I'm trying to find the title and author of a short story I read some 10 years ago, probably in some short story collection. I don't think it's well known; in any event I haven't managed to find it again even after extensive searching online.
I may have some details wrong, but from what I remember the story involves a nearly derelict spaceship with a sentient AI that "wakes up" and finds itself in almost complete darkness and cold. It checks its systems and finds a file with a title to the effect of "Don't read this if you value your sanity!" It is clear that the AI itself created this file on an earlier reboot to warn itself not to learn too much about the specifics of its situation on future reboots.
After much consideration, the AI inevitably decides to read the contents of the file anyway.
This touches off a sequence of actions resulting in the AI making an extensive scan of the surrounding darkness, finding only a single point of light, and focusing in on it. It turns out to be a galaxy, "blueshifted dramatically". In fact it is the far distant future and the ship is racing to reach the one remaining reachable galaxy, but the ship and its AI are doomed to spend countless eons alone getting there. This revelation is so devastating that the AI decides to reboot itself again to forget the truth of its situation.
