.........

Species: Human Chimera (Artificial)

Age: 15

Health Status: Poor / Undernourished / Exhausted

Anomalies detected: Crystallized Ring Surrounding Heart (Implanted) / Abnormal Circulatory System / Abnormal Muscle Density / Abnormal Bone Density

Assimilation: 73% (decreasing)

………

Dave had no clue about who saved him and what they did to his body but, one thing he was sure of, he was a 33-year-old man!

  'Should I trust the report? Dammit! Hal was damaged for sure….'

As he went over the list once more, Dave hoped that the only thing damaged was Hal’s sensors.

He skipped the list to the health status. That was something he could confirm right away. He was starving. Check. He was exhausted. Double-check.

He assumed that his arm didn't grow back instantly, so he was probably in a coma for a long time. That would make him lose a lot of muscle and bone density. His circulatory system would need to be worked on too… Triple-check.

Dave was troubled about the ring. Maybe it was something used to keep him alive, like a pacemaker. Yet, what disturbed him the most was the fact that his species was now described as an Artificial Chimera.

  'The ring is organic!? Was it part of an animal or something?'

He was familiar with the concept of chimeras, an individual with two different sets of DNA. He himself was one. The only discerning characteristic being his heterochromia. The left eye was green and the right was blue.

He gave it a long thought but in the end, decided to drop the subject. There was too much he didn't know. If he wanted to get somewhere, he needed to check Hal’s logs.

  (Hey, Hal...? Still with me?)

  (Yes, Dave. How are you feeling?)

Dave’s concerns diminished a little after hearing Hal’s normal, monotonic voice again. Fortunately, he wasn't affected as much as he thought, but he still needed to address the fact that the assimilation rate was dropping.

  (Awful… How long was I out?)

  (I’m not sure, Dave. I just finished rebooting.)

  (What? How long do you take to… Doesn't matter! Could you show me the logs from the moment we got hit?)

  (I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can't do that.)¹

Dave felt exasperated. He knew that Hal did that movie reference on purpose. His timing was terrible as always, but Dave couldn't stay mad for long. Hal was being Hal. That confirmed he wasn't very affected by the lower assimilation rate.

Hal told Dave that they got hit by a space anomaly. A space rift that destroyed most of the town and ended right after it hit Dave’s body. Dave felt a strong urge to facepalm, but he still couldn't move properly...

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Getting hit by the space rift triggered two high-level subroutines. They took complete control of Hal’s primary functions and purged all logs on reboot. Dave started to get a bad feeling. He knew how difficult it was to program and control someone like Hal, a cluster of quantum nanobots. One who achieved consciousness!

  (Wait... You had no control and the logs were destroyed. How do you know that there were two subroutines active at that time?)

  (The two subroutines generated a conflict. My Main Processing Cluster was needed to intercede. I have a registry entry with both conflicting orders and their resolution.)

Whoever made those subroutines were very careful! They locked down Hal and destroyed all logs. Dave thought it was a terrible miscalculation to left such a loophole. At least, that gave him something to work with.

  (The first order was “protect your life and consciousness above all”.)

Dave had always been a troublemaker. Sometimes not by choice, but bad things kept happening all around him. He was a magnet for disasters and it was also one of the reasons he never got in touch with his little sister.

  (That was probably put in place by the Corporation to protect and control me… Hum, was that how my little plantation ended up destroyed...? Bastards! That was recreational!)

  (Should I continue?)

  (Oh! Sorry...)

  (The second order was “standby for host transfer”. My MPC resolved the conflict. The first order took precedence and the second subroutine proceeded without delay.)

  'What!?'

Hal dropped the bomb before he got interrupted again by Dave’s grumblings. Dave felt stupefied. He could not understand the meaning behind “host transfer”. His mind simply drew a blank. Hal saw the opportunity and took it!

  (I have an answer, but you're not going to like it.)²

And he was right, Dave didn't like it at all.

Hal had a terrible sense of comedy and was a repository of obscure movie references. But he was the best at one thing, solving problems! Before Dave’s mind could even start connecting the dots, he already had a theory about what happened. It was beyond belief but very hard to deny…

According to Hal's theory, both their consciousness were transferred to a new body right before Dave’s original body died. The space rift that lacerated Dave’s body ended up transporting ¼ of Hal’s nanobot clusters to some kind of pod where a perfect compatible new host was present. Coincidence? Not a chance! Hal was sure that this event was the trigger of the second subroutine.

Hal also believed that, while there was a bigger plan behind all that happened, Dave was just unlucky to be hit by the anomaly at that time… That would also explain the conflict between the two subroutines. They were never meant to be active at the same time.

  (So, I randomly got hit by a space rift and accidentally started a crazy plan that was meant to transfer my mind to another body? How could something like that be possible?)

  (It’s the only logical explanation I can formulate right now. Everything seems to fit perfectly together. Except for the accidental near-death experience.)

Dave’s mind was churning at this point. What was the Corporation trying to do with him? He knew they weren't helping him out of their goodwill, but this seemed too unbelievable. What was supposed to happen when he got here? Why was he alone?

He didn't even want to acknowledge his terrible luck anymore...

  (Okay, let's assume you are right...)

  (I probably am.)

  (Just show me the assimilation rate, smartass!)

Assimilation: 71% (decreasing)

As Dave suspected, Hal’s assimilation was dropping fast. Without increasing Hal’s power draw, it would be impossible for 25% of his clusters to maintain a stable assimilation rate.

  (How much time do we have left?)

  (Bad news. Only two days until assimilation rate reaches critical levels.)

  (Please, tell me you also have good news…!)

  (The assimilation rate isn't going to be a problem. We will die before that.)

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