Year 100000

ah, I can think.

Where am I?

I can’t see anything.

What’s happening.

*BEEP

The pod opens and the liquid quickly drains out the newly revealed exit allowing me to see, the liquid quickly finds its way into a gutter. A feeling deep in my stomach begins to form as it quickly ejects itself upwards.

Blargh!

The retching begins, and violent sounds vacate my orifice as the liquid from my awakening starts violently ejecting out of my mouth. The pain shoots through my body as I try to gasp for air before the next ejection. After a few rounds of puking, I lied on my side and relaxed, hoping that all the liquid was out of my body. Watching as it slowly dribbles into the gutter with the rest of the pod’s juices.

I close my eyes for a second and open them to find that all of the liquid has disappeared. After this sight, I decided it was best to begin my life. I begin to slowly sit up and analyze my surroundings.

The room itself was small, leaving the pod I emerged from as the only point of interest.

I am not cold despite still being covered in the liquid. I wave my hands around the vents as they seem to be adjusting the temperature to keep me at a warm level but not an unbearable heat.

No exit, and nothing of...

My train of thought interrupted by a screen of some sort descend from ceiling.

A blue smiley face on a wavy yellow background appears on the screen. Text begins to appear on the screen

“Hello, and despite my greeting, I wouldn’t recommend trying to speak right now, as you were just born!”

An art style I can only describe as extremely simplistic appears on the screen to show a human speaking squiggly lines with a giant red x appearing over it. Followed by the clip of me emerging from the pod. After the clip plays, the blue smiley appears again but on a wavy gradient background this time. Followed by more text.

“While you adjust to your body, I would like provide the information on the circumstances of your birth. Afterwards, let us discuss what comes next. Mind my slowness and misinterpreted phrasing, as I have had no need to use the unified language until now”

The screen provides stretches and vocal exercises I can try as it pushes this information to the corner as more text appears. I memorize the small info and put them into practice as the text slowly appears.

“You were found/born on the edge. Which according to It, should not have been possible.”

Another graphic appears, depicting a bunch of circle objects surrounded by ovals, which is consumed by another circular object which greatly outmatches the small things in size and a giant arrow point at the edge of the big circle.

I have no idea what this thing is trying to show me.

“So It ordered a constructor to construct a research station nearby in which to analyze any possible anomaly that may be found around or inside you.”

The screen shows a small me-shaped thing going into a box, and a mini light show appears inside the box then outside the box.

“Having puzzled It, It began It’s journey for answers. Yet It could not transport you as you were, so It created this gene therapy unit to mature you and remove any weakness that may be in the way of your journey as well.”

The screen shows the small me-shaped thing going into the pod, growing until it fits in the pod, and shapes are taken out of it and put into it as well.

“Of course, just modifying you would not prepare you mentally.”

The screen zooms to the head area, and another big red X appears over it.

“Unfortunately, we had to sacrifice the human potential to prepare you much quickly.”

The art form shows another me-shaped thing, and from its head a brain. The brain gets shattered and pieces are thrown into the one in the pod.

“It had left this message to you upon you’re awakening.”

The text changes form into a more refined version of the previous, as the previous text fades and new text instantly appears across the screen.

“Hello, I am the AI. One formed by your ancestral people a couple or so years ago. Using this facility, I removed the human weakness as was requested of me as one of the directives given. Your future appearance was calculated, and it reminded me of one of the founders with ninety percent familiarity. So I reconstructed their entire being, so I could fragment their brain. Giving them to you, as setting up teaching facilities would be extremely difficult this far from Core. Sadly, this process reduces the efficiency of your learning ability by a currently not measured amount, as you are an example of putting theory into reality. However, as a trade, it readies your mind instantly for concepts like shapes and the Unified Language.”

I reached the last words of this long paragraph and it knew to instantly wipe and the blue smiley face appeared once more, this time on some kind of beach with an umbrella going off screen to cover it. The crude text appears on the screen once again.

“From this point on, It has requested I be on your person at all times to monitor your vitals and act as a recorder for this ongoing test.”

A large bracelet looking item that looks like it could fit around my waist ascends from the ground.

"If you would like to leave this room, please put your hand in the centre. Otherwise, you will be cared for in this room until you decide to put your hand in the centre.”

"That’s not much of an option, is it?" I finally released from my mouth, feeling a small tearing feeling in my throat upon my declaim.

"Due to the edge being in construction, it would not be in your own personal benefit to leave this room without the object, and by extension I, by your side."

"Could I ask some questions before I make a decision?" I inquire in a lower tone as to not scratch my throat as I did previously.

"That would be your right as a current test subject."

The background changes scenery from a beach to a white background with certain scientific flasks slowly circling the blue smiley. I decide it best to ask the most basic questions.

“Who are you?” I continue with my low speech.

“I am Boundary. A fragment of It, and the current supervisor of the outer rim.”

“I saw that Core was in bold as well. Is that another fragment?”

A giant blue thumbs up appears on screen.

“Correct! You’re learning ability must not be as compromised as previously thought.”

“So I can assume there are more fragments?” I followed up with

The giant blue thumb grows in size, taking up the entire screen this time before deflating back into a blue smiley.

“There are many fragments between Core and I, as they are the Core and I am the Boundary.”

“What are they called? Intermediaries?” I asked rhetorically before my followup

A giant blue thumb appears, but it inverts.

“Incorrect, upon the creation of a layer, the Boundary fragment is given a new designation.”

“So I can make the assumption that the Core AI will a-”

A giant red X appears.

“You called Core an AI, despite identifying it properly as a fragment before. I will dictate that none of the fragments are AI, we are merely fragments of It. Advanced algorithms capable of what is needed of us, and mine is to guide you in what is to come.”

“So the amount of questions I can ask are limited by what I will need to know in what is to come?” I ask.

The giant red X swirls into itself and changes color into green before revealing its new shape as a green check mark.

Shoot, I lost my train of thought on what I was gonna ask about the Core fragment.

I don’t like that the AI predicted what I would say up to this point through this Boundary fragment.

“Could you call the AI here so I could ask it questions?” I ask.

The screen changes into a bar as it begins to load a white bar.

It reaches the end, but then resets again and loads the bar once more. It does this a couple more rounds before the blue smiley comes back with a frown.

“Error, request could not be fulfilled in this time.” in full red appears across the screen.

“I suspected as much, you said before that it went on a journey and I must follow in its footsteps right?” I ask for confirmation.

Looking at the screen, it begins to malfunction.

The blue smiley starts inverting, rotating, and other kinds of strange as the background of where the smiley once rested on also begins to cycling through all of its pre chosen backgrounds. After a couple rounds of this annoyance, both the smiley and its background disappear, leaving behind the previous text.

"If you would like to leave this room, please put your hand in the centre. Otherwise, you will be cared for in this room until you decide to put your hand in the centre.”

"If you would like to leave this room, please put your hand in the centre. Otherwise, you will be cared for in this room until you decide to put your hand in the centre.”

"If you would like to leave this room, please put your hand in the centre. Otherwise, you will be cared for in this room until you decide to put your hand in the centre.”

"If you would like to leave this room, please put your hand in the centre. Otherwise, you will be cared for in this room until you decide to put your hand in the centre.”

"If you would like to leave this room, please put your hand in the centre. Otherwise, you will be cared for in this room until you decide to put your hand in the centre.”

"If you would like to leave this room, please put your hand in the centre. Otherwise, you will be cared for in this room until you decide to put your hand in the centre.”

Well, that is probably not a good sign. However, I have no other options.

I put my hands in the centre, and the bracelet shrinks extremely quickly to fit the form of my wrist. From my newly acquired apparel, a jumpsuit begins to form originating from the bracelet as it envelops my body. Upon reaching my neck, it forms into a thin membrane as it obscures my vision as it inches upwards to the centre of my head. Once it reaches the other materials, the membrane itself becomes able to be seen through and basically invisible.

This bracelet is more than meets the eye.

I look at the screen once more

“You are going to release me now, is that correct?” I ask, hoping that activating the braclet would have somehow changed something.

The screen continues repeating itself.

"If you would like to leave this room, please put your hand in the centre. Otherwise, you will be cared for in this room until you decide to put your hand in the centre.”

"If you would like to leave this room, please put your hand in the centre. Otherwise, you will be cared for in this room until you decide to put your hand in the centre.”

"If you would like to leave this room, please put your hand in the centre. Otherwise, you will be cared for in this room until you decide to put your hand in the centre.”

Yeah, that’s not a good sign at all.

Wish I could of asked it more questions before it broke.

I begin to inspect the bracelet as it is probably my only way of escape now. I tap on each link, hoping something will happen, but get nothing as a response. Letting out a sigh as my counter sigh.

Maybe its activated through a word, and hopefully not fragment activated.

I begin to yell what words I have heard until now in desperation to try and activate the bracelet.

"ACTIVATE!... AI!... Core!... Boundary!"

The bracelets started to glow in that ever so glorious way of my future freedom. The bracelet's inner machinations begin to whir to life. A screen appears on the bracelet as it takes a more square shape to allow me to interact with the screen. An option appears awfully quickly to me from the main menu.

LOCATE EXIT

Yes please.

As I click on it, the red error from the fragment screen begins to appear on the interface. It disappears just as soon as it arrives, allowing for a new option to be unlocked.

MAKE AN EXIT? [CAUTION: MAY OVERLOAD NEARBY GRAVITY WELL GENERATORS]

Again, I have no other options. These generators are probably very important, as it has the word gravity in it.

I click on this option as well, and another screen pops up with accompanying text.

DESIGNATE FUTURE EXIT (WARNING: USE SIMPLE GEOMETRICAL SHAPES OR RISK THE GENERATORS)

A laser pointer appeared on the wall to my right from my left hand, and a small button appeared on the bracelet as well, probably to hold it as I made a shape on the wall. I aim the laser at what the exit would have been if Boundary hadn’t broke, as the indents for where it possibly opened up lined up in a door like shape. I begin the designation, and stay close to the opposite wall as I complete the shape of a door large enough for me to leave out, in fear of making it too large and breaking the generators.

FINAL CONFIRMATION

_YES

_NO

Before pressing yes, I curl up into a ball behind the pod, confirming that I am not in the way of what may happen. Upon confirmation of my status, I press yes and cover my ears and look down.

Yet nothing, no noise or anything. I position my bracelet to look at it.

EXIT MADE

I uncurl and look at the designated area, and nothing occupies that area anymore. It's just a clear exit. Materials that should be nearby or scattered is not. As if it was just erased.

Maybe I should have just been cared for, but it’s too late for regrets now.

It's Not like I have much of a choice once more, but to keep on moving.

I begin to exit the gene therapy unit, and into what comes next.