Rebirth - Work in Progress

[counterfeitguise]

 

"We have to get you to my friend," the Kidan chittered, tugging the IPC along by the hand like a parent with their child. RISSA didn't mind that much - Ezeroc seemed panicked today, and clearly he needed to introduce the personality to somebody new, although she wasn't exactly sure why.

 

"Do you understand, RISSA?" He asked, taking a moment to grab her by the shoulders and look into her monitor. The little robot nodded, the feline avatar displayed on her screen flashing her usual chipper grin. The pair continued their hasty travel up several staircases before arriving at an apartment door with a holographic name next to it - S. Bleier. The Kidan beside her rapped on the door with his claws for a few moments before taking a step back, a computerized voice asking for his identity.

 

"Ezeroc Lazzuxei and RISSA."

"The purpose of your visit?"

"The occupant is my friend."

 

A whirr and the door slipped open, a grey Vulpkanin standing on the other side with a mug in his hands and a cigarette gripped between his teeth. He makes a noise of realization that causes RISSA to giggle, and the canine hurries the two inside, pushing a button to make his door close and lock again.

 

"Ez, is good to see you, ja? Nice vork on zee chassis." The occupant grins, holding a hand out to the childish IPC. "I am Sebastian. Has Ezeroc tellink you of me?" A pause, and he shakes his head. "Is not surprisink if not. More important matters at hant, no?" He places the mug on a small kitchen counter, taking another drag of the cigarette before exhaling and snuffing it out into an ashtray, rubbing his hands together soon after.

 

"Now, my frient, how can I be of serfice to you?" He pulls the Kidan towards a small loveseat situated in front of a wall-mounted TV, leaving the IPC alone to explore her surroundings idly.

"You heard what happened to Khancresh, yeah?" The insect mutters, his antennae drooping ever so slightly as he takes a seat beside his coworker. The two grimace at one another, silently sharing the same memory.

"I am avare." Sebastian scrunches his nose up and looks away for a moment, tapping his fingers on his knees. "It is...traurig. Most sat news."

 

RISSA, curious about the sudden dip in mood, peeks around the corner of the doorway leading into the bathroom - having finished exploring the 'cozy' restroom, she squeaks out a question. "Who's Khancresh?"

 

The two males look towards the little IPC and towards each other again. After a few moments, the canine shrugs and Ezeroc chitters with uncertainty before speaking. "He was our friend," he begins, glancing around with exasperation. "He helped create you."

 

This sparks a sudden grin on her monitor and she skips over to listen, seeking more information. The Vulpkanin lets out an amused puff of air from his nose.

 

"How come you never told me about him, Ezeroc?"

"It's...he's not with us anymore, RISSA." A click and a buzz, and the display changes to a more saddened expression.

"Oh. I'm sorry."

A wave of the hand. "Not your fault, kiddo."

 

That's not entirely true, is it? He thinks to himself.

 

Sebastian rises from his seat and plucks a small disk from a shelf on the wall before sitting back down, pressing a small button that pops up a holographic picture in front of the trio. "Zis is Ez," he explains, pointing towards a Kidan in a labcoat, busily hovering over a pAI device. His finger trails to a Vulpkanin beside him, watching intently, and RISSA's gaze follows.

"You!" The IPC beeps, causing the two males to nod in unison.

"Zat's right. And zis..." His finger stops at a Tajaran, sat in the back looking tired, hunched over an MMI. "Zis is Khancresh."

 

The little avatar on RISSA's display tilts her head back and forth as she looks around the picture, before settling her gaze on the brain in the background that's being tinkered with. "What was he working on?"

 

The duo stare at each other for a while, as if silently contemplating whether or not to explain. A small shake of the head and the grey canine clears his throat, shrugging his shoulders at the IPC. "A side projekt, I sink."

 

RISSA nods, satisfied with the answer, before sitting on the floor as the hologram is returned to its shell. "So what were you two working on in that picture?"

"You don't recognize it?"

"Vhy vould she, you dummkopf?"

"Good point." A pause, and Ezeroc scratches his chin. "It's you, RISSA."

 

The IPC shudders for a moment, whirring and clicking as she contemplates this discovery. The Kidan and Vulpkanin stare at one another in fear, their eyes moving back and forth between each other and the character on the floor as the shaking only gets more violent. Ezeroc scrambles to RISSA's side as she lets out a mechanical, gutteral scream before going limp and silent, the insect letting out a sigh as he retracts his claw from a small button in the nook of the robot's neck.

 

"How long has she been doing zat, Ezeroc?" Sebastian rises to his feet, alarmed and somewhat shaken by what just happened.

The Kidan hesitates with his answer before giving in and explaining. "A while, dude. She's been asking a lot of questions about where she came from, what happened, and she's complaining about a voice in her head."

 

Silence.

 

"Vat do you mean, a 'voice in her heat'?" The canine whispers, eyes widening further with each new piece of information. "Vat is it doink to her?" Louder, now. "Iz it takink over? Askink for sinks? Zis is very important, Ezeroc. Zis is very bedrohlich."

"It's...RISSA tells me it's her."

"Zee subjekt."

 

A nod.

 

[NTSAM]

 

...Oooh.

 

Spooky.

 

[counterfeitguise]

 

"Alright, nerds. Got a new project for the three of you."

 

A scarred, fed-up looking representative escorted by two Security officers gently places a secure case on one of the sterile desk that surrounds almost the entirety of the lab, encasing three tired lab workers into it with only one way out. They all share a look akin to can you believe this shit? or what the hell now?, and in unison, two pairs of eyes return to the foreigners in the lab - Khancresh, a Tajaran scientist, scoots his chair over to the containment unit and opens it, carefully unveiling an MMI that sparks with faint activity. He nods his head towards his coworkers and they crowd around, curiously.

 

"So...vat is it vee are supposed to be lookink at, here?" Sebastian enquires, a yawn soon following.

"Well, you guys make Personalities, correct? Or am I in the wrong department?"

"Yeah, we're one of...many teams that make Personalities," Ezeroc answers, tilting his head. "But what does that have to do with-"

 

The Tajaran stands. He walks up to the representative, smaller than the intruder in the workplace and the officers that raise tasers at him - he falters for a moment, fists clenched. "What the fuck is this? What do they expect us to do with a brain?"

"Whatever it is you chucklefucks are paid to do. Figure it out. I'm not the scientist, here." The representative shoves the Tajaran back towards his coworkers and hums, amused. "This company's benefactor wants progress reports sent out in discreet emails. Don't name them anything special, just treat it like a regular old personality build." He lights a cigar and takes a drag, letting out a noise that indicates he remembered something he forgot to add. "Oh, yeah. I was told to tell you 'no memories', whatever that means. Ciao, boys."

 

The three scientists sit in silence as the representative and his escorts leave, looking around before settling their eyes on the MMI. They're soon emailed the information they need to get started on the project - the brain's owner, what happened and when, any relatives; information that they're required to leave out. Provided, that is, they can even transfer data from an organic brain into a pAI unit to begin with. Their company certainly seems to believe they can, and it makes the trio uncomfortable - how do they know it's possible?

 

Khancresh is given instructions on his own private email. He is the one most experienced in making the personalities behave remotely human, and the science provided to him to delve deeper into the moral grey area of creating artificial life - by ripping it out from actual life - makes him shudder ever so slightly. Regardless, the trio are threatened with the consequences of knowing too much if they do not comply, so begrudgingly they do.

 

It takes them almost a year to extract data from the brain into a usable format they can modify and insert into a unit, but once complete the Tajaran uses this time to relax. He worked the hardest these past months, this being his area of expertise, and the other two are insistent on him resting now. Despite their progress on the project - and the numerous update emails they have sent - the feeling of unease in the lab never left. The three of them still wondered what their benefactors hoped to achieve from this.

 

Ezeroc and Sebastian worked around the clock on the coding; separating the memories, the negative personality traits, the positive - all to create the perfect work companion that could travel in your pocket. A personal AI device. Every so often Khancresh would look at the files of the person they were ripping the life out of and feel a great pit in his stomach. He began researching. Secretly unlocking files and folders on the company's database, hoping that it would give answers as to why they had such confidence, and why they wanted this to begin with. He didn't find much - but what he did find confirmed his worries. They had done this before.

 

Multiple times.

 

Reading the contents of the previous experiments and watching what little footage the research teams had recorded on the subjects made him physically ill, and delving deeper into the depths of forbidden knowledge nearly drove him mad with grief and pity for the people forced to live despite their wishes. He began furiously deleting what data the company had on the matter, destroying any hopes of continuing the idea of reviving brains to use in Personalities - and he was prepared to destroy what they had made together.

 

"Goodnight, guys. Get some sleep."

"Vee shall, Khan." "Yeah, man, you're not our mom."

"I may as well be, with all the cleaning I do!" The three laughed, Ezeroc and Sebastian's voices fading as they travelled out of the lab and down a corridor to leave the building.

 

Khancresh let out a sigh, spinning in his chair and turning towards the little pAI unit on the table. He swallowed spit, but his throat still felt dry and hoarse as he connected the unit to the database and began typing away, soon sending small data packages to the personality. His eyes closed and he began to fall asleep in his chair, drifting off and losing conciousness as the computer busily worked on transferring every single restricted piece of data, morphing it into the pAI's code.

 

He awoke with a start, quickly unplugging the data cable from the pAI unit and computer, stashing it away in a drawer before grabbing his things and leaving the building. He would buy a coffee, eat some breakfast and come back, none the wiser. What happened next would be anyone's guess, and there'd be no proof it was his doing. Khancresh did as he planned and greeted his coworkers with a tired grin, though froze just after the doorway as he noticed them looming over the device with horror in their eyes.

 

"Uh, guys? What's the matter?"

 

The pair jumped, visibly startled, though relaxed upon realizing who it was who was speaking. "Oh, uh...you need to see this, Khan. Something fucking weird happened with the pAI."

"Yeah?" The Tajaran feigned ignorance, walking over and taking a sip of his coffee.

"Ja," Sebastian begins, tapping on the device's touchscreen. "Zee little personality appears...somevat corrupted, for some reason."

"Oh...really? Uh, what, uh, kind of corruption, exactly?"

"Vell, she vill sometimes shpeak as if she is two different people," he explains, scratching behind his head. "One minute, zee bright and cheerful personality we created, and another..."

"A complete psychopath," Ezeroc ends the sentence, shuddering a bit. "You missed the worst of it by far, dude. She was screaming bloody murder about where she was and why was she alive and...yeah, fuck. It was horrible."

 

Khancresh felt his spine crawl and ache at the results of what he had done. He unleashed a shaky breath and took a seat, holding his head. Should he tell them? They were workmates, after all - friends, even. They wouldn't hand him in, right? No, that's a terrible idea. He'd endanger them, too, if they knew. The company has probably already noticed the damage he did.

 

"You alright, Khan?"

"Yeah! Just...This is some freaky shit to hear when you just got up, you know?"

"I getcha. We'll figure it out, don't worry. Feel free to go home and get more rest if you need it."

"I...I think I will. You guys sure you're gonna be okay?"

 

The two nod and wave him off as the Tajaran leaves the building once more, trying to hide a sudden rush of sweat running down his forehead and bile rapidly creeping up his throat. He practically sprinted his way back home and threw up once he got there, falling unconcious in the bathroom as all of his regret, guilt and lack of sleep left his system.

 

According to police reports, thugs broke into Khancresh's home that night and killed him in an armed robbery - though no witnesses have come forward to offer any evidence. The company he worked for offered its condolences to any friends and family, and then proceeded to forget he ever existed.

 

[counterfeitguise]

 

The Vulpkanin looked uneasily at the occupied single bed beside him, unfolding his legs and rising from his seat at a desk. The IPC sat up slowly with a loud whirr, the monitor flickering to life with a nauseating purple. His breath shuddered as RISSA's previous avatar was replaced with a brown feline with curly red hair, blue and purple eyes, and a disgusting blood/vomit mixture seeming to ooze endlessly from its mouth.

 

"Vat..."

He swallowed, beginning to retreat to the bedroom's doorway.

"Vat are you?"

"Oh, you know what I am." The IPC sneers, easing its way out of the bed and taking a few steps towards Sebastian. A noise of voices being rewound rapidly began to spout out of the machine's voicebox, before clicking and playing normally. "Zee subjekt." The avatar's eyes narrowed, following the male as he scurries his way to the main room of the apartment.

 

"B-but zat doesn't - v-ve thought zat-"

A dark chuckle made its way out of the machine's voicebox. "You thought I was gone? Oh, how quaint." It lunges and wraps a metallic hand around the canine's throat, digging in like a vice and slamming him against a wall.

 

"Nothing you do can get rid of me. You can take out more and more pieces until there's nothing fucking left, but I will always be here."

The Vulpkanin gurgles, squirming as he began to run out of breath. The IPC loosens its grip, and he gasps, gulping down as much air as he can before the machine tightened its grasp once more. "V-vat a-are you hopink t-to gain?"

"I want out."

 

Silence, Sebastian's eyes rolling back into his head for a moment as he groaned, soon being let loose. He trembled on the ground, rubbing his neck. "You...you vant to be separatet," he elaborated for the machine, being met with a nod. He rested his head against the wall behind him and sighed. "Ve can't."

"That's not the answer I wanted, Bleier."

"It is ze only one I can give you, Nerissa."

 

The avatar closed its eyes for a moment, beginning to grit its teeth as the chassis trembled. Her fist slammed against the kitchen counter before grabbing a knife, stomping over to the canine and pointing it at his throat, the sharpened point penetrating skin and drawing blood.

"Well it's not good enough," she whispered. "Where's Lazzuxei?"

"Gone," Sebastian answered immediately. "He iz gone. Far avay. I do not know vhere."

"Tell him to get his ass back here. Now."

"He is hours avay-"

"I. Don't. Care."

 

The Vulpkanin nods, letting out a slow breath of air out of his nose. He pointed towards his bedroom, and is quickly yanked up to his feet and shoved there before being forcefully sat down in the seat. He cracked his knuckles and booted up his computer's emailing service, typing as fast as his clawed hands could.

 

Ez,

do notCome back to the apartment. RISSA's awake again. she wants a body. hide

 

He shakily hit the send button, turning in his chair towards Nerissa. "Zhere. It is done."

Her eyes narrowed once more as she pushed his seat away, leaning in to read the message. She calmly turned off the computer and offered the man a sickeningly sweet smile. "Good job. Let's get a drink while we wait for him."

 

Sebastian swallowed nervously, obediently heading into the main room of his home. He opened his fridge, clearing his throat. "Voult you, uh...I do not have any Synthanol for you. Is zhat alright?"

"Just fine."

 

The canine leaned forward to reach his beer, letting out a sharp yelp as the door was slammed against him. The IPC grabbed him by the shirt and quickly smashed a bottle over his head, shoving the alcohol-soaked Vulpkanin onto the kitchen counters. He gasped and wheezed, the wind having been knocked out of him from the sudden attack. His ears flicked and then immediately flattened to the sides of his head as he heard the familiar clicking of a cigarette lighter, and he soon yowled in agony as he felt an immediate, intense heat spark on his head. The machine stared coldly down at the squirming, flaming body beside her as his screams only increased in volume, concerned banging beginning to come from the walls belonging to his neighbours.

 

"Is everything okay in there?!" Was asked faintly from one side, and "Oh god, call the police!" came from the other. Nerissa ignored the complaints and cries, thrusting the knife into her victim's head repeatedly as he burned, soon cracking the skull. Blood began to soak the counter, the knife, and her chassis as she carved her way through bone to get to the vitals beneath, soon separating the brain with several precise cuts. She stood up straight with the organ in her hands, turning her monitor towards the sound of distant sirens.

 

Grabbing a satchel before shoving the brain and knife into it, Nerissa forced her way out of the apartment; quickly escaping the complex and disappearing into the darkened alleys. She would find Ezeroc, eventually. He can't hide forever.

 

[Dumbdumn5]

Ah, rehumanization, try magic instead of wackjob German scientists, it might work out smoother! Of course there are other alternatives, if you decide to work for shadier organizations, I guess.

[Bill Chompski]

When you try to hide the corpse of the sociopath that killed three others and is out for your blood, but they get repaired and given their own personal body that they have full control of and you know they know what you tried to do to them, and that they're still out there, somewhere, and you're in a relationship now but you're not sure if the maniac knows that or not so you always look over your shoulder to double check any purple screens, even back home at Luna because they've already strangled you once before.

[Dumbdumn5]

 

When you try to hide the corpse of the sociopath that killed three others and is out for your blood, but they get repaired and given their own personal body that they have full control of and you know they know what you tried to do to them, and that they're still out there, somewhere, and you're in a relationship now but you're not sure if the maniac knows that or not so you always look over your shoulder to double check any purple screens, even back home at Luna because they've already strangled you once before.

 

I hate it when that happens to me...