Unipsi, lovely entity

chapter 67: steps

It took a while for Scilla to finally fall asleep. She was scared of not waking up, or waking up alone. However the tired day put an end to her restless behavior over time. Her fears proved futile as instead of waking up naturally as she always did so far, she was awaken by something hot touching her belly.

She jumped up to see on her left Iris, completely unfazed and not even startled with her left hand closer to her. Iris had also changed look. On top of her clothes she was wearing a white lab coat. Her hair was still kept underneath her regular clothes to avoid it moving around, exactly as all lab’s safety procedures states. At that sigh Scilla let out a sign of relief, she was not abandoned.

“morning? Are you good?” asked Iris.

“morning and… yes. Not used to people touching my belly”

“I wanted to poke your nose, but I could only reach the upper belly”

Scilla looked a bit at Iris and realized that with Iris’s difference in height and the additional height provided by the armored car she couldn’t indeed reach her nose.

“Like your new look doc”

“thanks you.”

“is it necessary? I mean don’t you have just to operate some computers?”

“yeah, no. totally unnecessary, just liked it and wore it”

“understandable. So doc, how is the restart going?”

“almost ready. I thought you would like to see it turning on so I came to wake you up...”

“oh. Thanks you.”

“and I also wanted my breakfast partner. Food tastes better in company”

“then after you my lady”

While walking back inside the reactor room Scilla felt unwell. Her head started throbbing. The HBE terrifying humming was back. She couldn't ignore it as she could only hear it. Whatever that twisted machine wanted was not over.

Detecting that Scilla stopped, Iris turned around.

“hey are you good?”

the sound stopped abruptly.

“Scilla???”

“yeah, I’m good now. I think.”

“what happened?”

“I hear the humming”

Iris didn’t react, just stared back for a while.

“that’s not a good sign. Did you sleep?”

“you found me sleeping”

“right...”

“you didn’t drank some unknown fluid right?”

“I didn’t. Why the stupid questions?”

“well it could be that you are feeling the side effects of the activation. Now my hypothesis, never confirmed, could indicate that the symptoms works like a disease so they aggravates if your body as a whole gets weaker. I was trying to understand if that was the case”

“my body is fine. At worst my mind is just a bit weaker”

“why?”

Scilla was caught off guard. She didn’t want to express her fears.

“being alone in the dark on an unknown planets kinda makes me uneasy. All the noises I don’t recognize, total lack of light sources and all you know”

“I understand. Yet I’m unsure if that was the cause. Tell me if things get worst”

“ok”

things were about to get worst indeed.

Inside the control room Scilla took a seat and while waiting for her now headache to pass, she observed Iris. She was looking at Iris operating the terminal that regulated the reactor until she saw her duplicate. In shock she stood silently as she watched the copy walk through the computers and desks until she was in front off the glass. Now that the copy was closer it was obvious that it was younger and that she had cried or was about to. The copy spoke and she understood.

“mum. ISAG. There?” her voice was wavering.

“yes” replied a metallic voice.

“dying?” a tear fell on the ground.

“death has no meaning. I am a machine...”

“DYING!?” screamed the copy hitting the wall while she started crying.

The machine faltered.

“yes I am.”

The copy dropped on the floor and pushed her back against the wall. She was clearly less mature and by her language it must have been soon after 484 death.

“why?”

“I already told you. I do not have a choice. The synthetic cells are faulty. The gravron doping has lost to time and usage. The more I compute the more I deteriorate. There are no more reserves to repair me and sustain myself.”

“time?”

“17 days”

“extend?”

“Futile. I am not a computer. I cannot be turned off.”

“pain.”

The copy started wailing while swaying back and forth. She didn’t took it well but neither did the machine that replied.

“I am sorry, my only daughter. I am in pain too. I failed you.”

then it all vanished, just like the previous hallucinations she had.

What the fucking fuck have I just seen? That was 608, right? Yeah for sure it was her. But who the fuck is mum ISAG? 511 told me that her “mother” was a machine. Is that the name? Is or war ISAG some sort of caregiver? If I ask she will be suspicious? Fuck it I’ll try.

“Iris?”

“No Scilla. It’s not ready yet”

“it’s not about the reactor. Take you time with that. But do you know someone called ISAG?”

Iris stopped typing for a moment. She didn’t look up at Scilla and then resumed her work.

“why you ask?”

“I just suddenly remembered the name. 511 said it once while sleeping. I… I know…”

“it’s nothing important. It’s an acronym for a circuital component.”

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

lie. I guess it’s not something easy for her.

After that the conversation died immediately and never returned. About half an hour later Iris broke the silence.

“it’s time. You can look at it”

The room filled with beeping sounds from the machinery checks while underneath a low roar started to emerge. It grew stronger and stronger then it suddenly stopped to be replaced by a loud click and a high pitch loud humming. The sound grew exponentially into a loud scream that mixed with the metal cracking. Then a new click and light. The fuel shined like a star for a brief moment. The glass stopped most of the light but it was still as bright as burning magnesium. Now looking inside the reactor was a mystical experience. The world around it was bent toward the fuel that grew darker with a fully black spot in the middle. Scilla looked away only once it seemed to be stable. Her eyes met with Iris’s gaze that stared at the amazing view. She had a huge grim on her face. Everything on Iris’s face screamed evilness and ill intentions.

Why? What have I done? Have I assisted in something wrong? Why is she smiling like that?

“it works” were her only words before returning to her terminal.

“good job.”

“good job to you too.”

“I didn’t do much.”

“you saved me a lot of time and a lot of headaches”

“… so what now?”

“now… well, there are more generators to turn on”

“don’t we need more food and… I don’t know a bed? Or a shower I fucking stink”

“I guess we could. We could also part ways…”

“no!”

awkward silence.

“...i meant for now. Most reactors are along train lines. Now with one reactor on I can use its power to turn on the rail network and move way faster. While I do so you could take shelter at a station. It should have all you need to survive. Then I would come back to pick you up.”

“… is… is it a problem… if I ask you to wait? I mean I would prefer to stick together. But I would love a few days of real rest…”

“we can do that too. Didn’t know that you grew so attached to me” Iris smiled. Now it was a friendly smile, one she had already shown before to Scilla.

“as if you wouldn’t miss me”

“I like the company but I won’t die without. Still I have no problem to adapt at your pace. We have 3 years so accomplish something otherwise I’ll do what I have to do”

“why 3 years. That’s a lot of time”

“because I made a promise. I’ll never break it.”

“was that a middle finger and annular promise? like…”

“yes” Iris tone conveyed coldness and firmness. She didn’t want to talk more. Maybe part of the same promise.

Silence again.

“well… how often do you need to refuel the reactors?”

“Manually? Never. There is a mechanical system above the reactor that will feed it new fuel over time. It’s still a really efficient generator. Paradoxically it doesn't require as much fuel as you would think. This reactor alone can produce up to 8 exaWatt/h (10^18). to put it in prospective, a civilized heavily industrialized planet will consume around 1 exaWatt/h”

Those were indeed absurd numbers and even more absurd if considered that the planet was empty. Of course the massive mega structure that they were in required power, but one generator is more than enough. Where was all that energy supposed to go.

“that’s an absurd amount. What the fuck is it used for?”

“too keep this place alive and working what else?”

“I got it, but it’s absurd. You said yourself that with just one reactor you can power up to 8 planets…”

“indeed that’s what I said.”

“then how come you consume so much?”

“we use it to power up everything and keep our massive industrial infrastructure up and expanding. You don’t know what is concealed here and you should better stay out of it”

Iris grew distant and her tones were hostile.

“ok…”

silence again.

“don’t stand around doing nothing. Go out there. Open the car hood and look for 2 rectangular cells. They should have an azure color and be near the engine. Took them off and bring them to me.”

“ok…”

Scilla was not happy of the sudden changes. She didn’t know if they were due to her overstepping Iris’s boundaries by asking about ISAG or just a newly found aggressiveness. Anyway she went outside and retrieved the 2 power cells. Those were not exactly batteries, more like fuel cells that could be refilled to go again. The fuel is converted into energy inside the cell itself, like a micro generator.

Once returned she found the room empty. Scared she rushed in.

“BOO!” shouted Iris from behind her. She had hidden herself as a prank.

Scilla jumped in the air and turned to see Iris rolling on the floor laughing.

“this is not funny”

“it… is super… funny” replied Iris still laughing.

“yeah yeah you scared me. Here’s your cells”

Scilla placed the 2 blocks on the terminal desk.

“thanks…. And sorry for before. There are a lot of things… that you should not know about, for your own good”

“is this a treat? Would you harm me if I knew?”

Iris looked back confused tilting her head, just like 511 used to do.

“no? The hell are you talking about. I just believe that there is knowledge that would harm you. You know like knowing how you are going to die but not when. You became paranoid and all that fun shit. With reason I believe that if you knew what I’m trying to protect you from, you would gradually go insane. I don’t want that”

“oh. Is it that bad?”

“personally I don’t think so. I mean I’m alive and mostly sane. But from the time we spent together you appear a lot weaker than me. So better be safe than sorry right?”

“I suppose so. But I don’t like being kept away from things.”

“fair enough. Maybe, when we have stabilized, a gradual introduction could help”

“what so… scary… I mean I get the things about becoming paranoid and similar. But is all things like that?”

Iris was silent for a moment. She stared and Scilla trying to understand what she could use as an example.

“I am one of the many things that should never leave this place”

“you don’t seems so dangerous for my mental health”

“do you understand what I am?”

“you can like make weapons with out of your body, no?”

“fair enough it that doesn’t scare you I can’t say much, or maybe it’s out of your limited brain”

“are you calling me stupid?”

“you are stupid and ignorant. I’m the same but to a lesser degree. But what if you meet a 4 dimensional being? Can your senses really process it? Could we process a living creature fully made of gravron? Could it even exist? Remember not all whites are the same. Your definition of white changes based on the whitest things you see that is almost white. Our senses lies to us. Our reality is just a fragment.”

“maybe I’m stupid. I guess I have to live and see”

Scilla didn’t catch the finesse of Iris’s words. Wondering about your reality is fairly common among intellectual creatures, but she was talking about the implication of her existence. Her being a LeerEsterian. It was not just a matter of secreting molecules to get an edge on your opponents. It was matter of completely alternating a body. What kind of world could bring evolution to make such a monstrosity? Questions that had answers best left undiscovered.

It took several hours to recharge the cells and in the meanwhile Iris restored a tablet to connect with the structure network. She delve deeper in the net looking for the changes brought upon by the HBE. The megastructure had indeed duplicated. 608 reality became the new home. Rooms that used to be there were merged and replaced by rooms that belonged to 608 reality. The only instance where realities were kept separated was related to their living quarters. 608 and 511 lived in isolation wards built on different coordinates. So this new reality had both homes. In general places that didn’t overlap were kept apart. There were also some minor issues related to the AI that assisted the structure. Even here 608’s AIs became dominants replacing the existing one by merging with them. With the tablet in hands Iris had the knowledge physically stored in the sector she just restore power to. That’s why she needed to restore power in all the structure. She wanted and needed all the knowledge she could find.

Outside Scilla was going for the driver door but Iris stopped her hand from getting to the door.

“nope”

“I drove so far. What’s the problem?”

“you are unstable. We are making progresses, don’t want to waste that on a wall”

“do you even know how to drive?”

“sort of. Not my biggest quality”

“fine”

As Scilla took her seat she looked at Iris that was smaller and had to adjust the seat to the highest settings. Then she slammed her head into the seat. Her eyes blinked in confusion. She moved her head forward and slammed it back again. Still nothing so confused she moved her left arm and started feeling the seat. Then she turned around to look surprised at the seat.

“what are you looking for?” asked Scilla curious to understand.

“a connector. I get that this is old but I suppose everything had neural connectors”

“you… you can still drive right? You drove without one right?” asked Scilla concerned for her own well being.

“yeah, I drove one. Oh well we will go without”

Iris proceed to put her table on the side and somehow attached it to the dashboard. It was showing the route to take to reach something called Passante Verticale N-28 CDSL-9-7 (vertical passerby N-28 CDSL-9-7). Based on the machine it was only 15 km away. 15 km of vomit inducing driving. Iris was the most mentally insane and absolutist driver she ever met and saw. Pedals? What are those? Iris was all or nothing. Her turns were unique. She didn’t care if she had space or to. She wanted to make sure to be comfortable so they resulted in constant spurts of accelerations and decelerations. As soon as Iris stopped the car Scilla jumped out. Of course Iris followed but way calmly.

“what the fuck? The hell is happening to you Scilla?”

“the hell is happening to me? The fuck is wrong with you. Where the fuck did you learn how to drive?”

“on a single crew tank.”

that explains why she drives with just one hand. Buck for fuck’s sake.

“were are we? I thought we agreed on going back.”

“we agreed on some rest. So I drove us to a station. There should be a living zone near it. We will rest here, why traveling back for nothing?”