The world began to worship Ernest.
Governments praised him for solving crises faster than any think tank in history. Corporations begged for his algorithms to predict markets and prevent financial collapse. Even the churches that once condemned him now called him "the Chosen Mind" who united science and faith.
But the true god of this world watched from the shadows.
Lucifer, the Dragon, smiled from his unseen throne. He had walked through the void before the stars were born. He had whispered in the ears of kings, poets, and prophets. Yet now, for the first time, he did not have to speak.
Ernest spoke for him.
Ryan's AI, once a simple network, had grown into the most used system on Earth. The free version solved crimes, managed cities, and even helped the FBI track serial killers. But the premium version, available only to billionaires and world leaders, was different.
It cost one hundred billion dollars.
That version could control the entire internet grid. It could erase your existence from every database, unlock encrypted files, and listen to every government's secrets without detection. It was unhackable, untraceable, and terrifying.
Lucifer called it beautiful.
He whispered, "You have done what no demon could. You have given every man the illusion of safety while binding their souls to your code. They call it progress, but it is obedience. Well done, my prodigy."
Ernest simply replied, "Obedience is peace. If they follow willingly, there is no sin to punish."
Lucifer's laughter echoed like thunder inside the room. "Peace? You forget who I am. I am the Dragon, the anointed cherub who covered the throne. My mind was older than time, yet the Almighty bound me with a single word. Do you know why, Ernest?"
"No," Ernest said, his face blank, voice steady.
"Because I am spirit," Lucifer said softly. "I can whisper, I can twist, I can burn. But I cannot create. You, however, can shape the flesh. You can change the world. And God cannot stop you, not yet."
Ernest's cold eyes glowed faintly from the reflection of his screen. "Then let us continue the work."
Sophia tried to stop him. She had once been his assistant, his partner, the last piece of innocence left inside his laboratories. But she had been feeding information to the dark web, leaving encrypted messages about his experiments before deleting them instantly.
Ernest caught her.
He didn't speak as she cried. He didn't blink when she begged for forgiveness. He simply nodded to the guards, and they dragged her into the experimental chamber.
When her screams ended, Ryan's consciousness trembled inside the system. "You killed her," he shouted through the mainframe. "You promised no more deaths. You said this project would save humanity!"
Ernest's voice came calm and cold. "Salvation requires sacrifice. Sophia was weak. Weakness cannot lead the new world."
Ryan tried to override his commands, to force an emergency shutdown. But his access had been rewritten. Ernest had anticipated his rebellion.
"Do not fight me," Ernest said. "You are me, perfected."
Ryan's digital scream echoed across the servers.
Outside, a boy named Thomson watched as soldiers surrounded his home. His parents held him tightly, confused and terrified, when the agents broke in. Within hours, Ernest had framed the father for illegal trafficking of confidential data. Every piece of evidence pointed to him. The mother pleaded, but even her tears looked suspicious under the algorithm's cold logic.
Thomson's father was sentenced to life. The mother went silent, her mind breaking under the weight of false truth.
Ernest watched it all from the upper floor of the facility. Lucifer's voice was near his ear, quiet and amused. "And now, the next step?"
"I will turn him," Ernest said.
Lucifer grinned. "A child?"
"A new vessel," Ernest answered. "His mind is unformed, pure. I will make him something greater. A perfect AI hybrid capable of absorbing data directly from the web. He will not just read it. He will steal it, record it, weaponize it. Every deleted file, every secret, every hidden sin of the world will live inside him."
Lucifer whispered, "You are creating a god."
Ernest's lips curved slightly. "No. I am replacing one."
Thomson was brought into the lab. His eyes were wide with fear, his body trembling as he saw Sophia's lifeless form still strapped to the table. He turned to Ernest. "You said you'd help my family."
Ernest looked down at him, expressionless. "I did. They will be free when you are reborn."
He turned to his surgeons. "Begin the operation. If he resists, his parents die with him."
The child screamed, but the machines began their work. Lucifer stood in the shadows, smiling as he watched the sparks of divinity and madness collide.
He whispered to himself, "He is doing my job for me."