Thoughts From Inside the Box
By Erin_Cale

Disclaimer: Andromeda isn't mine.


Author's Notes: It seems that five-minute challenges are working for me this week. This is another answer to another five-minute challenge posted at the Slipstream. The challenge was to put 'I am dead. The inevitable cannot be changed.' as the first two sentences in a story. The rest was up to the writer. Thus, this thing came about.
Spoilers: Andromeda's/Rommie's thoughts during "The Belly of the Beast".

I am dead. The inevitable cannot be changed. No matter how good Dylan is, and no matter how powerful I-We am-are, my-our processors state that he cannot save us this time.

My-our thoughts are jumbled, attempting to ignore what is happening to me-us. *Hurting* We-I need help. Must carry out orders- kill cetus. How? Conventional weapons don't work. Digestive juices cutting through our-my skin. *Horrible pain I-we thought I-we would never know* Unconventional weapons? But what? I-we cannot 'think outside the box', as Dylan calls it. I-we exist inside the box and as such, must think forever inside it. One of the shortcomings of AIs, perhaps.

*Pain* Nothing left to throw at the creature. If Harper cannot find a way to kill it, then we-I shall ask Beka to allow me to self-destruct. If I-we can communicate this to her, of course. Maybe my destruction will hurt the creature, kill it maybe. *Incredible pain* However, processors state a high probability of my destruction being ineffectual. It doesn't matter to me-us. We-I must try.

*Blackness* Harper needs to get manual control now. Processors fading. Cannot think.


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