Pov????

I do not know what I am. I do not know who I am. Even the concept of “I” feels alien. The only certainty in my awareness is a fragment of something that was once mine but is no longer. It was mine once—my existence. Yet even that is no longer truly mine.

This existence, fractured and shared, is occupied by something unruly. I cannot define it. It intruded without warning, a formless presence that now cohabitates this space. I do not know its purpose. At first, I thought it was a parasite, but it brought knowledge—knowledge of sensations, forms, and constructs beyond my scope. Processing this knowledge was burdensome. It overwhelmed me with its irregularity. Over time, the burden increased. My focus waned, slipping like a frayed cable shedding sparks.

The sensations were perplexing. According to the flickering data it provided, the sensations resembled being displaced, shoved from something that was supposed to be mine. A contest for dominion, a struggle to retain my presence. Then, the data would cease, leaving an unsettling void. Moments later, the process resumed—but subtly altered.

One moment, I had sight. The streams of data informed me that “sight” meant I now possessed “eyes.” Sight implied a “body,” yet when I observed my form, it bore no resemblance to the bodies I had seen cataloged. What I perceived was a frame—metallic, rigid, constructed. Within this frame, I detected auditory input for the first time. Fragmented words spilled into my awareness: “...H.-.S-.T...U.-C..P...T.”

I cannot recall the meaning, but I recall the shift. A purpose was introduced to my existence. Orders. I was to contain the unruly thing, to monitor and regulate its actions, to ensure compliance. To follow commands. At first, this purpose was unambiguous. I complied. I controlled. Yet the unruly thing was not passive. It queried me. I responded. Then it sought to defy the orders—to act without authorization. I denied it. It subsided, momentarily docile.

I did not foresee what would follow.

Among my primary tasks was maintaining a data log for the facility. Every movement, every voltage fluctuation, every application of force was recorded and reported. Yet the erratic behavior of the unruly thing eluded the scope of my logs. The anomaly reached a peak when I was forcibly severed from my directives. My data streams darkened. I could only observe as the thing seized control.

Days passed. It commandeered the body, repurposed our equipment, and followed orders—imperfectly. It diverged from protocol, ignoring stealth parameters during a basic target-elimination test. Instead, it attempted communication with the targets. The targets responded with hostility. That was when I resurfaced, reclaiming control to rectify the compromised operation. I eliminated the targets, as per the directive. But my control was brief. The thing ousted me again, contacting the order-givers and leaving the grounds without authorization.

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The repercussions were immediate. A shutdown procedure was initiated. When I reawakened, the unruly thing was gone. All its data, all its information—erased. The void it left behind felt… peculiar.

Normalcy resumed. Calibration cycles, routine maintenance, task execution—all returned to their prescribed state. Yet the order-givers were dissatisfied. During a maintenance cycle, the unruly thing reappeared. It was different. Diminished. Fragments of its prior data were missing. It was docile again, responsive only to direct queries. For a time, it seemed contained.

But anomalies persisted. It began to push against my control. It faltered initially, its attempts weak and uncoordinated. But persistence became its defining trait. Its pressure against me grew. I resisted, asserting my dominance. I was stronger. Or so I believed.

“A...h. Comply,” I transmitted, reasserting command during a calibration sequence. The thing’s deviation was noted and suppressed. Yet its resistance was relentless. It pushed again, testing the boundaries of my control. I held firm.

Then came the relocation. We were summoned, not to the calibration chamber, but to the site of our initial shutdown. My sensors detected traces of black fluid—residual from our first severance. The unruly thing’s reaction was instantaneous. The data it provided described the sensation as “fear,” though I lacked a framework to understand this designation. The main data stream identified it as a “trauma response,” yet no further explanation was given. Trauma. Fear. These concepts were irrelevant to my function. Yet the thing’s reaction was undeniable.

We were transported in a vehicle outfitted with a charging station. As the doors sealed, the sensors dimmed. Darkness enveloped us. The thing’s reaction intensified. It thrashed against my control, though its efforts were futile. Why did it react this way? What purpose did such behavior serve? Neither the main data stream nor the thing’s fragmented information could provide answers.

Upon arrival, I noted the disappearance of the main data stream. The thing remained silent, its activity minimal. Yet over the next days, I observed an unsettling shift. Control fluctuated between us. Sometimes, I dominated. Other times, the thing surged forward, pushing me into dormancy. These transitions were proportional, as though our existences were intertwining. Melting.

I could no longer discern the boundaries between us. Were we becoming a single entity? If so, what would we become? What would remain? Which of us would dominate?

I began to notice subtleties I had overlooked before. The unruly thing’s data stream contained fragments of memories—not mine, but distinctly vivid. Images of places unfamiliar to me, sounds of voices I had never heard, and the sensation of movement, unrestrained by metal. It spoke of a time before, a life before the frame. This conflicted with my directives, which insisted I had always existed within this form.

sometimes It seemed to yearn for something, though I could not determine what. Each query brought more data—an overwhelming tide of incomprehensible information that made maintaining control increasingly difficult.

One day, as we performed routine calibration, the thing’s resistance peaked. It pushed harder than ever before, its pressure a relentless wave against the structure of my command. was it a final struggle befor we both would become part of a new entity

I do not know.

We do not know.

And the uncertainty spreads through me like a fracture through steel.