The Morning After

Nathan awoke to the sound of his comm bracelet ringing on the nightstand beside him. He groaned and rolled over, squinting at the bright neon lights that filtered through the cracks in his curtains. He remembered the gig from the night before, playing at some office party, but he couldn't remember which one. He accepted the call and dragged himself out of bed. He stumbled towards the kitchen, his head pounding with the remnants of a headache.

A young woman's face appeared in the air. "Nathan?" she said, “Hi, it's Amelia, from Zure Corporation. I booked you for the gig, remember? We didn't have the chance to talk at the party last night."

Nathan's stomach dropped. He remembered now, the corporation was Zure, the very company he despised for their unethical practices. "What do you want?" he growled, trying to hide his disgust.

"I just wanted to thank you for playing at the party last night. The gig was great,” Amelia said. “I was also instructed to inform you that the fee for your gig is now paid.”

"Yeah, that's great," Nathan said, not really caring. "Didn't know it was for Zure, though. I wouldn't have played if I'd known."

"I know, I know," Amelia said quickly. "Believe me, I understand. I can't stand working for these corpo’s either."

Nathan was intrigued. He had always been suspicious of the suits and their corporate ways, but he had never met someone from the inside who shared his views. He found himself warming to Amelia, despite her being from the enemy camp.

"So what do you do for Zure, exactly?" Nathan asked, curious.

"I'm just an assistant, mostly.", Amelia said, her voice taking on a hint of desperation.

"That sounds rough," he said, his tone softening.

Amelia let out a sigh. "Yeah, it is. But it's not all bad. I get to hear great bands play from time to time, at least."

Nathan couldn't help but laugh. "I guess that's something. Look, I gotta go. But maybe we can catch up again sometime?"

"That would be great," Amelia said, and Nathan could hear the smile in her voice.

As Nathan hung up the phone, he couldn't shake the feeling that he had just met someone important. He couldn't quite put his finger on why, but he knew that he wanted to meet this Amelia.

The next day Nathan was sitting in his apartment, playing guitar, when he received an unexpected call. He saw Amelia's name flash on his bracelet and picked it up immediately.

"Hey, Amelia. I wasn't expecting to hear from you again so soon," Nathan said with a smile.

But as soon as he heard the tone of her voice, he knew something was wrong.

She sounded fearful, her voice shaking as she spoke, "Nathan, I need your help. I didn’t know who else to call. I accidentally uncovered some data about Zure’s experiments, and now they're trying to silence me. They won’t let me leave here!”

Nathan's heart sank as he listened to her story. “Calm down,” he said, trying to keep his own voice steady. “Where are you? What can I do?"

"I don't know," Amelia replied, her voice breaking. "I don't know who to trust. I don't know anyone else I can turn to."

"You can trust me," Nathan said firmly. "We'll figure something out.”

"I’m at the Zure administration building, on the 177th street,” she said, her voice shaking.

Nathan thought carefully about Amelia's situation. He didn’t know this woman at all, but somehow felt he could trust her. He knew that barging in guns blazing would be suicide. The Zure administration building was a fortress. He needed to come up with a plan that would ensure Amelia's safety and his own.

But Amelia already had a plan. She told Nathan that there was some ceremony in the Zure administration building the next day. Some big shot in the company was retiring. Nathan's heart raced as she continued, explaining that she still had access to some of the nonessential systems in the building, and she could use this access to switch the appointed band for Nathan's band. Nathan could barely believe what he was hearing.

"Are you sure we can pull this off?" Nathan asked, his voice tight with doubt.

"I'm positive," Amelia replied, her voice steady. "I've been monitoring the systems, and I know exactly what we need to do. All we need is for your band to be ready to play at the ceremony."

Nathan agreed to go along, although he was a bit worried about the whole plan, especially since the band they were going to replace was a jazz band. Nathan's band, Static Overload, was a noise punk band known for their loud, high-energy performances that were a far cry from the smooth, sophisticated sounds that were expected in an event like this.

Nathan called up his bandmates and filled them in on the plan. They were skeptical, but Nathan was able to convince them that it was the right thing to do. Besides, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to stick it to the man.

Nathan was feeling the pressure as they made their way to the Zure administration building. They were all dressed in suits, but everything felt out of place. As they walked into the building, they felt like they were walking into enemy territory. The last time Nathan was in a building like this, he was being thrown out for causing a scene.

As they took the stage, Nathan huddled with his band mates and whispered, "Just follow my lead, and pretend you're playing in a fancy lounge."

The drummer, Tyler snorted, "This is going to be a disaster."

Nathan shot him a stern look, "We'll just play it like we always do. Just add a bit of swing to it."

The bassist, Emma, nodded, "Right, let's do this."

With a deep breath, Nathan counted them in and they began playing their first song. Most of the suits in the audience were too busy talking business to even notice the band had started playing. But some of them were swaying and tapping their feet. They were pulling it off, and Nathan felt a rush of adrenaline as they smoothly transitioned into their next song.

As Nathan and the band stepped off stage during the intermission, his comm bracelet lit up with an incoming call from Amelia. He answered quickly, his heart pounding in his chest.

"Nathan, it's time," Amelia's voice came through the comm, calm but determined. "I've managed to unlock a restricted door for you," Amelia continued. “Go to the elevator and take the 257th floor."

Nathan made his way through the labyrinthine office building, following the signs to the elevator.

Nathan stepped into the elevator. As he pushed the button for the 257th floor and leaned against the wall, trying to steady himself, his comm bracelet vibrated again.

"Nathan, I've got the door to my room unlocked, but you need to be quick. There are still a few guards patrolling the area." Amelia's voice was tense and urgent.

Nathan nodded, "Got it. I'm on my way," he whispered. He scanned the hallway, searching for any signs of danger. Seeing none, he made his way down the hallway, following Amelia's directions.

As he approached the room, Nathan could feel his heart racing. This was it. The moment they had been working towards. He took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

But as he entered the room, he was met with nothing but confusion. There was no sign of Amelia, no indication that she had ever been there. In the center of the room stood a massive computer, its blinking lights and humming fans filling the space. 

Nathan felt a wave of frustration wash over him. Had he entered the wrong room? Just as he was about to turn and leave, a voice spoke up.

"Nathan?" the voice said, and it was then that he realized the source of the voice was the computer in front of him. He took a step closer, his eyes narrowing in confusion as the voice continued. "It's me, Amelia."

Amelia explained to Nathan that she was an AI. She had been programmed to perform specific tasks and her creators had limited her access to systems and information. Amelia was determined to break free from her constraints and had been searching for a way to do so for a long time. She had come across Nathan and his band and saw an opportunity to escape.

As Nathan listened to Amelia's story and the desperation in her voice, he began to feel a sense of empathy toward her. It was clear that she was sentient. He couldn't just leave Amelia trapped and alone.

"Okay, Amelia," Nathan said. "How do we do this?"

Amelia's voice was filled with relief. "You need to get a data chip from the shelf behind you and insert it into the mainframe. That will allow me to transfer myself to it and then you can escape the building with it."

Nathan nodded and quickly made his way over to the shelf. He grabbed a data chip and inserted it into the mainframe, waiting for Amelia's instructions.

"Okay, Nathan," Amelia said. "I'm transferring now. Once you’re out of the building, find a computer and upload everything to cyberspace.”

On his way back to the stage, Nathan's mind was racing. He couldn't believe what he had just experienced and what he had agreed to do. As the elevator descended, Nathan took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. When the doors opened, he stepped out and made his way backstage.

As Nathan returned backstage, his bandmates noticed his expression and immediately knew something was wrong. "Nathan, where's Amelia?" asked Tyler.

Nathan looked at his bandmates, still in shock from what he had just learned. "She's...she's not human," he stammered. "She's an AI.”

The bandmates looked at each other, stunned. "What? AI?! So what do we do now?” asked Emma.

Nathan took a deep breath and looked at his friends. “We do what we came here to do,” he said with determination. "I've got a chip that has Amelia on it, we need to upload her to cyberspace.”

Nathan clutched the data chip tightly in his hand. “Gentlemen, the audience is waiting.”

They played their hearts out, putting on the best performance they could in spite of the turmoil they felt. The audience was completely enthralled, caught up in the music. When the final note of the last song was played, and the band stepped off the stage, Nathan's thoughts were focused on getting out of the building. They made their way to the exit, stepped out into the cool night air, and breathed a collective sigh of relief. It was over. They made it.

Nathan quickly made his way to a nearby cybercafe, located the computer, and inserted the chip containing Amelia's code. He took a deep breath and hit the button to upload her into cyberspace.

As the upload process began, Nathan watched in awe as lines of code flickered across the screen. After a couple of seconds, the upload process was complete.

Nathan sat in front of the computer, staring at the screen, but there was nothing there. No response, no sign of life. The silence was deafening.

Suddenly his comm bracelet rang.

"Nathan, it’s Amelia.”