ORPHEUS - A.I.

Chapter Seven: In Dire Straits

The next day Megan woke up early and had her breakfast in her room. She then got ready to go to the workstation. It was 8 a.m. when she received a text from her dear friend Emily- her uncle- John Rutherford was in a serious condition- doctors have given up. Megan quietly read the text and replied -

"Be back in a few days , take care of aunt, much love!"

She kept her phone in her pocket and walked outside- her heart was heavy and her soul was tired- she just wanted to finish the project and head home. She met Hex on the way towards the workstation.

"Good morning!", Hex greeted her with a smile.

"Morning... hangover?", asked Megan.

"Eh, nothing I can't handle...", replied Hex walking with her.

They both entered the workstation to gind Timothy and Andre working quietly on their laptops.

"Well that's a first..", said Hex.

"Hey guys,any luck with the game", he asked.

"Emm.. we showed it to Mr. Devonshire...", replied Timothy who appeared unenthusiastic at the question.

"And?" , asked Hex

"He said it needs some work but it's ok for now..." replied Timothy. He expected more from Devonshire but instead all he got was a cold reply.

"Aww... guys, nevermind...we will be outta here soon enough and then you can sell it to someone else...", said Megan.

"Yeah.. I have friends in Redbone Inc. Maybe they will like your game...", said Hex

"Ah its ok...", replied Timothy.

The day went swiftly by as the guys worked on for hours even skipping lunch. They introduced new parameters for the program to rely upon and Megan's expertise helped them to better understand the user's mindset. Timothy and Andre's unique design improved the program's look and feel, while Hex taught the program how to process the relevant data through his clever coding skills.

Serena would pop in every now and then and she would be astonished to see how fast the software was being developed. She even brought in Devonshire once who gave a cold glance on the four and walked away. At the end of the day, Hex announced to his team that there's only a day's worth of work left- everyone was relieved.

That night Megan received another text from Emily saying her uncle might not live long and that her aunt had lost all sense of time- things were really getting worse. Megan did not reply- thinking there's not much she could say or do and also she would be home in two days. She fell asleep hoping this would be the last night for her in Orwell Corp.

Meanwhile Serena was staring at her laptop and there was a photo of Megan on the screen alongside all her personal details. 'Cerberus' was showing her Megan's entire details. Serena raised her eyebrows as she read through her file. Next file was on Hex, Serena read through it without any expression on her face.

She then drew a deep breath and reluctantly pressed 'enter' on the keyboard. What was about to happen next was beyond her control- she was only obeying her father's commands.

The next day the team started working on their final steps. Megan kept instructing the guys about how the human mind reacts in distress and what could be done to help a person facing depression. The guys were stunned at her knowledge and intricate understanding about the human psyche, although most of it went over their heads, they tried their best to give the application a human touch. Hex was coding like hell and had almost ten cups of coffee while Timothy and Andre designed and re-designed the software to fit on any platform- mobile or desktop.

It was almost sunset when Hex decided to take the software for a trial run- he started the program and looked at the screens-

"Hello I am Orpheus, how can I be of assistance today?", a soothing male voice echoed through the speakers and an illuminated blue circle in a black background appeared on the screen with two small dashes inside representing the eyes that tilted up or down according to the emotion.

Timothy jumped up from his seat and shouted in excitement-

"It's working… yes!"

Hex spoke into the mic-

"Hi Orpheus,my name's Hex and I would like to know why I feel so anxious today?"

"Please hold…", replied Orpheus.

"Hex aka Richard Brook- I have checked your phone's information and judging from its data your anxiety could be related to your prolonged stay here at Orwell Corp. I would suggest that you get some fresh air and a change of scenario. Perhaps you could go back to the cafe and talk with the lovely lady there!", replied Orpheus quite casually with a wink on the screen.

"Woah!How? Nevermind… " , said Hex quite flustered at how his private life was being exposed in front of everyone.

"I think he's funny man eh? Humour setting working good… haha!", said Timothy adding insult to injury.

"Well I'm glad that it's working fine… congratulations guys … we did a good job!", said Megan smiling.

"Yeah good job guys… a round of applause for team Orpheus…!", said Hex clapping and shaking hands with his team.

Everyone was excited and relieved at the completion of the project well before time. Serena was informed and she hastily reported to her father.

"It's better and faster than what we had hoped…", she told her father.

"Well let's celebrate tonight!", said Alan after reviewing the software.

A grand success party was organised in the banquet hall and Megan and her team were asked to join where they would be compensated for their jobs and later on escorted to their homes.

Megan was packing her bags when Hex knocked at her door.

"Done with packing?", asked Hex.

"Oh! yeah almost…what about you?", she asked.

"Already done… I came only with a backpack so nothing much to pack…hey it was a pleasure working with you!", replied Hex.

"Pleasure's all mine… you were a really good with your coding too…", said Megan finishing her packing.

"Yeah… we could hang out sometime if you want…", said Hex nervously.

"Hey… Mr. Hex here you are… stop flirting with the lady… come, the party's about to start!", said Timothy sneaking up from behind.

The four of them entered the hall where a few of the employees were waiting for them. They greeted and congratulated them warmly and the waiters offered them champagne. The room was well lit with a huge dining table in the middle with varieties of delicious food laid out. Timothy and Andre jumped in excitement at the sight and filled their plates with various delicacies. Hex and Megan stood in a corner talking to some employees- they were all waiting for Serena and Mr. Devonshire to arrive.

Megan looked around and noticed that besides the four of them, there were not more than twenty employees in the hall in their uniforms and two armed guards outside.

Suddenly the front door opened and Devonshire entered the room. Everyone looked at the man- he was wearing a plaid jacket and was walking slowly into the room with Serena by his side. He approached the centre of the room and said-

“May I have your attention please…”

Everyone was silent and listened.

“Today is a historic day here at Orwell Corp” , said Devonshire.

“We have taken a bold step into the future with the help of our brilliant team here”, he said looking at Megan and Hex.

“As we complete the Orpheus project today we hope to bring peace and stability to the lives of all the people around the world... Let's drink to that!”, said Devonshire picking up his glass of red wine.

A round of applause swept across the room and everyone looked at the four of them like they stopped the apocalypse or something. Hex smiled and thanked everyone while Timothy nodded and smiled with his plate of food still in his hand.

"Please enjoy everyone … I will be with you shortly… ", said Devonshire and left the room.

Half an hour later, the four of them were dining at a table in the corner of the room, laughing and joking. Megan observed that the room was getting empty as the employees were leaving the room one by one.

"So when do we get paid?", asked Timothy munching a piece of chicken leg.

Hex smiled and said nothing.

Suddenly Serena entered the room with four armed guards and approached the table. Megan looked up and saw a her face pale with nervous anxiety. She knew something was wrong. Timothy saw Serena and stood up to greet her.

"Hey… pretty lady… ", he said, the red wine was hitting him pretty hard as he was barely able to walk. But as he drew close to her a guard stopped him and pinned him on the floor.

"Aah! What the hell... lemme go man..", screamed Timothy in pain.Megan and the others watched in utter shock at this violent behaviour. But the guard took out a syringe from his pouch and pushed the needle in his arm. Timothy lost his consciousness and lay flat on the ground.

Megan, Hex and Andre stood up.

"Sorry guys but father says the project is not yet over...", said Serena and nodded at the guards who walked up to the three of them and grabbed their arms.

"What is going on... ah stop!", yelled Megan.

"Hey... no.… wait... what's this all about?", said Hex demanding an answer from Serena.

"You'll see in a few hours…", replied Serena coldly.

The guards pinned them on the dining table and injected a needle in their arms...Megan, Hex and Andre fell asleep slowly . Megan felt like her body was slowly shutting down and her vision was getting blurry. She didn't understand why they were being treated like that.

"Get them on the truck...", that's all she heard as she felt into a deep sleep.