Chapter thirty seven

Humans are mostly afraid of similar things to similar species. They are afraid of the dark as they were not alpha predators, and are scared of ‘monsters’ and sudden sounds for the same reason. – extract from “Human psychology – A Fear of the Unknown”

George sat up and blinked the sleep from his eyes. Before his brain could even process what was going on, he frantically groped for his (non-existent) pistol, before settling for throwing a punch in. He found himself upside down and restrained on the floor, before catching a glimpse of red and sighing.

“Could you please release me now, Charlotte?” She let go and sat up, pouting.

“It was funnier when you got spooked. Now you’re no fun.”

“That’s because I got used to being wrestled out of bed each morning! How are you here anyways? I got told we weren’t meant to be meeting until breakfast.”

“Yeah, but I got bored, so I escaped and found you.”

“What? How did you? You know what, fine. I won’t ask questions. Because of course you did. Of course you escaped from your room inside one of the most secure places in existence.”

“If it makes you feel better, I don’t think they really cared about me escaping. Like there were no cameras or sensors or anything. Anyways, lets go to breakfast! I’m hungry.”

“Fine, fine, just let me dress first.” He gently pushed her out the door, then threw on a shirt and pants.

He found her in the dining room when he walked in, chatting animatedly to Leman.

“-and I told him ‘If you don’t spill, I’ll introduce you to Mister Stabby over here- Oh, hey George!”

“What is it with you and that knife? Why did you name it?”

“Hey! Don’t insult Mr Stabby! Its fine Mr Stabby, I’ll teach him a lesson for you later.” George gulped, and headed for the two unfamiliar people standing in a corner.

“Hello! Who are you?”

“Hi, my name is Olliver, and this is Ava. I’m Assault and she’s Support. Nice to meet you.”

“My name’s George, and I’m a Scout. The other guy, Leman, is Demo and that scary women is Charlotte, who’s Infiltrator.” Ava looked disturbed.

“Why is she cuddling a knife?”

“She has a disturbing obsession with knives. I believe the one she’s currently holding is names Mister Stabby.”

At that moment, a man in a white lab coat walked in and yelled out. “Everyone sit down! We have things to discuss.” After they had all sat down, he spoke up again. “Alright, now that we are all here and have all met each other, we cn start. I’m sure you’ve all been wondering why you are here. Well, let me tell you. You are here to test a ground-breaking new concept. You are here to see if we can merge machine and man, to see if we can truly become a union of steel and flesh.”

“What?” Leman had a confused expression on his face before Charlotte smacked him. “Ow!”

“He’s going to shove an AI into that dense skull of yours.” The man chuckled.

“Yes, in simpler terms I am going to put an AI in your head.”