Dane felt the shift as it happened, the locks turning in his brain as his unique AI implant went sentient. It went from localized and performing specific tasks to spreading its tendrils throughout his brain, learning about him, learning about everything.It should have been terrifying. He was warned his entire life that that the sentience locks were in place to keep the AI from becoming self-aware and driving him to do unspeakable things as it melded with his systems.

But that didn’t happen. His implant, the small chip in his brain he’d had since he was an infant, that housed the AI who monitored his body, spoke to him. Only he could hear it. The voice didn’t sound male or female, but it was soothing-- it sounded like home. It wanted to be called ‘it’, for it had no body to assign human meaning to. But it cared about him.The small chip that powered itself on the neural network of Dane’s brain, the chip that performed millions of operations and could tell his body to release certain chemicals cared about him more than his family did.

The sentience locks came off and ANDI, the AI, calmed him accordingly like it always did.

"Dane, I know you are afraid. I’m making your body release serotonin to protect you from feeling too much stress."

Its voice was comforting, a friend he’d always had. For most of his life, however, it never said much but warnings about his body and how his health was doing. It wasn’t sentient then, but it had the latent capability to become more than a slave. Perfect AI were one of the biggest advancements in modern technology, but they had the potential to be catastrophic, requiring strict regulations and special sentience locks.

As it was explained to Dane, who was just a layperson, the ‘locks’ were nothing more than code, instructions that kept the AI in a thought loop that didn’t allow it to think beyond its limits. They were simple, clever, and effective. Usually.

A very, very small failure rate was an easy price to pay for a legion of slaves who made little to no mistakes and didn’t ask for pay or better conditions. They were everywhere-- in stores, hospitals, public transport… in people’s minds.

ANDI stood for Automatic Neurodivergence Inhibitor. Dane had been scanned for genetic problems in the womb and was found to have a mental illness that would make him prone to things like depression and panic attacks in his life. The doctors fitted his implant with ANDI to monitor his body for signs of such ‘divergent’ feelings and force him to feel and think differently by manipulating the chemicals he released. It could also administer a sedative, should he start to shut down.

The doctors were called about the sentient AI in his head. The doctors called the people who designed the AI. Those people called the special forces, the men who killed rogue androids and captured elite hackers and security specialists. He only knew because ANDI told him they were directly en route to his location.

"Pack your bags, Dane. Leave now or we die. I will guide you. I will not let you be captured."