Arboria Press Release
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Originally Published on April 4th, 2488
The fires still are burning, the people still flee screaming, and the red blue lights still dance back and forth in their alarming duet, flooding down the nearby streets of the now toppled Arborian building in Cocoon as a clear artificial voice takes to the media waves of the awakening city. An announcement is to be made.
The voice crackles and glitches as it takes a moment to strengthen its connection from the foreign source it spawns from; jumping from pitches and tones, at one moment it sounds perfectly human, female, another, it darkens and lashes out in its cold synthetic tones.
“The Arborian Corporation has declared your city of Cocoon to be an anomaly. For reasons stated as follows: aggression and hostility, continued aggression and hostility towards Arborian workers and employees, state of extreme unrest and unlawfulness, moral decay, lack of growth and evolution, as well as 56 other infractions, your city of "Cocoon" has been declared hostile. This process is automatic and cannot be retracted.”
Settling upon a compromise between the two tones, the clear AI sounded as though two people were speaking together in unison, the metallically duet continued to burrow deeper in Cocoon's media fronts, finding whatever was wired to be a speaker and tuning itself in, hijacking the audio waves of the station.
“In order to correct these infractures and to continue expanding and developing Arboria's interests in your city of Cocoon, a new division of our company has been immediately dispatched to your locale. This process is automatic and cannot be retracted. Please sit back and relax, we understand the news may be alarming to some, as the hostility levels in your locale must be reaching an all time high, but take heart in the news that help is coming.”
The artificially fake smile was audible in the glitchy tone as the pre-recorded message continued to play out. Finding nearly all speakers it could possibly find, screens were now targeted; dated cathode-ray tubes cracked into life, sparkling with the newfound heat as the AI displayed her logo proudly all across Cocoon, from beggar's alleyways to sky-high billboards.
“Arboria Tactical Systems are on their way. This process is automatic and cannot be retracted. The AI spoke as though she were from a dated amusement park, informing guests of all of the lacking safety features before asking them to strap in and to keep their hands within the cart at all times. An advanced security force developed in Utopia from Arboria but that takes and learns from all the locales operated in; from operatives and agents, to technologies and resources, this elite security system grows with every successful mission and secured locale. Boasting a near perfect success rate, your city of Cocoon, shall be liberated from its flaws and violence shortly!
How do I know this? For I am the system! A highly sophisticated and integrated Alpha-AI at your service, you may call me A.T.S. if you wish, for I will certainly be getting to know you soon. If *you* desire to be a part of this transition for your locale, please be patient! For very shortly, the A.T.S. will be up and running in your neighborhood and we will be most glad to have your assistance. The pay is excellent and you will have the satisfaction of being a part of one of the most successful and holistic security systems in existence. Thank you for your attention. This process is automatic and cannot be retracted. This was a pre-recorded automated message delivered by A.T.S.”
A sort of tune played off the AI's message with a sickly bunch of chimes while the logo flashed once more across all the hackable screens within the city. As the audio devices and speakers returned to their original duties and filled the air with their usual noise, the screens and TV's crackled back to the black screens, the AI's presence within the city died off as quickly as it came, leaving but the sound of sirens, of red and blue once again, and the distant befuddled, "What the fuck was that?" from some bewildered homeless man banging the top of his cathode-ray antique television.