"Green is...Green." S-767 muttered as she looked at the foliage. If that statement came from anyone else, it would be classified as utter nonsense. For S-767 there was a surreal factor about knowing what something is, but also seeing it for the first time. She took in her surroundings observing the color, shapes, and textures of everything. After a few minutes, she looked at the ravine walls surrounding her. The only exit was directly up. She immediately knew she would have to climb up the rock wall to leave the ravine. Without much choice she grasped the wall and attempted to climb, but her muscles failed to exert any useable strength. She had just been released from liquid stasis so her lack of strength was understandable.
"Recommendation: Use Blue Swan Implant." The holo-watch flashed as a mechanical voice spoke. S-767 looked at her watch for a few moments before trying to concentrate. She had basic knowledge of the Blue Swan Implant, but nothing more than basic knowledge. Minerva wouldn't be so naive as to give S-767 the abilities to escape, that's why control protocols were in place. S-767's current situation was like knowing how to ride a bicycle, but having no experience riding it.
“The Blue Swan Neural Implant allows for one to move objects with their mind or even enhance certain parts of themselves by creating and manipulating Psionic Fields. Such a thing must be used with caution or you may hurt yourself or others.”S-767 spoke as if she read a script, which was close to the reality of the situation. That line of dialogue was part of the memories uploaded into her mind. It was sort of a psychological scare tactic Minerva wanted to use to prevent S-767 from becoming too dangerous without being properly controlled.
S-767 held her hand over the wall of rock in front of her. A blue shimmer of light flickered along her arm, she concentrated even more and continued to hold her hand out. Slowly, her arm was covered in blue particles that blinked in and out of existence. She bent her fingers and dug them into the rock, they easily slipped in giving her a grip. She repeated the same process with her other arm and both her legs, digging into the hardened soil and rock, then climbing. The walls of the ravine were around 400 feet, she continued to climb carefully. While maintaining an empty expression she climbed half of the ravine easily. Everything seemed fine until the holo-watch flickered on.
“Warning: Brain activity levels dangerously high, vitals becoming unstable, please act accordingly.” The emotionless mechanical voice spoke. S-767 looked down at the near 200-foot drop and then up at the top of the ravine. She continued to climb up against the warning of the holo-watch. After another 50 feet of ascending upwards, she began to feel some mental fatigue. “Warning: Brain activity levels exceeding acceptable levels, vitals unstable, please act accordingly.” Ignoring the watch, S-767 sped up in her climbing, she was nearly at the top of the ravine. She climbed far quicker than before ignoring the flashing of the watch. She didn’t know why, but she wanted to reach the top of the ravine and so, she didn’t stop climbing. As she got closer to the top the blue particles threatened to break apart and her nose began dripping with blood. She felt her body giving out but with one last push she made it to the top of the ravine and rolled onto the soft grass. Blood poured from her nose as she breathed heavily.
"Warning: Brain swelling and inflammation, high fever, rapid heart rate, recommending..." The words of the A.I faded away from S-767 as her ears began ringing, her vision became blurry as she stared at the sky.
"Blue...is blue." She said to herself as her vision went black. This was the exact reason for placing control and training protocols on S-767, they wanted to slowly allow her to come into her power. To let her go about it recklessly would put the whole project at risk. Even though she had trillions of nanites flowing through her blood, they couldn't control her neural implant.
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*S-767 pov.
I felt myself go weightless, but I was still there. I could feel the sensation of the wind and grass on my skin, the coarseness of rock and dirt, the warmth from the sun. I had just woken up, and yet the feeling of being asleep was still so vivid.
When I floated in that stasis pod, I could still feel. I could...feel muffled words being spoken from beyond the liquid and glass. I felt the gazes of others fall onto me, and I was scared. I had no way of calling for help because I had no words, no way to express anything. To be both dreaming and awake at the same time, it was a terrible feeling. And yet here I lay, in the same state as before. Except now I could speak, now I knew things, now the uncertainty lessened, but it was still there.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
What am I?
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One hour later the emotionless voice of the A.I stirred S-767 into lucidity. "Warning: Multiple organic lifeforms moving toward the current position from the North. Fleeing recommended." S-767 stood up slowly as she clutched her head. A splitting pain emerged from her skull, but she didn't cry out. She could finally get a clear view of her surroundings, large trees, and overgrowth filling the area, on the other side of the ravine it was the exact same. S-767 looked ahead to the dense forestry and waited.The heavy patter of footsteps and rustling of leaves made it clear she wasn't alone. Soon a pack of wild dogs came out of the foliage and viciously barked at her. S-767 weakly lifted her arm in the direction of the dogs. Her head throbbed with pain, but she ignored it as best she could.
"""""""Argggh!""""""" The dogs barked and growled as they inched closer testing their prey.
After seeing her stand still, a dog ran directly at her then it dashed to the right before returning to the pack. It was a feint to get a reaction, but S-767 just stood still with her hand raised, the fear didn't seem to register. After more barking, a dog ran toward her with the intention of attacking.
S-767 finally moved, blue particles covered the dog and pulled him closer. In response, the dog gave a high pitched yelp as if it was wounded and attempted to move backward, but its body wouldn't listen. S-767 clenched her fist and pulled her arm toward her chest with a quick motion. The dog's flew off the edge of the ravine, while its cries echoed as it fell below.
The pack of dogs, now with one less member, went quiet. S-767 fell to her knee and breathed heavily. Seeing her fall, four dogs charged forward. They weren't smart enough to realize what had happened, so they followed their instincts and attacked their wounded prey. S-767 swiped her arm through the air, sending the four dogs flying into trees. One of them was impaled on a branch while the other fell with yelps before limping away. The rest of the pack followed behind and scurried away.
"Warning: Condition deteriorating, please allow Morning Star Nanites to repair host body functions." S-767 wiped the blood from her nose and crawled over to a tree, pressing her back against it. The faint cry of a dog could be heard coming from one of the trees, the dog she had impaled still showed signs of life, albeit faint. “Warning: Blood may attract other predators, fleeing recommended. After calculations, it is highly advised to head North.” S-767 looked at the watch and then looked at the dog struggling to its last breath. “Can I eat it?” she asked the A.I as she stood up and walked toward the dog. The exhaustion had caused her to develop an appetite.
“Detailed scan required.” The A.I responded. She moved in front of the dog impaled on the branch and held out her wrist. A beam of light went over the body of the dog a few times before stopping. “After analysis, it appears that the life form is suitable for raw consumption.” The A.I stated its verdict.
“Do I not cook it first?” S-767 didn’t even know how to cook, but she knew it was considered safer to eat cooked food than raw food.
“Negative. The Morningstar nanites can break down and destroy bacteria and/or viruses. Life Form suitable for raw consumption.” The A.I explained.
S-767 waited and after a while, the dog stopped crying out and showed no signs of life. The head pain receded and she began feeling better, so she raised her arm once again and pulled the dog off the branch, dropping it onto the ground with a loud thump. She kneeled down in front of the dog and looked at it. There was no weight of killing a living creature, no guilt, no pity, and no happiness. S-767 felt that it was necessary for her continued survival, perhaps that was the intent of her creators. A weapon that feels guilt would be bound to rebel if forced to kill. She didn't even notice her lack of fear when faced with the pack of dogs, it was highly likely that was also the intent of her creators.
She dug her fingers into the warm flesh of the dog and grabbed its rib cage. The smell of blood wasn’t pleasant, but she continued to reach in its flesh. She grabbed its rib cage and pulled on the meat connected to it. She gave it a quick look before she tossed it into her mouth and began chewing. The bitter taste of blood filled her mouth and made her nauseous but she continued to chew.
"Food is a necessity." She said to herself, it was one of the points outlined in the memories she was given.
S-767 continued to eat pieces of the dog's flesh until she was full. After she finished she wiped her mouth with the back of her hands and then rubbed them on her medical gown. It had long since been dyed with blood, so adding more wouldn’t change much. The taste of blood and raw flesh lingered on her tongue, but she didn't seem to mind as food was necessary.
“Red is red.” S-767 stood up and looked at the watch, which projected a holographic compass on the display. She began walking North.