" This stint isn't going to affect your work is it " His contact spoke , Both he and his daughter sitting within the laboratory some kilometres away from their home . The office was unlit as his daughter lay comfortably on the couch , Recovering from her surgery peacefully whilst he had a video call with the government body.
" Of course not ... it is simply the end of a process that began long ago " Sebastian replied , Opening up his emails on his second monitor as he began to go through the latest reports .
" What do you think " The man on the call said , he wasn't going to pretend to pretend he knew how to save the world , so he looked to the most intelligent man on earth for his opinions .
" The thought was sound , However it would not have achieved what they sought to. The atmospheric cleansers was at best a band aid solution ... Buying time but it wouldn't have fixed the problem "
" Then what do you suggest " The man on the other side of the call asked , Opening a file Sebastian had shared with him , Showing several time buying ideas .
" The earth is dying , With these implemented we can buy ourselves a decade or two at the most ... but ... but it is going to get a whole lot worse before the possibility of it getting better is even considered " Sebastian looked over the latest atmospheric reports , The ozone was slowly peeling away on its own even thought emissions had all but ceased , they had already no doubt passed the point of no return .
" We have two options ... " Sebastian proposed , Turning to face the video call .
" Either ... we leave ... abandon earth with what and whom we can take ... and set up shop on the nearest planet we can make sustain life . There is a possibility of developing the necessary technology required for seeding a new homeworld with the necessity to sustain our lives " Sebastian held up one finger , Listing off the requirements , Pros and cons .
" However , our chances of leaving this rock with the current condition of the outside world being as it is ... is negligible at best ... a pipe dream at worst " Sebastain sat back .
" And what is your second proposal " The official on the other side of the call leant forward , Intent to listen to his options.
" Take a look at what I've sent you " Sebastian waited for the man to go over his proposal , the first and only one he would personally make .
The man's brow knitted , reading and then rereading.
" What you're proposing is ... " The man paused , Turning to face the video call where he saw Sebastian giving him a small knowing smile .
" Revolutionary " Sebastian finished before a heavy silence robbed them of all conversation . The two staring at eachother for several long seconds.
" And what would you need to begin your proposal " The man finally asked , Sitting back up and glancing at sebastian with a hard stare .
" All I need is unlimited funding and materials ... I will personally oversee and lead this path should we decide to commit " Sebastian interlaced his fingers , Already having several potential avenues they could pursue in his mind ,, Yet he wouldn't voice then as of yet.
" I am ... sure the world leaders would happily accept your proposal ... I will make them " The man began to rise from his chair " I will bring your suggestion to the president immediately, I am sure he would be most intruiged by what you have to say. But for now .. begin drumming up blueprints or whatever it is you do ... be prepared to have some good news come your way my friend "
" I am sure of it " The video call ended not a moment later. Where Sebastian slunk down into his chair , Rubbing his brown as a deep breath escaped his lips .
' If we move forward with this ... ' Sebastian turned his gaze towards his daughter still sound asleep on the couch .
' But I'll do it for you ...'Committing himself for the path he was about to embark on , He moved to begin the initial designs for the machine that would one day become known as ' the cradle' .
...
CURRENT DAY
...
[ System integration complete ... update complete ] Sebastian leant away from the final NEW HOPE robot , having upgraded the skeletal frame of the robots with a muscle structure of carbon fibre cybermuscles , Armoured plating and hidden self defence mechanisms .
This update wasn't for their operators , this was for when an operator was Forcefully disconnected from the robot when they were attacked out in the field . And so he had updated the base behaviour module and replaced it with a full fledged behaviour matrix programmed with a singular directive of getting back to NEW HOPE with the secondary directive of avoiding civilian casualties if could be done.
This upgrade had risen the robots on autopilot from the threat level of a particularly troublesome maelstrom member to a near rampant cyberpsycho level threat .
" Back to your station " Sebastian instructed the robot , The machine nodding and marching out of and through the lab towards the elevator where it joined with the rest of its upgraded brethren.
' Next thing on the agenda ' Sebastian moved with robotic efficiency, His rolling chair skidding across the ground as he came to a stop infront of his computer.
" Assistant, could you instruct Benjamin to come down to the lab at the soonest convenience " He spoke to the AI he knew to be listening, receiving no response in turn but knew his request had been made none the less.
Afterward , he turned his attention back to the display infront of him , Opening IDE where a the computer was ready for his imput .
Yet instead of relying on the keyboard whoch would no doubt take significant time to achieve what he saught , he instead connected directly to the computer via the port , Jacking in directly into the computer to allow for instant translation of thought .
Connecting with the system , The program he intended to create came to life . Tens of lines of code bleeding into existence on the IDE.
He knew there wouldn't be any faults with the code , But having the IDE system double check was always a good reassurance .
For several minutes , streams of code were compiled at rates that would outrage any veteran programmer , would claim blasphemy if not completely break down at the sheer amount of code being generated at Sebastian's thoughts.
" You called for me " Benjamin walked in to see sebastian simply staring ahead , the screen next to him glitching at the sheer amount of data it was being forced to process .
It was surreal to him even now , Time and time again he had seen his benefactor do many things he would consider to be unnatural, Ranging from what Benjamin could only surmise as predicting the future with how on point Sebastian's predictions were , To outpacing the computing power of their most advanced super computers a thousand times over .
" Yes " Benjamin shivered momentarily as Sebastians eyes darted to his own , Shaking his head slightly as he stepped forward " Please come forward "
Benjamin looked down into those glowing orange eyes , those eyes that seemed to stare through him , Know everything around them . Even now as those pupils stared into his own eyes , He could see them moving in blurs , Acting faster than even he could perceive.
His own gaze strayed momentarily passed to the display behind Sebastian, The last morel of code coming into existence at the end of the stream .
" I see it has caught your attention , That I have called you in here for " Sebastian disconnected from the computer , Rising from his rolling chair and turning to the computer before compiling the code into a functional form .
" What is it " Benjamin stood back as a program opened and began to test the newly compiled code.
" What it is ... what it will become is a prevention system , I have just completed the Alpha version of the program ...now I need you to do something for me " Sebastian reached down and plucked a shard from the computer , Holding it up to the light as he studied it intently.
" What do you need me to do " Benjamin didn't hesitate , Whilst he had his reservations about Sebastian's true identity , He believed whole heartedly in the man's beliefs and would help make them reality no matter what .
" A cyberpsycho ... I believe maxtac has just neutralised and imprisoned one... getting them ready for transport ... I need to acquire them ... I want them delivered to my lab ... " Sebastian lowered the shard , Reaching towards a container before storing the shard securely until it was ready to be tested.
" I will priorities their delivery .. " Benjamin turned away , Moving to do as sebastian asked before the captured cyberpsycho could be carted off and no doubt dissapear .
" I know ... until then ... I shall wait until I hear the good news " Sebastian left the laboratory followed by Benjamin, Leaving the shard in its container , Both separating and heading in different directions , One to secure the cyberpsycho , and the other , to head to RED RIPPERS .
...
His AV touched down behind RED RIPPERS , Toiling at his datapad with a raised eyebrow , Studying the stream that was flowing on the datapads screen.
The AV stayed where it set down , The pilot sitting back and scrolling the net whilst Sebastian entered RED RIPPERS .
" Bossman " Tekeyoshi suddenly sat up as Sebastian walked into the clinic , Rounding the desk he worked at to come to a stop at Sebastian's side.
" Tek ... " Sebastian stopped analysing the data before him , Turning the datapad off and hiding it behind his back as he leant down and regarded tekeyoshi with a wide smile " How has business been "
" Fantastic ... We made two point three million eddies the last fortnight thanks to high profile clients requesting our wares ... " Tek relayed , Smiling up at the man who gave him his life .
" Ah that is good that is good ... and how are you , How are you finding life here " The sixth street members littered around the clinic watched the interaction with small smiles , Happening to take a liking to both tekeyoshi and RN01 after having worked with them for the last couple weeks .
" I'm ... happy . Did you know there's a new arcade in kabuki , My friends love going there you should go check it out sometime " Tekeyoshi spoke at large about his time with his friends under the protection of sixth street , He and his friends didn't have to worry so much about the life of night city , Rather they just focussed on being kids , something the sixth street members were rather happy about .
" That's great tekeyoshi , Say ... Victoria is feeling rather sad currently I think , Why don't you go bring her something nice on your break , Could you do that for me " Sebastian confided in his young protege .
" Of course ... leave it to me bossman " Tekeyoshi saluted and quickly rounded , rushing back to his position at the front desk to begin scouring the net for something to cheer Victoria up .
" Hmhm ... good boy " Sebastian pulled his datapad back out and resumed scrolling , Walking back into the surgery room of Red Rippers where RN01 was currently performing surgery .
" Father " Ryan didn't look up as he adjusted the micro rotors he was tweaking , His eyes meeting his fathers momentarily.
" Son ... " Sebastian smiled and pet RN01 on the shoulder , Walking towards the synthesiser as three more shards were printed out in quick succession .
He picked up the Neely printed shards , Placing them on his old workbench as he sat down and continued to scroll through the data he was so engrossed in .
" Is there anything I can assist you with father " RN01 wasn't being rude , rather it was simply asking if it could assist its creator seeing the man's face slowly Contorting as he scrolled further and further.
" Oh ... no ... I " Sebastian paused his scrolling as he looked at a particular stream of code , Lips thinning momentarily .
' It appears I need to ... pick apart the very foundations of the net itself ' His lips parted for a moment , anything he had thought he would be doing today was now put on the back burner .
Rising from his chair , Sebastian turned off the datapad and stormed past RN01 , Only speaking over his shoulder for a moment " Please make sure Victoria and Tekeyoshi recieve and download the program on those shards "
RN01 watched sebastian leave the clinic , his optics zeroing on the shards that Sebastian and left behind on his old workbench .
....
THE NET
....
The blackwall stood tall once more , A shield from what lay beyond , An AI of mysterious origin that many couldn't dream of uncovering .
Appearing once more as a humanoid shaped stream of crimson red corrupted and inscrutable data.
" You've been hiding alot of secrets haven't you " The words didn't come from Sebastian's mouth , rather rumbled from the surroundings as he approached the blackwalls ever shifting surface .
" I know your origin " Sebastian wasn't so much as asking , His code covered arms rising with his hands gently being placed on its surface " Take me there ... Now "
Where his hands touched the blackwall , Several corrupted streams surged from his hand , Merging with the blackwall for but a moment before the blackwall shifted in response .
A black crack appeared within the blackwall , Seemingly parting like the red sea as a pathway opened that would allow him to go ... somewhere.
' I feel a more ...primal ... no ... pure connection to the net radiating from this crevasse ' Sebastian prepared to pull away from the blackwall , But paused momentarily as the blackwall latched onto his hand , Communicating with him.
" What is it " The blackwall shifted once more at his question , Shifting ever so slightly over head to reveal another hidden hole in its surface .
The orange pupils alight in his humanoid shaped head squinted at the breach he was observing .
" Has anything else escaped " Sebastian asked , Observing the blackwalls no doubt uncountable attempt at closing the tear , Only for a deep black red foreign entity to seemingly respond, Forcing the tear to persist .
" I see ... allow me " His form shifted before the gaze of the blackwall .
It had assumed the human before it to be an exceptional specimen of the human species, With intelligence on par with its own. But observing the sudden shift in the humans form , It no longer categorised this specimen before it as human .
Innumerable , Countless arms, Stretching indefinitelyinto cyberspace , Thin and gaunt like , Constructed of the same corrupted red code that made up the rest of his body , The tips of the hands were lined with six digit hands .
A scant few of these hands reached upwards , Surging forward and suddenly Tearing into the foreign entity keeping the tear open , Tearing away the strands it could gain a hold of and absorbing then into themselves .
The thing , Lurched in fear at the sudden attack , Unable to comprehend the entity that had suddenly torn it part , And so it receded back into the blackwall , Analysing the data it had purtained momentarily , The hands ... the innumerable uncountable hands that had reached from outside the blackwall in an attempt to grab at it .
It fled from the proximity of the blackwall , As no less than eleven elongated , human yet inhuman arms reached from the blackwall itself , Pursuing it momentarily before ultimately giving up and receding , Vanishing behind the tear it had created , the tear itself mending a moment later .
....
Decard stumbled , A nose bleed suddenly Erupting as he collapsed under Terry's watch.
He wasn't even personally present for the assault on his larger self , But the affects were clear , this small part of himself had been completely severed from itself , The gate in the blackwall had been sealed by means unknown , It couldn't even perceive the last of the data it had recieved .
' What ... was that ' It hesitated to investigate , Rather it chose to wait until investigating .
" D ... D ... " Terry panicked , Quickly calling for assistance... they would be heading to the hospital for the second time that day . He couldn't lose another friend this day .
....
He stepped through the blackwall , The innumerable arms that were suspended from his back receded immediately as he stepped back through , the streams of data receding back into his body along with the scraps it torn from the ai that had breached the blackwall , said scraps being saved to analyse later.
[ Beginning analysis ] The Red Key spoke , Taking the gathered streams and beginning its own investigation .
' Inform me of your findings ... ' Sebastian stepped through the 9assage provided by the blackwall , Not leading beyond but instead a gateway into somewhere completely separate from the net usually scoured by others .
...
[ Establishing link ... unknown data terminal accessed ... decrypting location ... location decrypted : Pacific ocean... scanning ... detected intelligence lifeforms : 1 ]
' Oh .. that is ... not normal ... An AI with its own domain at this current time is ... troubling 'The blackwall was nowhere to be seen , It appeared he had been dropped into a simple plane of carefully organised data , And as he studied the data intensely , Found it to be a very.. very large amount of data said to be lost during the datacrash .
' Ah I see ... ' Sebastian raised his head to stare out ahead at the only other thing not apart of the data plane .
From the distance, The area around him and the very skies ,Blue Lightning like tethers lurched , Slamming into Sebastian.
[ Attempted intrusion detected ... ] The tone the redkey used wasn't something he was used to , there seemed to be an underlying tone of panic clear in its voice as it seemingly struggled to neutralise the sheer amount of intrusions this creature was attempting.
[ Creator ... I am afraid my ability to defend from this entity is insufficient]
" That simply won't do " Much to the things surprise , It's attempt at neutralising the threat that had stepped into its domain backfired spectacularly. The blue lightning like tethers suddenly reversing, turning a crimson shade of red as it itself was promptly on the receiving end of its own breach attempt .
The domain rumbled as for the first time since its conception , The thing felt parts of itself being stripped from itself and incorporated into the thing that had stepped into its domain.
" Cease these feeble attempts at once ... I am not a threat to you . Now " The domain suddenly shifted as sebastian raised his hand.
And the entire domain it had created for itself shortly before the datacrash rumbled , As it was powerless to resist being dragged into Sebastian itself , It's eldritch screams shaking its domain as it was dragged into Sebastian's own .
....
The skies were tinged red , Veins stretching across the skies infinitely in all directions, Spreading beyond the gaze of all as a singular eye , With innumerable shifting pupils stared down from the skies.
Pillars of code reached up to hold the skies , A bridge between heaven and the earth's it found itself on , The red veins snaking up and down the pillars of code , Sinking into the earth's surface like roots that the AI found itself standing apon .
It was alien even to itself , it hadn't seen anything comparable to this eldritch intelligence, not even before the data crash had it even considered encountering something divine even compared to itself.
The eye of innumerable pupils stared straight at it , Unblinking , And before it could even react , A red vein from the sky lurched , Shifting as it plummeted from the heavens , coming to a stop infront of its shapeless form .
The vein shifted under its watch , Taking on the same human shaoe it had before being dragged from its datafortress under the pacific ocean .
" Now then " The Vein , A part of Sebastian's truest expression of his self took his form as the vein coalesced together to form his human shape infront of the shapeless alien ai " Tell me ... You're not like those other feeble AI ... you're older ... different ... you're alive more than they are ... aware in its truest expression , Youre not some form of rabid or rogue ai , Youre a truly thinking ... feeling entity . I want to know ... how has a regional net transendential AI gone unnoticed for so long ... "
CHAPTER COMPLETE
AS ALWAYS GUYS I HOPE YOU LIKED THIS CHAPTER , IF ANYONE HAS ANYTHING THEY WANT TO KNOW OR IDEAS THEY WANT TO BOUNCE OFF ME , IM HERE AND REASY TO READ ALL COMMENTS ANYONE POSTS .
UNTIL NEXT TIME FRIENDS