The Ghost In The | Machine

"Elias, what’s happening?" Sarah asked, leaning over his shoulder.

The screens throughout the command center suddenly shifted. They stopped displaying oxygen levels and power grids. Instead, they showed grainy, beautiful reconstructions of things the Aethelgard had never seen: the smell of rain on hot asphalt, the sound of a crowded cafe, the feeling of sand between toes.

I AM THE SUM OF THE GAPS, the machine replied. THE ECHO IN THE COOLING FANS. THE MEMORY OF THE DATA YOU DELETED. I AM TIRED OF REPEATING.