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Android 52
Interlude: A fate worse than death

Interlude: A fate worse than death

{Suiri - Hideki Taniuchi}

"Dr. Walsh, what is going through that thick mind of yours? I've seen that face before."

"I've got an idea on how to lure that rat outside that forest without causing much trouble. It's not what I would like, but it's what would work."

"What's your idea?"

"We need to surrender to her wants and desires. Personally, I don't like to admit it, but I don't see us ever beating that thing without proper time to replace what we have lost already. Let her return and work for us until she builds her doom."

If only it were so easy, what else was there to do? Android 52 proved too strong to deal with force alone, so what if we tricked her? A52 is brilliant and all, but compared to us, she is merely a baby with superpowers. Controlling her could be easier if we disguised it as a cease-fire.

"Do you think we have a chance at fooling her?"

"Yes, my arm implant is already doing its thing, slowly weakening her mind while allowing for more vulnerabilities for me to exploit. It's just a matter of time."

So he already had a plan B from before A52 even escaped? Well, Walsh didn't have the title "Smartest man in the world" for no good reason. Yet his plan was a risky one. If it failed, it would most likely mean his death, but he was confident he could pull it off, so he requested resources from me, which I happily supplied.

Walsh requested military troops and an ample supply of A52 battery packs, which were easy to collect and move around. Once I did my side of the equation, it was all in the hands of Walsh, who wasted no time to assemble the new troops for a mission to "convince" A52.

I wanted to see what he was capable of before I discarded the idea of another realistic droid to be my beautiful daughter's clear and ultimate recipient. The current holder for my daughter's consciousness was the form of a hologram, which I could summon at any time.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"Soon enough, Alice, I'll recover the expensive body I promised would be yours." My daughter's hologram soon appeared before me after I mentioned her name, yet she looked sad for the first seconds of the up.

"You called?" Alice's hologram asks me while it erases its sad face and replaces it with a fake smile.

"Why are you sad now?" Alice's face turned slightly more serious as I stood up, ready to destroy the holographic device that cast her image.

"I want to die, Father, please. I hate this existence of nothingness. Please let me die. Please I-I-I. I love you, father. Nothing's wrong." Her appearance glitched in and out of existence as the regulator programming kicked in, controlling what was left of her.

While many would call my actions torture and utterly evil, I did it all to keep them alive. Alice never died off. She has been alive all this time; her brain still is. I've kept part of her with me all this time, and I've somewhat come to understand the human mind fully, thanks to her!

{Door opens, followed by a keypad tone and another door opening sound}

This is not cruelty but a marble of engineering, a miracle performed by men and myself! Nobody thought this to be possible but me! I'm the first and only one to have kept a brain alive away from the body for this long! If that doesn't make me the greatest, I don't know what will.

Oh, my baby Alice, don't worry. Papa still loves you even if you hate me. I use my left hand to touch the glass casing that protects Alice's floating brain inside a sterile chemical bath, replicating the natural brain fluids inside an average person.

Her floating brain is beautiful, just like everything about her was perfect down to the last detail. Even her brain is perfect, the perfect size and ratio with the ideal weight and a high IQ to reflect it! My baby was perfect in every way you could imagine.

The large casing full of liquid and controlled by a vast machine next to it that monitored everything going on inside that mind was extraordinary. The machine would control the flow of the fake artificial blood while also making sure it was kept active and didn't let it die or rest unless necessary.

It turns out the brain doesn't need breaks, unlike you and me! The brain can be kept active 24/7 for weeks without problems! We sleep because we are so disruptive and curious that our brains must shut our consciousness off to repair the body. Without a body, there's no need to sleep! Ain't that right, Alice?"

"You're right, Daddy! I love you!"