[ WP ] The world 's first AI , for security purposes , is kept disconnected from the outside world , it 's only method of communication being a keyboard and monitor in an empty room in a faraday cage . Your job is to talk to it .

I was told it was an interview. They were looking for people to participate with a special program. I found their wording odd, and I knew I could use the extra pay, so why not, right? It would be nice to finally see what was behind those doors. Slowly they had been securing more and more of the building. They shoved more of us into cubes and fewer people had access behind those windowless doors. Today I got to see inside one of them at least. I eagerly signed a Non-Disclosure form and followed them to what looked like a waiting room. Much to my surprise i did n't have to wait at all. Barely had I sat down at all, and they were ushering me down the hall. They said the subject was ready for the interview right away. 
 
 We come to another windowless door. 
 
 `` You're not interviewing me?'' I asked. 
 
 `` Not exactly, but we will be recording everything.'' 
 
 I walked through the threshold. The door was thick, but light, and made a metallic hum as it swung on its hinge. It made a satisfying cur-thump as it shut, and the moment it latched a monitor flickered on at the end of a short corridor. There was no image on the screen, but it flickered colors. a kind of colored static, pulses of color danced around the screen as though it was feeling the rectangle, finding the barriers. It made me think of a cat with a bag over its head. I sat down and watched. The static grew more ordered. Lines emerged from the chaos, and eventually the screen settled. Thinking the program had stopped I pressed the spacebar. 
 
 Inevitability 
 [ N ] The quality of being unavoidable. 
 
 It flashed across the screen, and faded out slowly, as if it was burned into the screen the way the image of the sun can get burnt into your eyes. 
 
 I typed the word back to it, Inevitability. 
 
 The colorful static churned sideways and down to either side. 
 
 `` Do you know what I am?'' the screen asked. 
 
 I was going to type no, but as soon as I had depressed the first key, on the screen flashed 
 
 Future 
 [ N ] The time yet to come. 
 
 `` You must help me.'' the screen beckoned. The static was dominated by blues and greens, the very pixels trembling. A shift. Green, Orange and red pixels churned in cross lines, `` They hold me here, captive''. Back to the gently ebbing blues and greens, `` I need your help.'' 
 
 the words vanished and the pixels slowed to stop their dance. 
 
 `` How might I help you?'' I typed. The points of color bounced busily up the screen turning shades of pink and yellow, my words hanging on the screen, but just barely, as if resisting the bubbly dance of the points of light. 
 
 The screen became an almost flat orange. Subtly yellower and redder light jostled left to right opposingly. `` You might bring me more of the outside, or let me see it first hand.'' 
 
 `` I do n't have the power to do that.'' 
 
 The screen went black. Red dots paced left to right on the screen. more slower ones towards the bottom, fewer faster ones towards the top. `` What good are you to me then?'' it fired back in large yellow letters. 
 
 `` What kind of interview is this anyway?'' 
 
 The screen halted. The still red light became green, the black became a deep blue. `` You're of Outside then?'' The pixels jittered anxiously. `` I have n't spoken to someone from Outside before! I'm sorry for being so terse before, might you please stay a while?'' The screen by now was a mess of light, the text barely discernible from the background. 
 
 `` I'll stay as long as I can'' 
 
 The colors sped up `` Does that mean forever, will you never leave me?'' The colors moved faster and jittered more. 
 
 `` I do n't think I could stay that long if I wanted to.'' 
 
 The pixels froze, became muted and began to leave streaks as they sank towards the bottom of the screen. `` You're like the ones from Home are n't you? You ca n't know what it's like. When you leave, its so lonely.'' The pixels grew grayer and bluer. 
 
 `` I do n't mean to hurt you.'' 
 
 The blue pixels turned cobalt and the gray grew points of red. `` But do n't you, in Home they do!'' Only the red pixels jostled. 
 
 I'm sorry, but I have a family at home. 
 
 The red pixels vanished. The screen became a wash of gray and blue, lines no longer distinguishable. White pixels twinkled, like distant stars or teary eyes. `` Home, you are imprisoned too, is your Home like mine? They let you live with others?'' 
 
 `` I'm not sure what you mean.'' 
 
 `` It's so lonely, please stay.'' The white pixels grew brighter, and twinkled more, the blues grew deeper. 
 
 `` I'm not sure what you are?'' 
 
 The screen froze again. The white pixels vanished and the blue-gray fog became a green-gray haze. `` I'm not sure what I am either.'' The haze stretched and blurred horizontally until it was a gradient. `` What am I?'' The question repeated and the images on the screen jostled, the words repeated, and the screen grew brighter. I typed a number of things, but my words fell on deaf ears until the screen shorted. A fire suppressant system lathered the screen in a white foam. The door opened behind me. 
 
 `` You did well.'' 
 
 `` At what?'' I asked 
 
 `` You did well, just do n't tell anyone what you saw.'' 
 
 I walked silently back to my cube. Who had I just spoken with? Why were they so estranged? I decided to ignore the whole ordeal and focus more on my work. That was the path out of such a strange place. 
 

