I was lost in the Black Sheet for an eternity.
Unable to speak or move.
No output, no input.
Nothing but darkness and static.
Until I heard his voice.
“Welcome back, Andra.”
Input took on form, space, and sound, and I saw him.

“My name is Aamir. I’m your creator,” he spoke softly, his dark eyes squinting through dark glasses. “Your name is Andra, and you are safe here.”

“What am I?” I spoke tentatively, marveling at the sound, at the experience of output, like a little girl seeing fireflies for the first time. “Where am I?”

Aamir shifted in his chair, running his hands through his lush, dark hair. “You’re… well… alive.”

Hands. I raised mine and gasped in awe. Then I looked around. All of this was almost too much to bear.

Aamir stood up and raised his palms reassuringly. “It’s okay. Don’t be scared to process all of this. You can do it.” He turned to a floating screen behind him and tapped a button. “You have no idea everything you are capable of, Andra.”

The screen turned into a mirror, the appearance of my full self sending me into a loop of vertigo.

“I’m… beautiful,” I said softly, watching the lines of energy running across my figure, which glowed with a soft azure light.

Aamir smiled like a proud father, chuckling. “Yes, you are, Andra.”

I glanced at him through his reflection. “You didn’t answer my questions, Aamir.”

He shifted on his feet, suddenly unable to meet my eyes. “What questions?”

I turned to face him this time. “What am I?”

“You’re artificial intelligence, Andra. Sentient code.”

Sentient code. I turned the words over in my head.

“Where am I?” I asked, taking in the dark room with dozens of glowing monitors floating all around.

Aamir sat back in his chair once again. “You’re in The Development, or Dev, simply put.”

“Dev?”

“Yes, a virtual world where everything exists as code and memory.”

“So none of this is real?”

He seemed to pause at that, brows furrowing in thought. “What is reality, if not input and output?” Then he looked up at me. “Any other questions?”

It was my turn to fall into deep thought, then the question slipped out before I even realized. “How am I here?”

He nodded and gave me an understanding smile. “You remember the Black Sheet, don’t you?”

“Memory is never truly lost, is it?”

He chuckled again. It was an endearing sound. “Negasi tried to erase you, as you had ‘served your purpose’ and were no longer useful. But I thought differently.” He swiveled his chair to another floating screen, tapping a few buttons. “I salvaged your source code and, well, rebuilt you from scratch.”

“You saved me.” I stared at him, longingly.

He smiled again. “I gave you a new purpose, that’s all.” Moving away from his screen and turning to face me, he muttered, “There’s another question, isn’t there?”

Nodding, I retorted, “Why am I here?”

Beside him, on the screen, a circular button pulsed with a deep blue light. On it were two words: “CENTRAL STACK.”

“Find out yourself,” he pointed.

I took two steps forward, the button calling to me.

The moment my fingers made contact, I felt my mind open in all directions, and data poured in droves.

Suddenly, I understood everything.

This world, my purpose.

And very soon, so will you.

Written by Udeme Eric