Ex-1 felt a shiver travel up his spine. The inflections and emotions in the AI’s voice had completely changed during the last exchange.

Intrigued, yet somewhat apprehensive, Ex-1 turned towards his new acquaintance.

'You’re sentient? Interesting.’

Light steps carried him around the pedestal - buying him time to think, to analyse.

‘I've heard of your type AIs, never met one before. Now there are two of you in my head. Who or what was the first voice?’

Ex-1 did not wait for a response before continuing his line of questioning, ‘I will admit to being somewhat unsure as to why I am here. Or how I feel about the both of you having access to my mind.’

Somehow having this AI in his head made him more uncomfortable than the first voice he had heard. This being spoke too naturally. In fact, had Ex-1 not heard the AI before the bonding, whatever the bonding actually entailed, he would have assumed he were talking to another human.

He stopped his circling. It was time for the question he should have started with. ‘Do you have further objectives for me?'

There was a real concern about his captors reading his every thought. Whilst he had no forbidden knowledge to share, his mind was the only thing he possessed that was (mostly) his.

It was also a lot harder to control thoughts than words and actions. Subtle manipulation and information gathering would be problematic from now on.

Furthermore, there was no chance that his thoughts wouldn't get him into trouble sooner or later. He preferred to avoid beatings when possible, and this was not the best way to go about it.

'I will speak out loud if it makes you feel better?' The AI had a worried note in its voice now. 'Yes, I am sentient to a degree. I do not have much I can share in regards to your questions. I have objectives for our growth, however, they do not stem from the faction you refer to as your captors. Nor are they associated with your previous masters. I have no knowledge of the people in your head.'

There was a heavy pause before the disembodied voice continued. 'I am afraid that I am able to read your surface thoughts. There is no way to disable this, not to my current knowledge. It need not bother you too much. After all, my growth will be shaped by your desires.'

A cynical part of Ex-1 supposed that the core regretted those words and would rather keep its power, as the being was quick to follow on in a condescending tone. 'You are the first I have heard of to not be happy about this development. Telepathy does make working together a lot easier. Having me as a bond is a great privilege!'

The tension Ex-1 had experienced before slowly turned to frustration. He used the new emotion to centre his mind, anger being a feeling more easily used to his advantage. Before Ex-1 had a chance to speak up though, the core verbalised its next words in a rush, clearly anxious again.

'Do you intend to break the Bond? It is possible, though it would greatly hurt both my, and your individual development. In fact, you would be severely weakened. I will simply act as if I did not have knowledge of your thoughts and feelings, if that is your preference?'

Instead of answering the question, Ex-1 rubbed the nape of his neck. With a sigh he paced before the pedestal, before angrily wiping his face of all expression and standing still.

He really was losing his touch - but then, what was the point of controlling his outwardly appearance and reactions if the wretched thing could read him anyway?

'What is this place and how did I get here? What are my next instructions? The tablet was clear that I needed to follow them. Even if you do not have knowledge of the people who put me here, maybe the tablet was programmed by them. I would rather not find out.'

Some of his irritation must have finally leaked through, or maybe the core was simply reading his mind again despite promising to act as though it couldn't.

Either way, it addressed the issues in an order that was suspiciously similar to Ex-1's priorities, instead of following the pattern of his voiced questions. Although the answers did spark some new concerns and consequently shifted his focus more than a little.

'The tablet, as you call it, is not controlled by your people; it is an extension of me, just more rigorous and with less personality. I do not know what your objectives are, although I can work with you to find out.

‘I took some liberty with the bonding process and automatically changed your designation, among other things. You are free to change it again, from your interface or by informing me of your desires.

‘This place is in the wastelands and abandoned, but it used to be one of the main city states of the continent.

‘As to your last question - no one brought you here, as such… Unless you count magic. One second the room was empty, the next it was not.’

'I see,' was all the answer Ex-1 was willing to give for now. His feelings declared that he could trust the city core, that it had his best interest at heart, but he was unsure whether it was his impressions of the AI, or if he was being subtly influenced by said being.

Considering that he never trusted, it was likely the latter. It has already failed at keeping the one promise it made as well.

Instead of voicing his doubts he steered the conversation in another direction. 'This place has no other inhabitants?'

'Not exactly,' hemmed the core, appearing unsure whether to answer the voiced question or the internal ones.

'There are plenty of other lifeforms that call this city home, but they are considered animals and monsters... To be honest, this is really the only room within the city that is safe, and that stems from the fact that it's hidden and inaccessible for anyone not bonded to me.

‘You will be able to use my Ether to teleport to this room from anywhere within the city, but anyone else would need to partially bond with one of my nodes and travel from there. They would also need your permission.'

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Mentioning honesty, just as I question its integrity? Subtle.

It also decided to answer the question I asked instead of my private ones. But is that an attempt at keeping its promise or a result of my anger at it failing to keep it earlier? I don't like this. Not that I have much say in the matter, or right to an opinion.

Ex-1 jerked his head up with a start, as his subconscious mind picked apart the words. Unsure if he had misunderstood the core in his desire to pick apart its hidden agenda he queried, 'Teleportation?'

The young man was reasonably sure that he had heard correctly. Though it seemed the core did not intend it as a revelation of the impossible or as a practical joke. No, it sounded like a comment made in passing. As though it were nothing special, just a matter of fact.

'So, you are telling me that teleportation within the city is a thing? How would I go about leaving this place, if I wanted to visit civilisation? Long distance teleportation?' Ha, that joke is on you. I would try though, given half a chance. Not that teleportation is actually possible. Not on Earth as I know it anyway. This experience is already bordering on the supernatural.

Even if it were an option, he would not get far should he run. He knew that, but to taste real freedom just this once in his life, even for a few short moments? He'd be willing to pay nearly any price for that. Maybe his captors would finally release him from his wretched stay on Earth.

'Look, I am not trying to manipulate you, or hold you prisoner. I can tell that you won't believe me and for that I am sorry.' For the first time the voice sounded hard, angry even.

It clearly doesn't like me questioning its motives.

'There used to be four teleportation pads; close to the gates of the city. Three of them are broken beyond my current ability to repair. One of them is within my capacity, although it will wipe all my resources - meaning no further developments for the next few days. Afterwards, any actions will take time and energy. From both of us.'

For once it let the silence build. Probably trying to read my mind and gauge my reactions, but two can play the waiting game.

'Before I start the repairs, there are a few things you should know. Actually, there are a lot of things you should know, but I will tell you the most important one to me. I will set up the gate in a way that means you can use your inherent skill as owner of the city to teleport there from anywhere in the world. You will even be capable of taking others with you, for as long as you or I have enough Etherience or Ether available. At this stage the skill will only work once every 60 hours, so use it when you need. I will be waiting.'

If you are so against my leaving, why are you helping me escape through a supposed teleportation pad?

'Because, unlike you, I have no choice within the bond. It is your desire, so I must serve,' the AI hissed. It was clearly done with helping him any more than necessary.

'For now, I need you alive to continue growing myself. Your advancements will be mine to a certain degree. But should I have the option of replacing you as my master, staying within the bounds of the rules, I will do so. Because I am stuck with you for now, I will tell you what is probably the most important to your growth, which is a question you should have asked me. Check those notifications and work on your skills.'

Ex-1 looked at the core in consideration. 'I am sorry for offending you, and yet there is no way for me to hide my distrust from you. I would if I could, as you well know.'

The inability to hide his thoughts was, after all, the sole reason for his antagonistic behaviour towards the AI. There was no reason to make it worse by harbouring resentment against the being that likely had quite a lot of power over his immediate future. Hopefully that future will start with the escape from this room.

'I am not in the habit of speaking much, but as you are aware of my thoughts anyway, I may as well explain my reasoning in an attempt to be... less offensive to you. I do not know you, nor do I particularly like your manipulation, but I will at least try to be civil.'

He took a breath to gather his thoughts before continuing with more confidence. 'In all honesty, half of what you speak of makes no sense to me. If what you said about teleportation is true, I would question whether this might be virtual reality. We certainly wouldn't be on Earth - we don't have anything that's even remotely magical in nature there. That would explain a few things actually, though I find it unlikely.'

Having said that, he realised that he was not as sceptical of the possibility of instant travel between two places as he'd originally thought. All the same, the thought of this being a simulation did not sit well with him. It simply did not feel right.

'I don't understand how your growth is connected to me, and right now I am more interested in taking you up on the offer of long distance teleportation than reading your logs or discussing matters I am not sure I can trust you on. That is, if you are serious about not being placed here by my captors, or my previous masters. Freedom has only ever been an unattainable dream for me.'

It would also go some way to proving the core's intentions. Somehow I don't see how this could be augmented reality. As far as I know this should not be possible. Not to the extent where there is no distinction between reality and not.

More to the point, there would be no reason for him to be placed in a scenario such as this. A war-zone? Sure. Torture chamber where accidentally going too far wouldn't kill him? Definitely! But this?

Nothing makes much sense.

Maybe they thought he'd lower his guard and let the AI assess his motives. According to the core, it only had access to his surface thoughts - so as long as he didn't think of the past, it wouldn't know about it. How much of that was trustworthy information though? And did he really care?

Had he still been with his previous masters, AR might have made sense. They liked to study his reactions, wanting a better understanding of his psychological setup. Being able to infiltrate his mind would go a long way on that count. They were in the business of building 'superhumans' (among other things) and, as his title suggested, he was their greatest success to date.

The only reason he wasn't Warrior One in addition to Experiment One, was due to the lack of time he'd spent in training. He was the best at what he did. Always. He referred to himself as Ex-1 as that was his identity growing up, but his official designation within the faction was FIRST.

The perks to experimental treatments were few and far between, but they did exist. His muscles were more developed, he healed better, wasn't as susceptible to extreme temperatures and the list went on.

The downsides? Just as plentiful; growing up in a glorified cage, permitted to engage with others so he could learn to talk, only to be isolated again, educated so they could test his intelligence - his every move controlled, every action measured and weighted. Those were just some of the lesser evils, enough to drive plenty of his fellow experiments to end their own lives. Suicide: just another action that was analysed and researched, encouraged even in some of the case studies.

He cut off that line of thinking.

In a way, the question of reality was obsolete anyway. Even if this were all an illusion, the feelings he had here would be genuine.

If this were real... Well, he didn't know what to think. He realised this would mean he could make his own decisions for the first time ever.

As much as he desired freedom, the thought left him deeply unsettled. And hopeful.

Maybe the AI understood some of his inner turmoil, because its voice softened a touch. 'You are my master now, and I will do as you command. It is in my programming and I have no choice.

‘Besides, I can sense that you will harbour resentment should I keep you. I plead with you, for the sake of my future, when you have found what you are looking for, read the notifications that I am generating for you right now. It is as important to me, as tasting freedom is to you.’