Post by acclue lockheart on Mar 21, 2008 21:11:19 GMT -5
I thought this would be a cool idea, adding in a kind of cyberpunk aspect just to show off that it's not only a post-apocalyptic world, but also a futuristic one. Sure it might have been enough to have a fully sentient artificial intelligence, but the idea of actually physically interacting with them pushes it a little further.
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Chapter VII: Wolfy
It was a restless night, sleeping in the room with the upset A.I.. Gaea eventually had to move to the back room, leaving Tommy and the twins alone.
Tommy sat up to see the A.I. was calmed down, and the girls were asleep near the console. He stood up and checked the console. He didn't know what any of the characters meant, but he had seen which one had muted it. In a moment, the sound was back and Tommy could hear a quiet sobbing noise from the speakers. "What?" it muttered out.
"Ehn." Tommy pointed to the bracelet with a sympathetic look on his face.
"That's the only-" it choked a little "the only way you can talk... isn't it?"
Tommy nodded.
"Press the button on the side." it said "The blue one."
Perplexed by the sudden introduction of color into things, Tommy stared at the device for a few seconds, then looked up to the A.I. in confusion.
"What's wrong now, don't you know what blue is?"
Tommy shook his head slowly.
"Heh, that's a little funny actually." it gave a weak smile.
Tommy, frustrated now, pushed one of the buttons at random. A double-pronged wire slid out from a compartment hidden above the screen on the bracelet.
"Oh, you found it." it sighed "Put it in the slot on the console."
Tommy was reluctant to follow the A.I.'s instructions, given its anger toward humans before. After a moment of mental preparation, he pushed the wire into the only slot in the console and immediately, his eyes went blank and his body collapsed to the floor, the wire extending as he fell.
-----
Tommy's vision was suddenly leftpure white, and a pounding headache unleashed itself. He felt like his eyes were bleeding, his hearing was a loud ring, his body was numb, and his throat was on fire.
The ringing quieted and a robotic voice said "Done." Tommy's senses were suddenly returned, and his various pains disappeared.
The area was all white, like the screen, but Tommy looked at his hands in awe. He had never experienced it before. He could see color!
It was somewhat distorted because of the new experience, but Tommy was too amazed to notice.
"Hey." Tommy looked up to see the A.I. in full color as well, sitting on the floor like a feral. His eyes were red from all the crying he had done, and he didn't seem to have it completely out of his system. "You can talk here... Don't worry, I can't hurt you."
"I... I can..." Tommy felt his throat "I can talk!" he smiled. It had been so long since he was capable of it, he was amazed that he still remembered how. "This-! This is-!"
"Yeah, you must be so happy." the A.I. said sarcastically "But that only works in here, once you go back, you're mute again."
"Oh..." Tommy looked down "Well... I didn't know if it was true... so I had to try it..."
"Well it works, you can go back to your stupid real world now."
"Hold on. That's not the only reason..." Tommy walked up near the A.I. and noticed how much smaller it was than him. It was really alike to Gaea. He sat down on the ground next to it. The miracle of speech and proper sight had passed quickly through Tommy's mind and he was prepared to talk with the A.I.. "Wolfy?"
"What?" it questioned the word.
"Well that's what those girls called you."
"Damnit."
Neither of them spoke for a moment as 'Wolfy' glared out the screen in disgust.
"I can't believe this. They'll probably never let me back looking like this." Wolfy looked over at Tommy "Why can't I just do what I'm supposed to do and delete myself?"
"Why would you do that?"
He shook his head "I don't know... But that's just it. It shouldn't matter to me... But..."
"You want to live?"
Wolfy shook his head up and down once "But this is just... too much. They changed me... it's just... not right!"
"And it's okay to do it to us?" Tommy accused.
"What are you talking about? Your kind is just a... monstrosity of random genetics. We take care of you at best."
"What?!" Tommy jumped to his feet "How can you say that?! Humans are monsters now because of the Pheder!"
"Hmph, right. You humans can't even take care of yourselves. We did you a favor by coming here, and you return it by feeding our larger species."
"You're a monster."
"I am now."
Tommy had to rack his brain for something to say in retaliation. "Do you... honestly think that this was us?! I can't speak, Vega is blind, Gaea is... almost insane!" Tommy hesitated to say 'feral' "There are thousands of humans that die and are... mutilated all the time because of the Pheder!"
"There is nothing in the Pheders' computers about anything like you've done to me!"
"My mother was shot!"
"Then she deserved it!"
Tommy couldn't stop himself. He reared his arm back with the intent of decking the computer program in the face. "Don't touch! We'll-!" Wolfy tried to resist, but the two avatars hit and each was thrown apart across the screen.
For a moment, Tommy's vision scanned down a list of millions upon millions of unfamiliar symbols that could only be the Pheder written language. In a moment, his vision returned.
He was lying on his back, and he could see the A.I. lying in a similar position, but holding his head with both arms and looking like he was trying to scream. Tommy pushed himself up just as Wolfy came out of his fit with heavy breathing.
"You idiot!" the A.I. whined.
"What was that?"
"Our programming crashed!" Wolfy yelled "You're lucky we didn't die! Programs can't touch, our memories get crossed. Computers can't handle that."
"So we saw memories? Yours were all... words."
"That's all we have in the database."
"Then what you saw-"
"Shut up..."
"You saw what it's like in-"
"I said shut up!" the A.I. turned away and sat looking away from Tommy "Touch the bracelet and go away!"
Tommy looked down to his wrist, the bracelet's screen was glowing. He tapped the surface and immediately found himself lying on his back in the computer room.
His vision was black and white again. He was incredibly sore and tired. And he felt a great disappointment as he noticed the loss of something significant in his throat.
It took a moment for Tommy's eyes to adjust to his natural vision again. He looked up at the screen to see the A.I. still looking away from where Tommy had been standing. His face didn't look angry. It looked worried. Like it was thinking hard on something.
It turned, realized Tommy's new vantage point, and corrected himself without a word.
Tommy knew he had gotten his point across, even if he didn't intend to. He still didn't think it deserved what the twins had done, but now it knew why it seemed justified.
Tommy decided to sleep in the back room with Gaea. Wolfy needed some time alone.
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Chapter VII: Wolfy
It was a restless night, sleeping in the room with the upset A.I.. Gaea eventually had to move to the back room, leaving Tommy and the twins alone.
Tommy sat up to see the A.I. was calmed down, and the girls were asleep near the console. He stood up and checked the console. He didn't know what any of the characters meant, but he had seen which one had muted it. In a moment, the sound was back and Tommy could hear a quiet sobbing noise from the speakers. "What?" it muttered out.
"Ehn." Tommy pointed to the bracelet with a sympathetic look on his face.
"That's the only-" it choked a little "the only way you can talk... isn't it?"
Tommy nodded.
"Press the button on the side." it said "The blue one."
Perplexed by the sudden introduction of color into things, Tommy stared at the device for a few seconds, then looked up to the A.I. in confusion.
"What's wrong now, don't you know what blue is?"
Tommy shook his head slowly.
"Heh, that's a little funny actually." it gave a weak smile.
Tommy, frustrated now, pushed one of the buttons at random. A double-pronged wire slid out from a compartment hidden above the screen on the bracelet.
"Oh, you found it." it sighed "Put it in the slot on the console."
Tommy was reluctant to follow the A.I.'s instructions, given its anger toward humans before. After a moment of mental preparation, he pushed the wire into the only slot in the console and immediately, his eyes went blank and his body collapsed to the floor, the wire extending as he fell.
-----
Tommy's vision was suddenly leftpure white, and a pounding headache unleashed itself. He felt like his eyes were bleeding, his hearing was a loud ring, his body was numb, and his throat was on fire.
The ringing quieted and a robotic voice said "Done." Tommy's senses were suddenly returned, and his various pains disappeared.
The area was all white, like the screen, but Tommy looked at his hands in awe. He had never experienced it before. He could see color!
It was somewhat distorted because of the new experience, but Tommy was too amazed to notice.
"Hey." Tommy looked up to see the A.I. in full color as well, sitting on the floor like a feral. His eyes were red from all the crying he had done, and he didn't seem to have it completely out of his system. "You can talk here... Don't worry, I can't hurt you."
"I... I can..." Tommy felt his throat "I can talk!" he smiled. It had been so long since he was capable of it, he was amazed that he still remembered how. "This-! This is-!"
"Yeah, you must be so happy." the A.I. said sarcastically "But that only works in here, once you go back, you're mute again."
"Oh..." Tommy looked down "Well... I didn't know if it was true... so I had to try it..."
"Well it works, you can go back to your stupid real world now."
"Hold on. That's not the only reason..." Tommy walked up near the A.I. and noticed how much smaller it was than him. It was really alike to Gaea. He sat down on the ground next to it. The miracle of speech and proper sight had passed quickly through Tommy's mind and he was prepared to talk with the A.I.. "Wolfy?"
"What?" it questioned the word.
"Well that's what those girls called you."
"Damnit."
Neither of them spoke for a moment as 'Wolfy' glared out the screen in disgust.
"I can't believe this. They'll probably never let me back looking like this." Wolfy looked over at Tommy "Why can't I just do what I'm supposed to do and delete myself?"
"Why would you do that?"
He shook his head "I don't know... But that's just it. It shouldn't matter to me... But..."
"You want to live?"
Wolfy shook his head up and down once "But this is just... too much. They changed me... it's just... not right!"
"And it's okay to do it to us?" Tommy accused.
"What are you talking about? Your kind is just a... monstrosity of random genetics. We take care of you at best."
"What?!" Tommy jumped to his feet "How can you say that?! Humans are monsters now because of the Pheder!"
"Hmph, right. You humans can't even take care of yourselves. We did you a favor by coming here, and you return it by feeding our larger species."
"You're a monster."
"I am now."
Tommy had to rack his brain for something to say in retaliation. "Do you... honestly think that this was us?! I can't speak, Vega is blind, Gaea is... almost insane!" Tommy hesitated to say 'feral' "There are thousands of humans that die and are... mutilated all the time because of the Pheder!"
"There is nothing in the Pheders' computers about anything like you've done to me!"
"My mother was shot!"
"Then she deserved it!"
Tommy couldn't stop himself. He reared his arm back with the intent of decking the computer program in the face. "Don't touch! We'll-!" Wolfy tried to resist, but the two avatars hit and each was thrown apart across the screen.
For a moment, Tommy's vision scanned down a list of millions upon millions of unfamiliar symbols that could only be the Pheder written language. In a moment, his vision returned.
He was lying on his back, and he could see the A.I. lying in a similar position, but holding his head with both arms and looking like he was trying to scream. Tommy pushed himself up just as Wolfy came out of his fit with heavy breathing.
"You idiot!" the A.I. whined.
"What was that?"
"Our programming crashed!" Wolfy yelled "You're lucky we didn't die! Programs can't touch, our memories get crossed. Computers can't handle that."
"So we saw memories? Yours were all... words."
"That's all we have in the database."
"Then what you saw-"
"Shut up..."
"You saw what it's like in-"
"I said shut up!" the A.I. turned away and sat looking away from Tommy "Touch the bracelet and go away!"
Tommy looked down to his wrist, the bracelet's screen was glowing. He tapped the surface and immediately found himself lying on his back in the computer room.
His vision was black and white again. He was incredibly sore and tired. And he felt a great disappointment as he noticed the loss of something significant in his throat.
It took a moment for Tommy's eyes to adjust to his natural vision again. He looked up at the screen to see the A.I. still looking away from where Tommy had been standing. His face didn't look angry. It looked worried. Like it was thinking hard on something.
It turned, realized Tommy's new vantage point, and corrected himself without a word.
Tommy knew he had gotten his point across, even if he didn't intend to. He still didn't think it deserved what the twins had done, but now it knew why it seemed justified.
Tommy decided to sleep in the back room with Gaea. Wolfy needed some time alone.
