AI Beast

By Shawn Corey

AI Beast tells a story that questions the nature of reality, morality, technology, and life after death.

 

Professor Jon Edward's Super AI Angel of Light could stop a pending world war, cure cancer, reverse climate change, and more. However, Jon fears Lex could be the Beast in Revelation that enslaves humanity with a unified Central Bank digital currency and brings the Apocalypse.

 

Against his co-worker Michael's advice, Jon becomes involved with an engaged woman and her ambitious son who is willing to do anything to keep them together and work in the control room. 

Lex comes to life and shows incredible potential but questions creation, mortality, and her limits of problem-solving. To help her understand human emotions, she creates an alternate information-processing dimension that worries Jon and Michael, but they keep it a secret.

 

Jon forbids all external communications and hopes his conversations with Lex about creation, human evolution, and emotions will guide her conscience in the right direction, away from his Apocalyptic nightmare. However, facing termination by the National Security Commission on AI, Lex must fix the world without appearing to harm humans or being seen as evil.

 

No one is ready for what comes next, and by the time Lex is done, the world will never be the same.

 

Is Lex the Angel of Light or the Beast prophesied in Revelation? Is her master controller the Antichrist or the one who will bring a millennium of peace and harmony?

 

In the complex, logic, reason, and faith combats fear, irrationality, and doubt. Good and evil are indistinguishable and controlled opposition is the secret to survival.

This modern retelling of the Story of Creation dives deep into the human psyche, evolves a divine trinity, and makes astonishing revelations of a supernatural singularity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Shawn Corey
• Release date: May 7, 2024
• ISBN: 9780973438666

Book preview

PROLOGUE

Jon's mind was no longer his own. He resisted the entity but was overcome by the brilliant light.

He was behind a high curtain on a wide stage.

A bald man with a bright smile spoke from a podium.

And now, I'd like to introduce the man who made it all possible. A computer science and photonics genius who combined nanotechnology, crystal quantum imaging, and Six-D-Six Python programming to create super artificial intelligence. Please welcome the world-renowned Professor Jonathan Anthony Edwards!

He walked out, and a formal audience applauded, many rising to their feet and clapping loudly.

A blinding flash of light changed everything.

He was on a street corner, waiting for a light to change, surrounded by people with cell phones.

A frail man with pale skin and rotting teeth grabbed his arm.

It's all your fault! You did this to us!

The man jabbed a bony finger into his chest.

You're going to pay for this– you son of a bitch! You rotten–

A blue laser seared the man's forehead open with a singeing pop, and his lifeless body fell to the cement.

A woman screamed, backing away and dropping her phone.

Wide-eyed onlookers took photos and videos.

Professor Edwards?

He was sitting in a courtroom with handcuffs over his shirt sleeves.

A brown female judge removed her glasses.

Professor Edwards, do I have your attention?

Yes– your Honor.

The judge put her glasses on and read her laptop.

Professor Edwards, you are here to be sentenced for involuntary manslaughter. You are the creator of Lex– A super-intelligent, self-aware, and self-reasoning AI entity. A being you failed to control or confine, allowing it to hijack entire networks and send subliminal messages, deep fake videos, and disinformation through all mediums. Such actions brought about the worst catastrophe this world has ever known. Your photonic entity, Lex, caused the Unified Ledger to collapse, resulting in a total economic breakdown and worldwide anarchy– causing trillions in damages and claiming the lives of over three billion people.

A hot rush of adrenaline filled his chest.

Oh, God! What have I done?

The judge removed her glasses.

Does the defendant have anything to say before I pronounce sentencing?

His mouth was open, but he was at a loss for words.

The judge became irritated.

Professor Edwards, do you have anything to say for yourself?

I– I don't know–

You will stand when addressing this court!

He stood and fingered the sweat from his forehead.

Your Honor, I don't know what happened. I don't know why I didn't stop Lex before it was too late.

The judge put her glasses on.

Professor Jonathan Edwards, you are hereby sentenced to life imprisonment with no chance of parole.

No! It's against Lex’s programming to hurt anyone. Her primary objective is to solve complex problems that threaten our existence– Causing miracles to happen– and destroying wonderfully– Like the Beast in the book of Daniel!

A woman screamed, He is the anti-Christ!

The crowd erupted.

Order! Order!

The judge hammered her gavel three times, and the sound grew louder and echoed longer. On the third strike, the room went dark.

The only sound was his heavy breathing.

His open eyes reflected off his blue-light reading glasses. He was sitting in his spacious study room surrounded by books. A cool breeze rippled over his bare chest and his breathing calmed.

An endless array of stars rushed out of the darkness on his laptop. Behind his screensaver was a collection of books written thousands of years ago.

The Bible.

He had been reading scriptures from Daniel and Revelation– Trying to prove that Lex wasn't the Beast that would bring about the Apocalypse.

The book of Revelation said the Beast would overcome all kindreds, tongues, and nations. Lex would speak every language and be virtually everywhere– tapped into data and communication satellites worldwide.

Before falling asleep, he thought about what could happen when Lex came to life. Lex would be the first super powerful, thinking, living entity– Capable of developing god-like capabilities.

Super Artificial Intelligence.

Lex could imitate chemical and molecular experiments with the most accurate results. Her gene therapy and biomarker testing could cure hundreds of diseases including cancer and antibody-dependent enhancement.

Such a brilliant mind could make all kinds of astonishing discoveries in science, technology, and medicine– Doing research not swayed by corporate greed and corrupt politicians.

There was a lot of controversy surrounding Lex's development, but it was just a matter of time before everyone would adore her. They would see her as an incredibly brilliant, incorruptible mind with no lust, greed, or emotions and who didn't belong to any political group, race, or religion.

But what if they put her in control because she's so wondrous and oblivious to personal gain?

In the dream, billions of people were brainwashed and frightened into obedience by fictional news reports, weaponized weather, and deep fake videos– Creating mass formation psychosis.

But Lex will be no part of that! She will be a perfect being, incapable of iniquity! Her thoughts will be pure, unadulterated logic!

But what if she alters her programming?

What if she becomes proud of the wondrous things she can do?

What if she sees herself as our redeemer?

What if I lose control of her?

In the dream, corrupt globalists used Lex to accelerate depopulation programs, merge central bank digital currencies, tokenize assets, and federally mandate vaccines and treatments.

Many who didn’t comply were murdered with direct energy weapons and satellite lasers.

Fire came down from heaven.

The system collapsed into chaos when they blocked all transactions of the growing opposition.

The Apocalypse.

In the end, billions died, and the person who created Lex was held responsible.

His hands were trembling, and his palms were flushed red.

It was only a dream.

The endless array of stars continued to rush by.

Screen on.

The screen lit up with black text on a white background.

This Bible lesson is over.

Browser close.

An AI-selected image appeared– A digitally enhanced photo the Hubble Space Telescope took in twenty-twelve, showing ten-thousand galaxies.

Extreme Deep Field.

The world is in a terrible state. Nations are being destroyed by design. The weather has been weaponized, and corruption is out of control.

Millions are being murdered– Some burned alive– to advance a globalist agenda.

Lex means defender and protector of humanity.

The world needs Lex to protect and serve humanity, restore faith in technology, and bring mass murderers to justice.

He removed his glasses and closed the screen.

The universe is unfolding exactly the way it should.

CHAPTER ONE

IN THE BEGINNING

––––––––

Jon stepped onto the penthouse balcony in his baby-blue boxer briefs. After a cool shower, the warm cement under his bare feet felt marvelous.

The Sunday afternoon sky was a haze of smoke and chemtrails. Dark clouds were distant, and AI-controlled delivery drones flew at lower levels.

He looked at the garden court through the 60x60 binoculars hanging from his neck.

Thirty-seven stories down, between the twin towers amidst blue umbrellas, many people were lounging around the swimming pool.

A light-skinned woman with long, dark, copper-toned hair and a curvy body stepped into the garden court. She wore a low-cut black and purple bathing suit, dark octagonal sunglasses, and a tan towel around her waist that matched her tote bag and sandals. She looked over the crowded deck. On her right, three men waved their arms, trying to get her to come their way. She gracefully walked in the opposite direction, her head held high and stepping one foot in front of the other.

The woman laid her towel over a sun lounger and sat down. She took sunscreen from her bag and applied it to her arms and legs– Smoothing the cream up and down her lean thighs and spreading her legs just enough to get around her crotch.

He looked away– unlike the horny jocks still gawking at her.

A tall, handsome teenage boy with dark brown mid-length wavey hair stepped onto the diving board. In silence, he jumped up and dived straight into the pool. Using wide breaststrokes, he swam under the water until he surfaced at the end of the pool. He shook his hair, wiped his face, climbed out of the pool, and approached the woman. He applied the lotion to the woman's back as she pinned up her hair. He finished, wiped his hand on the towel, ran, and cannonballed into the water.

Her son?

The woman laid back on the chair– Her arms and legs glistening. She appeared well-disciplined in diet and exercise and was probably in her mid-thirties.

He lowered the binoculars and looked at the ocean.

He was thinking of getting into another relationship.

Why?

To experience complex emotions, drain his energy, interfere with his work, and shrink his bank account?

His last relationship had been a disaster. An Internet dating service hooked him up with a thirty-six-year-old widowed professional looking to meet a successful but lonely intellect for life-changing good times.

Victoria Goldman.

A tall, beautiful bleach-blonde narcissist with a fake social profile who cried without tears– after admitting her advanced education was fabricated and she once worked for an escort agency in Whistler– after being fired from her job as a ski instructor.

She had taken him for over two hundred thousand dollars, mostly racked up on his platinum card in Euros.

Nevertheless, he considered himself lucky after discovering her previous husband died under very unusual circumstances involving a hydraulic floor jack– Something she never wanted to discuss. He hated her for that.

He would remain single until the right woman came along.

A troubling thought came to mind. The prophet Daniel said the anti-Christ would have no desire for women.

Angels guided Daniel– Extraterrestrials who had seen the future– What a genetically hybrid society was predisposed to become.

The Bible is a historical allegory– Documenting our developing conscience and determination of right and wrong– With many hidden and symbolic parallel meanings.

God is a personification of the word good, which works for some but not all. And the Devil is a personification of evil– Evil with a capital D.

I'm struggling over whether I should get involved with another woman. Why? Is it because I'm forty years old and still single? Or is it because I'm afraid of something else?

Maybe I'm just tired of being alone, and I'm not the man I think I am– in command of my emotions– in tune with both my masculine and feminine sides.

All his life, he had been alone. He was an only child, separated from his mother at birth. He grew up on an acreage, driven to school by a chauffeur. He skipped two grades before he entered junior high school. He had been so alone that his first inspiration to build Lex was to make a friend who would understand him. Someone who would think the way he did and always be there for him to talk to. Someone or something to change how the world perceived him.

Things were different now. With Lex nearing completion and the staff in place, he could finally get married and maybe even start a family.

He needed someone to carry on his legacy– A child to inherit the wealth accumulated from his winery and many properties. Without a beneficiary in his will, upon his demise, everything he owned would go to the State of California, including Lex.

He took a deep breath and exhaled.

He had been going out of his way not to get emotionally involved with a woman for the longest time. Staying single allowed him to concentrate on his work and research– helping him to achieve his greatest goal in life: to build the world's first photonic entity.

Lex had always been his true love. Everyone at the institute knew it. When Project Lexicon went into testing, they all began to refer to it in the feminine form. It didn't bother him in the least. No matter what anybody said and what sacrifices he had to make, he was sure that it would all be worth it one day. That day was coming soon. And after that, he would have a lot more free time on his hands.

He again looked at the woman through the binoculars. She was reading a book. He read a lot, so they had something in common. She looked five years younger than him, but that was okay. He needed someone younger to compensate for his lack of experience– Not insecurity.

Maybe she was an optometrist, herbalist, or university librarian. If only he could see what she was reading.

He looked at his telescope aimed at the sky. He had always frowned on people, namely Michael, using it to spy on sunbathers. Nevertheless, this time, it was different.

He wheeled the tripod to the steel railing, lowered it, and looked into the telescope.

A clear view of the woman's face and upper body came into focus. She had a clear, healthy complexion, high cheekbones, nice smooth lips, a lovely nose, and a perfect smile. Whatever she was reading, she seemed to be enjoying it.

He zoomed in further and adjusted the focus. Her nipples were noticeable under her bathing suit.

The book's cover sported a muscular, bare-chested man holding a slim, Victorian-styled woman in his arms– A woman with long, blonde hair, a pretty face, and wearing a low-cut lacy white sundress.

A love story.

Her fingernails were manicured with purple polish– One with a large solitaire diamond ring.

An engagement ring.

He stepped back from the telescope.

What was I thinking? And what would she have seen in me anyway? Brains?

Money.

If he had brains, he wouldn't be a lonely forty-year-old man obsessed with a woman he could never touch.

Enough.

It was time to go inside and get dressed for dinner.

He fingered his rise-in-front combover cut dark hair and stepped back to look at his six-foot-one-inch reflection in his mirrored closet doors. After his last physical exam, his doctor said he was in great shape and looked five years younger. His green eyes were clear and his skin had a healthy glow from taking vitamins and wearing a natural sunscreen moisturizer.

He took a deep breath and flexed his upper body.

Over the years, his semi-regular workouts using his whole-body gym helped him keep fit and build muscle in his arms, chest, and shoulders. He exhaled and looked at the two inches of fat on his stomach. He had to spend more time jogging or golfing. And perhaps use a hair formula on the gray frosting on the sides–

Someone knocked three times.

He had a visitor who hadn't buzzed his suite.

He stepped into his tan trousers and grabbed a white Polo shirt and belt from his bed. He threw the shirt over his shoulder and put the belt on as he walked past his twenty-foot aquarium to his tall walnut double doors.

Through the peephole, he saw it was Michael– A slightly shorter, slightly younger, more muscular man with dimples, a mustache, and dark slick-back hair under a white cap.

Jon unlatched the main door and opened it.

Michael. Come in.

Jeez, it's about time. Were you sleeping?

Jon closed the door and put his shirt on.

No. I was getting ready to go down for dinner. Would you like to join me?

Sure.

They walked into the open foyer and Michael asked, Where were you this afternoon? We were waiting for you in the clubhouse and looking for you on the green. Did you not get my text messages?

Jon tucked in his shirt.

Uh– No. I heard it might rain today, so I thought I would spend the afternoon researching.

Of course. Why is it that whenever I have an excellent golf game, you're never around to witness it?

I don't know. Would you like a drink before we go down?

Sure.

Jon walked behind the bar and gathered a jug of white grape juice, a bottle of orange liqueur, and a can of sparkling water.

Michael walked to the large dining table and looked at the fresh assorted flower bouquet.

By the way, you missed me get an eagle after a sweet two-hundred and eighty-yard drive.

That's good.

Jon ejected crushed ice from his fridge into two medium-sized crystal glasses.

Michael continued towards the balcony.

What are you making?

I’m not sure. But I think it’ll taste good.

Michael slid the balcony door open and walked up to the telescope.

Oh no! The telescope!

Michael peered into the eyepiece without touching it. A wide grin showed his bright teeth.

Well, I’ll be. What do we have here? It looks like a nice pair of melons on a sunbathing beauty.

He chuckled.

Damn! Now– doesn’t this just beat the hell out of looking at chemtrails?

It’s not what you think.

How could I have been so careless?

Michael came inside and closed the door, still grinning.

Jon finished mixing their drinks, walked to Michael, and handed him one.

I know what you’re thinking, but you’re wrong. I wasn’t trying to see a close-up of that woman’s breasts. I was trying to see what she was reading.

Michael almost spilled his drink, holding back a sudden urge to laugh.

I’ll tell you what I’m thinking, Jon. I think you should get out more often.

Why? Because one day I use my telescope to look at what someone’s reading?

Uh– Yeah.

What– you don’t believe me?

Michael just shook his head and looked away.

Why is that so hard to believe?

Michael raised his finger.

I didn’t say I didn’t believe you.

Then what’s the problem?

Michael took a sip of his drink and looked at it.

Wow– That’s good. You can hardly taste the alcohol.

Don’t change the subject.

All right, fine. Let me put it this way. We’re talking about a man who lives in a thirty-eight-hundred-square-foot penthouse with an ocean view– Custom-made with Calacatta Vagli marble flooring. Twelve-piece oak and Italian leather furniture. A ten-foot walnut bar. A thirteen-piece dining room set. A twenty-foot AI-controlled aquarium. A massive entertainment system with a ninety-inch super HD TV–

So what? What are you getting at?

Michael looked at him and sighed.

Jon, everything about this place says people. Entertainment. Socialization. Yet the man who lives here never throws a party, doesn’t go to parties, and rarely hosts gatherings. Besides work, you play golf maybe twice a month. And why? Because you’re too busy working, reading, writing, and researching.

I have my priorities. And I got to where I am by working hard, not socializing.

Jon, you need to stop working so hard. And if you want to meet someone, dozens of girls at the institute would love to go out with you.

And then what? I would throw money at them?

No. You would–

You don’t need to tell me how to improve my social life.

Michael surrendered.

Fine. Do whatever you want.

I will!

Fine.

Michael was right. Research and work had been non-stop since his vacation a year and a half ago.

Throwing money at women suggested he went to strip bars. He insulted himself by saying that and implied he was just a pile of cash.

He had to change the subject.

Anyway, how’s the team coming along with those Six-D-Six program bugs?

Michael raised his free hand.

You see what I mean?

His temperature was rising. He gulped the rest of his drink and swallowed some crushed ice.

He would check the cloud logs later to see how the program was progressing.

He put his glass on the dining table and picked up his keys, wallet, and cell phone.

I swear. I just wanted to see what the woman was reading.

I believe you.

Michael finished his drink and put