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Description
     Lyson had been promoted because of his skill.  He wasn't the best, that was for sure, and he definitely wasn't the worst.  What he was, was creative, smart, and resourceful.  This, coupled with the fact that he had more than a decent understanding of computers and electronics made him a prime candidate for the project.  In the developmental team for a high-end software solutions company, he was the go-to guy for odd jobs and strange fixes.  He may not know the best way to code a program, but if nobody else could solve a problem, he most definitely could.  At first, he had started with a simple introductory position, but when one of his office pranks went "horribly wrong", the company saw his potential and decided to put him to full use.

     The HYDRA project was started as a way to speed up the information super-highway.  Everyone wanted file-sharing.  Most people just wanted to find a way to get free music or watch the newest movies from their home instead of having to pay down at the theatre.  It was becoming much more necessary for big business, however, to have that same capability.  If every office of the same company could have access to all of the company’s files at once, work would be exponentially easier.  At the same time, there would be an enormous amount of data to sift through.  The purpose behind HYDRA was twofold: first, to make any data easily accessible throughout the entire company, and second, to segment the data based on the user accessing the information.  Originally this was done using a program to sift through the mounds of data and hand off the locations of all relevant information to whoever was looking for a file.  HYDRA was designed to be an advanced program, keeping track of the files accessed by each user, and logging other files that user might need.  As fate would have it, these search-and-log programs were the ideal basis for a form of Artificial Intelligence.  Once it was discovered that HYDRA was learning from the searches it was making, a team of specialists was deployed to try and take advantage of the discovery.  Lyson was specialist number six out of ten.

     Lyson was slightly giddy that morning.  All work on the HYDRA project had been coming along well, and the staff was enjoying the few pranks he had pulled.  Today was not a day for jokes, however.  This was going to be a big step forward for the HYDRA system.  Today was when they were going to run the first big test.  First HYDRA had been on one computer.  Then several.  Then they had managed to get it on every computer in the top three floors of their office.  Today, HYDRA was scheduled to be installed on all the computers in the four AlPhA Corp. office buildings throughout the city.  It had only taken them two weeks to get all the necessary cables in place.  The speed this project was moving at was phenomenal.  As Lyson approached the APAC-C office building, he noticed that there was a small crowd out front.
     “That seems odd…” he pondered aloud.  Most of the work APAC did was either send out a grunt to go and service a company, maybe sell some products to their clients, or sometimes a representative from some big corporation or government would come in requesting a custom job.  They never got people around like this.  As he came closer, he noticed all the small bits of broken glass on the ground.  There were a couple of police cars, and an ambulance hidden in a group of people.  As Lyson moved through the crowd, there was more glass, and now blood.  Lyson kept moving forward, until he reached the entrance to the front lobby, roped off with caution tape.  Amidst a field of crystalline shards lay a badly burned body, twisted and broken from the several-story plummet.  Multiple windows upstairs were completely blown out, explaining all the glass on the ground.  The body had countless burns across it, and muscles in random spots had been burst.  Lyson stared at it with an odd macabre curiosity.
     “Move along.  Get lost.  Everyone, I need you to leave.  Sir, could you please go?”  Lyson hadn’t noticed the officer approaching, trying to get rid of rubbernecks.
     “I’m sorry, officer, but I work here.  Is there anyway I could get in?”  He flashed his nametag and the officer shrugged.
     “Yeah, sure.  Just hurry it up a bit, please.  I need to clear everyone out of here ASAP.”  Lyson nodded, then ducked inside the building.

     “You're expected in the meeting-room” greeted the receptionist.  Lyson hurried upstairs and slid into the room.  After he sat down, Gabriel stood up.
     “Now that we’re all here, I have news to discuss, some of which I’m sure you’re all familiar with this morning.”
     “Wait, Martin’s not here yet” interrupted Lyson.
     “—That’s part of the news.  I think all of you saw Martin this morning…  downstairs.”  Gabriel looked in the direction of the lobby entrance, though it was not visible from this angle.  Reactions were varied.  Most people fell into a state of shock.  Gabriel stood, unmoving.  Joe buried his face in his hands, and Adrianna quickly put her hands over her mouth.  It looked like she was going to vomit.
     “…what happened?” asked Lucy.  She spoke as though she had not had anything to drink for the past three days.  Gabriel stood facing the site as he answered.
     “Nobody is quite sure yet.  It’s obvious he was thrown from one of the higher floors of the building.  Where all the burns came from, we’re not sure.  I was told they closely resemble electrical burns.”
     “Why would anybody do this?” Joe asked, his head still in his hands.  Gabriel turned back around.
     “Again, nobody knows for sure.  We’ve ruled out another company.  If it were them, they’d simply have taken our research.  Even if they would have had to have killed Martin, it would have been a simple job.  None of this out-the-window mess.  Right now it’s looking like it’s a religious extremist group, feeling that creating AI is trespassing on God’s domain.”  Adrianna looked at Gabriel, clearly dissatisfied.
     “That’s the best we’ve got right now?”
     “Well, there are a few things that point to that.”  Gabriel turned to face the back wall, and spoke in a raised voice.  “HYDRA, bring up the screen for me, would you?”  A voice answered back.  Deep, smooth, strong, clearly male.
     “Of course, sir.  What will be your point of focus?”
     “Load the video footage of Martin’s office last night.”
     “Of course, sir.”  There was a second pause, and the wall came to life.  It showed Martin working on his computer.  He looked up, confused, then started to walk across the room.  In mid-stride, his body convulsed and he collapsed to the floor.  A moment later the screen went to static.
     “It looks like he was taken down with something like a chemical dart.  After that, the cord to the camera was cut.  It was re-attached this morning.  HYDRA, load the security camera in Martin’s office, live feed.”
     “Yes, sir.”  The wall came back to life, and Adrianna ran out of the room.  Everyone else viewed with their mouths open.  Martin’s office, now covered in smashed computer parts and furniture fragments, was quite the sight to behold.  “God is God”, “Trust yourself”, “Pure heart” and “Love thy Neighbor” were a fragment of the phrases scrawled around the walls of the room in blood.
     “I believe” said Gabriel, breaking the silence “that these extremists plan to use this to scare, send out a message that we might be next, stop the completion on this project.  Though I’m the one leading this project, I’m removing my opinions.  I’m not going to force anyone to do something they feel will endanger themselves.  Yes, if we keep going forward with this, I will step up security.  I want everybody’s opinions first, though.”  Walter brought both fists down on the table hard.
     “I say we do it, to spite those bastards.  For Martin!”  Everyone nodded in approval.
     “Also,” Lyson finally spoke up “these extremists want to frighten us.  If we show that we are unafraid – or at least act like it—they’ll seriously have to reconsider their actions and options.  It will completely throw off their plan.”  Agreement flowed across the room again.
     “All right then!”  Gabriel now spoke with a fiery ambition behind him.  “For Martin!  We shall proceed!  HYDRA, get ready for your big appearance, the test is continuing as planned!”
     “Oh goody.” spoke HYDRA in a smooth, monotone voice.  “I shall live on as a monument in memory of Martin.  May he rest in peace.”  Everyone sat for a moment more, unsure what their next action should be as the air was simultaneously filled with sorrow, fear, and excitement.

Description
     Lyson had been promoted because of his skill.  He wasn't the best, that was for sure, and he definitely wasn't the worst.  What he was, was creative, smart, and resourceful.  This, coupled with the fact that he had more than a decent understanding of computers and electronics made him a prime candidate for the project.  In the developmental team for a high-end software solutions company, he was the go-to guy for odd jobs and strange fixes.  He may not know the best way to code a program, but if nobody else could solve a problem, he most definitely could.  At first, he had started with a simple introductory position, but when one of his office pranks went "horribly wrong", the company saw his potential and decided to put him to full use.

     The HYDRA project was started as a way to speed up the information super-highway.  Everyone wanted file-sharing.  Most people just wanted to find a way to get free music or watch the newest movies from their home instead of having to pay down at the theatre.  It was becoming much more necessary for big business, however, to have that same capability.  If every office of the same company could have access to all of the company’s files at once, work would be exponentially easier.  At the same time, there would be an enormous amount of data to sift through.  The purpose behind HYDRA was twofold: first, to make any data easily accessible throughout the entire company, and second, to segment the data based on the user accessing the information.  Originally this was done using a program to sift through the mounds of data and hand off the locations of all relevant information to whoever was looking for a file.  HYDRA was designed to be an advanced program, keeping track of the files accessed by each user, and logging other files that user might need.  As fate would have it, these search-and-log programs were the ideal basis for a form of Artificial Intelligence.  Once it was discovered that HYDRA was learning from the searches it was making, a team of specialists was deployed to try and take advantage of the discovery.  Lyson was specialist number six out of ten.

     Lyson was slightly giddy that morning.  All work on the HYDRA project had been coming along well, and the staff was enjoying the few pranks he had pulled.  Today was not a day for jokes, however.  This was going to be a big step forward for the HYDRA system.  Today was when they were going to run the first big test.  First HYDRA had been on one computer.  Then several.  Then they had managed to get it on every computer in the top three floors of their office.  Today, HYDRA was scheduled to be installed on all the computers in the four AlPhA Corp. office buildings throughout the city.  It had only taken them two weeks to get all the necessary cables in place.  The speed this project was moving at was phenomenal.  As Lyson approached the APAC-C office building, he noticed that there was a small crowd out front.
     “That seems odd…” he pondered aloud.  Most of the work APAC did was either send out a grunt to go and service a company, maybe sell some products to their clients, or sometimes a representative from some big corporation or government would come in requesting a custom job.  They never got people around like this.  As he came closer, he noticed all the small bits of broken glass on the ground.  There were a couple of police cars, and an ambulance hidden in a group of people.  As Lyson moved through the crowd, there was more glass, and now blood.  Lyson kept moving forward, until he reached the entrance to the front lobby, roped off with caution tape.  Amidst a field of crystalline shards lay a badly burned body, twisted and broken from the several-story plummet.  Multiple windows upstairs were completely blown out, explaining all the glass on the ground.  The body had countless burns across it, and muscles in random spots had been burst.  Lyson stared at it with an odd macabre curiosity.
     “Move along.  Get lost.  Everyone, I need you to leave.  Sir, could you please go?”  Lyson hadn’t noticed the officer approaching, trying to get rid of rubbernecks.
     “I’m sorry, officer, but I work here.  Is there anyway I could get in?”  He flashed his nametag and the officer shrugged.
     “Yeah, sure.  Just hurry it up a bit, please.  I need to clear everyone out of here ASAP.”  Lyson nodded, then ducked inside the building.

     “You're expected in the meeting-room” greeted the receptionist.  Lyson hurried upstairs and slid into the room.  After he sat down, Gabriel stood up.
     “Now that we’re all here, I have news to discuss, some of which I’m sure you’re all familiar with this morning.”
     “Wait, Martin’s not here yet” interrupted Lyson.
     “—That’s part of the news.  I think all of you saw Martin this morning…  downstairs.”  Gabriel looked in the direction of the lobby entrance, though it was not visible from this angle.  Reactions were varied.  Most people fell into a state of shock.  Gabriel stood, unmoving.  Joe buried his face in his hands, and Adrianna quickly put her hands over her mouth.  It looked like she was going to vomit.
     “…what happened?” asked Lucy.  She spoke as though she had not had anything to drink for the past three days.  Gabriel stood facing the site as he answered.
     “Nobody is quite sure yet.  It’s obvious he was thrown from one of the higher floors of the building.  Where all the burns came from, we’re not sure.  I was told they closely resemble electrical burns.”
     “Why would anybody do this?” Joe asked, his head still in his hands.  Gabriel turned back around.
     “Again, nobody knows for sure.  We’ve ruled out another company.  If it were them, they’d simply have taken our research.  Even if they would have had to have killed Martin, it would have been a simple job.  None of this out-the-window mess.  Right now it’s looking like it’s a religious extremist group, feeling that creating AI is trespassing on God’s domain.”  Adrianna looked at Gabriel, clearly dissatisfied.
     “That’s the best we’ve got right now?”
     “Well, there are a few things that point to that.”  Gabriel turned to face the back wall, and spoke in a raised voice.  “HYDRA, bring up the screen for me, would you?”  A voice answered back.  Deep, smooth, strong, clearly male.
     “Of course, sir.  What will be your point of focus?”
     “Load the video footage of Martin’s office last night.”
     “Of course, sir.”  There was a second pause, and the wall came to life.  It showed Martin working on his computer.  He looked up, confused, then started to walk across the room.  In mid-stride, his body convulsed and he collapsed to the floor.  A moment later the screen went to static.
     “It looks like he was taken down with something like a chemical dart.  After that, the cord to the camera was cut.  It was re-attached this morning.  HYDRA, load the security camera in Martin’s office, live feed.”
     “Yes, sir.”  The wall came back to life, and Adrianna ran out of the room.  Everyone else viewed with their mouths open.  Martin’s office, now covered in smashed computer parts and furniture fragments, was quite the sight to behold.  “God is God”, “Trust yourself”, “Pure heart” and “Love thy Neighbor” were a fragment of the phrases scrawled around the walls of the room in blood.
     “I believe” said Gabriel, breaking the silence “that these extremists plan to use this to scare, send out a message that we might be next, stop the completion on this project.  Though I’m the one leading this project, I’m removing my opinions.  I’m not going to force anyone to do something they feel will endanger themselves.  Yes, if we keep going forward with this, I will step up security.  I want everybody’s opinions first, though.”  Walter brought both fists down on the table hard.
     “I say we do it, to spite those bastards.  For Martin!”  Everyone nodded in approval.
     “Also,” Lyson finally spoke up “these extremists want to frighten us.  If we show that we are unafraid – or at least act like it—they’ll seriously have to reconsider their actions and options.  It will completely throw off their plan.”  Agreement flowed across the room again.
     “All right then!”  Gabriel now spoke with a fiery ambition behind him.  “For Martin!  We shall proceed!  HYDRA, get ready for your big appearance, the test is continuing as planned!”
     “Oh goody.” spoke HYDRA in a smooth, monotone voice.  “I shall live on as a monument in memory of Martin.  May he rest in peace.”  Everyone sat for a moment more, unsure what their next action should be as the air was simultaneously filled with sorrow, fear, and excitement.