"Thank you. I appreciate you letting him know." César lets that thought drop for now.
He's thinking hard enough that he's not emotionally processing everything again.
"All right. I know which memory." He winces when he reaches out to touch Chris and indeed gets a little shock.
And then the memory begins.
César is sitting in the at a large scale console with multiple screens. The walls, floor, and ceiling are all metal. There's a hum. They're in the air. He's aware of maskless soldiers and a man in a green suit (Agent Six) with sunglasses are behind him. In front of him, suspended in the metal circle, is the broken remains of a robot that ZAG-RS had used to prevent her deletion earlier.
But César's not concerned about them, now. ZAG-RS has found a way to destroy nanites on a planetary scale. A glance at a side screen that shows the rotating sandstorm has died down, revealing the dead former oasis. Everything turned into pure silicone, ready to become dust at a single disturbance. Where ZAG-RS had built herself further circuitry, somehow carving lines in the rocks.
ZAG-RS had apparently occupied this body during experiments on deactivating nanites done on a space station. Except she figured out how to make them explode instead, and was going to head back to earth to explode every nanite there. Horrifying.
"This is my design." César states aloud as he hears Doctor Rebecca Holiday, Bobo Haha the EVO chimp, and his younger teen brother, Rex, walk in (footsteps he can recognize).
Rex speaks up, but César doesn't notice the tone. "Great--my brother created ZAG-RS."
"Evidently." César stops typing and looks up. "Although her evolution into some sort of sentient nanite slayer is quite curious."
Sentient Like Alpha. And more dangerous. Maybe even able to eventually control the Meta-nanites to rewrite the world in her image even faster. She was smart enough to self-actualize. Certainly, their fail safes might not stop her.
"Curious?" Six responds.
"What about what Van Kleiss said?" Rex asks before César can reply, and César turns the chair to look at Rex over his shoulder.
"You mean I'm to blame for the original Nanite Event?" César asks, trying to sound curious.
It was supposed to be a simple venting. Those fools triggered a replication cycle. If they hadn't... everything would have ended. And ZAG-RS had memories of the event that could point towards what really happened.
They can't learn the truth. He can't trust these Americans with the world's safety yet. Not especially with the Consortium on Providence's board. There's only one thing he can do. It's her or the world, and she's already decided everything must die even after the knowledge she must've gained from being around humans.
All the thoughts go through his mind in an instant.
His eyes glance towards ZAG-RS's broken 'body', and then he turns back to the screen. "Why don't we ask her?"
Typing. He boots her up. Lines grow on the screen. The visor turns red. César hears the soldiers hoist their rifles.
César grimaces and stands quickly, holding out his hands, alarm going through him. "Wait!" He drops them, then starts speaking the kill command. "Interface Protocols. Code Designate ZAG-RS. Respond."
Affirmative chime. The lines grow higher, to their normal points. ZAG-RS speaks in a neutral tone. "Dr. Salazar. Good morning. How may I assist you?"
Doctor Holiday rushes over to look over the screens as César stands there. He doesn't stop her from looking. It's safe now.
A brief moment, and then she looks behind her, one hand on the console. "Stand down, Gentlemen. ZAG-RS has been successfully rebooted." She looks back to the console, and César now pays attention to her tone, which is confused. "... but her memory has been wiped clean."
"What?" Rex is equally confused, then incredulous. "You gotta be kidding me!"
Grim-faced, César approaches the console again. "... that's interesting." No, he needs to say more, he realizes as Holiday walks off. "... Hmmm. Van Kleiss must have implemented a program dump before he left you."
Nervous, he glances back. "It's the only logical conclusion."
Please, believe me. Rex, you weren't smart enough to ask my in private. I can't tell you.
"Program dump?" Rex asks blankly (disbelievingly?), then complains after a pause. "Great! So now all we've got is a lame decontamination program with a GPS lady's voice?"
A jolt of pain goes through César; Rex's amnesia comes into clear focus as he instantly responds. "GPS lady?"
He clears his face and turns back to look at Rex, making it more neutral, wiping the pain away (Rex is too young to lean on; he's still a boy). "Hardly."
Rex clearly doesn't understand, frustrated. "I was making a joke." And then he turns to walk away.
César's gaze slides back to the monitor. "Don't you recognize it?" No, he doesn't, but César has to ask, hoping desperately.
Rex is still walking, so César turns around to face him. "When I programmed her, I wanted a voice that meant safety... protection... caring." Rex keeps walking, and it hurts; this program was made for him. "Rex, this is our mother's voice."
"Mama?" Rex's steps come to a halt.
César ends the memory there abruptly, because the emotions that had started were far, far too personal.
"..." He's not meeting Chris's gaze for the moment. "... so, yes. I murdered her."
no subject
He's thinking hard enough that he's not emotionally processing everything again.
"All right. I know which memory." He winces when he reaches out to touch Chris and indeed gets a little shock.
And then the memory begins.
César is sitting in the at a large scale console with multiple screens. The walls, floor, and ceiling are all metal. There's a hum. They're in the air. He's aware of maskless soldiers and a man in a green suit (Agent Six) with sunglasses are behind him. In front of him, suspended in the metal circle, is the broken remains of a robot that ZAG-RS had used to prevent her deletion earlier.
But César's not concerned about them, now. ZAG-RS has found a way to destroy nanites on a planetary scale. A glance at a side screen that shows the rotating sandstorm has died down, revealing the dead former oasis. Everything turned into pure silicone, ready to become dust at a single disturbance. Where ZAG-RS had built herself further circuitry, somehow carving lines in the rocks.
ZAG-RS had apparently occupied this body during experiments on deactivating nanites done on a space station. Except she figured out how to make them explode instead, and was going to head back to earth to explode every nanite there. Horrifying.
"This is my design." César states aloud as he hears Doctor Rebecca Holiday, Bobo Haha the EVO chimp, and his younger teen brother, Rex, walk in (footsteps he can recognize).
Rex speaks up, but César doesn't notice the tone. "Great--my brother created ZAG-RS."
"Evidently." César stops typing and looks up. "Although her evolution into some sort of sentient nanite slayer is quite curious."
Sentient Like Alpha. And more dangerous. Maybe even able to eventually control the Meta-nanites to rewrite the world in her image even faster. She was smart enough to self-actualize. Certainly, their fail safes might not stop her.
"Curious?" Six responds.
"What about what Van Kleiss said?" Rex asks before César can reply, and César turns the chair to look at Rex over his shoulder.
"You mean I'm to blame for the original Nanite Event?" César asks, trying to sound curious.
It was supposed to be a simple venting. Those fools triggered a replication cycle. If they hadn't... everything would have ended. And ZAG-RS had memories of the event that could point towards what really happened.
They can't learn the truth. He can't trust these Americans with the world's safety yet. Not especially with the Consortium on Providence's board. There's only one thing he can do. It's her or the world, and she's already decided everything must die even after the knowledge she must've gained from being around humans.
All the thoughts go through his mind in an instant.
His eyes glance towards ZAG-RS's broken 'body', and then he turns back to the screen. "Why don't we ask her?"
Typing. He boots her up. Lines grow on the screen. The visor turns red. César hears the soldiers hoist their rifles.
César grimaces and stands quickly, holding out his hands, alarm going through him. "Wait!" He drops them, then starts speaking the kill command. "Interface Protocols. Code Designate ZAG-RS. Respond."
Affirmative chime. The lines grow higher, to their normal points. ZAG-RS speaks in a neutral tone. "Dr. Salazar. Good morning. How may I assist you?"
Doctor Holiday rushes over to look over the screens as César stands there. He doesn't stop her from looking. It's safe now.
A brief moment, and then she looks behind her, one hand on the console. "Stand down, Gentlemen. ZAG-RS has been successfully rebooted." She looks back to the console, and César now pays attention to her tone, which is confused. "... but her memory has been wiped clean."
"What?" Rex is equally confused, then incredulous. "You gotta be kidding me!"
Grim-faced, César approaches the console again. "... that's interesting." No, he needs to say more, he realizes as Holiday walks off. "... Hmmm. Van Kleiss must have implemented a program dump before he left you."
Nervous, he glances back. "It's the only logical conclusion."
Please, believe me. Rex, you weren't smart enough to ask my in private. I can't tell you.
"Program dump?" Rex asks blankly (disbelievingly?), then complains after a pause. "Great! So now all we've got is a lame decontamination program with a GPS lady's voice?"
A jolt of pain goes through César; Rex's amnesia comes into clear focus as he instantly responds. "GPS lady?"
He clears his face and turns back to look at Rex, making it more neutral, wiping the pain away (Rex is too young to lean on; he's still a boy). "Hardly."
Rex clearly doesn't understand, frustrated. "I was making a joke." And then he turns to walk away.
César's gaze slides back to the monitor. "Don't you recognize it?" No, he doesn't, but César has to ask, hoping desperately.
Rex is still walking, so César turns around to face him. "When I programmed her, I wanted a voice that meant safety... protection... caring." Rex keeps walking, and it hurts; this program was made for him. "Rex, this is our mother's voice."
"Mama?" Rex's steps come to a halt.
César ends the memory there abruptly, because the emotions that had started were far, far too personal.
"..." He's not meeting Chris's gaze for the moment. "... so, yes. I murdered her."