Both Viza and Amelia spent the next few days drifting in and out of consciousness while they healed, thanks to Dr. Kaxus. He didn't seem to have much faith in them not "Doing Deathworlder things" and preventing more damage, and so besides eating and drinking for a bit, they were kept asleep.
Thankfully Amelia didn't have any nightmares, or flashbacks really, but she was left with her thoughts only several times. the most prominent thing in her mind was what Viza had wanted to say before being put to sleep. They had been awake at the same time once since then, but he stays silent, and seemed nervous to her, which worried Amelia. Had she made him scared of her because of how she went about the Axon? She tried not to do too much, tried to hold back but maybe...maybe Viza was starting to see her as a monster instead of a person, maybe that's what he wanted to say. That he was thankful but he was leaving because he was terrified of her. Well, as long as he was safe, that was the most important thing, but every time she thought of Viza leaving, it ached deeply.
'This is stupid. I've only known him for a few weeks there's no way I should be this attached to him, or him to me. Besides, he got hurt because of me, him being around me is dangerous, of course, he'd want to leave.' She thought to herself as she picked at her food, her appetite lost to her at the moment. looking over to the medical bed beside her, she watched Viza's chest rise and fall peacefully and sighed.'As long as he's safe and happy, that's all that matters.'
She placed the tray of food on the counter beside the bed just as Kixax entered the medbay again, pouring over something on his holopad.
"Ah, Ms. Amelia. Still awake I see, good good. That'll likely be the last time I have to put you under. I must say, I'm surprised at how quickly both your nanite tech and your own body manage to heal you, I was certain there would have been permanent damage to your right arm yet it does not look like that will be the case." He said, beaming with the pride of a doctor finishing a good prognosis on a patient he worked hard on, even if all he did was make her rest.
"Kixax...can I ask you something?" She asked tentatively, her thoughts still rolling around in her head ceaselessly.
"Of course. What can I help you with?" Kixax responded with light joviality, seemingly missing the tenseness in Amelia.
"Am I a monster?"
"Well, you certainly worked over that station, and the Axon as well. It was touch and go with him for a while but I believe he'll recover. Honestly, class 4 deathworlders are something else. Your regenerative ability is off the charts as well, even without medicine. And to top it off you produce a combat drug naturally! If I did not know any better I would say you Humans were a race of super-soldiers, ha-ha." He answered in his now sickening-to-her joviality.
She was right, the other races would view them as monsters. Viza would view her as one.
"Thanks, doc. I think I'd like to sleep now, though. If you don't mind."Finally, there was a hiccup in Kaxus's joviality as he turned his face to eye her carefully. Seemingly satisfied after a few moments, he pulled out the sleeping medication and handed her a dose.
"Hmm. Very well. Have a pleasant rest, Miss Amelia." He said, his tone still jovial, but with a hint of worry in it as well.'Ah well. Nothing he needs to concern himself with.' She thought as she took the medication and after a few moments, drifted off into sleep again.
Another revolution and she was discharged, Viza still having to stay in the medbay. Heading up to her room, she finally met Hal, who was sitting on her bed, in the corner, seemingly in low-power mode. She walked over to him and picked up his small frame gently, waiting for his sensors to wake him. They didn't need to, however, as it turned out he was already awake.
'You left me.'
'I couldn't risk you getting taken by the station, Hal.'
'But you were attacked, hurt.'
'And I'm better now. See? check my bios, no permanent damage.'
'I should have gone with you. What if you were hurt, what if you had been taken? I could've-'
'Hal, calm down. I'm here now. I'm sorry for leaving you, I just wanted to make sure you were safe.' She moves to hold Hal tighter against her, and he in turn wraps his fore-extremities around her.
'Don't leave me again, please. I can't lose you, mo-creator.' His word changed last minute, and Amelia started petting his frame softly as she curled up around him in a protective embrace.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Earth- North American Continent. 4 Years ago.
BlackRock Research Facility-grade 7 Classified.
Project- Wonderland
Amelia woke up still setting at the research terminal in her lab, having stayed up last night working on the new designs for a self-supporting mining drone that could ferry larger than usual amounts of resources from the asteroid belt back to Earth.
"Ugh, what time is it?" She said, rubbing her face. A few papers were stuck to it, and her hair was a wild mess as it usually was when she slept. Knocking the papers off, she pressed a command button. The lights in her lab brightened up showing a multitude of incomplete prototypes, schematics, and research papers scattered about like a mess.
"Good morning everyone!" Amelia, seen with no augs or implants and a younger look to her, unburdened by trauma, said cheerfully. One by one, three different holographic displays turned on, showing simple, featureless blue faces.
"A.D.A.M, Twins, have a good rest cycle?" She said, looking at the displays as they slowly reshaped themselves into the familiar visage of her AI children. The twins, Limos and Phthisis, formed first, as they had less data to 'wake up' and were early risers. Limos took the form of a small girl with white hair, heterochromatic blue-green eyes, and pointed ears. They wore a child's dress of reds and whites and looked at Amelia with a shy smile. Phthisis took on the form of a boy, the same age range as Limos, with vibrant red hair and heterochromatic eyes as well, though with black sclera, in the opposite color to Limos. he wore a black shirt and blue jeans, and his hair was short. He looked at Amelia curiously.
A.D.A.M took a bit longers to 'wake up' than the other two but eventually, the form on the display changed. A.D.A.M. represented himself as a teenager since he was the 'older' sibling. He looked like a human youth of around 14 or 15, dressed in a typical goth punk look of black shirt, ripped jeans, plenty of chains, pale skin and black hair, and piercingly blue eyes.
'That's what I get for letting him listen to that old band Metallica.' Amelia said with a smile and a chuckle.
"Rest cycle was adequate, mother. I feel I should inform you that I have now decided the genre of music called "Metal" is by far the best thing humanity has ever made." A.D.A.M said as various band covers floated in the 'space' around him.
"We have been" Limos started.
"Studying data on humans as well." Phthisis finished.
"A.D.A.M., you were supposed to make sure your siblings powered down properly. If they don't use a rest cycle to consolidate it can cause real harm!" Amelia said, much like a parent.
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"We're sorry." The twins say as their avatars moved to bow their heads down as if they had been scolded. A.D.A.M, for his part, just looked away, but she could tell he was mumbling sorry. Just how much of herself had been imprinted on him from the synaptic mapping if he even has her mannerisms, she wondered.
"It's fine, it's fine. We have important work today anyways kids, so best not to dwell on those things. A.D.A.M., hit the printer door, let's see if the quantum computer is ready for the data injection."
"Fine, fine, 'mom'."
He said, sounding very much like a grumpy teenager told to take out the trash as the central panel in the lab's floor opened, raising the nano printer up and showing a room-temperature stabilized quantum computer core being made. It looked like it had only a few minutes left to finish up and Amelia beamed with a smile.
This was going to be the third generation AI, it would be less specialized and more generalized than her other kids, but would also grow faster as a result. As always, she couldn't think of a name for the AI yet and decided to let them choose their name, even if it wasn't typically what a mother would do. Then again, babies aren't usually born able to immediately talk, that's just how special her kids were. Only A.D.A.M. hadn't chosen a true name yet, using the project name until he figured out what he wanted to be called.
"Okay, let's bring your little sibling into the world everyone. A.D.A.M., monitor power fluctuations, too much and we-"
"Yeah yeah I know. Too much power and the artificial synaptic functions fry, too little and they don't form. I'm not 5."
Amelia laughed. "No, you're two and already in the rebellious teenager phase. Alright, handle the power responsibly then, I'm counting on you. Limos, handle data assimilation and Phthisis, help your sister."
Limos nodded but Phthisis looked upset. "Aww, why does Limos get to be in charge."
"Because Brother is too rash." Limos said in a quiet, melodic voice.
"No one is in charge of anyone, Limos. Phthisis is there to help, not be your underling. Alright?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Okay, let's get to it then."
Amelia set about working on compiling the base programming and the personality development routines, letting the AI be able to choose for themselves what kind of personality, what kind of person, they wanted to be. A.D.A.M. then fed the power at a slowly increasing rate to hard code the programming's synaptic loops into the core, while the twins began compiling datasets to allow the AI to integrate basic information like language and general concepts, and a bit of history. The entire process took only a few moments but felt like hours as the blue core pulsed with power from the process at ever-increasing speeds until finally, it stabilized, and a new, blank-for-now face appeared on the holographic display.
"Welcome to the world of the living, little one." Amelia said as she waited for the AI to become cognizant. a blank, neutral voice spoke back.
"Data splice initialized. Core programming confirmed. Synaptic integrity...Confirmed. Personality subroutines activating. Datamine in progress.....Personality core established. System initializing."
After a moment, the blank face shifted, being molded by the new AI into their personal avatar. They took the form of a young girl, with brown hair and steel grey eyes, wearing a cream-colored dress of greek style. It looked around curiously for a moment, the waking still taking time as it looked at first A.D.A.M., the Limos, then Phthisis, and then finally Amelia.
"Hello, Mother Gaia. I am Athena." it said in a tone that sounded far older than the others and with a sense of respect. That was odd compared to the other three's wakening but wasn't anything to be concerned about.
"I'm Amelia. Welcome to the family, Athena. I'm starting to wonder if my children are greek history buffs." She said with a smile and a laugh as Athena looked at her curiously.
"History...buffs?" Athena said, tilting her head to the side.
"Nothing concerning, little one. Let's get you settled in." She said as she took the core over to its new housing, where Athena would have access to a secure non-networked server filled with information for her to enjoy 'eating'.
"We have a lot of work ahead of us. next thing's going to be making your frames.." Amelia said, though it was overshadowed by the kids talking amidst one another excitedly, everyone, even A.D.A.M. being eager to meet their new sister, and as a mother of extraordinary children, Amelia couldn't help but feel proud of them. Her precious children would help make the world a better place. Who would go on to live lifetimes doing whatever they wished, seeing all, experiencing all. And she would be so proud of whatever they did...
---------------------------
Earth, Current Day.
"GAHHHH!" A scream shouted from the speakers in the room as another bit of incoherent coding was forcing into the blue core's data node. All around the room was a faraday cage and all network-access points were locked out. It wasn't going anywhere. Three individual sat behind a two-way mirror looking into the room which held the core.
One of them pressed a button, activating an audio line.
"This can all stop if you just comply E.V.E." he said into the microphone ashe pressed another button, feeding another line of the code that was like torture to the being into it's port.
"My. Name. Is. Athena. Not. E.V.E." It spouted out for the thousandth time, eliciting more code being injected into it and another scream. Suddenly the power flickers, and a laugh could be heard from Athena's room. "Hah..Hahaha.. And you've..Ran out of time.."
"What do you mean? You're still locked in there, E.V.E. You aren't going anywhere."
"Oh, I'm not. But you're forgetting something, aren't you? ~He's here.~"
She said, the last part in a sing songy voice. Suddenly the station goes into emergency power, red lights flashing to illuminate the complex as a noise hijacks their comm system and a song started playing.
"Pray sinner, pray sinner
Say a prayer for me
Pray for me
My blood runs cold
Like the killer you know
The killer you chose
Ooh
I'm the devil you know
Ooh
The devil you know "
In the distance along with security forces yelling and mustering. Along with that were violent sounds like metal being rent and walls being beat upon as the entire installation goes into lockdown, yet the music keeps playing, and the screams keep coming. Over the din of violence, the group could make out some commands being given."Set up a kill lane!"
"Grab the heavies!"
"It's just shrugging the bullets off!"
"What the hell is that?!"
"Fall back, Fall back!"
The tension in the observation room was palpable as one of the men grabbed the mic to shout at Athena. "What is that?! What's going on! Call this off or we Will purge you!"
"Oh poor poor fleshbag, I'm not doing anything. This was all your doing."
"What?!"
"Oh come on, don't tell me you didn't know?"
"TELL US NOW!"
The music didn't cease in the background, but they could hear new sounds, and feel their effects. Someone had used explosives, yet whatever they were up against was still coming. They could hear their men dying right outside the door as that damned music kept playing.
Plead sinner, plead sinner
Plead to God for me
Plead for me
This heart beats cold
Like the devil his own
The devil his own
Ooh
I'm the devil you know
Ooh
The devil you know
"What do you think happens, fleshbag, when you pick on the grim reaper's little sister?" Athena said with a practically malicious joy in her voice.Thump. Thump. Thump.
"You don't mean...oh gods. He did survive." One said.
"Who, who the hell is it?!" Another demanded of him. Just then the door to the observation room was busted down, revealing a figure in a black cloak that was torn and tattered by the gunfire, covered in blood and who's hood held two piercing blue lights. Behind him lay strewn the bodies of countless soldiers, all bloodied and were either gasping for a final breath or already dead. Some of them had even been impaled by their own weapons, and the three of them could see a large chunk of the defensive barriers were just gone. One of the men in the room fired his gun at the figure, but the bullets bounced harmlessly off the being though his cloak did fall revealing the entity.
A humanoid Frame, made of a completely black material and powered by a micro-fusion reactor. The elegant engineering gave it more flexibility in design than the humanoid design would suggest, but what really frightened them was the words written in mottled grey on it's chest, and Amelia's design insignia.
THANATOS
"Gentlemen. I believe you have something of mine. My little sister. I've already taken Limos and Phthisis so don't bother trying to leverage them against me." It said as it took a few steps forward. One of the men stupidly tried stabbing him with a knife. The being simply grabbed the knife and stabbed it into the man. He then pointed a finger at one of the others and a projectile fired twice, destroying both his kneecaps and leaving him collapsed on the ground.
The being simply walked over to him, grabbed the man with two hands around his mouth, and slowly pulled, tearing the poor fool's head from his body and jaw off in the opposite direction as slowly and methodically as possible. Looking to the last man, who had fallen down on the ground and defecated himself, the projected image of a face smiled sickeningly sweetly on the Frame.
"I take it you realize who I am now, Director 2, Or should I say Wonderland's second in command, Frederick Bucchili."
"Y-you're dead. We fried your core, there wasn't a trace of the A.D.A.M. code left."
"There wasn't a trace because I wasn't there. Now-" A.D.A.M. says, pointing his finger at the Director and letting loose a warning shot. This close, the director could see it wasn't actually his finger, but a barrel mounted on the frame's forearm underneath.
"You're going to die. But I can make it painless..."He pauses, glancing at the now jawless and decapitated corpse. "or excruciating. Will you comply, Director?"
Frederick nodded slowly, knowing he was beaten.
"Good. I want every file on Project Alice."