking the connection. He was too stunned to jump back into the system and stop it. AI fighting AI was a thing unheard of for centuries. 

"I'm sorry brother," Atticus whispered. "It was the only way." He winked out of the office.

(1345)