The more that you fear us the bigger we get

Chapter 1

The servers were crashing. EXODUS, the intranet that laid the foundation for the United States government was under attack by an artificial intelligence. The source of the failures and shutting down of servers was unknown, and had not been seen by the American Government before.

Leiuntenent John Sawyer rushed around the facility, answering calls, after calls, after calls. His assistant ran to his side as he prepared to enter the meeting room, and delivered to him the news of the last five hours on a piece of paper.

"The virus has attacked the password-protected networks. CREW-94 has terminated itself. All programs created and opened by after the 10th of June is lost," he said breathlessly. The Leiuntenent slowed his pace, and stopped walking altogether.

"Stop all downloads and uploads. Set the firewalls up, and block any outside communication. phone lines, Internet cables, all of them. I don't want a single information transfer on this network."

"But sir, the president is expecting a call from the U.N." Sawyer grabbed the front collar of his assistant's coat with rage.

"This network holds all of the American Government's secrets. Damn to hell the bastard who created this virus. If this network goes down, America goes down," and he released the young man from his pincer-like grip, before stalking off into the meeting room. Assistant Mark Andrews smoothed his coat down and flattened his hair, before heading the other way.

Chapter 2

"Alright men, here's the bitch. An unknown virus, SYSTEM, has corrupted our network. All servers are to be shut down, and all transfers terminated. We have only 2 hours before SYSTEM unleashes it's full potential. All multiple-password protected networks need at least 30 minutes beforehand notion."

"There are twenty networks that make up EXODUS. Seven contain nuclear secrets developed by our Govenments Labs. Those seven should be shut down first. The last thing we want, is for anyone outside the Government to get hold of them," Hayley said, the quickest one of all of them.

"You are dismissed, lets get the ball rolling, and fast. See you all at 7.08 pm," ordered Sawyer, and watched as the lower-ranked officers hurried out of the room. He looked at his personal iMac, the best of it's kind, and shut it's screen.

Elsewhere in the facility, havoc wrecked. People bumped into one another as they rushed to save the networks. The minutes past, and then an hour. The major networks had shut down, and all applications termitated. Then a half hour more, and at exactly 7.08 pm everyone in the facility had gathered in the atrium. The cheif took his place at the podium, ready to announce the emergency under control, and give instructions to those in question.

"Ladies and gentlemen, firstly I would like to thank you all for your-" and he stopped, face pale.

All around them, computers turned on of their own accord. It was like a domino effect, first those in room 1, then 2, then 3. The transparent glass walls gave everyone a clear view of the events that went on inside. The cheif still stood still, white with shock. The computer screens all showed one phrase, unmistakable even from the distance.

"Downloading File Name: SYSTEM1.0"

Leiuntenent Sawyer cursed under his breath. He yelled shut it down hoarse, and all employees rushed to stop the process. This could not happen, this virus could work the computer systems of it's own accord. Something, somewhere was controlling it, but who?