Prophecy Approved Companion

DLC: Alex Dev Mini Game

The numbers on the screen had become so blurry they were starting to dance. With a sigh, Alex leaned back, eyes firmly shut against any more information trying to invade.

Hows it looking? Biancas voice shot from across the room. Alex jumped.

Good, the project manager said tiredly. Or, well, as close to good as this cursed project can ever get.

Wasnt it you who was all, Oh wow Bee, you should totally give up your current job and come work for me, this is gonna be sooooo amazing you totally wont regret it, were gonna change everything, I promise when we started? the developer asked, leaning over Alexs shoulder and looking at the data stream.

For anyone else, that would be a normal thing to do. It was only those who knew Bianca extremely well whod realise the significance of such casual physical proximity.

That was before our tester started mentioning that we might have accidentally created artificial life, Alex said, reaching out to minimise a window. But Bee was too fast.

Wait a minute, she said, grabbing Alexs hand. She leaned even further forward, staring at the numbers on the rightmost screen.

Hey, werent you supposed to be heading home soon? Alex asked, slightly desperately.

Is that login time? Bianca asked, ignoring the attempted diversion.

Maybe, Alex replied.

Whose is it? Wait, never mind, I already know, Bianca interrupted herself.

Weve only got two months until the demonstration, Alex said. If we want the best chance of the panel agreeing

I thought the limit was six hours connected. Eight at the absolute maximum, Bianca said, taking control and scrolling through the logged hours. Does Cazza know about this?

Yes.

And hes okay with this?!

Six to eight hours is whats generally recommended, but if we want to give the AI the most development time possible

The absolute idiot, Bianca breathed as she calculated the hours on display. The three of you! What the hell kind of damage is being connected for so long going to do the bloody drongo?

Well, that's another data point that we can discuss at the demo. Ive got a theory that the long login times are why weve seen exponential increases in intelligence. Ive asked around; none of the original crew seemed to have used it for more than a day or two at a time, and always reset the instances in between training sessions. Which, given what they were using it for, makes sense. But we think the key is continuous usage in the same instance for prolonged periods, which they never did.

Yeah, because being connected for so long is dangerous. We dont know what it does. You remember the mermaid incident, right? Bianca pulled away from the screen, and Alex. And the vomiting incident. And the nosebleeding incident.

We all know the risks, Alex said. And most of those weve pretty much fixed.

Babe, Bianca said, her explosive way of speaking robbing the word of any softness, we fixed those after they did damage.

I know, Alex said, finally turning completely away from the screens and looking Bianca full in the face. Trust me, weknow. But we just dont have enough time for anything else. The project manager reached out and grabbed Biancas hands, pressing down against them.

Staring into the bloodshot and bagged eyes of the person Bianca loved more than anyone else in the world, she saw reflected back at her the fervour that had driven explorers throughout history.

If we pull this off, if we nail this demo, the world as we know it will never be the same.