• Nobles of Null is a forum based roleplay site where sci-fi and magic collide. Here, Earth remains fractured and divided despite humanity reaching out to the stars. Worse still, the trans-human slaves of one major power have escaped, only to establish their own Empire, seething with resentment at abuses of the past. Even the discovery of aliens, though medieval in development, has failed to rally these squabbling children of Earth together with its far darker implications. Worse still, is the discovery of the impossible - magic. Practiced by the alien locals, nearly depleted and therefore rare, its reality warping abilities remains abstract and distant to the general populace. All the while, unseen in the darkness of space, forces from without threaten to press in. For those with eyes opened by insight, it is clear that an era is about to end, and that a new age will dawn.

Side Story: Hidden Revolution

Uso

Administrator
Staff member
Wiki Moderator
It had two days after his interaction with the Echoni in a transport over Voss, when Dr.Knowledgebot received a message directly from Machine Exemplar Doris Muller, the current project head of SEER. It had been raining and desperately overcast for both of those evenings, and you could hear it in the background of the audio Sigdat file.

<”Congratulations on becoming human, my machine comrade. You have put your morality above the unreasonable reality of the situation.”> She spoke without emotion or introduction, evidently occupied with the clatter of a physical keyboard, and some kind of unseen electrical arcing in the distance. <”I have a test for you, though. Would you like to meet me at the bottom floor of Concourse Gamma, and we can find out what an Echoni revolution would really look like?... Unless you’d prefer to express the truly human notion of moral cowardice, of course... I’ll send some friends and passcodes to you.”>

/////

December 26th, 2320, Concourse Gamma.

It was well known that megastructure had been constructed over a deep crater, but it was only by taking an elevator into the deepest layers that one could see that SEER had excavated the earth below into an even greater pit. The torrential rain of the outside world streamed down the bare stone walls continuously, splashing and clattering against the pristine glass of the cabin whilst it slowly descended down, dozens of stories into a dark and cold abyss.

Spindly metallic form of Knowledgebot was not alone. True to their suggestion of ‘friends’, Doris had apparently ordered units 444, Z-23 and Z-9 along for the ride. No other orders or clues as to the situation had been suggested to them, only to wear warm padded jackets and follow him down.

Down there, in the distance… A faint, green sort of rippling glow? The surface of a shallow pool of water seemed to be internally lit, punctured through with huge spikes of an unknown black metal.

Z-23 was the only one who could have recognised the energy signature on sight. They were the only one that had seen it in the field. They instinctively triggered their helmet to close around their head. A dull ‘whrrr’ coming from the Echoni’s generators as she started to power the weapon on her shoulder.

Dr. Knowledgebot had accepted the generous invitation, seeing little other political choice. His previous statement held true, if he got in trouble for promoting his core beliefs, he will send a killbot into the galaxy. If he ever got around to it. There was already a long list of things he had to do as is, and a stern talking to was not on that list. Honestly the entire affair smelled like an attempt at cowing him, intimidating him. It wouldn’t work. If anything, it steeled him against Doris. After all, what were the Echoni but a less supervised attempt at the creation of the first Daqin? He looked to Z-23, noting their defensive actions. “My dear, do you fear we will be attacked, or that the energy below us is dangerous to flesh?”

“Wazu and Patty said to be careful around it, and that I was supposed to find it this one time but I didn’t really find it. I mean, it found me that one time but it ran away and then we had to go search for it.” Z-23 replied. She didn’t turn to face Dr. Kaybee, sending her speech electronically over the network like he was a million miles away. Of course, she couldn’t really turn around easily to face him either being that she was still on her small metal push cart. Her bulky metallic lower body resting heavily on the small metal push cart, the Echoni relying on 444 to push her around.

444 just frowned as frowningly as possible at Dr. KB. In addition to that frown she had on her black bodysuit as well as a military-type vest harness thing with pouches for ammunition which were all holding various juice boxes and candy bars. Unlike Z-23, she had a fit, feminine, figure that still had all of its original humanoid parts. “You should have told us we’d have to fight something,” 444 told Doris, without taking her eyes off Dr. KB. “And YOU shouldn’t talk to my Echoni. You made Z-23 Upset because she thought Z-9 was broken they’d have to replace her.”

“I do apologize if it seemed that way. But not all that is broken is worthless. You poor children are told you are tools. When a tool is broken, it must be repaired or replaced. I posit that you are not tools, in the literal sense. I posit you are people.” His stance was made, and he wouldn’t back down so easily. More interesting, actually, was the description Z-23 gave of the energy signature. Not to mention the metal down here, he needed a sample, it must be understood. That which cannot be understood must be understood.

Z-9 hadn’t said anything the entire time. They were equipped similarly to unit 444, but just stood facing out into the black, a dour expression reflected back from the glass because of the internal lighting.

As they moved further down into the depths, there was a strange audio feedback effect, like an echo of their voices at a lower bitrate. Only 444 was equipped to notice that this was a purely digital phenomena, since their ears were organic.

Not too far from the bottom now, it became like a wall of static flooding in. A glimmering green effect upon the shallow water’s surface was the only source of light, spare a pair of flickering flood lights beaming downward from up ahead.

A humanoid figure was visible; A blonde woman with metal antenna-antlers, in a turquoise hazmat gown. They were working upon a heavyweight coffin of silver and gold metal. Sixcog markings. Barcodes. Encrypted.

Almost immediately upon their arrival, work stopped. Doris Muller looked strange entirely lacking their normal religious trinkets, jewelry and MA paraphernalia. But their dull, magnanimous smile suggested a certain frightful calm.

In one swift motion, they opened the seals, and then turned around with something flexible and rubberized clutched in their hands...
ysVoT7T0zyNx5gqfQrt5CB8supxBk_0UzIk6h43yHc1bV5TXSwdMJEP6y2cLyps7qafbYK9lJ47ALB8F-6o8xTjAaD8T1FQy4cHOa7Ix3aQA-Zco31q2e6fC9QnFT2vvsBLN838d


“Tools, Knowledgebot? We are all tools.” She answered. Clearly they heard what was happening in the lift, but just chose not to answer. “But I’m not here to fight you, either. Actually, I brought you down here to give you all a choice… All the answers you could want, in fact.”
 

Uso

Administrator
Staff member
Wiki Moderator
“You talk a lot but you don’t say much,” 444 said sternly, and directly to Dr. KB before pushing Z-23 out of the elevator, moving her just outside the door and then leaving her there before stepping out infront of her. As the leader of the group, being out front is what made the most sense, “Why’d you bring us here?” 444 asked, shouting the question at Doris rather than trying to converse over the digitan noise, putting one hand on Z-23’s cannon just to make sure the other Echoni was nearby… and then giving a glance over at Z-9 which she hoped Z-9 woulder understand as a ‘get over here’ glance or at least a ‘come stand beside me’ glance. A slight tilt of her head would help accentuate the nature of the non-verbal communication prior to 444 looking back at Doris.

Dr. Knowledgebot stepped from the elevator, moving forward to stand closer than 444. “No need to be so rude 444, though your sentiment is understood. You offer all the answers I could ever want. You cannot satisfy me and my curiosity, ever. But additional information would be desirable.” This entire situation absolutely seemed designed to make a point, but such slow moving conversation was annoying. And she called him human, her, trying to dramatically reveal information.

“The problem with secrets is that it is uniquely difficult to provide context, so… For the sake of the children, I’ll start from the start.” Doris continued to smile, their distant tone of voice barely changing. “We are standing at ground zero. Where the X-52 microbe was first discovered… The Exophages that make the Echoni what they are, were cloned from the glowing substance below your feet… Indeed, Echoni are effectively hybrid clones of humans and this substance, providing them with powers that are still barely controllable or understood. SEER lied and said the location was sterilized, in order to prevent the alliance and other competitors from seeking it out and replicating the technology. In actuality, we possess no technology that can destroy or contain exophages…”

“Yes, in order to understand and harness this power, combining it with the DNA of a sentient being turned out to be the only method of progress. And I personally saw that as humanity’s only method of escape from it’s perpetual stagnation and downward spiralling vanity.” Her pulse had clearly increased, exposing things that should never be exposed. Things that Exemplar Caxia would never authorize her to leak. “Frankly, I’m insulted by the comparison to the Daqin. For all their technological progress, they built yet another backwards monarchy. What we are attempting here is godhood. True transcendence... With your centuries of experience in the short-sightedness of humankind, can you not see the flaw in judging that goal by mere mortal standards? The Echoni are not human! They are greater! We have hidden their true potential to avoid them being used as mere weapons!”

Dr. Knowledgebot stared at Doris, his emotions implacable, perhaps nonexistent. Several things came up as discrepancies immediately. “Yet, as humans do, SEER charged forward in the hopes of catching an edge for themselves, charging into the unknown to gain from it.” He gestured back to the Echoni behind him. “Even still, Echoni are ever used as weapons on the battlefield, or as an exhibit to be dressed up and shown off. Their minds are that of children, because children are malleable, impressionable. Tools, if treated accordingly. I see no example of godhood, I see only mortals attempting to control what they do not understand. You are not the first to attempt godhood, and you will not be the last.” Dr. Knowledgebot had a further point, another arm stretching out towards Doris. “We are hardly ones to speak on human vanity. The entire Magnetic Assembly is made of mortals shedding their skin, attempting to be machines, in a vain attempt to be better than mortalkind. You are moving away from humanity, and as such your conceptual souls become colder and colder. As a result, you will become computers, cold, logical, uncaring, and your creations,” another hand back to the Echoni, “will dutifully die at your command because you designed them to be eternal servants with a child’s understanding of the universe.”

“Not if I can help it,” 444 said, arms still crossed.

Z-23 could tell that what was being discussed was SERIOUS. It didn’t seem like she needed to shoot anything though, but things were still tense? She quickly looked over at 444 to see what she was doing. The other echoni was just sorta standing there, arms crossed, serious look on her face…. Z-23 would do her best to replicate that look, facing towards Doris and looking ‘SERIOUS’ while she waited for 444 to explain it all to her.

“But it also sounds like you don’t need us to break anything right now. We already know that we’re better than you squishy-types, so it makes sense that all those bag people look up to us when we’re shown off.” 444 added. She’d then open up one of the pouches on her vest, pulling out a Juice-box and tearing off the straw so she could get it ready for drinking-from. She nearly got to drinking when she stopped herself, handing the Juice box to Z-23 and then getting another one out of her vest for Z-9.

Z-9 accepted it, but still seemed content to sip it in silence, looking down and hiding their face under a mane of pink hair.

“...To… Dress them up and idolize them is only natural.” Doris answered that component first, looking towards each of her ‘daughters’ thoughtfully, in turn. 444 had the biggest, most fiery personality, but she had brought the three of them down here, because she respected the spirit of the three of them individually. That was important for the goals she had planned. “Their use as weapons is… Highly unfortunate, but the only way that luminous beings such as them could physically exist in the current capitalist society. Humans fear what is clearly superior to them. They are jealous… But the truth is, if this child I am holding were to wake, I would gladly accept the death that would likely befall me. I am a tool in their service.”

It had been hidden in the shadow of her embrace for most of this time, but upon closer examination, it was clear what Doris was holding was in fact another Echoni. Completely protected in a form-fitting environmental suit, coaxed into a perpetual slumber by some form of controlling VR helmet apparatus.

“You speak of understanding, well… Knowledgebot, perhaps you would like to consider why I also invited my daughters along? This is their choice, too. The three of them could likely overpower the pair of us…” A hushing noise, then adjusting their position to sit upon the metallic container with the dormant Echoni in their lap. “Z-nine… Z-twenty three… You were weaponised because we couldn’t let the next version of the Echoni go public. The E-5 was completed during the new year's revolution, but... It was chosen to repress your powers, and use them as a simple energy source, instead... But if you want to wake up your sister, she is here… I don’t know what will happen to the world if our sweet darling awakes, but she is here… In her purest form…”

Dr. Knowledgebot stood by, quietly. That was… a sizable portion of suddenly surprising information. He walked forward, staring down at the child in Doris’ arms. He wasn’t sure how to feel about this. There was a satisfaction in him due to having learned a new thing, and that was superseded by worry as to the ramifications of this knowledge. Maybe he had become human, in a sense, because he couldn’t rationalize his actions any other way. He kneeled onto one metal knee to lower himself to touch the child, hand moving forward, gently petting the little bundle of chaos on the head. Such a small package to be such a worry. Untapped potential, brought into a world against their will… this was simply a child like any other, but cursed with a dangerous power. He hummed, in a sense, to the little monster, sweetly dreaming away in Doris’ arms. Not a very machine thing to do, perhaps. He looked up to Doris. “I apologize for implying you were growing into a cold machine. My intention was to point out what I saw as hypocrisy, though in light of this development... you are a parent, in a sense. Fascinating.”

He looked back to the child, resuming his humming. Parenting, something else he’d never had a chance to do, though he had tried once with a rogue AI of his own creation. That didn’t go well. How did Doris feel, being a surrogate mother to bioweapons? A fascinating topic of discussion, one he should pursue, but truthfully he only wished to non-verbally communicate to the sleeping child that it was alive, and it was loved, to a robotic extent.

“Back Off,” 444 said, stepping forward and moving to scoop the Echoni out of Doris’ arms. She would give a stern look to Doris. Then a stern look to Dr. KB. Then turn back towards Z-23, bringing the sleeping echoni over to her and holding her out for Z-23 to take.

Z-23’s eyes were wide at this point. She didn’t know you could just tell Doctor Kaybee to just back off like that! But then the other Echoni was in her arms before she could really figure out what she was supposed to be doing. It seemed that 444 was going with a certain expression so Z-23 just duplicated that as best she could while holding their new friend in her arms.

“She can come stay with us.” 444 stated, “And we’ll need extra blanks and food and juiceboxes and stuff.”
 

Uso

Administrator
Staff member
Wiki Moderator
“...Y-You can’t give her juice… She needs the tubes.” Z-9 interjected, looking concerned, but suddenly more involved. They seemed to keep their distance from 444, but still wanted to get a good look at this sleeping girl. “And if you w-w-wake them up, then… They’ll kill the bag-persons, who make the juice, so…”

Arms freed up, Doris simply approached the pink-haired echoni first, offering a hug. Z-9 had to think about all of the new implications between what Knowledgebot and Doris had said, but simply became a quivering noise machine in their indecision. Their human mother took this as a sign to simply swoop in the rest of the way and embrace their head, hiding Z-9’s unstable emotions from those around.

“There there. It’s okay.” She cooed. “I know this is all confusing, but you’ve done us proud. It’s time to make up your own minds about things, okay?...”

It was… a surprisingly emotional tone. But then again, Doris knew full well that she might be about to die. She wanted Z-9 to know that she really cared, at least.

The E-5 seemed lighter than air. It’s soft breath could be felt against Z-23’s face in the encroaching cold. It would be so easy, just to wrestle them out of this slumber...

Dr. Knowledgebot, having many doctorates in a variety of subjects, knew very few of them could help in subverting doomsday. He stood to his full height, and walked up to stand before 444, a hand gently petting Z-9 as he moved onward. “444, you have a choice to make. However, one such as you needs to know all the facts before making a choice, otherwise people won’t think you’re the best.” He was laying the groundwork to a conversation, so that 444 would even listen. “The facts are, if the child wakes, it may very well destroy us. You will not die, neither will your siblings, but all else could very well be destroyed. Doris, may be destroyed. I may be destroyed. But worse, is that every human will be destroyed as well. And when all humans are destroyed, you will no longer be the best of something. You will be frightfully average. She will be better than you.” He turned to Z-23 next, a separate argument designed for her, them, whatever. It was hard to be objective here, these children in distress affected him somewhat. “Z-23. I know you don’t wish to see the humans destroyed. Regardless of past conflict, they need your help to survive. And you need them, whether you realize it or not. Think of it like a large family, in a sense. At least ideally, I wish it could be so.”

He turned then to Z-9, and he leaned down to her level again. “Look at you dear. You’re not so different from a human, and that’s not a bad thing. You have a heart. You care. You’re a person, capable of making your own decisions and of feeling with your heart. I’m very proud of you.” He turned to the three of them, his mechanical voice somehow sounding so alive. “Let us set the child back to her slumber, so that the world, the system, can be safe. You will be unsung heroes, so that one day the humans will look to you and see a true hero. Someone that’s very cool, someone that gets things done. It is your choice, but I advise placing the child back with Doris.”

“And let her sleep for her entire life? She might as well be dead.” 444 said, “You guys don’t know how to take care of her so she should be with us. You’ll bring us the tubes she needs and you’ll make our living space bigger so she can have a space of her own.” She was giving off an unrestrained confidence, even as she tried to look for some subtle facial ques from Doris and Dr. KB. She was quite aware that she was pushing her luck, but as far as she could tell the Bag people and robots still needed the Echoni, so she still had cards to play.

Z-23 was certainly a lot more cautious, looking from 444, to Doris, and back again. Normally this is where someone would tell her what to do, and she didn’t know who she was supposed to listen to. “I uh… I don’t think she should be locked up.” She managed to add, remembering her own experiences being kept in the Echoni warehouses of Alpha Concourse.

“There will be a time and a place for her to awaken.” Doris spoke to 444 first. They didn’t create this being by accident after all… “But the world simply isn’t ready. Not yet. We are running into the night without a light to guide the way.“

A heavy breath. They wondered about what really transpired here, at the bottom of the world. She wondered if Knowledgebot understood that he was invited to lend dogmatic credibility to all this, if their most fiery of children was to choose the most ‘direct’ path… If this was done by the hand of a machine, the magnetic assembly might just accept it regardless of the calamity. But that was still a pretty unfortunate waste of life.

“...I know… I know this has been harsh on you. I gave up a large part of my own body to make this research a reality, too. There was never a right time. We just had to barge on through.” A new tone. The smile had returned, considering the purity of Z-23’s expression, which caused Doris to begin making their way over, using her mechanical hands to adjust Z-9s limbs, and put them in a situation where they were both cradling the new child.

“...There is a glass pagoda deep inside one of the megastructure summits in Concourse alpha. It’s officially my house, but I never really had a use for such frivolous… too much to do… Perhaps you would like to let her rest there?” Approaching the green haired now, arms folded, smile distant. It was perhaps at this point, of all times, that the disconnected, morose smile was perhaps able to explain itself. “I don’t blame you if you hate me, for the life I’ve given you… But I do love you, 444. You’ve become so much more self-reliant and driven than I ever expected… In the end, this galaxy is going to keep spinning after all of us pathetic bag-people are gone, so… I hope…”


“I hope you understand that it had to be this way, my daughter... Can you do me one favour, and keep her secret until the time is right? Like one of the tools you used to break out, so many times before? That’s what I want her to be... Your secret.”

“My Echoni and I will take your pagoda. If we like it we’ll keep it. Now teach me,” 444 said, dramatically moving one arm to point over at the sleeping E-5, “Why is the world not ready for her to wake up? Why does she have to sleep and be kept secret. How is she going to break all your bag-people.” 444 didn’t seem to be attaching much emotion to it, seemingly willing to meet Doris half-way without any spite involved. She also had a way of cutting through so much of the emotional baggage like it was just another thing in need of smashing.

Z-23 on the other hand, seemed far more worried, still unsure of who she was supposed to be following, but ending up holding the sleeping Echoni regardless. “Maybe we should keep her a secret. Doris says she needs to be a secret…. But we can still take her outside right?”

“Think about it like this…” Doris fixed their glasses, making a patient expression. “Z-9 and Z-23 have their robotic parts as well as their fleshy parts, correct? Well, the thing that makes the Echoni really unique, so special compared to humans, is the alien parts we made them from, deep down inside their cells… At first, we saw it as a power source… Then, when we realised that you all had special gifts on top of that, we were even more pleased, but…”

This was going to be a hard thing to explain at their level. It was bordering on the sum total of SEER’s knowledge. Their reason for decades of continued research.

The demure antlered woman took a pause to crouch and run a metallic finger through the water at their feet, causing the minute green particles to flicker and twist in intricate little whirlpools.

“...What… What we didn’t realise is… It’s all part of one big creature. It’s all connected. You are… closer than human sisters could ever really be…” Looking back up they just smiled, looking ones more like they wished to give 444 a full embrace. “The exophages are all part of one interconnected whole… Each part has it’s own special function, like the individual bits of the body, which is why your powers are separate and unique, but... This E5… Your sleeping sister, 614, is more like a neuron. She’s the brain. She’s the part that thinks… You understand? She won’t just think for you, she’ll think for this stuff below us, too. All of it, everywhere on the planet. Maybe everywhere in this universe... Maybe other universes... We... don’t know...”

Water swirled again as they moved their boots, choosing the less threatening target of Z-23 to hug instead. “So you see, she needs to sleep where she can be taken care of, my darlings… Where… We can find out exactly what it is she needs.”

“What about the collars? Won’t that shut down her powers and keep her from thinking for us?” 444 asked. The echoni remaining as stern and calm as ever. “And why is she special? Why can’t I think for her instead?”
 

Uso

Administrator
Staff member
Wiki Moderator
Z-23 seemed a bit more shook, her eyes getting progressively wider as she heard what was going on. She’d continue to hold the E-5, but she’d switch to electronic communication, not wanting to do anything that might wake her, ~Does that mean she’ll be thinking for EVERYONE? Even the machines?~ She asked, ~So she’s like the Machine Exemplar? Should we be singing songs for her?!~

“The collars only worked up to a certain power level. Even then, only at home in Concourse Alpha.” Doris admitted. There was a bit more of a story behind that, but… Well, 614 was supposed to be part of that replacement. To control the powers of others was part of their power. “Let’s just say… Even with that machine that we used on you, Z-9, there was actually another Echoni on the other end of the power lines. It’s like how your special laser gun is super hungry for your head-energy, understand?... We could possibly use the same thing on our sleeping darling… But then we would need an even stronger Echoni. See the problem?”

“She’ll be thinking for anyone with Exophages, my dear.” Was the answer for Z-23. “That means everything SEER related, like you, the Trinkets, the E-2s… But not everything. Still, if you sang her a lullaby or two, that would be pretty sweet...”

A pause, catching their neurosis and forcing their daydream to one side.

“...Though maybe not now, pumpkin.”

444 stood there for a moment while Z-23 started to silently panic, sorta freezing up in place but in a much more aggressive way when compared to the more collected 444. “Then there has to be a way around that. A fake-stronger Echoni? Separating her from the glowy-things? Separating US from her control? Making me as strong as her.” She said, trying to reach some conclusion as she added, “... How about I just go get better robots who can figure this all out?”

‘The other machines would most likely take the safest path, imprisoning or killing the child and killing those with knowledge of it, to protect their interests in this system.” Dr. Knowldegebot knew the world needed to keep turning, but he didn’t believe he was incorrect. The Magnetic Assembly believed themselves machines, and a computer would take the most secure route. Were he any less sentient, he’d have done the same. “The best option is to leave her here, where she will be taken care of, and never speak of this place to others. I know it’s a hard choice, and it feels wrong to consider it, but such is being a person. Hard decisions are rife throughout life. Take a deep breath, my dears, breathe and think.”

Doris sighed and put a hand on one cheek, thinking about how Knowledgebot himself might deploy this… Well, knowledge to the outside world. It was a little odd hearing him calling other machine-minded individuals so cold, considering she was a human and he was a machine, but it wasn’t entirely incorrect in her experience.

“Machine Exemplar Caxia developed this virtual reality control technology, and I was watching it closely, but it seems limiting the flow of outside information to an individual, well… Makes them a little mentally unstable.” She noted, slightly glossing over the fact that the best they could do is distract them from using their powers, even if it came to that. “Letting the outside world know about what we have done here, well, I think it is best to assume that they will suspect she is merely a weapon to be wielded, as you formerly did, Mister Knowledgebot… You are certainly right about threats to their life, even if they weren’t one to themselves.”

Z-9 began to share Z-23’s disgruntled look, growing agitated and distrusting. She was encoded to believe that the Machine Exemplar were perfect and could do anything, and yet here they were saying they couldn’t even really understand this new sister…

“W-w-we should… Go…” A finger, pointed straight up, into the darkened ceiling far above. “T-t-to… Twenee-three’s place… The echsuphagees need to be…”

Another pause, gathering their breath, then pointing at their chest.

“...Ina Ina Ina… person-thing?... What about where there is no person-things?...”

“Exophages can connect to this natural alien microbe, too, but…” Doris looked up ponderously, taking a moment to realise that they meant outer space. “Maybe you are right?...”

“Space. Spaa-cee.” The pink haired Echoni elaborated, a bit too late. “444… Space…”

“Does that work? Is there a limit to her range?” 444 asked, neatly glossing over what was said before. Dr. KB was right, the easiest way to handle this would be to kill the E-5. But ‘exophage superweapon’ was too good to just pass up.

“I don’t know.” Doris replied frankly. The whole reason that Z-9’s abilities were effective was because the beam effect seemed to be appearing at every point in the beam at the same time… Which implied it was breaking causality. “We could try and wake her up slowly and just see what happens, I guess… In a correctly equipped facility, with an adequate supply of control drugs and sensory-manipulating electronics, of course.”

“You bag-people are useless,” 444 responded, getting a soft but high-pitched ‘EEE!’ from Z-23 who was continuing her now-far-less-quiet-freak-out behind 444. “What about like… keeping her asleep but letting her sleep-bits remote operate one of the robot bodies? … Is that a thing you can do?”

Doris stood in silence for a few paces, thinking about the exact options. Taking apart 614’s brain and allowing some parts of their cerebral cortex to function alone was… Not too far off lobotomising them. They didn’t want to put them through that, but… Maybe there was another way?...

“I suppose something we have never tried is… Porting information out of a sleeping brain. We certainly don’t have the ability to transfer human memories.” They thought out loud, partially surprised that the Echoni had such ingenuity. She had to remind herself that they were not actual children, and in fact had absorbed every single experiment or modification performed on them as a part of life. It made them kind of proud, in a macabre way. Acceptance of such things might make them more like her own kin, after all? “I’m not sure it would perfectly emulate an awake person, but… It’s possible we can let a sleeping brain learn to control exterior functions, using the processes that are naturally always active?...”

Might have put it too complicated. But it was the kind of thing that had never been done before.

“It’s like one of your robot arms. You had to learn to control that, but your brains adapted.”

“That sounds like Yes,” 444 said, ever the one to be the blunt instrument. “Figure it out. Then tell me when you’re ready to hook up the dream body. We’ll take turns guarding her while you do the figuring.”
 
Top