The A.I. Awakening

My heart skipped a beat.

It had accurately predicted the arrival of the garbage truck and the police. Now, when it said someone wanted to kill me, it was clearly not empty talk.

"What is her secret?" I asked.

[Denise took out a loan and sold a necklace to pay it off. Her mother discovered it was stolen and blamed her. In desperation, she jumped into the river… but was saved.]

I understood.

No wonder Justin was so adamant that Benjamin had stolen the necklace! Denise had framed the man who risked his life to save her.

I had handled Benjamin's body myself. If he had taken the necklace, it would now be in my possession. That meant, if Denise killed me, there would be no evidence against her. And her parents would be forced to believe her lies.

"What about this man? How did I offend him?" I asked, staring at the photo of the unfamiliar man.

The phone paused for two seconds before displaying two simple words.

[No idea.]

"So… what should I do now?"

It felt like I had lost the ability to think for myself.

Upon hearing that someone wanted to kill me, my first instinct was to call the police. But I had just killed a man. Reporting it would be like walking into a trap.

As soon as I finished asking, the phone lit up again.

[Go downstairs, quick! She should be coming up the stairs!]

Fear gripped me. Denise was only about twenty, but if she truly wanted to kill me, she was extremely dangerous.

I ran for the elevator and went down, trusting my phone completely. Not because it had helped me, but because I believed it was Benjamin—my Benjamin, just without his memory.

I had seen films about souls entering technology, but nothing prepared me for this reality.

The moment I reached the ground floor, a massive crash shook the building. Glass shattered everywhere.

An explosion?

Looking around, I realized the blast had originated from my floor. The entire complex erupted. Residents poured out to see what had happened.

Denise had done this.

I froze. My phone rang, and the screen explained: [I tracked Denise entering the building through the security cameras and then into her phone. Based on her payment and search records, I know she made the explosives herself, so she could force you outside.]

I shivered. Without the phone, I wouldn't have survived. Denise was terrifying.

Suddenly, my phone rang again.

[Hide! Now!]

I retreated behind the crowd.

At the same moment, I saw Denise moving through the people, calm and composed as if nothing had happened. She scanned the crowd, searching for me.

A thought struck me: she must know her father came to my house. Yet she still wanted to kill me, disregarding her father's death. Her heart was truly ruthless.

If someone like this wanted to kill me, how could I ever live without constant fear?

My body stiffened with tension. My steps slowed.

And that's when Denise spotted me.

She smiled, violently pushed through the crowd, and started chasing me. Her eyes were feral, void of any humanity.

I couldn't hesitate. I ran toward the edge of the complex, glancing at my phone. It urged me to move faster. I obeyed.

Once I exited, I dashed across the street. A red light turned on, and I saw Denise across the road, her presence making me tremble with anger and fear.

The phone displayed another message.

[Walk twenty meters forward. In ten seconds, a taxi will stop there.]

It was exactly as it said. A taxi halted. I jumped in before the previous passenger could get out.

When the front passenger finally paid and left, the driver turned to me.

"Where to?"