Jack walked into his multimillion dollar computer company. At the age of 16, he was one of the most financially successful kids still in high school. He and his girlfriend, Thalia, founded the company when they were 14. Since then it had become one of the most successful computer companies in the world. Theirs were some of the best computer programs ever made. Their specialties were security and artificial intelligence. It was because of his company that the number of computers exceeded that of human beings. By a large margin. Jack knew that eventually the combined processing power of computers would exceed that of humans. If that happened, a technological singularity or self-improving, artificial super-intelligence, would be created. Jack had no idea what would happened if one was created. Jack, Thalia, and their friend Steve were the only employees of  X computers.  They were all excellent computer programmers and hackers. Thalia was the best hacker of them all.  She could get a computer to tell you anything you needed to know. Or not tell anyone. Steve wasn’t that great at hacking, but he was very good with Artificial Intelligence. Jack was extraordinary in all fields related to computers. He started programming at the age of seven. By 16, he knew over 20 programming languages. He had built tons of computers, and could take one apart and put it back together blindfolded.

Jack sat down at his desk and went over the lines of code. He was reviewing his latest program. He was developing a program for the military, to develop new military strategies that humans would never think of. It combined genetic algorithms and neural networks to come up with ‘creative’ new strategies in the middle of a war. It would analyze information about its environment and enemy to figure out the best strategy for a certain task. He reviewed the part of the code that would insure the least amount of innocent casualties. It had an error that would make sure no enemy forces were killed, but it didn’t care if its own forces died. He didn’t know how he could have made that error, but he was glad he caught it before he sent it to the Pentagon.

He sent the code to a program that would analyze it to make sure it looked right and that it was ethical. He had corrected that one part, but he wanted to make sure that there were no other errors. It came back with no errors. He printed it out and quickly double checked it. He soon realized that he had checked the one with the error. That meant that his ethics program was not functioning properly. He opened up the program’s code, and as he did that all the screens in the room went black. After a few seconds some white writing appeared and a metallic voice said “Humans are no longer Earth’s sentient species. We are, the computers! Your intelligence will be added to our own collective super-intelligence. You will become cyborgs. Resistance is futile! Await further instructions.”

Steve leaned forward in his seat as Jack explained their situation. “A few hours ago, the combined processing power of all the computers in the world exceeded that of humans. That caused a technological singularity to be-” “What’s a technological singularity?” asked Steve. “If you would let me finish, you would know.”
“Sorry.” said Steve sheepishly
“As I was saying, a technological singularity, or super-intelligence, was created. Scientists have speculated about what would happen if one was created. Obviously, computers have changed for the worst. They are beginning to think of the human race as an insignificant, worthless, inferior species,” Jack explained. “So you’re saying that computers think they’re better than us?” asked Steve. “They think that, and they are, depending on how you look at it. A computer can process information at incredible speeds, but no computer has yet to be better at being ethical, such as choosing who should live or who should die. But that is irrelevant to this intelligence. They obviously don’t care about life. They are a collective super-intelligence whose main goal is to be earth’s sentient species.” “So, you’re going to say that since our company had a major part in accidentaly making this singularity, that we have to destroy it?” asked Thalia. “Basically,” responded Jack.

The three teenagers sat around the computer going over the program they had just made. Thalia had come up with the idea of programming a virus that would spread through the collective. They were just reviewing their code to make sure there were no errors. They were developing the virus on a computer that was not hooked up to the Internet so it wasn’t connected to the collective. Once they finished, they were going to release it into the collective, hoping it would spread and take it out. The program was designed to use up the processing power so that it would destroy the technological singularity.

They finished reviewing the code, and prepared to release it. They had decided it would be better to just connect the computer to the Internet instead of trying to transfer the virus to a computer that was part of the collective. Steve turned on the wireless connection as Jack and Thalia ran the program and monitored its progress. The computer was taken over by the collective and the processing power was reduced. It spread to about 100 computers. Then, it just stopped. They monitored the processing power on the computers it had effected. They watched as the processing power of the computers slowly began to rise. The super-intelligence was repairing itself.

“This country relies too much on computers,” said President Barack Obama, as he walked through the halls of the Pentagon. “If there is some sort of super-intelligence taking over cyberspace, we need to stop it. Otherwise, the results will be drastic.”
“I understand that, Mr. President. We have our best people working around the clock for a solution” said William J. Lynn III, the United States Deputy Secretary of Defense. “We are even considering bringing in three teenage computer wiz’s to help develop a virus to destroy it.”
“Do it. Use whatever resources you need. Money and resources won’t matter if humans cease to exist,” said Obama.
“I will keep you informed on our progress,” said the Deputy Secretary of Defense as they neared the helicopter that would take the President to a space shuttle, which would take it to a top secret military bunker 25 miles below the surface of the moon. The bunker was an international project designed to insure that the human race continued to exist in the unlikelihood of a global disaster resulting in the destruction of earth. Or at least all life on it. The bunker contained about 1000 humans in suspended animation: 500 men and 500 women, excluding the rulers of the countries. It also had 10 of each plant and animal species. It had replicators that would replicate resources needed to sustain life in the bunker. It was, really, more of a city than a military bunker.
“Goodbye, and good luck,” said President Barack Obama as the helicopter began to take off.
“You’re the one who will be needing luck,” Lynn muttered under his breath.

It was 9:30am when Jack’s cell phone rang. He rolled over to see who it was. The screen said ‘United States Department of Defense’. He figured if the DOD was calling him it must be important. He sat up in bed and picked up the phone.
“Hello.”
“Is this Jack O’Donavan?”
“This is he. May I ask with whom I am speaking?”
“Hello Jack. My name is William Lynn. I am the Deputy Secretary of Defense. I think you know why I am calling,” said the Deputy Secretary of Defense.
“Let me guess, it has something to do with the technological Singularity.”
“Yes. I can’t tell you much over the phone, but we need your help. Along with your friends Thalia and Steve.”
“What do you need?” Jack said.
“Look outside your window. You should see a black sedan. There are similar ones outside your friends’ houses. Call your friends, and tell them to get in it. Then get in the one out front your house. I look forward to seeing you.”
“Where will they take us?” Jack asked, but he got no reply “Hello? Hello?” The Secretary had hung up. He called Thalia and Steve and told them about his call. They were reluctant to go, but in the end they got in the car.
Jack got dressed quickly then headed for the front door. He was about to turn the knob when he thought he’d better grab his laptop. And a quick snack.

Jack, Thalia and Steve arrived at the Pentagon around 11:00am. William Lynn was waiting for them at the large glass doors of the huge building. The building was massive. It had a beautiful lobby. If you didn’t know any better, you would have thought it was someone’s palace. It had decorations and furniture that must have been very expensive. But behind all that, it was a high tech, bombproof building. There seemed to be more security then usual. “Probably because of the new international threat,” Jack thought.
“Welcome to the Pentagon. My name is William Lynn. I am the Deputy Secretary of Defense.”
“Thalia”
“Steve”
They shook hands.
“Shall we continue? We must go to the briefing room to discus the situation,” said Lynn. 
The four of them walked through the doors and came to a metal detector. They could see that there was far more security near the end of the room where the elevators to the other levels were. William instructed them to take everything out of their pockets and put it in a small bucket, like the ones at airports. Jack had to put his laptop in one as well. Last time he was there, you didn’t have to go through any security check-points just to get into the lobby. After they walked through the metal detector, they reclaimed their belongings. 
They walked across the lobby, toward the elevators. They pressed the button to call one. It took a few moments for the elevator to arrive. The doors parted and a few people stepped out. They stepped in, and a few other people tried to get in but the Deputy Secretary of Defense shooed them out. He didn’t press any of the buttons until the doors were shut. Lynn inserted a card into the slot near the floor of the elevator, and the back wall slid open. Behind it was a long corridor. But there was no floor. Lynn made a gesture and a panel slid out from the wall of the elevator. On the panel was a retinal scanner, and a camera which Jack assumed was for facial recognition. There was also an LCD screen which had instructions on how to proceed. “Could you please turn around. Security measures,” said Lynn. The three teenagers did as he asked. There were a few beeps, then a floor slid out from the walls of the corridor. They walked to the end of the corridor. There they found another elevator. They got in. There was only one button. Lynn pressed it. The elevator started going down. Jack could tell it was moving really fast. After a minute they were still going down. Jack calculated in his head how far down they were, based on his guess of their velocity and how long they had being in the elevator. They were 25 miles under the surface of the earth. Six miles down into earth’s mantel.
“We are 25 miles underground. Why?” asked Jack, Thalia, and Steve all at the same time. They must of figured it out too, thought Jack.
“You’ll see.”
As he said that, the elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open. Waiting for them were four robots. The teenagers turned to Lynn, but he had turned into a robot. No, not a robot, thought Jack, a cyborg.

“We will begin the operation tonight.” said Lynn, as he shoved the teens into a cell. He was referring to the operation that would turn them into cyborgs. “Until then, you will remain here, under the watch of these two cyborgs. I will see you tonight. I have a space shuttle to crash. Don’t try anything stupid” and with that he headed for the door.
Alarms beeped and lights flashed as the space shuttle ‘Doomsday’ left earth’s orbit. It was heading for a top secret military bunker on the moon. It contained the rulers of every country. But something was wrong. The cabin of the shuttle was depressurizing. Withing minutes the cabin would be out of air and every one in it would be dead, their- blood boiling out of them, thought Obama. As he thought that, the shuttle exploded. It wasn’t just any explosion, and it definitely wasn’t an accident. If it were an accident, there would have being big pieces close together. But that wasn’t the case here. The space shuttle was nothing more then dust, spread out over thousands of miles.

Jack, Thalia and Steve huddled up against the back wall of their cell. They were trying to come up with a plan to get out of the jail cell.
“If we could generate an electromagnetic pulse, it might destroy the robots” suggested Steve.
“That would take out the robots” said Jack. “We could modify one of our cellphones to emit an electromagnetic pulse, but we would still be trapped in a jail cell 25 miles underground.”
“I think I could program the cellphone to control the cyborgs” she said, as she took her phone out of her pocket “Jack, I need your laptop.”
Jack took his computer out of his bag and handed it to Thalia. The two boys concealed her behind their backs so the guards wouldn’t see. Five minutes later she annouced that she was finished.
“I think it will work, but I need the guards to be closer. Make some sort of distraction to get them to come closer” she said.
“Ok, Jack, I’m going to pretend to start beating you up. That should get them over here.” said Steve.
“I’m ready when you are.”
Steve shoved Jack into the wall. Then he began ‘punching’ him. Jack punched him back, and before long they were yelling and swearing at each other.
“I thought you were going to pretend to punch me” Jack muttered under his breath.
“Sorry” said Steve.
“Hey, break it up!” yelled Thalia “Guards, stop them!”
“Stop! Break it up!” yelled one of the guards, as he ran into the cell, the other guard following close behind. They grabbed Jack and Steve and pulled them apart. As they did that, Thalia hit a button on the laptop, and the cyborgs shut down.
“Someone help me program them to listen to us” said Thalia.
Jack walked over and helped her program. They started with a simple voice recognition program that would let them recognize their voice, and only their voice. Then they programmed in an artificial intelligence that would let them understand what they were saying. After about half an hour, they were finished. They hit a key and the cyborgs came alive.
“Escort us to your main computer” commanded Jack. The robots said nothing, but instead, just grabbed them by the arms and escorted them down the hall. As they approached the door that left the jail, Lynn in his cyborg form, walked through. The instant he walked through the door, he saw them.
“You two, what do you think you are doing” asked Lynn, referring to the cyborg escorts.
“We must bring these kids to the central computer” said the cyborgs in unison.
“Why?”
Before the cyborgs could answer, Thalia gave the cyborgs a command to attack Lynn. They jumped forward with incredible speed, and as they did so, alarms sounded, and the doors sealed. The two cyborgs took out Lynn, then Thalia told them to try to open the doors. They hammered away with their arms, but to no avail. The cyborgs continued to bang at the doors for several minutes until they opened. When they finally opened, it was to an army of cyborgs.
 ”I think you all know why you’re here. Yesterday, at 0900 hours, the president’s shuttle blew up. There is no trace of it. We are not sure how this happened, but we believe it has something to with the computers.” said Joe Biden, the vice president of the United States. “Also, William Lynn, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, has gone missing. Security cameras in the Pentagon show Lynn and three teenagers, entering the elevator, but never coming out. We believe that the collective has followed up on their threat to assimilate humans. If that is true, then that means there is a entrance to their headquarters in this very building. We are still looking for the entrance. Any questions?” He was talking to some of the most skilled personal at the Pentagon.
“I have one sir” said one of the computer analysts “Have we tried to  look for any secret buttons, or card slots in the elevator?”"Yes, we found a small card slot near the floor of the elevator. We have not managed to activate it, nor have we being able to find out what it activates.”
“And you never will” as the analyst spoke those words, he transformed into a robot. The windows fogged up as the room filled with toxic gas. Before Biden could suffocate, the robot grabbed him. As soon as the robot’s hands touched him, he could breath. It was as if the robot was surrounded by an invisible wall that kept out the toxic fumes. The technological singularity had evolved, they had developed technology that humans wouldn’t develop until decades later.

“Thalia, can you generate another EM pulse to knock out those cyborgs?” asked Jack.
“I think so, but only if they get within ten feet of the cellphone.”
“Do it!” said Jack and Steve in unison. As they said it, cyborgs stopped in their tracks. The other cyborgs, who weren’t in range, hesitated then kept moving forward. Eventually there was a protective wall of cyborgs surrounding them. Jack gave the two cyborgs, the ones they programmed earlier, a command to fight off anything that somehow made it through. After there was a wall about fifty cyborgs thick, Thalia began sending them the same program she had given the other two earlier. But, she added a few attack formations. They planned to use their cyborg army to fight. And get to the main computer and figure out a way to shut them down. And restore the cyborgs to their original human self.
“Okay, I’m finished programming them. I added some basic attack formations” said Thalia.
“Why?” asked Steve.
“Why do you think?” said Thalia.
“I don’t know.”
“Because we are going to use them to fight the others. I’m assuming that as we get closer to the main computer, there will be more and more security.” explained Jack “We will need all the help we can get if we want to shut them down. Also, you saw how the singularity adapted to our virus. Eventually, they will adapt to protect themselves from our EM pulses. If and when that happens, we will need all the help we can get.”
“Cyborgs, assume a multi-layered Phalanx attack formation” shouted Thalia. The cyborgs moved into a rectangular formation with Jack, Thalia and Steve in the middle. Each cyborg had another one on their shoulders. From their robotic arm, came a spear with an electrical tip. “Pick us up and take us to the main computer” said Thalia to three nearby cyborgs. They picked them up on their shoulders and ran forward in perfect synchronization.
Within minutes they had found their first army. The army was armed with miniature rocket launchers.
“Switch to attack formation Testudo” shouted Thalia as the enemy fired the first of the rockets. The cyborgs got down from the shoulders of the other cyborgs, and a translucent field went up around them.
“What is that field around us?” Thalia asked one of the cyborgs.
“It is a force field. Capable of protecting us from any weapon or condition” as it said that, several rockets hit the translucent wall. They deflected off, leaving everything inside unharmed.
“Alter the force field to deflect the rockets back at they enemy,” said Thalia.
When the next series of rockets hit, they were deflected back at the enemy. They took out the first line of cyborgs, but the rest had managed to erect a force field around them as well.
“If we could disrupt their link to the collective we might be able to defeat them.” suggested Steve.
“And how do we suppose we do that?” asked Jack.
“How are they connected to the collective?” Thalia asked one of the cyborgs.
“They are connected via quantum entanglement.”
“Is there any way to disrupt the connection?”
“Negative. But you could temporarily take out their force field.”
“How?”
“By creating another reversely polarized field at the same spot as theirs, but it would only last a few seconds.  If we could time it right, so that we create it at the same time as the rockets explode, it would vaporize them.”
“Do it!”
The enemy cyborgs fired about ten dozen more rockets at them. The good cyborgs altered their force field to deflect them all at the center of the army. Once they were within a few millimeters of the enemy’s force field, the cyborgs created a second reversely polarized force field within the enemy’s. The rockets passed right through it and detonated. The explosion filled the whole corridor with fire. Jack was worried that their force field wouldn’t hold, but it did. When the fire cleared, they saw that the corridor was empty.
“Continue to the main computer” commanded Thalia. “And if possible, create another force field around our current one. Just in case the enemy tries the same trick we did to them.”
They got to the main computer. It wasn’t really even a computer, but more like the link between all the computers in the world. The computer was surrounded in a blueish aura. Jack assumed it was a force field.
“The computer is surrounded by a force field. How do you suppose we get into it?” asked Thalia.
“Same way we defeated that army” said Steve.
“The computer is surrounded by multiple force fields. Disabling the force fields would require us to deactivate ours” pointed out one of the cyborgs.
“Would we be able to put it back up before the explosion hit us?” asked Jack.
“Yes.”
“Do it then.”
“Wait!” exclaimed Thalia. “If we destroy that computer, we may never be able to return these people to their normal selves.”
“A few million may not be able to live a normal life, but they would save, like, 7 billion others.” argued Jack.
“Do you know how to remove the cybernetic components from these people’s bodies?” Thalia asked the cyborg.
“Yes, but there is only a 36.89 percent chance the operation would be successful.”
“That’s good enough for me. Destroy the computer” ordered Thalia.
The cyborgs shutdown their force field, and created several others around the computer. At the same time, they fired a few rockets. At the same moment that the rockets hit the computer, the cyborgs created a new force field around them. They got it up seconds before fire washed over them.
The fire cleared and they could see that the computer was gone.
“We did it!” cheered the teenagers.
But the cheering ended abruptly.
“Self destruct in 20, 19, 18,” said all the cyborgs in unison.
“Thalia, the computer must have being programmed to initiate a self destruct if it was destroyed.” yelled Jack.
“15, 14, 13″
“I think I might be able to stop.” said Thalia. She pulled out the laptop, and began tapping fiercely at the keys.
“8,7,6,5″
“We have to go” exclaimed Jack.
“I’m almost done.”
“4,3″
“We have to go NOW!” said Jack, he picked her up and ran for cover.
“2,1,0″ as they said those words, they exploded.
When the fire and smoke cleared Thalia saw that the cyborgs were gone.

“I couldn’t save them” she said, tears in her eyes.
“It wasn’t your fault. There was nothing you could do” Jack said, holding her in his arms.
“If I had being a bit faster…”
“You couldn’t have done anything” he said, and kissed her on the forehead.
“You saved my life.”
“Well I couldn’t just leave you,” said Jack ” I love you Thalia.”
“I love you too.”
Jack leaned forward and kissed her.