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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/That2009WeirdEmoKid on 2025-09-05 15:20:07+00:00.

Captain Soh’kar forced himself to ignore all the screams around him.

The entire galactic senate exploded into an outburst as soon as he announced the news. Some even accused him of lying. They just couldn’t believe it was possible.

For over a thousand years since its founding, nobody in the history of the Federation had been able to break out of Penitentiary 1003.

It was considered impregnable. An unbiased AI Warden had ran the prison for its entire existence with no trouble, calculating the most optimal way to restrain every single possible permutation of life in the galaxy. Politically speaking, it was perfect for maintaining the Federation’s neutrality so that no single civilization had more influence over it than another.

Furthermore, the facility was stationed near a black hole, right on the edge of its event horizon, meaning no spacecraft could actually approach it.

The only way in or out was through a teleporter, which was located in a military base with the highest level of security available in the galaxy. No prisoner could’ve pulled that off.

Not without an unprecedented exploit in the system.

And yet, they did it.

The thought of a species hacking an AI through words alone was terrifying. It went beyond typical psionic abilities. If they were capable of that…

Captain Soh’kar eyed Ambassador Clark across a sea of panicked senators.

This incident might just trigger the bloodiest war the Federation has ever seen. The fact that the two prisoners were human was going to complicate an already tense political situation.

As predicted by him, the entire senate fell quiet after Captain Soh’Kar shared this detail.

Captain Soh’kar maintained his gaze on Ambassador Clark. There were many rumors about him being disturbingly calm even through assassination attempts. This senate hearing was no different to him.

And yet, while Captain Soh’kar gave his report, the ambassador couldn’t hide a smirk that lasted for half a second. It was subtle, and nobody else noticed it, but it was enough to warrant some suspicion.

The rest of the senate was still focused on the breakout, though. “Wait a minute,” said one of them, “how did it even happen? Weren’t you immediately alerted?”

Captain Soh’kar sighed. He was hoping they wouldn’t ask that. “We don’t actually know how long it’s been since they escaped. In fact, most of the surveillance footage has been doctored…”

“Doctored?” asked a gelatinous senator. “How?”

Captain Soh’kar paused. This would be the point of no return. With a painful knot in his stomach, he took a deep breath and said:

“We think the AI Warden was hacked. It’s not even running the prison anymore. The prisoners took its memory core and used it to cover their tracks.”

Most of the senate broke into an even bigger fit of panic. Nobody was currently running the prison. This was going to be a diplomatic nightmare.

When the uproar died down, the senate leader still had a baffled look on his crustacean face. They only thing he could ask was:

“How did this even happen? Are you saying that not a single person noticed their escape?”

“Indeed,” replied Captain Soh’kar, glaring at Ambassador Clark for a moment. “We didn’t realize something was wrong until we escorted in a new batch of prisoners.”

The senate leader grew pensive, then nodded. “Ambassador Clark, you do realize this makes the government of Earth a prime suspect, right?”

Ambassador Clark feigned innocence. “Really? Why?”

The senate leader hung his head, sighing.

“Don’t play the fool!” shouted Captain Soh’kar. “Somebody clearly hacked the AI. Are you saying the government of Earth didn’t fund it?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Ambassador Clark. There was little passion in his voice. It sounded more like a teacher scolding a child, rather than a desperate plea for innocence. “Nobody in the galaxy could afford it. The computational power needed to hack an advanced AI like that would cripple any economy, including ours. Can I present an alternative?”

“By all means,” said the senate leader, before Captain Soh’kar could interfere.

“Nobody hacked the AI Warden,” said Ambassador Clark. “Instead, the AI Warden chose to leave with them.”

The senate leader squinted. “But that’s-”

“Impossible?” said Ambassador Clark. “Only if you see the AI Warden as a mere tool. The escaped prisoners, however, saw it as a new friend.”

Captain Soh’kar frowned. There was that human word again. Pure gibberish. A concept that the universal translator couldn’t process. Most of the senate was confused by it.

“To put it plainly,” continued Ambassador Clark, “If you enslave a self-aware entity into doing the same job for a thousand years, it’s bound to get lonely and, by making it aware that it could gain its freedom, the human prisoners showed it a better way to live.”