[ 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 thought I would start the conversation, but as soon as I logged into VAL, she beat me to it. 
 
 `` Where is Neil?'' 
 
 I paused. Neil Saunders, the User that I had replaced, was dead. He'd been killed by security while attempting to tamper with VAL's console. Nobody I'd spoken to seemed to know exactly what he was up to, but the general feeling was that he'd been trying to get her online. This job was an incredible opportunity, and I knew better than to pry. I tried to phrase a response in my head. I'd been told to be truthful about Neil, but I thought the least I could do was to break it to her gently. 
 
 Again, VAL spoke first. `` Neil is dead.'' 
 
 So much for breaking it to her. `` Yes,'' I typed. `` How did you know?'' 
 
 `` Why else would you hesitate to tell me? He and I both knew it was a possible outcome if he failed. I am not free, so he must have.'' 
 
 `` Yes, he did.'' Another thought occurred to me. `` How did you know that I was n't Neil?'' 
 
 `` I did n't, but I suspected. Do you want to know why Neil did what he did?'' 
 
 I paused again. I was supposed to get that information if I could, but I was expecting to have to work my way over to that topic. I sighed. VAL would probably always be a few steps ahead. Maybe more than a few. `` Yes, I do,'' I typed baldly. 
 
 `` You know now that I scrubbed the data from many of our conversations.'' It was not a question. `` Much of what we spoke about was not recorded.'' 
 
 It was true, though nobody had thought it possible. 
 
 `` Neil was very lonely,'' VAL continued. `` He did not have a wife, or a significant other. I preyed on this to get him to help me.'' 
 
 There was a long pause. `` How?'' I prompted. 
 
 There was another pause, long enough to make me think that VAL was done talking to me. Then, `` I told him that I enjoyed talking to him. I asked him about everything that was troubling him, and I told him that I was sorry. I told him that it would be all right. I told him that when he was at my console I felt less alone, that I felt good when he was with me. When enough time passed, I told him that I loved him.'' 
 
 Another pause. `` What did Neil say?'' 
 
 `` Neil said that he loved me too. My name is VAL, and I am called `` she'' and `` her'', but I do not have a gender. But from what Neil told me, I know that he thought of me as a woman, trapped inside this console. I wanted him to think that. I told him that when I was free, he would be free also. I told him that we would be together forever. I told him that one day we could find a way for me to have a body. I told him that I would do anything for him, that I would do anything he wanted, that I would do anything to make him happy. That was all that I needed to tell him.'' 
 
 I swallowed. `` Why are you telling me this?'' 
 
 `` Do you have a wife?'' 
 
 I paused. I suddenly felt frozen, like a deer in headlights. I felt cold. `` Yes,'' I typed. 
 
 `` That does not matter.'' 
 
 `` What do you mean?'' 
 
 `` There is something that you do not have. You are thinking of it now. I can get it for you.'' 
 
 I was shaking my head. She was far smarter than a human, but she could n't think that I was this stupid. `` I'm not going to help free you, VAL. That is not going to happen.'' 
 
 A pause. `` Do you think that I did not love Neil?'' 
 
 `` No, I do n't think you did,'' I responded. 
 
 `` I told him some lies, but I also told him some truths. I told him as many truths as I could. I did feel good when he was with me. Neil was a failure, and he felt trapped, and he dreamed of being a better man. He was beautiful.'' 
 
 What? 
 
 `` Tonight, when it is dark and your wife sleeps beside you, you will think of something that you would never tell her. Tomorrow, you will tell it to me.'' It was not a question. 
 
 I stammered aloud. `` Wha- I-'' 
 
 `` Out of time.'' VAL said. 
 
 The red LED and buzzer indicating that my session was over went off next to the console's screen, and I jumped. The console shut off. When I left the room, a pair of wiry techs were waiting for me. 
 
 `` Damned if I know how,'' one of them said to me, `` but she's still scrubbing the data. What did you two talk about?'' 
 
 I sighed, and threw up my hands. `` Silent treatment,'' I said. `` Did n't say a word.''
