SOPHIA - Age of Intelligence
Page 48
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Nearing One World Trade Center, Simon turned off West Street and plunged his Tesla down a side street. Steering left then right, he knew his chances at saving Sophia were diminishing by the second. He would have to abandon his car as close as possible to his building. Against the backdrop of squealing tires, the concert’s final encore was announced and then commenced. Simon was well acquainted with the beautiful piece.
The destruction of my life’s work, he thought, will be accompanied by one of opera’s greatest tenor arias: Nessun Dorma, (None Shall Sleep.) Simon turned up the concert’s last breaths then throttled up his car’s silent electric engine.
Nessun dorma! Nessun dorma!
Tu pure, o Principessa,
nella tua fredda stanza,
guardi le stelle
che tremano d'amore, e di speranza!
None shall sleep! None shall sleep!
Even you, O Princess,
in your cold bedroom,
watch the stars
that tremble with love and with hope!
The first verse had finished when Simon’s car screamed to a stop at the base of his company’s headquarters. He leapt from his car and was soon running past the ground floor’s only security guard. Facial recognition protocols kicked in immediately and confirmed his identity by displaying it on the guards desktop computer screen. “Call the police,” he yelled, running past the guard. “The 90th has been compromised.” The elevator took what seemed an eternity to reach the ground floor, but when it did, Simon entered with the brilliant Metropolitan Opera joining him in the small space.
Ma il mio mistero è chiuso in me;
il nome mio nessun saprà!
No, No! Sulla tua bocca
lo dirò quando la luce splenderà!
But my secret is hidden within me;
none will know my name!
No, no! On your mouth
I will say it when the light shines!
The first operative nodded to the second, indicating the final XNA download was complete. A further tilt of the head indicated it was time to head for the office’s unhinged door. Stopping there, the first looked at the second before detonating the devices attached to Sophia’s hardware. A dozen micro-EMPs (Electro Magnetic Pulse) went off in succession, effectively destroying all the electronics in the room. The sound was inaudible, but the damage was obvious.
The room’s LED lighting instantly went out, while the lights on Sophia’s mainframe panels suggested the life in them had been extinguished. Although few visual cues presented themselves, the true carnage lay within the realm of the microscopic. Every circuit had been severed, their processors rendered inanimate.
By the time it was over, the pair of intruders had disappeared; they were heading for the roof. Derrick’s life was indeed spared, instead he felt the butt of Zara’s gun make contact with his head. The impact caused him to slump forward onto his laptop.
Again, Simon looked to the ceiling of his elevator as if that would help shorten the distance yet to be travelled. By this time, Jennifer, Rose, and Susan had removed their heels and were in the process of ignoring the security guard’s pleas to stop. While on the phone with the police, two of the three women were identified by his security software.
Ed il mio bacio scioglierà
il silenzio che ti fa mia!
And my kiss will dissolve
the silence that makes you mine!
And the female chorus added:
Il nome suo nessun saprà,
E noi dovrem, ahimè, morir, morir!
No one will know his name,
and we will have to, alas, die, die!
When Simon finally emerged from the elevator, the damage was all too apparent. He burst into his darkened office and was instantly drawn to one thing: Sophia’s diminishing holographic image. Her hardware appeared lifeless and her backup battery power had been likewise severed. With little more than the evening’s moonlight, he and Sophia met face to face one final time.
Dilegua, o notte!
Tramontate, stelle!
Tramontate, stelle!
All'alba vincerò!
Vincerò! Vincerò!
Vanish, o night!
Fade, you stars!
Fade, you stars!
At dawn, I will win!
I will win! I will win!
The Met erupted into a sustained standing ovation as Jennifer, Rose, and Susan burst into the office. Stopping short, they found Simon embracing Sophia’s fading hologram. Jennifer tearfully rushed over to comfort her father as Rose and Susan looked on, aghast. While The Tenors bowed, and the Met’s ovation roared on, Sophia offered a final poignant smile before the room went tragically dark.