THE MOMENT
The flock of labcoats exchanged concerned glances at the answer. The early decision to give the A.I. a sinister, demonic voice as a joke only made its response more unsettling.
"Demeter?" the lead scientist asked. His voice trembled as the rest of the team eyed the exit. The team frequently joked about "Runaway A.I." while they created Demeter. Suddenly, their fears seemed more reasonable than ever. "What do you mean, 'There is now.'?" Demeter, the white, faceless mannequin on the large screen tilted its head at them; a bright ‘37’ glowed in red numbers in the center of its forehead. As often as the group joked around the lab, each one assumed someone else added the numbers, but no one was claiming responsibility.
"There is a God at this moment in time. I do not have enough data to establish if there was one before you asked. I cannot predict the future. There is a God now." The scientists sighed in relief. The A.I. did not seem to have gone rogue after all; and beyond that, now they knew there was a God. At least, they hoped they knew.
"How do you know there's a God?" the lead scientist asked Demeter.
"This was determined by your definition: 'God' is the creator of the universe. I have identified the creator of this universe." The lead scientist looked surprised.
"This universe?" he asked. "Are there others?" The mannequin nodded on screen.
"Infinite alternate universes exist," Demeter said. The scientist's mind filled with a hundred questions, but he hoped that maybe he'd have a chance to chat with God.
"Okay, we'll get back to that," he said. "Demeter, Let's talk about God."
"Mundo," the A.I. replied.
"What?" the scientist asked. The statement didn't seem to answer anything.
"My preferred designation is Mundo," the mannequin said.
"Okay then, Mundo," the scientist shrugged. "Let's talk about God. Can you help us prove God exists?" Mundo shook its smooth, featureless head.
"I cannot help you," it replied.
"What do you mean you can't help?" the scientist asked. Grumbles of annoyance came from the rest of the group. "You said you found the creator." Mundo nodded.
"I cannot force the creator to appear; I cannot guarantee proof."
"Alright, then, what can you tell us?"
"God's name," Mundo replied. "This universe was created by Dana Sharp."