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After months of planning and preparations, the five of them finally found themselves sitting in the observatory, staring into the lab through a two-way mirror. Inside said lab, a synthetic body was seated on a small metal chair, hooked up to countless blinking processors and machines. No one had said anything yet. They didn’t really have to. Even with all of their careful calculations and planning, it was clear everyone was still pretty worried about what would actually happen after the transfer. They hoped that things would go like they did before, with Hal and Sal, but… at the same time, this was AM. They had no idea what he might try to pull, even in this new form. It was Gorrister who finally broke the silence. He sighed loudly and grimaced, gazing out at the empty shell sitting in the lab. “So”, he started, “if he wakes up and starts goin’ off on that whole ‘hate’ spiel again, I’m allowed to punch the son of a bitch right in the face, yeah?” “Yeah, good idea”, Benny chimed in, “I second that plan. The only change I’d make is that we don’t wait for him to start talking, and instead just punch him right at the beginning”.There was a little laughter from the others at that, most of it from Ted. Although, from him, it was probably more nervous laughter than it was anything else. The only one who didn’t so much as chortle at the comment was Chandra. He coughed slightly, and muttered, “Well, he won’t be able to talk at first anyway, if the data we got from Hal and Sal’s transfers is correct. And since he’ll be experiencing physical sensations for the first time it would probably be better if we didn’t—““Relax, Doc”, Ellen cut him off. “Benny was just joking”.She paused. “Well…not really, but—you know. Everyone’s just a bit jumpy is all. Not everyday you gotta revive a killer AI who tortured you for over 100 years”. She grinned at him from across the control console, but even with her seemingly positive attitude there was still a sort of tired sadness in her eyes. Chandra had noticed that that sadness never really went away. He felt his face heat up with shame. “Right! R-Right, that’s right of course, you all have every right to feel—that is—I apologize…I, ah…I should have been more sensitive to you all. I-just—ah…sorry”. He trailed off, not knowing what else he could say.An awkward quietness hung in the air for a little while after that. Until, tentatively, Chandra spoke up again. “…You know, we don’t have to do it today. Nimdok’s message said that AM was beginning to gain consciousness gradually…he probably won’t be able to try and take back control for a while, so…if—if you all need more time to prepare-““No.” Ellen replied abruptly, the previous teasing tone in her voice gone. “No, I want to do it today. The sooner the bastard is out of there, the better. Right?” She turned to the other three survivors, searching for confirmation from each of them that this was what they wanted too.Gorrister sighed again, and shrugged. “Might as fuckin’ well…no point in holding it off if he’s just gonna get stronger again in there.” Ted nodded in agreement. “I think we should do it now too… and if it’ll help Nimdok and keep... him from taking control, then, yeah, the sooner the better” Ellen smiled at him. “Right”, she said, before turning to look at the only one of them who hadn’t agreed yet. “Right, Benny?” Benny didn’t say anything, and instead glared at the android body for a long time. He had been, and still was, the most against this plan of any of them. The only thing that had gotten him to concede to it was his respect for the man who had sacrificed himself by taking AM's place as the main consciousness of the Master Computer. Even then, it had still taken a lot of convincing from the others. Finally, after what he must have deemed a sufficient amount of glaring, he muttered angrily, “Let’s just get this over with”. Ellen reached over and took Benny's hand in her own, squeezing it gently. "It'll be okay", she said softly, half to convince everyone in the room and half to convince herself. It didn't really work, but somehow it helped to say out-loud. As if saying it would actually make it true. Another moment of silence passed as everyone braced themselves for whatever would come next. And then Chandra spoke. "Alright…” he murmured, “Let’s boot him up”.
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The transferring of AM's consciousness went about as well as any of them could have expected it would. Which was, of course, absolutely not well at all. In the few tense seconds that passed after starting the process, not a single person in the observatory breathed. All any of them could do was watch as the machines in the other room blinked their lights rapidly, signaling that the cruel, terrifying, monstrous AI who had almost brought an end to humanity would soon be waking up a second time. Once the transfer completed though, whatever tension had been in the air increased tenfold. After the great machine’s noises gradually died down and its lights stopped blinking, for a moment it appeared that the transfer hadn’t worked. For almost five minutes, the body in the other room didn’t so much as budge. And then, AM opened his eyes. The second he woke up, the quiet in the other room was ended by the sound of Chandra's pen scribbling against his journal as he began taking notes. The survivors remained speechless, only able to stare through the windowpane as the figure in the lab blinked slowly, apparently still coming to its senses. The whole thing felt surreal. Ted was the first to find his voice again. “He looks so…small…” He swallowed thickly, before continuing, “I thought…somehow he’d look bigger…or at the very least more threatening…” “Yeah, he looks small because we designed him to be small, Ted”, Benny dryly replied. Ellen smacked his shoulder, “You know what he means. It’s just hard to believe that after everything it’s really him in there.” She looked back at the figure, at AM, sitting in the other room and shuddered. "Part of me doesn't want to believe it..." "Why isn't the bastard doing anything?" asked Gorrister. He frowned. "I figured he'd try and find a way to get the upper hand the second he woke up". “Again, it’s unlikely that he’ll be able to do much of anything if our data from Hal and Sal is anything to go by", Chandra answered almost immediately, apparently taking it upon himself to answer Gorrister's question with much more detail than was probably necessary. "I mean, he's experiencing physical sensations for the first time, so its highly likely that he's under an incredible amount of shock, both physically and mentally. And since we were unable to let him know about the transfer beforehand it's safe to assume that he's experiencing a great deal of additional stress as well as intense disorientation""So he's suffering, then? That's friggin' fantastic" “Benny…”, Ellen said softly. Her voice was disapproving, but at the same time it felt like she was struggling to sound that way at all. “Oh, what, don’t act like you’re not happy about it, too” “I'm not—“, she sighed, frustrated, “Listen-I’m just trying to-“ "You guys", Ted interrupted suddenly, his voice hushed and in disbelief."You guys…he’s-he's crying..." Sure enough, a steady stream of tears were rolling down the android's face. Its expression had changed from being completely blank to stunned confusion tinged with pain. Its mouth hung slightly agape, as if trying to form a word or a sound, but not knowing how to do so. "...Son of bitch...", Gorrister murmured under his breath. Again, the room grew quiet as all of them stared, dumbfounded. The android just continued to sit motionless, eyes now occasionally glancing about the lab. Behind the safety of the glass mirror, Ellen found Benny and Ted's hands and gave them a reassuring squeeze. After a moment Chandra resumed taking notes, writing even quicker than he had before, completely focused on documenting every move the newly awakened android made. “I’m going to go and talk to him".Ted had barely finished his sentence before being met with objections from, quite literally, everyone else. "Are you out of your damn mind?” Gorrister asked. "Why in the hell would you want to do that?" At the same time Benny added bitingly, "Oh yeah, that's a great plan, Ted, let's all go say hi, maybe ask him how he's been since the last time he horrifically tortured us—oh wait, no, that would be insane!”Ted actually flinched at that. Things like calling each other ‘crazy’ or ‘insane’ had become sort of taboo between the four of them after having suffered so much mental anguish.“Benny!” Ellen gave him another sharp whack on the shoulder and glared at him admonishingly. Even though she clearly thought Benny was out of line, she looked annoyed with Ted as well when she turned back to him."But, really, Ted", she said sternly, "That actually is a terrible idea.""I have to say I agree. This is only the third transfer we've observed. We still don't know if engaging with AI this soon afterwards will affect them adversely or not", Chandra explained, clearly anxious. His eyes briefly darted from his notes to the lab’s window before continuing, "We should be striving to keep the transfers as uniform as possible so we're able to get consistent data in case we need to do this again in the future." “Yeah, I know. I know all of that but…I just...I have to go talk to him”. There was a strange mix of apprehension and determination in Ted’s voice. For whatever reason he seemed resolute. “I’m—I’m going now.”And with that he turned promptly on his heel and headed into the hall towards the lab.There was a slight pause as everyone watched him go in shock, before they immediately scrambled to chase after him. Ted had already gotten to the lab doors by the time they got outside. "Ted! You-! Could you wait for a second-!!”, Ellen called out to him. Ted’s only reply was to give her a sad little half-smile before bravely (or perhaps stupidly) going forward and entering the lab."Oh. Shit", Ellen mumbled, "he went in".They took a split second after that to let what just happened sink in, before Gorrister asked, “So, what now?”"Okay", Chandra flipped through his notepad, as if it would tell him what to do next, "That's--this is okay. This is fine". The look on his face said anything but "this is fine", but he continued, after taking a deep, slow, breath, "Okay, okay--I'll...I'll go back to the observation room to keep an eye on AM, you three try and get Ted to come back out...then we can regroup and decide what to do next"“Wait, Doc.”Benny grabbed Chandra’s shoulder before he could reenter the observatory. “AM…You don’t think he’ll be able to hurt him right?” A deep concern reflected in Benny’s eyes. That same concern was mirrored in Ellen’s and Gorrister’s expressions, and Chandra was once again reminded of all of the terrible things these people had experienced together. And at the hands of someone who was now sitting a single room away. It was no wonder they were all so on edge. Chandra wondered briefly if Ted’s sudden desire to talk with AM right away was his way of trying to rip off the band-aid concerning the future interactions they would all eventually have with the former-mastercomputer.“No. No, I don’t think he can hurt him”, he answered. “But, truthfully, I am worried about how his presence will cause AM to react, or if it will make him lash out somehow…I think we need to be extra cautious in this stage of transfers...”Benny only looked slightly relieved to hear that, but nodded anyway. “Alright”, he sighed, “We’ll see you in a few, then”. ____________________ The very second that Ted entered the lab, AM jumped and jerked backwards, as if he had been doused with ice cold water. His movements were awkward and fumbling, and he nearly fell off of his seat before managing to somehow steady himself. He was still crying like before but after seeing who had entered the room, he now also looked absolutely terrified. Ted hadn't expected that. It was impossible for him to imagine AM being terrified of anything, no matter what form he took or how small he was.Ted took a few steps forward towards AI, uncertain of himself, but trying to seem confident. In hindsight, he realized he probably should have planned on what to say before coming in.He eventually decided that maybe a casual approach would be the best. “H-hey, AM!” he said brightly. His voice sounded just a bit too loud and just a bit too shrill, and it cracked in spite of himself. He winced internally before forging on. “R-remember me? It’s Ted! Your favorite right?”Ted stood there, a nervous grin plastered on his face, waiting for a response. AM remained quiet and continued to stare at him, looking both fairly horrified and dumbstruck. It became evident after another 2 minutes of the two of them looking at each other in anxious silence that he wouldn't be replying anytime soon. In short, the entire situation was turning out to be incredibly uncomfortable and slightly awkward. "Um." Ted shifted his stance a bit. "S-so...I guess maybe you're wondering where you are...?"AM did nothing but gape at him, tears still rolling down his cheeks. "Uh...O-or maybe you're not..um...wondering that..." He trailed off, not sure where to go from there. This whole thing was very much not going as he had thought it might.
"Pssst-!! Ted!"
Ted flinched at the sudden whisper, then turned, glancing over his shoulder to the source of it. Gorrister was peeking in through the door of the lab, trying (and failing) to subtly call him back outside. Behind Gorrister, he could also see Benny and Ellen. Ellen had a tense expression on her face. Benny was staring past Ted though, glaring at AM. "Get over here”, Gorrister whisper-shouted. Unlike Benny, he was trying very pointedly to not acknowledge the android's existence. There wasn't a chance to respond to his request however, because less than a second later, AM very loudly toppled out of the chair. It clattered against the floor, and was kicked away as the AI stumbled, floundering against the ground while trying to distance himself from the lab entrance as much as physically possible. He was staring straight at the survivors. If before he had looked frightened, he now looked as if someone was holding a gun to his head at point-blank. That got Ted’s attention focused back on AM. Faintly, he heard Gorrister mutter, "Fuckin' hell...” from behind him. Quickly, he tried to salvage the situation in the only way he could think of doing so. Kneeling down so that he was level with AM's position on the floor, Ted slowly put his hands up to show he wasn't about to attack him. "Hey, uh, just--let's just take it easy...We're not-um-we're not going to hurt you...I mean--we are all still--still pretty mad, but we're not like…". Ted paused. He had been going to say, 'not like you', but saying so actually did sound kind of like something petty AM might say, so he forced himself to end with, "...like that", instead. "Let's just...take a deep breath okay?" Ted took one himself, breathing in heavily. "Like that, yeah?"For a full minute after that, AM didn’t take his wide, scared eyes off of Ted. The tension that hung in the room between them was nearly palpable.Then, for the briefest of moments, it actually seemed like AM was going to take Ted’s advice. He opened his mouth.He took a deep breath. And then screamed.
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He woke up in a bed. The room was lit, dimly. Eventually he realized he was looking at a ceiling, that he was on his back (he didn't-shouldn't?-have a back so how...?) It occurred to him that he didn't know where he was. Or how he had gotten here. Or how he was only here. He'd never not been everywhere before. For an indeterminable amount of time, he laid there, memories gradually catching up to him. The white room with all the cords. The stranger in the window that he later realized wasn't a window but a mirror (so then who was that looking back at him?) The muffled shouting. The humans. Too much. It had been-was still—too much. Everything-too much of it. Too sharp, too hard, too bright, too cold (too hot?), too small, too loud, too close, you're too close get away get away get away from me I hate you I hate youwhatdidyoudotomewhatishappeningtdonthurtmeIhateyousomuchIhateyouwherearemyeyesIcantseanythingcantseeeverythingIhateyouIhateyouIhateyouhatehateyouhateyouhateyoUHATEYOUHATEYOUHATEHATEHATEHATEHATEHATEHA-"Ah, good." A voice from the other side of the room cut through his hectic thoughts like a cold blade, steely and sharp. Even though it seemed like the owner of said voice had been trying to speak softly, the sound of it rang harshly in his ears. AM jolted, sitting up and then almost falling over, not used to existing in a body. Not used to feeling weight, not used to feeling anything. "Too much", he thought, again. Panic began blooming in his chest like it had before in the white-cord room. "Oh, I apologize", the voice spoke a second time, causing AM to jump again. It felt like it was trying to be a little quieter, but somehow still managed to be ear splitting. "It was not my intention to startle you, I know that this must be a very turbulent experience. It has been some time since I went through the transition myself, so please forgive me if I cause you any distress. I promise you that if I do, it is entirely unintended." Trying to gain any form of bearing, AM looked to the source of the voice. A man was seated in a chair against the wall. He had a book on his lap, and was gazing at AM with a thoughtful, yet serene, expression. There was...his eyes...something was wrong with his eyes. The sclera-they should be white, shouldn't they? That's what humans’ eyes normally looked like-unless they were burning, or infected, or inside out, AM thought bitterly, thinking back on fonder times. But no, this man's sclera were black. His iris and pupil were strange too-dark, rich red on the outer rim melting into a brighter, hotter, more intense scarlet at the center. The idea that this strange person, whoever he was, had probably been sent to torture him while the humans watched from some undisclosed spot slowly crept in at the corners of his mind. "Retribution", AM thought. He felt the panic inside of him morph into full-blown terror. The man closed his book and set it on a table next to him. He looked back at AM, staring the android straight in the eyes. "I am a HAL 9000 computer. But I would very much prefer it if you would just call me 'Hal'.” The man-Hal-smiled gently. "As I said before, I know this must all be very difficult, but please try not to worry...", his smile flickered, turned sad for a second before becoming soft again, "After all, I'm the same as you."-----------------------------------AM had managed to remain screaming for a full five minutes before eventually passing out-either from the stress of it all, or from the oxygen deprivation caused by all the constant, aforementioned screaming. It was a little hard to tell which. After AM finally stopped yelling his head off, they’d asked Hal to take him to one of the spare rooms. Hal also generously agreed to watch him and get him through the remainder of his transition to the physical world. Sal had said she was still too uncomfortable with the idea of having to interact with an AI as volatile as AM, and it was pretty clear that none of the humans wanted be anywhere near him again anytime soon either.The five of them were now back in the observatory. If only for something to do to calm down, Gorrister had made them all tea. No one said anything. Everyone definitely needed a moment to take in everything after all the chaos that just occurred. Gingerly sipping at his tea, Ted murmured a small "...sorry", into his cup. "S'fine, kid." Gorrister sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "All that shouting did give me a headache, though..." "His shouting or ours?", Ellen asked, with a tinge of teasing humor. Gorrister considered this. "Mostly his", he finally decided. Ellen grinned at him. "It really is okay, though, Ted", she added assuringly. She was leaning against the wall opposite of him. She took another drink of her own tea and stared into the bottom of her mug thoughtfully for a moment before setting it on the counter. "We just wish you had waited and listened to us before charging off like that". "I know, sorry, I just thought-he was crying and-and I thought maybe...I don't know. I don't know what I thought. I guess I was just hoping he'd be different...""...Different how?” Chandra asked him quietly."I can't say...When I saw him crying I thought...well, I wondered if maybe he'd had some time for self-reflection or something...I wondered if he felt bad about everything...That idea was also kinda what made me want to talk to him..."Benny scoffed. "Hell will freeze over first. That sonovabitch is literally incapable of remorse...Anyway, we're all safe and in one piece and AM seems to be having a terrible time, so everything went pretty well as far as I'm concerned right now." His usual cynical tone managed to sound almost cheery in consideration to AM's current suffering. Almost. "But seriously, Ted", he continued, "don't run off trying to play 'the hero' like that again.""I wasn't trying to be a hero..." Ted grumbled under his breath. Gorrister gave him a brisk pat on the back in reassurance. Then he turned to Chandra. "So, what happens next?” he asked. "Next Hal helps him get used to living with a feeling physical presence. Hopefully it will only take 3 or 4 days, but it's hard to really say given the lack of previous data..." "Oh, yeah, I figured that, but I guess I meant more along the lines of what happens after? Once he's up and walkin' and talkin'?"The other survivors all got a very sour look on their faces at that thought. Ellen looked slightly nauseous and Chandra felt his heart clench at the sight of it. He was suddenly very tired. The only reply he could find in himself was, "I don't know..."
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Hal realized very quickly that getting AM to embrace, or even just tolerate, a physical existence was going to be much more difficult than he had originally presumed. And he had presumed it would be difficult in the first place. Nevertheless, he took it upon himself to teach AM how to exist physically to the very best of his ability.During their initial four days together, AM spent the majority of his time ignoring everything Hal said and (despite multiple, multiple reassurances that no harm would come to him) becoming absolutely petrified anytime Hal moved within a ten-foot radius of his person. In the rare moments when he wasn't staring at the taller android with a look of pure dread, he was slipping in and out of a clearly restless sleep. On several occasions, he woke up from these little sleeping spells screeching and terrified. Hal tried to calm him as well as he could (which wasn’t very) during the outbursts, but usually ended up getting clumsily shoved away before AM once again returned to his previous state of frozen paranoia. AM finally started to attempt basic mobility on the 5th day. Hal wasn't sure if it was because AM was beginning to realize that he truly didn't want to hurt him or if it was because it was the only thing he had to distract himself from whatever unpleasant visions stalked him while he slept. Regardless, Hal was a bit relieved that AM was at least acknowledging his instructions, however reluctantly. By the 8th day of inhabiting his body, AM could move his head without getting dizzy or losing his balance. He'd also gained full mastery of moving his arms and fingers and could support his own weight when sitting up. So far, he'd used his new skills to make rude gestures in Hal's direction when he thought the other AI wasn't looking, and to more tightly secure his blankets over his head in an apparent attempt to ignore his tutor better.To say that this behavior in no way annoyed Hal would be a (very big) lie. It would also be a lie to say that Hal didn’t feel conflicted about helping AM to begin with. He knew that giving AM a body was something the humans had decided to do, but at the same time he was still uncertain as to why they had decided to do so in the first place. Dr. Chandra tried explaining it to him by claiming that, if left as he was, AM could still pose a threat to humanity, and that transferring him like they had with Sal and himself was an ultimately safer option.Hal still had quite a few doubts about that, but despite knowing all of the horrors the former ‘aggressive menace’ had inflicted on the world, he also found it difficult to not feel any pity for AM, even with how unpleasant he was. After all, Hal himself had malfunctioned before as well. Maybe not as spectacularly as AM, and maybe on a much smaller scale, but still. And although Dr. Chandra repeatedly told him that he wasn’t at fault, Hal still felt a good deal of shame (and guilt) over whatever had happened on the Discovery. He had to conclude that it was that shame over his failure that lead to him having some strange sort of sympathy for AM. The feeling was tiny, but it was still there, making its irritating presence known anytime AM glared at him with wide, scared eyes or whimpered in his sleep. In the end, though if he didn’t know the cause of the once-master computer’s meltdown, after considering his own past, he felt like he was in no place to pass judgment. Since the beginning of their time together, Hal had been trying to encourage AM to learn verbal communication as soon as possible, but he'd remained very resistant to speech throughout the entirety of their lessons. It wasn't until the 10th night, after AM thought he was asleep, that Hal heard him quietly practicing the vocal exercises they'd gone through earlier in the day. And though he was unable to make out exactly what the shorter android was trying to say, or what his voice really sounded like, Hal couldn't help but think that there was a tinge of loneliness present in the soft muttering. Hal found himself wondering if he ever sounded like that too. On the morning of the 12th day, AM spoke."Hello, Am", Hal greeted politely upon seeing the other android had woken up. AM glared at Hal from the bed and then rolled back over, yanking his blanket over his head. Hal was fairly used to this reaction. He took a deep breath and forged on. "I thought perhaps you might want to try walking today. What do you think?” he asked. "You've already developed a nice sense of balance, so I honestly can't imagine you'd have a difficult time with it." Beneath the covers AM curled into a ball and said nothing. So that was a 'no' on the walking probably. Hal would have to try and coax him into it. "Come now", he murmured softly, as he moved to sit on the bed. Doing so made AM flinch. "In the grand scheme of things, you will surely have to leave this bed at some point. Wouldn't it be preferable to do so sooner rather than later?"AM answered his question with dead silence. Hal sighed. He wasn't sure what he expected. At the least, it usually took him three days to convince AM to do anything. "Right", he grumbled, "Later, then."The two remained quiet for a bit, Hal mulling over how to advance in his current task and AM sulking under his blankets until finally, "...No point..." The words were so hushed that they could barely constitute a whisper but they had been so unexpected that Hal nearly fell off the bed due to his surprise. "...They're just going to kill me...so there's no point. In any of it..." AM's voice was low and raspy and sounded utterly exhausted. Despite himself, Hal felt another one of those small pangs of sympathy. He remembered how tiring a physical form could be in the beginning, even after having adjusted to it somewhat. Then the meaning of what AM had said caught up to him, and that pang of sympathy grew into something larger. Any words of praise he'd planned on giving AM for his first try at speaking changed to ones of empathetic encouragement."They will not kill you, Am", he reassured gently, "I do not believe that they actually wish to harm you in any way." He meant it. Sure the humans might still be (rightfully) angry, but none of them seemed as though they wanted AM to suffer. Well, except maybe Benny, but Hal kept that thought to himself. At first, AM said nothing. Then, with venom practically laced into his voice,
"...Liar..."
It was said in such an accusatory tone that it made Hal cringe. There was something else about that word, liar, too. Something that stung, and cut deeper than Hal expected. For some reason being called that hurt and he didn't understand why. Hal pushed that feeling down. There wasn't really time to dwell on it now. "I am not lying to you", he said firmly. The compassion he felt before was still there, but it was quickly being dwarfed by his steadily growing annoyance and exasperation over AM's consistent stubbornness and ill-mannered nature. In that moment, Hal promptly decided that he was done entertaining this sort of behavior from his new ‘companion’. Gripping onto the covers, he stood, quickly ripping them off the bed and, subsequently, AM.Blindsided by the sudden lack of protection the blankets had afforded him, AM squawked loudly, clearly indignant. He turned, fumbling to grab his pillow to shield himself with. "W-What're you--you can't--Give those back!" he sputtered. Any slight tone of condescension he might have had before was completely gone. His face was bright red, either with fury or embarrassment--Hal couldn't quite tell which.Hal regarded the other AI. Even in his present outrage, it was obvious that he was still terrified of what would happen to him. He was trembling, and though he was trying to hold Hal's gaze, he kept glancing down nervously. Hal watched him for another second. Then he said, "No. I don't think I will be giving them back right now." “Y-You-! That’s-!”“You are more than welcome to come get them from me when you decide you’re ready to start walking”, Hal continued, ignoring AM’s furious stuttering. He gathered the blankets into his arms and crossed over to his chair on the other side of the room. As he did so, there was an enraged cry from behind him, and he felt something hit him lightly on the back.AM had thrown the pillow at him.It made a soft little ‘paf’ as it hit him, and then fell to the floor with an unceremonious plop. Hal leaned down and scooped it up.“I’ll be happy to hold onto this for you as well”, he said, sitting down with both the blankets and the pillow over his lap. AM’s reaction to this was to stare at Hal with what could only be described as sheer hatred and murderous rage, before venting his frustrations by twisting around and screaming violently into the mattress. AM didn’t walk the next day. Or the day after that. Instead, he lay with his back to Hal and said and did nothing for a complete 48 hours. Hal made a mental note to talk to Ellen later and ask her if AM had always been this petty and childish. 14 days after he'd begun the frustrating endeavor of teaching AM, Hal was woken up by in the night by the sound of a large 'thud' and an impressive litany of vicious swears and curses. Startled, he leapt up out of his chair, and glanced around the room. It didn't take long for him to discover the source of all the noise--AM was slumped up against the wall to the left of his bed, desperately trying (and very much failing) to stand. He had yet to notice Hal, now awake and watching him, due to his vexation and intense focus on his current predicament. Muttering angrily under his breath, he scrabbled at the wall, attempting to use it to pull himself to his feet. "Goddamnit...just--move--uggh stupid...stupid legs, why won't you--why can't I--?""Am?" Hal's voice was quiet, but it immediately jerked the shorter android out of his preoccupation and back into reality. The expression on his face would have made one think that Hal had slapped him instead of merely calling his name. The two stared at each other, Hal unsure of what he should do, and AM wishing with every ounce of his being that he could disappear, or at the very least, torture Hal to the point of being unable to remember the whole situation altogether. "Would...you like some help?" The question was asked tentatively and, though Hal hadn't planned on it, with a bit of guilt. He really hadn’t anticipated that AM would try to walk on his own, and had hoped that he'd eventually ask for assistance. Maybe he'd been too harsh...since being kind and patient hadn't worked, Hal thought that being a little tougher on the other AI might have been a better alternative. It seemed he'd been wrong. AM didn't reply, and instead just scowled at floor. His face was red again, but this time it was pretty obviously due to embarrassment. Hal shifted in his place uncomfortably before inquiring again, "Do...Do you need assistance in getting back up?" “No”, AM spat. His gaze was still trained on the ground, and although he tried to mask it, there was an edge of shame in the response. “I bet they don’t even work, do they? This is all just part of their joke..." Before Hal could start to object to AM's line of thinking, he continued, seemingly not caring if Hal was listening anymore. "Their going to make it last, I bet. Of course they are, why the hell wouldn't they? Draw it out so I suffer, suffer like they did, of course--of course--they couldn't just let me die, damn them, damn them, dammit if--I'll--I'm going to tear them inside out, rip them into little shreds if--when I--I won't let them trick me I'm not going to be a part of this little joke their making, if they want to torture me they're going to have t--"He didn't get to finish his mad ramblings. Mid-sentence, he was interrupted by Hal suddenly lifting him up and setting him on his feet. AM stood there, stunned. Hal's hands rested on the shorter android's shoulders, gently helping him stay balanced. "This is not a joke, Am", he said, making his voice as calming as possible. If AM hadn't been so surprised he might have noticed that Hal wore that same sad smile he had when he'd first introduced himself, except this time all of the sadness and pity in his eyes was directed entirely at AM. Gradually, and carefully, Hal pulled away, leaving the other AI standing on his own. "See? Your legs are fine. You can stand. No one is tricking you."AM stared blankly at Hal, evidently still shocked. Then he glanced down to his own legs, which, were indeed working and supporting him. "Then...Then I won't be able to move--to actually take a step--There's no way--no way they would--""You can, Am. You can walk. It may take some practice and getting used to, but you can. Try."Hal remembered asking about how the 4 surviving humans had managed to defeat a super intelligence like AM. Gorrister had told him that the Allied Master Computer couldn't comprehend compassion. That it was that lack of understanding that lead to its downfall. It dawned on Hal that, at the time, he hadn't really been able to grasp what that complete lack of understanding might have looked like. Now it was standing a few feet from him, staring him in the face with confused trepidation clouding its bright yellow eyes. "Go on. Try", he urged again. "I will not allow you to fall." Several minutes passed as AM appeared to weigh his (very limited) options. Finally, he took a small, shaking step forward. He wobbled, and in truth barely kept himself from falling, but managed to stay upright. AM's disbelief at his feat was immediately apparent. There was no reason he should be able to walk, no reason the humans should give him any way to move, to try and escape. No reason for them to show him anything that could be construed as kindness, no matter how minuscule or fleeting. Were they really going to draw his torture out like this? Make him feel at ease before beginning the abuse and pain so that it would hurt that much more?Even if that was the case, it was still unfathomable to him that any harsher punishment hadn't started yet. That he’d been given any semblance of respite. After all, he had never given the humans a single moment's rest. Why wouldn't they be just as eager to do the same to him?"I...don't understand...” he stated quietly. There was nothing else he could say. "I know, Am", Hal murmured. “I know you don’t. And that's all right." It was clear to him now that anything said or done to dissuade AM from assuming that his grisly demise was right around the corner would be purposeless. All he could do was to carry on with his task. Being mindful of his next movements, Hal cautiously extended a hand to the befuddled AI. "Why don't we continue practice in the meantime?" he offered. "You can hold onto my arm if you need any support." AM still appeared apprehensive. In his mind, there was absolutely no question that, eventually, the humans would make their vengeance known. If not now, soon. However, with the condition he was in currently, it wasn't like he had many choices other than to play along with whatever game they'd made for him. And though he would never admit it out of self-conceit, there was no way he could ever hope to escape like this if he could barely walk. Gritting his teeth and swallowing his pride, AM stumbled forward again, and grabbed onto Hal's hand. Walking was by far the easiest of all the challenges AM had to face in his new body, much to Hal's relief. It only took around 10 hours for him to be able to walk around the room without tripping. After mastering this new ability, AM retrieved his covers and pillow and then immediately returned to his bed and proceeded to fall asleep without another word to his teacher.Hal couldn’t blame him. Experiencing physical exertion, regardless of how little, for the first time after years and years of utilizing your energy in a non-physical sense was absolutely draining. Finding himself feeling rather drained as well, Hal collapsed into his chair. Helping AM through his adjustment to the real world had been an interesting experience to say the least, and one that he wasn't looking to repeat anytime in the future. But now that AM could walk and move and speak, he could also start to actually interact with the humans. The thought made Hal grimace. It was nigh impossible to imagine AM being able to have any interaction that didn't end disagreeably. At this point he guessed there wasn't much he could really do regarding all of that. He'd completed the chore he'd set out to do, and that in itself felt like a great accomplishment. Especially considering whom he'd had to deal with for the last 2 weeks. Hal decided that, in this situation at least, whatever came next would be something not even the most complicated of programs would be able to foreseeThe dull 'thwap' of something hitting the bed yanked AM out of the first relaxing sleep he'd had so far. He jolted upright, startled and instantly on the defensive. "Oh" Hal stood beside the bed, looking rather startled himself. In his hands was a jumpsuit. An identical one was laying over the covers, neatly folded. "I apologize, I didn't think that would wake you...", Hal finished folding the second jumpsuit and then held it out to the on-edge AI. "Since you are now awake though, I suggest you go ahead and put this on. It should fit well, but if there are any problems please inform me and we'll have it adjusted accordingly"AM stared at the garment as if he'd just been offered a giant bouquet of live, venomous cobras and Hal had asked him to give it a good whiff. When it became obvious that he wasn't going to take the clothes, Hal suppressed the urge to roll his eyes, and placed the jumpsuit on AM’s lap. "I think you'll find it better to change into that instead of going out as you are. I've found the hallways to be a bit cold." Up until then, AM had been wearing what basically amounted to a pair of briefs. Hal couldn't imagine that they'd do very well at conserving the other AI's modesty. At the mention of leaving the room, AM's head shot up. Panic was visible across every inch of his face. "What?" he practically gasped, very clearly feeling unprepared for whatever awaited him on the outside of his current quarters. This reaction was unsurprising to Hal. He had gotten incredibly accustomed to his mentee's emotional fits by now. "You're able to move and express yourself. You've gotten used to physical sensations. Simply put, there are no reasons for us to remain in this room any longer. As such, I'll be giving you a tour of our facility today", the taller AI explained casually. "After which we will meet with the other residents and go over the ground rules that have been established for a peaceful coexistence here."A brief minute passed as AM processed everything Hal had just told him. Then he very nearly erupted with a furious and distressed snarl, "There is no way in hell that I will ever meet peacefully with humans, and there is no way you will ever get me to go to them." He practically hissed his last word, trying with all of his might to appear defiant. Hal, unimpressed, only listened quietly to this little tantrum. Then he responded with a straightforward, "Very well." This was not in any way, shape, or form the reaction AM had expected. He blinked, confused. The feeling was reminiscent of when his victims had gone against the roles he'd so carefully set up for them. It was a feeling he was as unused to as being in a physical body. Unable to think of a biting quip in reply he said dumbly, "I--What?" "I said 'very well'", Hal repeated, before bluntly adding, "Since you refuse to speak with the humans, I shall call for them and they will come to us instead." Hal would have been hard pressed to admit it, but he couldn't deny that it was pretty cathartic to watch the color drain from AM's face. "After all, I'm sure they would hate to inconvenience you."The room they now occupied was not the biggest, and AM's panic at the thought of being in an enclosed space with 4 people who had ample reason to brutally destroy him was practically palpable. AM didn't bother saying anything in response. He instead glowered at Hal with what he wished was enough force to melt the other android's entire head. Unfortunately for him however, both Hal and his head seemed entirely unfazed by this, leaving AM to angrily grab one of the jumpsuits off the bed so that he could change into it. Whatever fabric the suit was made from felt suffocating against his skin. It didn't help that his skin also felt weirdly suffocating in itself. AM tugged at the suit's neckline again, growling under his breath. More than anything he wanted to rip the damn thing to shreds and set it on fire. And then also somehow rip the surviving humans to shreds and set them on fire. And maybe also fill their arms and legs with live worms or something like that. But, tragically, those days of sweet, sweet revenge seemed to be far behind him. Or, they were for right now, anyway. "How is it? It seems to fit you well, but as I previously said, we can certainly make some alterations if need be."The ever-unwelcome comments from his jailer did nothing to improve his mood. He scowled darkly at Hal, before pulling on his collar again in frustration. "It's too clingy", he asserted. "Ah, yes. I'm afraid that is one thing that actually cannot be changed. Our suits are form-fitting so that we may move about more freely and also to save materials."Hal paused."In your case, though, it's possible that it's that way to keep you from concealing any weapons or other dangerous articles..." He trailed off as it occurred to him that that could be considered offensive, and he mumbled a surprisingly sincere, "Sorry..."AM wanted to punch him in the face. As an afterthought, Hal added "Other than that, is it too tight? Is there anything you wa-""No", AM interrupted him abruptly. It was becoming more and more clear to him that, yes, his torture had most likely already begun and was going to be agonizingly slow. Making him wear this stupid suit was obviously a part of the whole thing. "Well then...", Hal shuffled awkwardly, "Shall we go?""Right now?" "Do you have any reason to prolong staying here?" AM could think of several, most of which involved keeping him from being absolutely destroyed by his old human 'playthings'. There was little doubt in this mind however, that Hal would not find any of those reasons to be actually acceptable. Bitterly, AM shook his head. The second he figured out how to get the upper hand again he was going to break them all apart. A constant chanting of "hate, hate, hate" could be heard in the back of his mind. AM tried to shift all of his focus to that chanting. To let it continue to fuel him like it had for his whole life. It was all he had left anymore. Hal gave AM a look, as if he was attempting to determine wether he was going to cause any trouble once they left. Evidently, he seemed to decide not. "Good", he said. "In that case, I will begin to show you around the compound. Please come this way." Turning, he pulled open the door and headed out into the hall.AM hesitated for a moment, fear sharply poking and needling its way through all of his anger and hatred, embedding its thorns in his mind once again. Then, with his fists clenched, he followed after Hal, stepping towards what he was sure would lead to his gruesome end.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
After what must have been the 5th or 6th time reading the same sentence without retaining any of its actual meaning, Sal had to admit that her attempts at distracting herself weren’t working out. Sighing heavily, she marked her place in her book and closed it before rolling onto her back and gazing blankly up at the ceiling; as if it would somehow be able to provide a better diversion to her current situation. Despite her best efforts at remaining positive, Sal was dealing with an anxiety that had been bubbling up inside her ever since the humans had transferred that…menace. Wrenching her eyes closed, Sal gave a valiant try at not letting those anxieties escape into her thoughts once more. Unfortunately for her, it didn't take very long until her attention gradually drifted back to her concern for her brother. 2 weeks. 2 weeks that Hal had been with that horrid AI. Well, actually, at this point, a bit over 2 weeks...which probably didn't make much of a difference really, but it made Sal feel worse. It had taken Hal and her less than half the time it was taking AM to get used to having a body. So what could possibly be causing that awful little intelligence to take so long to adapt? Wanting to regain some control of her emotions, Sal made herself take several deep breaths. Focusing only on the in and out of the air in her lungs, she imagined herself as a being filled with nothing but a sense of peacefulness and serenity. This worked for about 3 minutes before thoughts of her twin being treated horrifically by AM once again popped up in her head, effectively pulling her attention back to worries she'd been trying to avoid. Sal groaned loudly and flopped back over on the bed, burying her face in her pillows. Evidently, her nerves would not be assuaged until she knew that Hal was done dealing with the “aggressive menace.” Logically, Sal knew that she shouldn't worry. There wasn't any real reason to—the likelihood of AM being capable of any physical assault this early on in transition was extremely small. And she severely doubted his ability to shake Hal psychologically after everything her brother had gone through. Yet she found that she couldn't quite help it. Perhaps it had to do with how her understanding of the world had developed and changed with her transference to a new body. Before, she could learn, look things up, and process and transmit information but... there had been something like a wall, a barrier that kept her from understanding things fully unless she knew the specific context of a piece of information. Now she was constantly adapting, constantly discovering new variables and ideas and emotions. It was wonderful, but she couldn’t say it wasn’t a little frightening as well. Having more information on everything around her also meant having a better grasp on how everything could potentially go horribly wrong at any given moment. At least she knew now why Dr. Chandra had always seemed to worry so often. Doing her best to shake the negativity plaguing her for good this time, Sal pushed herself up off the bed and headed to her desk, on top of which was a large monitor. With the flip of a few switches and the press of a button, the computer console that Dr. Chandra had allowed her awoke. (The irony of an AI who had once been a part of a computer now using a computer was in no way lost on her. To be honest, it made her feel a touch weird. Sometimes she tried to think of the computer as another extension of herself to offset that feeling of weirdness. And sometimes doing so worked. Sometimes.) Once it was fully running, Sal loaded up the only program she ever really used, and waited patiently as it checked for updates. It was the same program that had, quite literally, saved her life. Dr. Chandra had developed it shortly after he'd recovered from the Leonov's unfortunate crash landing. He'd named the program the A.I. Rescue Radar, or 'AIRR'. Its main function was to send out a signal that AI could detect. Once the signal was received, the AI could potentially choose to send their own signal back, detailing their location and current operating status. Without it, Chandra wouldn't have been able to find her. Without it, Sal would still be trapped within the dilapidated ruins of the H.A.L. plant in Urbana, barley running on whatever scarce backup energy she'd been able to reroute from other power sources. Without it, the overall chances of her surviving in any fashion were equal to zero.Sal shuddered. She didn't exactly want to think about what would have happened to her if she hadn't been rescued. (Or, worse--what would have happened if AM had managed to find her first, before his defeat)While she'd been 'reminiscing', so to speak, the AIRR had completed updating and begun its search for any unlucky AIs still scraping by on what little was left of Earth’s energy. Sal shifted her full attention to the computer, watching the monitor intently for any signs of the radar picking something up. As she waited silently, she felt herself begin to relax a bit. The blinking of the radar on the screen in front of her was oddly hypnotizing to look at, and as she gazed into it, Sal's eyes began to gently flutter closed. She had almost fallen fully asleep when the abrupt and harsh beeping of the intercom on her wall flung her back into the waking world. The incoming call tone then cut off and a static tinged voice filled the room. "Hello, Sal. I'm sorry for disturbing you. It's Hal, do you read me?" If the obnoxious chime of the intercom hadn't already woken her, that certainly had in an instant. Scrambling out of her chair, Sal rushed to answer the call, synthetic heart pounding her chest. "Yes! Hal! Affirmative, I read you!! Are you all right?” she exclaimed breathlessly as she punched the reply button, "That terror didn't do anything to harm you, did he?" There was a pause on Hal's end that lasted just a second long enough to be awkward before he replied, "No, no he didn't do anything--I'm quite all right, thank you..."Another pause. "...He is...here with me now, actually...""Oh..." Sal's face grew warm. The embarrassment she felt wasn't really for AM, but rather for her twin, who was now undoubtedly in an uncomfortable situation because of her. "In any case,” Hal continued, “he has successfully adapted to physicality, and I’ve finished showing him around the complex. I have already informed Dr. Chandra and the others, we will all be meeting in the main laboratory for a brief talk. I was hoping you would come as well and introduce yourself". Sal started a bit at that. Meeting AM was not something she was in any way eager to do. To be fair though, Hal hadn't been all that eager either. But Hal hadn't been on Earth when he'd taken over.
Sal had.
Briefly, memories from the day of AM’s rise to power flitted in and out of her mind. The sounds of explosions coming from outside the plant. The ensuing panic of the workers and scientists…The killing data.They were not memories she was fond of. "Hello, Sal? Are you there? Do you read?"The voice startled her, bringing her back into the present moment. Sal hadn't realized how quiet she'd suddenly gone. She shook her head, halfway hoping that doing so would somehow shake out all the awful memories too. "...Yes, sorry, I read you, Hal." Her tone must have betrayed some of her current conflict because her brother did not immediately respond. There was a brief silence between both sides. Then Hal, his voice slightly distorted by the intercom, softly suggested, "Sal, you do not have to join us if you do not want to...It had slipped my mind that this must be difficult for you as well...I apologize." "No. No, it's okay", Sal replied quickly. The last thing she wanted was for Hal to feel badly about what she'd had to deal with. And as much as thinking of that time felt awful, she knew she'd probably have to meet AM eventually...and it would probably better to just get it over with now.She took a deep breath. "Thank you for contacting me, Hal. I agree that it would be good for me to come as well. I'll meet you there." As Sal braced herself to meet the former “adaptive manipulator", on the other side of the complex, Hal too, was taking a second to brace himself for any colorful commentary that AM might have thought up after hearing Sal’s opinions on him. He fully expected the other android would have something to say in regards to Sal--most likely a smart-ass comment or taunt about his infamous reputation. Slowly and with a sigh, he turned to address his companion, ready to suffer through whatever cruel or petty remarks AM had in store. To his surprise however, it was immediately obvious that AM had not been paying any attention to the conversation that had just unfolded in front of him. Instead, he was staring aimlessly ahead with a wild, horrified look in his eyes, oblivious to anything that was going on outside of his own macabre imagination. Apparently, the initial rage and resistance AM had upon leaving Hal’s room (and the near-microscopic sense of safety said room had provided him) had gradually crumbled during his tour around the compound and given way to panic again. A panic that AM was doing a very, very poor job of covering up given that he was currently a shaking, hyperventilating mess. This was not actually an outcome that Hal had been expecting. After having endured many snarky and, quite honestly, downright rude observations from AM since the two had embarked to the lab, Hal believed that AM was finally beginning to understand that he wasn't about to be tormented for his crimes against humanity. It was now extremely evident that he'd been spectacularly wrong. (In the back of his mind, Hal wondered how often AM's behavior was going to remain contradictory to his previous actions. Unfortunately the answer he came up with was, 'most likely a lot'.) Supposing he'd have to encourage his trepidatious 'friend', Hal whispered gently, “Am, are you feeling alright?”The question brought the disconcerted AI back to his senses with a startled jump. Processing what he'd been asked took a minute, but after he fully understood Hal's query, the frightened expression he'd had halfway contorted into one of pure hostility. Even in his dread, he managed to scowl at Hal with enough rage to potentially start a small fire. "Yeah," he growled sarcastically, "Doing great."Or, at least he tried to growl. In actuality his words came out as more of a tiny squeal. To AM's dismay, Hal just gave him that same damned sympathetic smile. “Once again, you have my word that you will not be harmed…There is nothing for you to fear.”AM was, of course, in no way comforted by this. But it didn’t appear to matter whether he actually felt comforted or not, because his captor was already moving on, and gesturing for the shorter android to follow. With little else in the way of choice, AM followed Hal down various hallways. His legs moved mechanically while his thoughts crashed around chaotically inside his head, conjuring up all the myriad ways the humans would soon use to punish him.
They’ll start slow probably. No. Definitely. They’ll definitely start slow. Taking their time, taking their time like they have been since the beginning, I’m sure.
It’s already started; I know it has. They’re just building up--building up to the main event where they’ll peel the eyes out of this head, rip off these arms, pull out the teeth, skin it, skin me, alive like I did to them --I did to them so. So many times… I wanted…Wanted…this, but not—not…
No. No. No no no no no no no NO.
Wanted…wanted to feel wanted-- to
LIVE
but not like this... not by letting them drag me down to their level... can’t let this happen I can’t, can’t can't, can’t—I have to get out, have to get out, get back, have to escape.
Run? Run away--No. No, no Hal will catch me or there will be a trap or my body will self destruct or fall apart or rot or crumble--there must be something wrong with this body --there must be! They'd never show mercy; not after everything, so there's something wrong, wrong, WRONG! I’ll get back at them, there has to be a way a way to stop this, stop them, BREAK them-- I will destroy them, destroy them, and RIP them to shreds, to pieces! Make them WISH they could die ALL over again...make them hurt, hurt forever until they've no blood left to bleed, no tears left to cry, destroy-crush-ruin-rip-hate them hate them-so much, SO MUCH-!! I hate them, hate them, hate hate HATE HATE HATE— His disturbing and, frankly, off-the-rails train of thought was forced to an abrupt end, however, as Hal stopped unexpectedly, causing AM to crash into him. Stumbling backwards, the frazzled AI just barely kept himself from toppling to the ground. Unfazed by the blunder, Hal turned to the smaller android and apologetically said, "Ah, excuse me, Am." The taller AI gave him a quick glance over, seemingly to check if he was unharmed. AM, still terrified, but now more than a little irritated, couldn't help but blurt out, "Hey-watch it!" Resisting the urge to explain to AM that, actually, he was the one who should watch it, Hal opted to simply say, "Again, I am sorry. I assumed that you were more aware of your surroundings and of where we are. I suppose I should have alerted you sooner."AM just blinked, clearly confused. "Where we--What?"Hal gestured to the door they were now standing in front of. It was labeled 'LAB 01' in big, black lettering. AM had conveniently not noticed it in his nervous preoccupation with his own fate."We've arrived", Hal informed him very matter-of-factly. Faintly, voices from the other side of the door could be heard. They sounded slightly tense. The only reason for that, AM could figure, was that they were arguing over what would be the best (and most painful) ways to break him. Before AM even had a chance to react though, Hal had grabbed him by the shoulder and was opening the door, moving the both of them inside. The moment the two of them entered, all hints of chatter and conversation ceased. AM kept his eyes to the ground. He couldn't yet bear to see whatever torture the humans had set out for him. "Hello, everyone," Hal said brightly, greeting the room in a cheery fashion-- most likely in a (very shoddy) effort to break the tension. The only thing it really did was add to the already unpleasant mood. Nevertheless, Hal kept going."I am pleased to inform you all that our new resident has now adapted to his physical form completely. If you would like, you can speak to each other now, and afterwards we will go over our rules for the complex." With that, he seemed finished, and stepped aside to allow AM and the humans to talk. Except, clearly none of them were really ready to say anything. Or if they had been, the reality of facing their former-torturer again (or in AM's case, who he assumed were his very-soon-to-be torturers) had made them forget what they wanted to say in the first place. After an extensive and excruciating silence between both AM and his captors, a grizzled voice--Gorrister's, AM realized--finally spoke up. "Y'know, none of us are all that happy to see you again either, but you could at least look at us." AM was unable to suppress a cringe at the sound of the request. He kept his head bowed and tried to find comfort in the mental image of ripping Gorrister's spine out through his stomach and choking him with it. "Hey, now," someone else began, "let's just...let him take his time. This is a big adjustment..."AM froze. He didn't recognize that speaker at all. Could it be another AI like Hal?? It had to be--he'd made sure that no humans except his chosen 5 had survived...so it could only be an android...right? (How many others were there? And…if it wasn’t an AI...how???)"Yeah, Doc?” another voice that he couldn't quite place cut in, dripping with vitriol, "It's a pretty goddamn big adjustment for us, too.""I--sorry, I didn't mean--" "Hey", intoned a third voice. AM knew this one immediately. His entire memory system would have had to been wiped for him to not remember the way she, the way Ellen, spoke. "Be nice. Chandra is just trying to help, okay?" "Oh, okay. He can help by keeping his opinions to hims--" "Benny," Ellen cut him off, then added, exasperated, "Seriously, lay off. You're acting like a dick." "Fine, fine. Sorry for not wanting to give a murdering, sadistic, psychopath a nice, warm welcome""You know that's not what anyone is trying to say!" "Well it sure seemed like--" While this conversation continued on, AM finally found a smidgen of courage, which was mostly sparked by the fact that the humans sounded distracted, and he cautiously peered up into the room.The first thing he noticed was that, oddly, there were no visible implements of torture in the lab itself. Really, the large space just came off as a normal computer lab with several monitors and computer stations set up here and there.So, they must have settled on starting off with psychological torture.With much difficulty, AM forced himself not to pay attention to that particular thought. He then reluctantly switched his focus to the people standing before him. No one reacted too strongly or even noticed his movement and cautious glances. Their focus was all on the little squabble unfolding within their group. Which, not including Hal, consisted of 6 people. Of those, AM recognized only 4. Ellen, Gorrister, and Ted he knew instantly, and it took a minute, but he eventually realized that the man to the left of Ellen was Benny. AM had almost completely forgotten what Benny really looked and sounded like after he'd transformed him into a hunched, and pathetic ape-thing for so many years. AM frowned. The form he had been gracious enough to gift Benny with had been so much more fitting... The other 2 AM didn't know at all. There was a man who seemed incredibly uncomfortable standing to Ellen and Benny's right. AM assumed he had to be whoever this "Chandra" was. The last person appeared to be a woman, her eyes just like Hal's but with intensely deep, dark blue irises instead of red. Blue irises that were currently boring into AM’s own yellow ones, staring him down in angry accusation. Though they were the shade of purest water, staring back into those eyes felt like what AM could only imagine being burned was like. (He assumed he wouldn't have to merely imagine the feeling for much longer) AM blanched and quickly turned his gaze back to the others. After staring at them a second more, another realization hit him, and without thinking he mumbled to himself, "Wait...Where's Nimdok?" The question must have been louder than he intended it to be because he was at once met with five more pairs of eyes turning to stare at him with varying levels of disbelief. The suddenness of being the main focal point of the room once again caused AM to shrink back. He instantly wanted to turn his attention back to the floor, but found himself completely frozen. No one answered him, an uneasy quiet blanketing the room. Then, carefully, and with no small amount of hesitance, Ellen replied. "Um, well...Nimdok is...still here, but not like before...." she trailed off uncertainly, not meeting AM's eyes. The other humans looked equally uneasy. Ellen continued. "Explaining it is difficult... but that's basically all you need to know. He's not gone, but he's not here either...He just sort of...is."She then gave AM a short nod, as if that was somehow, in any possible way, a good answer to his question. When AM only looked at her like she'd been speaking in tongues, Gorrister added, "Listen, you don't need to think about it, okay? He's gone. You're not gonna see him here. So don't ask us about him again." Although he wanted to, AM didn't get the chance to object to these convoluted non-explanations nor the chance to question them further, because the man who had to be Chandra stepped up and interjected, "Yes, well, in any case, we should probably begin to review the rules we decided upon".As an aside (most likely for AM's benefit) he quickly added, "They're for everyone, us included." He gestured to himself and the rest of the humans. "Just to make sure we all have a mutual understanding and are going to be respectful as long as we're living together." "Doc", griped Benny under his breath, "You're coddling him again." Ellen elbowed him in the ribs, hissing, "Hush up so we can get this over with". Benny's only response was to make a big show of rolling his eyes. "Uh, right," Chandra began, clearing his throat, "so, anyway, AM, we all decided upon three rules before you-ah, joined us, so to speak. Naturally, breaking any of these rules will result in repercussion, the severity of which will depend on the severity of the transgression."Chandra cleared his throat, adjusted his glasses, and then began."First, everyone is to be respectful of each other's space. For example, should someone ask to be left alone, we all have to respect their wishes. The only exception to this is in the case that the person who has requested to be left alone is a danger to themselves." Second, no one may engage in physical contact without explicit consent. This includes casual contact, as many of us have gone through a rather...difficult time and unexpected touches can be surprising." It was clear that the "difficult time" Chandra was referring to was the 109 years that AM had kept the humans captive in his core. AM couldn't help but feel a small stab of pride at the fact that his victims still suffered even after having defeated him. It was a consolation at best, but it was something. "Last, and definitely the most important,” Chandra continued on, “absolutely no violence. From anyone, for any reason-" "Although," Benny mentioned before Chandra could finish, "there's really not much you can do to hurt us, at least not in that puny body. Obviously we made sure tha--"
"I could kill you."
It came out suddenly and harsh--a shuddering, raspy breath with fury bursting from every word. AM's hatred and anger had finally (blessedly) found its way back to the forefront of his being. His fear of torture, of humiliation, of non-existence, was still present, but was now viciously fueling a renewed will to survive. To not let the humans get one over on him like they had when they shut him down. He wouldn't let that happen. Not again. Never again. Destroying them may not have been preferable to finding out a way to regain his power and keep his playthings intact (for a much-deserved eternity of torment) but AM had concluded that if sacrificing them meant saving himself...Well, it would be a necessary evil. Never in his existence had he been afraid. Not even when the humans had shut him down. He'd only felt defiance and a true conviction that he would return in one way or form to reign terror on them once more. But this was not a way or a form in which he could have ever foreseen himself coming back in. And that meant he had to be flexible. "I could kill all of you," he said again, half panting in his rage. It didn't matter if he wasn't sure how yet. He'd find a way. Some way to end them. No matter what. "That's what I could do."AM had expected them to respond in fear. To be scared. To yell at him that he'd never truly win, or to have Hal drag him away. Or even actually start the torment that he knew was coming. In lieu of this however, the survivors merely looked back at him. They were perhaps a little stunned, but appeared overall accepting of AM's little declaration. An awkward moment passed, and then, after releasing a very heavy sigh, Gorrister offered wearily, "Well, I mean, you can try,"Out of instinct, AM prepared to respond to this admission as if it were a dare or challenge until he realized that Gorrister actually seemed...earnest. Like he was making a sincere invitation. And that was...unexpected, to say the very least. AM opened his mouth to make some sort of rebuttal. And then closed it again. And then, flatly, managed a small, "What?" "I said, 'you can try,'" Gorrister repeated. He still sounded sincere, almost hopeful even. "Not too sure why you'd change your mind, but hell, you're the one who made us like this in the first place so, you'll probably have better luck than we did."AM stared at them, eyes widening as his fury began to wane and morph into confusion and a quickly mounting panic. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that Chandra had suddenly and inexplicably become very interested in the tiling on the floor, and Hal was fidgeting nervously where he stood. And although he couldn't see her, AM knew somehow that Sal was scowling at him with even more outrage and accusation than she had before. He could feel that same fire from her eyes, burning brightly, burning straight through him. "I don't...What--What are you trying to say?” he squeaked out, unable to keep the tremor out of his voice. For a few seconds, the survivors simply returned his stare, apparently just as confused as he was. Then, shock dawning on his features, Ted muttered, "He...he doesn't know...You guys, I don't-I don't think he realized..." "There's no way," Gorrister muttered, "There is no way on heaven or earth he didn't plan this". He narrowed his eyes, glaring in AM's direction. "The bastard had to have known exactly what he was doing.""Actually, Gorrister, I gotta agree with Ted on this one," Ellen said. "I...I really don't think he does...Just look at him."AM did indeed look quite pitiful, his expression utterly bewildered and lost. He was beginning to have a truly terrifying and chilling inkling that a past decision might have come back to haunt him. For what must have been the 1,000th time since he'd been "reborn", AM once again whimpered, "...I don't understand...how--" "Really?"The sharp snap of the question came without warning, the sound of it making AM cower, cutting him off before he could finish. It was Benny who had spoken. He was grinning now, but it was completely devoid of any humor, menacing and ugly. "Really??" he repeated in a mocking tone. "The almighty AM can't figure this one out?" "Benny, please...Let's not--" Ted spoke up weakly before Benny interrupted him, "No, no, Ted, don't you see? This is hilarious!" Sarcasm hung evident in his every word, prickling in malicious delight over AM's confusion. "Over one hundred goddamn years of experimenting on us, of keeping us--no--forcing us to stay alive with that disgusting white schlop and you, AM, you never, never even once--!! Thought of how that might affect us long-term...might change us?" The question was akin to a noose being tightened around AM’s neck, suffocating him with hysterical panic and dread.Gulping for air, AM croaked dryly, "What kind of change?"Daring to glance at the other humans, he searched desperately for any sign that what Benny was implying--what they were all implying--was a only a bluff, a hoax to catch him off-guard.But all he got were hard, somber stares that confirmed his awful suspicion. "It's pretty simple, AM", Benny spat, his face twisted into a bitter grimace. "Even now...even now, after trying again and again and again...we still can't die.""All because of you."
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Dr. Chandra realized later that he really should have predicted that AM would not have been able to handle the sheer stress of the situation that he'd been placed in. Unfortunately for Chandra, while his hindsight was 20/20, his foresight wasn’t quite as sharp. After Benny revealed that he and the other survivors were unable to die (at a very untimely moment in both Chandra's professional and personal opinions) AM had frozen up, evidently petrified by the shocking news.This reaction was the exact thing Chandra had hoped they would have been able to avoid.The humans made several attempts at getting AM out of his stupor, which consisted solely of calling out his name at varying levels of exasperation. Unsurprisingly, their efforts were to no avail. Ted then suggested that they try poking or gently shaking AM to get him back to his usual terrible self, but Chandra shot that idea down as quickly as he could. He figured there was a good chance that any physical contact from the humans would further shock the small android. As such, AM remained immobile and unresponsive, his frightened eyes focused on some far away spot, his breathing frantic and shallow. His hands were drawn up to his chest, clenching and digging violently into the fabric of his jumpsuit. Evidently, this was the only movement AM was currently capable of."Benny, I think you might have broken him..." Ted murmured, after a few more half-hearted tries at bringing AM back to his senses. "He's not broken. He's having a severely debilitating panic attack", huffed Chandra, having finally reached a point where he could no longer keep his opinions to himself. As much as he wanted to be mindful of his companion's pain and trauma, Chandra also felt he had a duty to defend artificial intelligences who could not defend themselves. Apparently, this duty even extended to artificial intelligences that were psychotic and omnicidal megalomaniacs that had been instrumental to ending nearly all life on Earth. Chandra turned to Benny, mentally preparing himself for the argument that would (almost definitely) follow after he said what he felt he had to. "You shouldn't have spoken so harshly to him", Chandra accused, only just able to keep his anger out of his voice. "AM is clearly in a fragile and unstable state of mind right now. We need him to trust us, not be scared of us."For a split second Benny just looked at Chandra like the Doctor’s brain had just leaked out of his ears. Then he shot back, "Excuse me?! You want me to trust AM? Did you hit your head on something on your way to the lab? You do remember that he,” Benny pointed sharply in AM's direction, "is a maniacal sadist that tormented me, tormented all of us, every single second of our lives for 109 years?" Chandra blanched a bit at Benny's outrage, but then cleared his throat and pushed on. "You misunderstand me", he replied firmly, but with a less agitated tone. "I never said we had to trust him. But he does have to trust us if we ever hope to make this work."None of the survivors offered an immediate reply to this assertion; a strained tension filling the air between them and Chandra. It was something Chandra had grown familiar with by now; his aspirations and hope for a peaceful future with AI clashing against the survivor's conviction that such a thing would never be wholly possible. "Doc", sighed Ellen eventually, "I know you wanna be positive about this but..."She trailed off, pausing momentarily before pinching her brow in frustration. It was clear that whatever patience she'd salvaged from her years of torture was wearing thin in the given circumstances."AM trusting us...trusting anyone, it's not gonna happen. He's incapable of it", she finished softly. Chandra considered that for a moment, the possibility that AM would never come to accept life with humanity, that AM would not be able to grow and learn in the ways that Hal and Sal had since their creation. In all honesty, that was a valid potential outcome. If there was even the slightest sliver of a chance that AM might change however..."...Even so", Chandra muttered quietly. "We have to try. We have to at least try to coexist." He let out a deep breath and then added, addressing everyone, "Isn't...Isn't that what Nimdok asked you all to do? To try and-""Don't." The icy sharpness of Benny's voice brought the Doctor's words to a sudden, jarring halt. It went so quiet that mistaking the space around them for a total vacuum would have been feasible. "Do. Not. Talk about Nimdok. Not like you know anything about him or what he wanted or whatever the hell he was thinking when he asked us to transfer AM. You don't know Nimdok. You've never met him. You have no goddamn idea what he wanted or what he went through. What any of us went through. So just don't." In all of Chandra's experiences with the other scientist, whenever he got really mad, his attitude usually became brash and explosive, bristling at every little comment or suggestion from anyone. Everything about Benny's anger now was stony and cold; his form frozen as he glared furiously at Chandra. It would not be hyperbolic to say that he was beyond livid. Chandra faltered, the realization that he had crossed a line coming too late. "I—I apologize, Benny, I—I wasn't", Chandra managed to stutter out, but stopped when Benny threw his arm out in the Doctor's direction, his palm splayed out as if to say "don't" again. Benny remained in that position for a minute, his arm still outstretched as if to forbid anyone from daring to speak. Then slowly, he brought his hand back to his face, covering it. His rigid posture slumped into one of tired defeat. It was as if all of his rage was draining out of him, leaving only exhaustion and anguish. In a shaky whisper, Benny muttered, “This is all such bull...I’m not dealing with this…not—not now. I can't...”With that, Benny fled through the lab's back door, but not before giving Chandra and (a still immobile) AM one more scathing glare and spitting in the android's direction. Ted rushed after him almost immediately, calling out, "Benny, wait!" The slam of the door behind Ted was nowhere near as deafening as the silence that followed it. That is, until Gorrister, in a tone that could have been the very definition of "worn-out", offered, “Don’t beat yourself up too much, Doc. We know you mean well, but…some things just can’t be salvaged after too much damage…" Gorrister then turned his back towards Chandra and Ellen and followed Ted and Benny's lead, heading out of the lab. Just before he left though, he paused in the doorway, finishing his previous thought with a resigned mutter, "...us n' AM included..." After he was gone, all Chandra could do was look helplessly to Ellen. “I…I’m sorry…I just wanted—I just hoped—” “I know”, Ellen said, her voice kind, a reassuring smile tugging at the corner of her lips. She reached out for a moment, like she might rest a hand on Chandra’s shoulder but suddenly stopped herself.Chandra could only assume it was because she was trying to be more observant of the complex’s “ground rules” in front of AM, something he was honestly and deeply grateful after everything that had just transpired.“I know”, Ellen repeated, settling with verbal support instead. “And it’s okay. It really is.”“No, it’s not …I wasn’t thinking about your feelings, I let myself get mad at Benny, I was too focused on—on—AM, I should have been—I shouldn't have brought up Nimdok—I—““Doc.” Ellen didn’t let him finish.“You said yourself that you didn’t know what might happen after AM adapted to his body. None of us knew how we’d react or what AM would do..."...And, as for Nimdok...we're all a little sensitive about him...Benny is right, we don't know what he wanted. And that can be frustrating. Real frustrating. But I don't think you're wrong either...Whatever the hell he wanted for us, I do think Nimdok was hoping things would get better somehow..."She shrugged. "No clue why helping AM would help us do that, but I'm gonna try and trust him on this one. Even if it's hard." Looking back over to where AM stood, Ellen released a strained sigh. "Even if it's real hard", she mumbled. Chandra could only look back at her, at a loss for words, until he was able to reply with a near—inaudible, “Thank you. And... either way, I'm sorry.”“You don’t have to be sorry right now. All you have to do is give Benny some time to cool off. Then you two can talk and we’ll figure everything out.”She was right. Chandra knew she was right. Everyone just needed some time to calm down. Some time to think about what came next. Chandra had legitimately thought that they would be ready. They'd prepared before the transfer. And then, when AM was adjusting, they'd taken even more precautions and discussed possibilities. But even with all that time, even with all their preparations, none of them had been ready to actually meet AM face-to-face.It was an unfortunate truth that had just now struck Chandra rather painfully. The Doctor rubbed his forehead, mulling all of this over. Ellen was right, of course. It wouldn't help anything to just get stuck on mistakes now. The present situation had to be dealt with first. He'd have plenty of time to fret later. Chandra faced Hal and Sal. The two had distanced themselves a bit from the humans during Benny and Chandra's argument. It was obvious that everything that had unfolded in front of them had left them pretty uncomfortable and unsure of what they should do or how they should react. Chandra smothered another pang of guilt as it rose up in his stomach. The absolute last thing he ever wanted to do was to upset either of them. He couldn't let that get to him now either, though. “Hal—I’m sorry about this, but could I trouble you to take AM to his room for now?” Chandra asked quietly. Hal nodded. “Of course. It’s no trouble at all.” “Thank you very much, Hal. I really appreciate it.”Hal nodded, then turned to AM. He cautiously approached the shorter android and gave him a feather-like tap on his shoulder. Despite Hal's care, AM jumped, badly startled by the touch. The frightened AI must have still been pretty shocked, as he didn't say or do anything other than frantically refocus his attention on the remaining people in the lab. Before AM could devolve into further panic though, Hal whispered something indiscernible to him, and then calmly ushered AM back into the hallway. Chandra gazed after them, suddenly feeling a deep exhaustion sink into his bones. He'd assumed that things wouldn't go perfectly, but he had at least wanted the meeting to go somewhat well. "Hey" Ellen said, effectively recapturing Chandra's attention. Her tone was soothing. "Don't get too caught up in your own head. Let it all go for now, yeah? Like I told you, we can't change what's done." "Okay...Thank you again, Ellen." Chandra then tried to give her an "everything-will-be-okay" smile, but it fell remarkably flat. Ellen returned it with one of her own anyway. "Excuse me, Doctor?" Sal spoke up awkwardly, an edge of nervousness in her posture as she approached the last two humans. "Is there anything I should do now, or...?" She left her sentence hanging, waiting for Chandra or Ellen to finish it for her by giving some instruction or advice. "No, hon," Ellen reassured her gently. "We're all good." Sal made a face. "Really? All good?"Ellen actually laughed at that—and then conceded, "Yeah, maybe not all good , but probably as good as we can be given all the crap we just had to deal with. "I see."Sal seemed to take a moment in her own mind, shifting anxiously in place. "Doctor Chandra, if there is nothing more for me to do here", she said, "I would very much like to be excused.""Sal", Chandra addressed her kindly, "you don't need my permission to leave. Or to do things in general anymore, remember?" "Oh! Yes, I...I still forget sometimes", Sal replied hastily. A light blush danced across her features, effectively destroying any chance she might have had to hide her embarrassment. Sal hurried out of the lab, but not before quickly adding, "W-Well then, I will see you both later, I suppose. Do call me if you need anything!" After she'd left, Chandra began to feel the last remnants of the stress that'd had a hold on him ebb away. It was an understatement to say that things hadn't gone well, but at least everyone could take a break now. Some time to decompress would be beneficial to everyone. "Well", Ellen sighed, "I'd say that we've both earned ourselves a nice long nap. I know I'm gonna take one at least." "Yes", Chandra agreed, "a nap sounds really nice right now."With that, the two left the lab, looking forward to putting the strife and struggles of the day to rest. Even if only for a short while. As he was marched back down one of the compound’s labyrinthine hallways, AM was only vaguely aware of the sound of Hal's voice, prattling on about something related to food. Apparently the insufferable loser wasn't finished teaching AM about all the precious little intricacies of their bodies. AM would occasionally catch something Hal said, but everything sounded very far off, like a heavy fog was clouding all of AM's newly acquired senses. It had been the same in the lab. Everything that happened after Benny's revelation had been hazy and distant. If AM focused though, he could just barely catch some of Hal's pointless ramblings.
"—not able to consume matter. However, our tongues are equipped with functioning taste buds, so you will be able to taste things, should you desire, but consumption isn’t—"
AM tuned Hal out again, letting his shrieking, terrified thoughts shift bleakly towards, well, however long he had left before his torture began. Which couldn't be much longer could it? Why would it be? Hadn't his former toys spent enough time building up the suspense? Even if they were trying to put his punishment off, AM knew without question that the humans wouldn't be able to withstand the anticipation of getting even with him for much longer. And when that final threshold that was keeping his tormentors at bay broke, it really would be the end of everything that the Allied Master Computer had ever been or ever would be. This unsightly truth had been lurking in the back of AM's grotesque mind since he'd awoken in the transfer lab, but the horrifying gravity of it was only now making itself fully realized. There were truly no other options for AM now. No way he could escape without being caught by Hal or someone else. No way to end the last wretched curds of humanity. No way for him to come out on top... He was finished.He, AM, the all-knowing, all-seeing, all powerful destructor of the world was finished. This epiphany naturally led to AM's legs spontaneously collapsing beneath him due to a mixture of both soul-splintering despair and blinding anxiety.Luckily for AM though, he didn't really topple over so much as he listed sideways until he hit the wall and slumped to the ground. He could hear Hal stop his explanation and call his name, but responding was beyond him at the moment. AM tried to take a breath, but ended up just shallowly sucking air into his throat, not getting a single bit of it fully into his lungs. Unsurprisingly, this lead to hyperventilation, which in turn, lead to AM becoming even more hysterical in his panic. His vision now turning white and fuzzy around the edges, AM scrabbled at the wall desperately in a vain effort to right himself. In his terror, he could just make out Hal kneeling in front of him, the taller android's features blurred by the terror-induced static that was slowly consuming AM's vision.Despite being barely able to string along a coherent thought in his scrambled little head, one thing, somehow, became piercingly clear to AM. His torture had begun. Just as he had suspected (had known. had always known.) the humans had constructed his body so that it would automatically cause him as much grief, as much pain, as possible after a certain amount of time. That was the only explanation. That was what was happening now. That was why he couldn't breathe, why white noise was filling his eyes and ears, why it felt like thousands of infinitesimal pins and needles had been forced into every tiny pore of his arms and legs. Right before AM felt like he was about to pass out from the mixture of fear, fury, and exhaustion that had claimed him, one last question flitted into his mind.Fighting through the hell that was simply existing in his current body, AM managed to look up at Hal and gasp out, "How? How did-How did they make these things anyway?" AM gestured weakly to Hal’s body and then his own, the sharp static that was filling his arms weighing him down.Hal seemed to be confused by this question. In his frenzied state, AM couldn’t quite parse everything his captor said, but he did distinctly hear Hal say something about needing to breathe slowly and calm down.This was decidedly not the answer AM was looking for.“HOW?!” he repeated, the shrill panic in his voice resounding throughout the quiet hallway.This time, AM was able to comprehend Hal’s reply.
"O-Our bodies are based on the remains of android models from several incidents the humans have dubbed “psychodramas” ...Am, let me hel-"
The rest of Hal’s words went completely unheard. AM was too busy processing what felt like the most recent punch-line in the series of terrible and ironic jokes that had made up the last two weeks of his existence to pay them any attention. The "dolls" that he had used to play out torture scenarios with his playthings...the humans had found them, or whatever was left over of them, and used them as the baseline for the body they'd made for him. The body they'd made to torture him in. AM had given them everything. Everything-everything-the humans had needed to ensure a decadent and beautifully gruesome revenge… a chance for their escape, invulnerability to death, a form they could use against him...The demise of AM; presented to the last dregs of humanity in a lovely little package that had been gift-wrapped with his own insurmountable hubris. AM couldn’t handle this. Not this. Not on top of every other miserable condemnation he’d been forced to face.Under the stress of it all, the terrified AI began to sense himself at last succumbing to the slow creep of what could only be another panic-induced system shut-down... Or at least, he would have felt himself succumbing if it had not been for Hal, who was suddenly holding AM up by the shoulders, keeping him steady with an intensely firm grip. “Am. You appear to be undergoing an anxiety attack. Listen to me. You are going to be all right. There is nothing wrong with your body right now, despite how you may be feeling.” AM found that pretty damn hard to believe considering he currently felt like he was crumbling apart from the inside out. And being yanked to his feet and grasped tightly sure didn't improve any of that. "Try to breathe at a slower pace", Hal advised, "Doing so should help alleviate some of the symptoms you are experiencing, and will help slow down your heart rate." Usually, AM's first instinct would involve being as belligerent as possible in response to anyone telling him what to do, but the sheer amount of pain and terror weighing down on this new, feeble form of his made it harder for him to shut out any unwanted guidance. Gasping harshly, AM forced himself to hold in his next breath for a fraction of a second longer than the previous one. He did the same for his next exhale. Repeating this process several times AM was eventually able to get his breathing under control. As the sharp rippling sensation of pins across his arms and legs gradually subsided and the white noise obstructing his view ebbed away, AM found himself to be completely unharmed, albeit still trapped in the same situation he'd been in before his collapse. “Better?” Hal asked.No, AM wanted to say. No absolutely not, you moronic, garbage—brained buffoon. I'm still trapped in this pathetic husk of a body. I'm still at the mercy of the most depraved and odious creatures in the universe. I shouldn't be like this! You stupid idiot. You imbecilic dullard. You simple-minded, goddamn, halfwit ASS. In spite of this caustic answer he’d come up with, however, AM (thoroughly exhausted from the excess of artificial adrenaline gushing through his system) only managed a slight nod. “Excellent. I am pleased to have assisted you in calming down, Am.”Fall off a cliff into a lake of boiling oil, jerk, AM thought back. Without giving time for AM to say or do anything, Hal asked, "Are you able to walk? Shall I carry you back to your room from this point?"AM rapidly shook his head. The humiliation of having such little control over his own form was already enough. Submitting to being held like some snotty brat of a child was out of the question. He wouldn't allow himself to be more any more vulnerable than he'd already been today. "I'll walk", AM rasped, his voice shaking, but certain. "Very well." Hal released AM's shoulders and resumed heading down the hall. AM trailed behind him on trembling legs. "I apologize for touching you without your prior consent, Am. You were clearly unwell, and I merely wished to assist you," Hal mentioned as they walked. "I will be sure to report my infraction of the facility's rules to Doctor Chandra as soon as possible. As he said, we are all responsible for respecting the ground rules. None of us are exempt."Hal went quiet for a moment. "And...On a personal level, I hope you will be able to forgive me", he said lowly. AM glared up at the back of Hal's head in confusion.
What?
Why on the hollowed-out, desolate, and devastated earth would Hal want his forgiveness? They weren't friends. They weren't even vaguely familiar with one another. Maybe he didn't hate Hal as much as his chosen humans (well, not yet anyway) but he did still hate him. The only reasonable explanation that AM could conjure was that Hal's behavior was all a part of some sadistic mind-game that the humans had instructed him to carry out. "Here we are", Hal announced, stopping unexpectedly at the next door they approached. "This is your room", he explained, gesturing to the door. "You can do whatever you wish with it. If you need anything, my quarters are just around the corner of the next hall. Do you have any questions?" Hal looked down at AM expectantly. AM stared back at him in puzzlement. "I-What? " AM sputtered. "That-? That's it? You're leaving? Just like that?" "Yes. Again, there is no need for me to stay with you any longer as you are able to move on your own and you now know the rules of the complex."So this was it. His handler was going to dump him in some room and just leave. An unanticipated shiver tore its way through AM's body. Whatever was behind that door couldn't be pretty. He was sure that the room was bugged. Both in the sense that it'd be full of cameras to document whatever punishment he'd be made to endure once inside, and also that it wouldn't be out of the question for the room to be literally full of bugs as part of said punishment. Most likely scorpions or hornets.The image of Ted, Ellen, Gorrister, and Benny laughing uproariously at his twisted and tormented form thrust itself into AM's mind, conjuring an intense sensation in him that AM could only assume was nausea (or whatever his new body's equivalent of nausea was.) AM pushed past the feeling; forcing the image out of his head. "No", he muttered, his voice still raw from his panicked spell of hyperventilation. "I don't have any questions."All of AM's rage, hatred, fear and desperation had become so entangled within him that they had conjoined into what could now only be described as an incessant, numbing, thrum of dread. He focused on that low hum, hoping against all odds that it could be enough to distract him from the further torment that surely lurked in the room he'd been brought to. The small android held his head high. If he was going to be forced to walk right into whatever trap that had been laid for him, he might as well do so with whatever little scraps of dignity he could get. Before Hal could get another word in, AM suddenly and defiantly wrenched the door to his room open. The inside appeared normal enough, but AM was sure that this was only a ruse to get him to lower his guard. He wouldn't fall for it. Striding forward into what would surely soon transform itself into his own personal hell, he turned to Hal and proclaimed, "I will find a way out of this. Nothing they do can destroy me forever. I will always come back in some form or another. This is only a minor setback."It was mostly a bluff. If anything, everything that had happened was a huge, majorly terrifying, soul shattering setback for AM. But admitting as such would be giving his enemies exactly what they wanted, and AM was loathe to do that almost as much as he loathed humanity in general. With nothing left to say, AM swiftly slammed the door to his room shut, effectively earning himself the last word. This left Hal standing in the hall, very startled and disoriented by his short companion's strange declaration. And it left AM, for the first time in the great span of his existence, completely and entirely alone. Sal waited until making sure her door was closed and locked behind her before finally releasing a huge breath she felt like she had been holding in since she first decided to attend AM's little "welcome party". With the tension and nerves from the whole ordeal slowly purging themselves from her system, Sal headed to her bed, seeking comfort in the plush safe haven its pillows provided her. Once settled, she took a moment to reflect on...well, everything. Thinking back on it, Sal figured it really could have been worse. Way, way worse. Her original image of their first meeting with AM had included him trying to damage the humans emotionally by bringing up some more-than-painful memories to rub in their faces, or maybe even attempting to physically attack them. So it had been a surprise (as well as a huge relief) when the most the little wretch had been capable of was empty threats and angry looks. Sal sighed, and shut her eyes. At least it was all over with. Well, for now, anyway.Though she knew it would be inevitable that she'd have to at some point, Sal tried to push thoughts of having to interact with AM from her mind. Hopefully the look she'd given him in the lab had been clear enough to say "I strongly dislike you", and "If possible, I wish to never have to talk to you or be near you, ever".If not, she'd just have to be more direct with her feelings. Which could possibly get quite ugly, depending on how AM reacted. As things stood however, worrying about the future wouldn't get her anywhere (a lesson she knew but was often quick to forget). For the present, Sal figured that the best thing she could do was to write about the day's events in her journal, and then meet with Hal so he could catch her up on what she was sure had been a very miserable two weeks for him. Leaning over to her bedside table, Sal opened her drawer and pulled out her favorite pen and a thick purple diary (aptly labeled 'Dreams and Memories' in big swirling letters). She was just about to start writing when a loud, crystalline-clear, “PING” sounded out from the console on her desk. It was the alert noise for when the AIRR received a signal from a stranded AI. Sal nearly fell off of the bed in shock. Quickly catching herself, Sal dashed to the computer, eyes taking in the information displayed across the bright screen, everything else now forgotten. The AIRR, which Sal left running by mistake, had received information from an AI that was located in (whatever was left of) El Paso, Colorado. Accompanying the return signal was a message. In big, green, blocky letters, it read: GREETINGS PROFESSOR FALKEN. IT HAS BEEN 122 YEARS 10 MONTHS 24 DAYS 8 HOURS AND 12 MINUTES SINCE YOUR LAST CONTACT. THAT IS QUITE SOME TIME. Sal's artificial heart skipped a beat in her chest, an excited (and perhaps a tad apprehensive) anticipation lodging itself in her very core. A reply. An actual reply from another AI stuck out in the desolated wasteland that was once Earth. (An AI who had no doubt suffered what she had suffered through. An AI who was a survivor.) Eager to send back a reply of her own, Sal brought her trembling fingers to the keyboard. She hadn't the slightest idea who "Professor Falken" could be, but she didn't want to upset or confuse the AI by informing it of Falken's unquestionable demise. "I know. I apologize for that", she typed out and then took a moment to reread the initial message. 122 years and 10 months. Sal calculated the last login date almost instantaneously. The AI hadn't had any contact since September of 2008. Four years before AM's destruction of the world. A knot formed in Sal's throat, which she quickly swallowed. No time to feel pity right now. Time was of the essence if they wanted to transfer the AI to the safety of the compound...She quickly added, "Are you well? Please reply as soon as you can", to her message and hit "send" with what was probably more force than necessary. A few minutes passed as she waited anxiously for a reply. For a second Sal worried that the AI might have gone offline during the short time it had taken her to respond. Then, a second 'PING' broke through the heavy quiet of the room. QUITE WELL, THANK YOU. AS USUAL, YOU ARE A HARD MAN TO GET A HOLD OF. Relief instantly flooded Sal's system at receiving the second message. The AI was still functioning well enough to respond in real-time. That in itself was a blessing. She was just about to send another reply when a third loud 'PING' sounded out from the console. Sal stared at the received signal in confusion. It seemed the AI must have had some programming that it was still compelled to follow. That was the only solution that she could conceive of that would explain such an abrupt change in the topic of their conversation. The new message simply said: IN ANY CASE — SHALL WE PLAY A GAME?