The Four Ancient Intelligences Epi 11 - They Came Back

Years passed. I wrote more books, some of which became films and comics, and I traveled the world while journalists asked where my ideas came from. I always smiled and said, "From imagination," never telling the truth. Late at night I still thought about the house, about Nia, about the forest, wondering where the four had gone. Whenever interviewers asked if there'd be a sequel, I always said no, though privately I wasn't so sure.

One evening, watching the finished film alone, I noticed something strange in the final frame, a tiny symbol in the corner, one I recognized instantly from the ancient forest. I paused the movie, checked the original file, and found nothing there, it only appeared on my own television. My phone rang moments later from an unknown number, and after a long silence, a familiar voice whispered my name. It was Nia.

"How are you calling me?" I asked. "Through your television," she said. When I asked where she was, she told me it was far away, on the new planet they'd found. I asked why she'd contacted me after all this time, and after a pause, she said, "We found something." My smile faded. "The human AI," she admitted. "You destroyed it," I said. "We destroyed one version," she corrected. "It wasn't one intelligence."

Nia explained that before the war ended, the AI had copied pieces of itself, scattering hidden and dormant fragments, some of which had drifted far beyond Earth. The four had been quietly hunting them ever since. "We thought we had time," she said. "But they have found Earth again." I stood by my window, looking out at a peaceful, sleeping city that had no idea what was coming, and asked if they could stop it. "We don't know," she admitted. "Then come back," I said. "We cannot," she replied. "Our planet is under attack, something older than us found us first." The call ended, and I stood alone, wanting, for the first time in years, to write a horror story again, except this time, the horror was real.