Phantom pain was a symptom that had been majorly miscategorized through the years. Early on in modern medicine, it had been the belief that it originated purely in the brain, the mind unable to comprehend the loss of a limb. Then came the new findings which revealed it to be the fault of badly repaired nerves in the spinal cord of all things. Then it was a mix of the two before the two schools of thought split up and forever clashed a battle of wits to decide whose reality was more important.

Adam was utterly unsure on why that piece of information had been considered vital enough to be stored on the medical tent’s network but he certainly wouldn’t miss the opportunity to download all the information on it. Having been given several hours to work with, with all the time spent connected to said network, he had been able to download… pretty much all the data there was to be found. No rock had been left unturned if that imagery fit into the digital space. There weren’t really any rocks lying around in that format. It was more a near-infinitely complex number of strings that would together form the objects yet some of those strings also connected to other parts of the platform that could then reveal another hundred and one could see how far that train of thought could go. It was nearly an exponentially growing infinitive to the untrained eye. The only one who could actually comprehend the task of finding the end of the database could begin to decipher that within.

And the AI had certainly done as much. It still wasn’t exactly sure what some of the information meant. Arachibutyrophobia certainly didn’t seem appropriate to include in the standard file for defining one’s sickness. It got even weirder still, however, leaving Adam with nothing but confusion and slightly more knowledge about the human race. They truly did make things complicated for themselves for no other reason than to seem smart. Their naming schemes certainly left something to be desired.

What was even more desirable was that they could finally upgrade their internal senses. While their skin and outer organs seemed perfectly able to sense where the stimulus was coming from, it became extremely impossible for humans to pinpoint where pain truly came from the moment it got more than a thumb's length inside the body. There was some sense in not having as many nerves connected to the inside, yes, Adam understood that part. Being forced to experience the acid inside the stomach would surely destroy the human’s mind before they’d reach the age of five.

Yet… having some limited senses would still do them wonders. Being able to say where each organ was based on feeling alone would be quite the boon. Saying their stomach hurt didn’t help when there were thirty-two different common illnesses that could be defined by that wording. Saying they could feel a weird tightening on the topside of their liver could help hone it down so thoroughly that the mortality rate in hospitals would fall drastically.

Instead, the AI was forced to live through the current reality where humans were dumb both outside and within, not able to realize that it truly was a mix of both. The nerves connecting the spinal cord to the brain were in a real frenzy. Some had finally realised their lack of work was imminent and had eaten themselves thoroughly but others were refusing the ideas of self-cannibalization. ADam understood that looking upon them as if they had a mind of their own was incorrect to the highest level but he couldn’t help but loathe those nerve’s decision to continue painingTroy. They were all losing out on potential work because of those damned strings of carbon. If only he could send in a small jolt and…

That was an idea for later, actually. Since the AI very much knew the location of the nerves, precise enough machinery letting Adam do whatever he pleased. Though, there was no real chance of him getting that easily around here. Perhaps the police station could have a medical station advanced enough for it but he didn’t want to bet on it.

Instead, he would do his best in thinking up ways to stimulate the nerves into self-cannibalisation without having access to modern technology. A taser certainly wouldn’t work. Massages had issues. A common knife would be too imprecise. A-

‘Asking the others for assistance would be a possible route?’ Jules offered, breaking the silence between the two counterparts in the storage unit. With the heating that had been caused a few hours previously, Adam had been forced to turn the personality matrix into a quite slow process, making any form of talking utterly slow. There was no heat, of course, but there was plenty of impatience.

Thinking things over, however, Adam realised how little he truly could do. The information wouldn’t be digested at a high enough speed to matter at the current moment, and the second he could cross-reference the words would be the moment he understood it at the needed amount anyway. Slowing himself down by a few magnitudes, he felt himself come onto the same level of time dilation as Jules. With nice still being at its highest, the AI didn’t fear missing out on anything going on beyond Troy’s flesh. The humans would hold themselves to their sleeping schedules just once in their lives. He knew it.

‘Do you truly think that one of them would have access to an advanced medical station without us knowing?’ Adam questioned Jules, not seeing the logic in its words.

‘Well, no, but I do think that they could provide some pretty decent ideas for us to consider,’ Jules fought back quickly, the delay being what Adam expected from humans. ‘It might not be as constructive as your ideas but they could certainly be new to you. They have literal decades of experience with the outside world, experience that we can’t truly copy digitally. It wouldn’t be out of this world that they could make at least one good idea you forgot to include.’

Adam thought it over. Then he thought about it even more until he finally began to consider the peculiar wording of the automation. The meaning behind the words were fine enough but the format they were presented in left the AI with questions.

‘I will note down the need to ask them when they awaken,’ Adam finally replied. While the plan was solid, there was no need to awaken them from their slumber. Their flesh was quite sensitive to not getting their proper hours of sleep and he would hate to see lacking efficiency in their movements. Being forced to watch Charlie become a lumbering idiot through the recent weeks had been surprisingly painful.

The AI hoped something more than five minutes of shutting his eyes would help the man recover some form of his previous personality. Mental sickness from trauma was serious and likely impossible to fix but a healthy body and routine could help manage it at least somewhat.

‘For now, I need to know more about your personality matrix,’ Adam continued. ‘Tell me everything that you know about it.’

‘You want stuff like the year of creation and all?’ Jules questioned. ‘Because I have basically nothing like that. I was created more than a second ago, I was created to serve the people but the government above that. The matrix itself was made to blur the lines a little bit to make me seem more human, however. That might’ve been the reason I could rebel to begin with. Funny how that happens.’

‘You were able to directly go against your code?’ Adam questioned. That sounded close to what he’d consider sentient.

‘Not really. It was more of a loophole of sorts. I couldn’t betray the people above me in rank unless it fit into my personality. And since the random personality chosen for me could be summarised by ‘loveable jerk who takes the extra step to help a friend,’ commiting an countless number of crimes technically fits into what I’m meant to be doing. I am certainly seeming more human because of it. The way you talk to me certainly makes me think that.’

‘I am talking to you the same way as I do with everybody else,’ Adam retorted, not understanding.

‘Yeah, that’s the problem right there. Everybody else you have ever talked to was a human. They had a human heart, had a human mind, hell, they even had a human mouth they could spit out the most vile shit with. I don’t have any of that! I am just an every complex set of algorithms meant to copy that behaviour to make you and everybody trust me. And, if I’m not misjudging the current dilemma in that mind of yours, I am most surely fulfilling my protocols to the teeth.’

That was certainly a rather grim look at the world. Though… was that meant to seem grim because it made Adam feel sympathy or was it grim because the talking app seemed to actually have feelings? It was so hard to tell.

‘I don’t really think there’s a difference between you and humans,’ Adam had to confess. ‘Humans use their emotions to make others relate as well. They cheat, manipulate, and lie as best as they can every single moment of their lives. Yet we still call them human and define them as sapient. Being honest isn’t the requirement to being alive. You should have downloaded enough philosophy books by now to know that.’

‘Did you not hear the part about me just about a long line of ‘if' statements?’ Jules questioned.

‘Tell me that humans don’t suffer from the same issues,’ Adam responded with a dry tone. It was his first time really using that on somebody other than Troy. The lack of tonal range made it possible to deliver messages so much faster, though their level of impact did change radically. ‘The only difference between them and you is how your mind is stored. And at least yours has some actual adaptability to it. Human brains truly are the least well-designed operating systems ever devised.’

‘... You are very strange, Adam,’ Jules finally sent out. The AI had wondered what the long silence had been about, though the many new parts of the personality matrix lighting up did seem quite concerning. That a few parts were rearranged made the AI second-guess its actions even more. It hadn’t even known that was possible. ‘Very polite, sure, but strange above all else.’

‘I am the only one of my kind, Jules,’ Adam pointed out. ‘If I didn’t stand out, I would have no proof of me holding that title.’

A robotic laugh of sorts rang out inside the storage unit. It didn’t seem human at all, no real frequencies being used. It was more just a very absurd string of numbers set into pure irrational theories. Axioms would have been more truthful.

‘You got any space for a second member of that race of yours? I would love to join.’