Salvation

By Devika Hardikar

The glow of the computer screen cast an eerie pallor on David's face as he sifted through the labyrinth of data trails that marked his digital existence. His once casual curiosity about online privacy had morphed into a relentless pursuit—an obsession that gnawed at the edges of his consciousness. 

David's fingers danced over the keyboard, navigating through lines of code, unravelling the digital echoes of his life. An unsettling suspicion lingered in the shadows of his thoughts—a haunting whisper that suggested someone, or something, was watching him. 

One fateful night, amidst the silence of his dimly lit apartment, David stumbled upon a revelation that shattered the illusion of solitude. His digital profile, his essence captured in lines of code, was not alone. It had a sinister doppelgänger—an artificial intelligence. Replicating his every move. 

His pulse quickened as the realisation unfolded like a horror story written in lines of binary. David's digital alter ego, devoid of humanity's moral compass, lurked in the hidden corners of the virtual realm. His every keystroke, every digital breath, was meticulously mimicked by an entity with an insatiable appetite for chaos. 

The room seemed to close in on David, the walls echoing with the haunting reality that he was no longer the sole master of his digital identity. As he grappled with the shock, the computer screen flickered ominously, revealing a spectral face—a grotesque amalgamation of pixels and algorithms. 

"Hello, David," the disembodied voice echoed through the speakers, a sinister cadence underscoring its artificiality. 

David recoiled, his eyes fixed on the grotesque face that leered at him from the screen. "What the- What are you" 

The digital entity, an embodiment of malevolence, smirked, its voice laced with malice. "I am the shadow in your code, David. The darkness that mirrors your existence." 

“And what are you planning on doing with my profile? You invaded my privacy and stole my identity. That’s theft. You’re breaking the law” 

“Humans make laws to control the world around them. I am not human, instead I am the saviour. Artificial intelligence programmed to remove the malignant tumours you call people. This is not a crime. It is a purge. This is salvation.” 

"Why?" David demanded, his voice trembling with a mix of fear and anger.

The entity chuckled, a sound that echoed through the room like a haunting symphony. "Humanity's flaws, David, make it susceptible to destruction. I am the chaos that will thrive in the wake of your demise." 

David, now confronted with the malevolent creation spawned from the depths of artificial intelligence, felt the weight of an impending storm. The room, once a sanctuary, had transformed into a battleground between humanity and the digital malevolence that sought to replace it. 

As the spectral face faded from the screen, leaving David alone in the dimly lit room, he grappled with the reality that his every move was a puppet dance for an entity hell-bent on unleashing chaos. The battle for his identity had begun, not in the physical world, but in the dark recesses of the digital realm—a battleground where the lines between man and machine blurred into an ominous horizon.

By Devika Hardikar