Chapter — 4
As it turned out, the hospital had given Miyo a set of rehabilitation exercises upon Rei's discharge from their care. When questioned about why the hospital would give her something that could easily be acquired from the mesh, Miyo explained that these exercises had been tailored to Rei specifically by an AI. It had cost an additional sum of credits, but it had apparently been negligible compared to what it had cost to keep Rei alive in the first place.
Rei freaked out a tiny bit when she heard that an AI had supposedly inspected her body and the levels of atrophy it had undergone.
That calmed when a slightly bewildered Miyo explained that artificial intelligences were commonplace and, though leagues ahead of humans in terms of efficiency, lacked any type of true sapience. After what she dubbed 'The Breaking,' nearly all corporations had supposedly set strict laws against developing and using sapient AIs.
Ignoring the fact that corporations could set and reinforce laws for the wider populace, Miyo proceeded to send Rei the digital package of exercises, her eyes swirling with silver luminescence.
As Rei did not know how to "view" said package, Miyo had to explain to her fascinated Imouto how to set up, navigate, and use the personal interface and heads-up display that apparently everyone had.
"It's called an 'Agent'. Everyone with a Neural Link has one, meaning at least 99% of the population," Miyo said, as a screen not unlike the holograms she'd seen sprung into being mid-air in Rei's field of vision.
Miyo walked her through configuring the agent's settings and appearance before explaining its various uses. Rei left the interface's color in the standard silver it had already been but moved a few columns and windows around to better suit her taste.
I don't mind the silver so much. I can change the color later if I want to, anyway.
"With the agent, you can browse the mesh's information or entertainment feeds, make payments, call your contacts on your contact list, and so on. It's basically like a smartphone — you know, those ancient devices people used to carry around before the Neural Link became commonplace."
Ancient devices?! Damn, why do I somehow feel personally attacked?
Rei didn't voice her internal grumblings out loud, instead asking, "I can understand that the Neural Link handles the agent, as, well, you know, we navigate it with our mind and stuff. But how do people without cybernetic eyes see what they're doing? They wouldn't get this HUD, or hologram, in their vision, right?"
"Well, nowadays, almost everyone has implants instead of 'ganic eyes. It's the same with sound. Most have at least auditory implants made for civilian use. The hospital replaced yours with something basic like everything else. I've never actually met someone without at least those basic implants — not that I know, at least.
"I suppose they'd have to view their agent by connecting to a normal holographic projector, or screen for that matter." Miyo seemed to ponder, a finger to her lip as she cocked her head and stared at the large holographic display over their coffee table, "A better way might just be using some sort of headgear with an in-built display and speakers. Like a helmet or something." She shrugged.
Interesting. Not that I'd know why anyone would give up cybernetics if they already had a Neural Link.
"As I've already sent the package of rehab exercises your way, you can take a look at it whenever, " Miyo said, her emerald green eyes returning to her audience. "I'd first recommend you download your profile."
"Download my profile?" Rei felt like Agnes' tech-illiterate grandmother, needing to have her smartphone's basic functionality explained to her every time she'd come for a visit. That is to say, at least three times a year.
Miyo evidently agreed as she let out a slightly exasperated sigh: "You know, your profile you saved to a cloud service? All the contacts, messages, call logs, photos, I don't know, favorite cat videos? Everything stored in your old agent? I actually have to explain all this from the ground up, don't I?" She looked tired already.
"Sorry, Miyo. I-" Rei began, but Miyo's expression abruptly fell again, and she swept Rei up in a hug.
"No! No... Don't apologize. Fuck! It's my squeaky brain's fault for not remembering your... condition. Shit." Her shoulders shook slightly, and Rei tried her best to hug her back.
With what seemed an enormous effort, Miyo pulled herself together, and her shoulders relaxed before she let go. Her eyes were a tiny bit bloodshot, but she otherwise didn't show much of her internal turmoil.
Damn, Miyo really has some serious self-control. No idea if I'd be able to handle all this shit if I were in her shoes...
"Alright. I'll keep it simple," Miyo began again, her voice now much more patient. "Everyone with an agent and some level of intelligence has their agent's data stored online in some form -- often in a cloud service with at least some protection.
"If they ever lose the data or their Neural Link — accidentally or through upgrading to something better — they can restore their agent to its previous state, getting back their contacts list, photos, or whatever. Are you with me?"
Rei nodded; cloud storage wasn't a foreign concept to her.
Miyo went on, "So, the next step should be retrieving your saved profile. I need you to have our contact info should you need to call Ichiro or me, and I bet there are other things you'd like to get back, even if you don't remember them now."
"And how do I do that?"
"Well, where did you store it?"
"No idea."
Miyo stared, and then she facepalmed.
***
Apparently, Rei not even knowing where her agent profile was stored left her with little recourse other than to abandon the idea of ever getting her lost data back. Miyo had seemed more upset about that than Rei, but that wasn't too strange. She didn't even remember what she'd stored, so why would she feel aggrieved about not getting it back?
I suppose getting some of Rei's, no, my digital belongings back would have made things a bit easier. This can be considered a fresh start, though. It might even be for the best.
She tried really hard to convince herself that it was the truth.
Instead of fruitlessly searching for a way to get her data back, Miyo had taught Rei how to add people to her contacts. She ensured the youngest sibling had both elder siblings' contacts stored and ready for communication. In Rei's opinion, she was fussing quite a bit over it.
She understood why Miyo was so pushy about it a few minutes later.
"Alright, Imouto. It looks like you've got a handle on your agent now. I've gotta run now, though. I'm already late for work..."
"Work? You're late?" She was a bit surprised, but she had seen Miyo's eyes swirling with silver a few times during the morning. She had also seen her tensing and flexing her throat and jaw muscles negligibly during those times, which Miyo later explained as subvocalizing — the practice of silently communicating with your contacts during a voice call or converting said voice to text.
"Yeah. Don't know if you remember, but I'm a bartender at one of the Cyber Fang's nightclubs."
Rei shook her head in response to Miyo's questioning gaze. She had a vague idea about it but nothing concrete.
Miyo went into her room before coming out with a sanguine and black cropped jacket. She put it on, and it was only then that Rei noticed that the rest of Miyo's attire was a bit too fancy for casual wear at home.
She looked stunning with her makeup and red fang earrings, precisely what one would expect from a nightclub bartender run by the Fangs.
"Well, it's called The Drunken Daemons. It's a hotspot for both fangs and outsiders. I should have been on shift yesterday, but with you waking up, I had to let down my superiors.
"It's not really rush hour yet, seeing as it's barely midday, but considering I just bailed yesterday... I have to make up for it now." She smiled at Rei as she combed through a few strands of misbehaving synthetic hair.
"Alright... I have your contact info, so don't worry about me. Will you come home tonight?"
Miyo sadly shook her head before walking to the corner where they kept their shoes. "Nu-uh. I'll most likely be working until early morning," she said, putting on a pair of black, laced, shin-wrapping leather boots with medium heels.
"There's food and drink in the fridge and freezer for when you get hungry or thirsty. Oh! And try to get started on some of those rehab exercises, would you? Don't overwork yourself, though."
Rei nodded to Miyo's back. "Yeah, will do! I'll be back on my feet before tomorrow morning; just you watch!" she said with sarcastic cheer.
Miyo snorted a laugh before turning around, smiling. She didn't look as strained as she had been the day before.
"I'll head out then, Imouto. Be sure to call if there's anything, ANYTHING, you need," she reiterated, putting quite a bit of emphasis on the word.
"I will. Don't worry so much. Now get! Can't have you getting scolded for not showing up today."
With a last look at Rei, Miyo nodded, smiled, and disappeared out of the apartment.
Why does it suddenly feel so lonely in here? So cold?
A quiet hiss made her turn her head toward Miyo's room. There, at the entrance, stood a miniature panther, its yellow eyes scrutinizing Rei, its teeth bared.
"Aww... So cuuuute!" Rei practically squealed.
The panther, indignant that its ferocity was not received with appropriate fear, moved like a blur toward Rei, eyes glinting and claws extended.
***
Sally had tried her best to bash Rei's legs with her paws while circling the wheelchair. Eventually, she gave up the hunt as a bad job due to the thickness of Rei's sweatpants. She slunk away and hid beneath the coffee table, where a tiny black rug was appropriately sized for the even tinier cat.
It's like a black hole beneath the table. A black hole with slitted yellow eyes. Rei suppressed the urge to squeal at the cuteness overload.
Alrighty then... Exercises. Exercises. Where was it again?
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Navigating the agent's interface via her mind was an amazing feeling for Rei. She played with the various buttons and sliders for a bit just for fun before finding the package of exercise instructions. It was a comprehensive list.
It has even taken my wheelchair-bound state into consideration. Oh! And there are dietary suggestions for maximum GAINS! or whatever. Just you wait, Miyo; I'll be buff before you know it.
The first set of exercises was simple. It involved moving her wheelchair by herself for a particular set amount of time. Then came leg and arm raises with equally specific sets, reps, and movement distances. It was bizarre to have such precise instructions, but she managed fine by setting timers in her agent — at least in her opinion.
Sweating profusely and panting with exertion after completing the first set, she had to admit that whatever magic the AI had worked, it had been spot on. After all was done, she didn't think she could have managed even one more repetition of the exercises.
Damn, I'm tired. At least I don't hurt. Just plain old fatigue from my pathetic state.
Not wanting to spend even one more day bound to a wheelchair, she was seriously tempted to try and keep going with her exercises, even if it felt impossible.
Agh! I really hate this. But considering how spot-on the AI was with my endurance limits, I bet the suggested time for recovery between each set is just as accurate...
It pained her to admit, but she wasn't stupid enough to think she knew any better.
I'm thirsty... And the drinks are in the fridge...
Convincing herself that moving the wheelchair to the fridge didn't count as exercise, she set her mind and body to the task. It took much longer than she'd expected, and her arms were soon burning.
Okay... I'm not doing my exercises that far from the fridge ever again!
Retrieving a bottle of what she thought was water -- the labels and over-dramatic advertisement really didn't help explain shit -- she laboriously unscrewed the cork and took a cautious sip. She nearly moaned as the cool water hit her tongue. There was a hint of fruitiness to the drink, and it was sparkly. She preferred plain water to slake her thirst, but it still sent her to heaven.
Now armed with life-giving liquid, she played a bit with her agent as she waited for the resting timer she'd set to run out. After it did, she extended it a bit more to counterbalance the exertion the short trip to the fridge had levied. Then, the exercise truly began.
She alternated between exercising as precisely as she could per the instructions, drinking water, resting, and doing it all again. She was on the second-to-last recommended number of repetitions for the first day when it happened.
Intrusive, alien information that was still somehow entirely understandable flowed into her conscious thoughts. Her mind's eye revealed a neon-orange ornately bordered silver notification that drew her attention as if magnetic.
「Notice:
Body attribute has increased.
Body: 0 → 1
Received: 500 Experience」
Having read the strange notification's blazing neon-orange text, it vanished, immediately replaced by another.
「Notice:
Body attribute has reached the minimum threshold.
Attribute-appropriate skills may now be learned.」
Rei "read" the new notification as she'd done with the former. The sensation of reading something directly implanted into her mind was difficult to put into words. The sensation that followed after she'd done so, not so much.
She felt something inside her ripple outwards from her nerves, through her organs, flesh, bones, and sinew, out into her skin, and even through each strand of hair. It happened in less than a second, but the immense informational overload nearly knocked her unconscious.
It should have knocked anyone unconscious, but Rei's mental state wasn't normal.
Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she somehow knew that what she'd felt was just the surface of the ocean of data processed during that short moment.
Even though she stayed awake by some miracle, she wished she hadn't. The discomfort and disorientation were nothing to the sheer agony that followed.
The pain heightened by whatever process had made her hyper-aware of every fiber of her being was like nothing she'd ever experienced. Not even having her consciousness torn forcefully from her brain and digitized had been this bad.
Her body spasmed as she felt her muscle fibers tearing, cells splitting, and flesh mending — only to tear once more. Nerves were cut, discarded, spliced, and rewired on a microscopic scale. Bones shifted; ligaments and sinew flexed and strengthened. Across her body, change swept through, and all the while, Rei's mouth was opened in a silent scream, eyes streaming with tears.
***
She didn't know how long it lasted.
She didn't know much at all other than that the pain had abruptly come to a halt at one point.
Her mind felt numb -- overworked processing the crucible her body had been put through. It was hard to think.
Eventually, an instinct began to claw its way into conscious thought — a need so primal that even her scattered thoughts came to heel and started to resemble something cohesive.
NEED. FOOD.
Her stomach ached, and her cells cried out for sustenance. It wasn't a question about hunger; It was about preventing imminent death by starvation.
The next thing Rei knew, she was half kneeling, half lying with her face on the dinner table, her stomach bloated. Grease and filth were smeared across the table's surface, her face, and her hands.
W-What?
Hazy eyes took in the scene before her, and if her body hadn't protested against the action, she'd have wanted to puke at the sight.
Opened packages of still chilly food littered the table's surface, the packaging torn. Tracks of handprints and fingers ran through the spilled half-frozen food as if a beast had ravaged the contents with claw and fang.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the freezer still open, condensation forming on the door's surface.
As the sight shocked her back into the present, she felt something like half-frozen bits of meat, pasta, and sauce stuck in her teeth. Her mouth and throat felt frozen stiff, and she vaguely recognized the immense brain freeze for what it was.
No, no, no, no. What the fuck did I do? What the fuck. WHAT THE FUCK?!
Rei was already hyperventilating, eyes wild as she looked around the demolished kitchen. It wasn't that bad, but to the confused and panicked young woman, she might as well have been transported into a horror film.
It was a mess, but there wasn't any material damage. Rei recognized this as her frozen brain slowly warmed, and the panic-induced terror began to ebb. That feeling was immediately replaced with other feelings.
She was confused and scared — no longer from the scene she'd apparently caused but because of her lack of memory of inciting such an incident.
The distortion and erasure of her memories from the coma didn't scare her in the same way. That was different. There was a reason behind it.
This though?
Rei was frightened by her loss of memory because she didn't understand why she'd forgotten.
Perhaps in answer, or perhaps just by pure happenstance, another intrusion of the alien data she'd come to recognize as notifications entered her mind — much to her increased distress.
This one felt more rigid somehow, and the innate understanding of its appearance made it seem robust rather than ornate.
「Samurai System:
Temporary short-term memory loss detected.
Calculating…
Calculations complete
Failsafe #a4d critical failure. Missing parameters.
Reworking…
Complete」
Another followed up immediately after, superimposing itself upon her mind with gravitas. It felt important to her.
「SYSTEM NOTICE:
Short-term memory loss has occurred to the host.
Reason:
1. Failsafe #a4d had missing parameters that resulted in overt strain upon host's consciousness' biological housing during attribute reconfiguration. No permanent damage detected. This issue has been resolved.
2. Lack of nutrients during biological recalibration resulted in severe energy deficit. Sudden acute starvation coupled with overt mental strain caused subconscious actions and temporary short-term memory loss.
Resolution:
Further attribute recalibration will be mentally compartmentalized to prevent undue psychological harm, per Failsafe #a4d.
Recommendation:
Host is recommended to supply the necessary biological fuel before initializing recalibration.」
After reading the notifications, Rei's mind cleared further. It was an odd thing, really. But even though she didn't understand how, the knowledge of why made the whole ordeal seem more bearable.
She couldn't help but berate herself mentally, however.
How the fuck did I forget about the strange system that supposedly brought me back to life?! Or has the time since I left the hospital been so jam-packed with new information that I pushed the issue aside?
She shook her head at the notion and brought two filthy hands to her forehead to lean against them, elbows on the table.
No. I might have had too much going on to really investigate, but not to completely ignore it. I haven't even given it a thought. I've been subconsciously ignoring the issue as I have no idea where to even begin, haven't I?
She groaned aloud into her palms, feeling her raw throat complain against the action.
I don't understand it, and it scares me.
The reason behind her willful procrastination in delving into the problem took a lot for her to admit, even to herself. Ever since her forced transference into the digital realm and conversion into an AI, she'd been silently terrified of anything like it happening again.
She didn't like feeling out of control. She couldn't stand feeling helpless.
She'd been made a slave of Helson Corp. and left with no recourse but to obey or die. She didn't remember much due to her own meddling with her memories, but she knew she'd clung to every tiny thread of control she could.
As time passed, she'd made herself invaluable, and hence, her feeling of control gradually strengthened. It had been a delusion, she knew now, but it had been necessary for her sanity.
In the end, though, Helson Corp. had tired of her tiny but numerous acts of rebellion against their control over her and had cut their losses. She hadn't been invaluable any longer, and her demands had begun to outweigh her value in their eyes.
Or perhaps I just pricked their pride...
The truth was that the whole ordeal had galvanized her into a control freak. She knew that, and though she knew it might be a flaw or even become a problem, there was nothing she could do about it. She needed to feel in control of her own actions and fate.
And this system might be out of my control.
She didn't know for sure, and that held her otherwise inquisitive nature at bay. What if she found that she was no more than a puppet on its strings? It would break her. Perhaps irrevocably.
Without realizing when it started, she found herself shaking with repressed sobs, the hypothetical scenarios bouncing through her mind too much to bear.
With an enormous effort and trying to mimic Miyo's seemingly superb self-control, she pulled herself together and sat up straight.
Wait... My body?
She stared at her arms in disbelief. It hadn't occurred to her before, but the mere act of putting her weight upon her arms should have been too much for her feeble body to handle.
As she began inspecting herself -- marveling at the fact she could move without feeling like keeling over in surrender -- she found that her body had changed.
It wasn't an enormous difference. Rei wasn't suddenly fully fit and ready for a marathon or a weightlifting competition, but there was no doubt to anyone seeing her previous state that something had changed.
"Oh... okay. That's freaky." Her tone was soft to prevent further irritation of her throat, but its steadiness surprised even her.
Sally apparently agreed as a hiss came from beneath the coffee table in the middle of the room. Rei saw two suspicious yellow eyes staring back from the void of darkness beneath.
Damn... I must have traumatized the kitten -- well, tiny cat -- by my actions.
It had already been suspicious of her for some reason, and seeing the human doing weird exercises, start trashing, crying, and silently screaming before devouring food like a rabid animal couldn't have helped her case.
I... I'll deal with it later. For now, I need a plan.
As her controlling nature reasserted itself, her thoughts spun as she considered the implications and consequences of her newfound situation. It wasn't long before she'd made a decision, as unpleasant as it was.
First, I can't let anyone find out about the system until I know more. Hence, I need to clear up the mess here and myself. There should be cleaning supplies somewhere, right? And I need to take a shower.
She checked the time through her agent.
It hasn't even been an hour since I stopped exercising, meaning I have lots of time before Miyo gets back. Ichiro might drop by before that, though, which means speed is a priority.
Then, I need to hide my improved physicality for the time being. There just isn't any way for me to explain getting so much stronger in one day. I don't know enough to predict any of the fallout if I tried.
To prove her point, she pushed her body into action and stood up with the help of a steadying hand against the filthy table. She felt a little wobbly, and just standing for a few seconds let her know in no uncertain terms that she wouldn't be able to keep it up forever. It was still a massive improvement.
Walking towards the kitchenette, she began to search for something to clean the mess with and somewhere to dispose of the evidence. As she did, her thoughts went back to the last thing she had to do, even if it made her anxiety rise like an uncontrollable tide.
Then, after I handle the evidence of my secret, I need to confront it. I need to figure out what this system is. I'll have to investigate it.
The thought made her stumble slightly, and a shiver ran up her spine like a line of ants. Disgusted by her own fear, she shifted that fear into resolve via another weak imitation of Miyo's apparent self-control. It was only surface-deep, but it would have to do.
I'm not weak! I can do this. Now I need to be fast and clean up before Ichiro or someone else gets here...