Daemos Ex Machina
Photo by Pete Linforth from Pixabay
Joyce Kim writhed above her sweat soaked sheets, gnashing her teeth and speaking in tongues.
The attending orderly wasn’t usually fazed by this; it was the usual at the asylum. What got him was that Joyce was writhing up in the air above her sheets, hovering as her gown dragged across the bed.
It was at this point the asylum decided that Joyce probably wasn’t insane.
Three months later, they found an experimental solution.
As she was given the usual double horse killing dose of sedatives for the night, Dr Wira explained the procedure to her delirious form.
“The nanobots are programmed with a reactive AI. They will bond with your cells, become one with you, and enact medical solutions to counter the lesions. This will battle the inflammation that forms words against your skin and it will quieten the neuron dissonance so you can live a normal life.”
“Will I still be me?” Joyce murmured in fever.
Dr Wira glanced at Joyce’s mother who wept bitterly by her side.
“You will be a version of you, as you are version of your former self right now with that demon inside of you. This is better.”
Joyce’s vision dimmed as the needle entered her arm, and all went black.
#
-BioAI start-up function
-Cell fusion complete
-Analysing…
-Immune responses flared; no signs of contaminants… Spontaneous neuron firing; no stimuli present… AV hallucinations; dangerous heart fluctuations and bone/tendon strain…
-Response: engage antihistamine synthesis, implant aural stimulus and visual blockers, facilitate dopamine and serotonin production, engaging in protein synthesis for regeneration…
-Results… ongoing
-Emergent audio hallucinogen occurring, analysing…
-Translating neuron firing….
-Preparing response… Physical measures stagnant, psychological intervention necessary
#
The voice woke her like a thousand knives striking from the dark, slicing at her skin in tiny cuts which stung and caused her mind to bleed.
Joyce lurched up and screamed, clawing at her face and skull, trying to tear the pain away.
The room was dark, shadows were closing in and the voice mocked her.
What folly is this mortal? Do you think your science will save your soul? You belong to me, you will burn.
“Leave me alone!” Joyce screamed.
The voice only laughed in response.
The shadows blurred, the monstrous shapes seemed to shy away as her vision was blinkered and focused on nothing.
“What are you doing now?” She gasped.
A new voice emerged, tangible, monotonous yet calming.
‘Host Joyce, I am your new BioAI. Greetings…’
“H-hello?” Joyce replied. “Are you a trick?”
‘Negative, I am programmed to assist you, your lesions have faded and your audio visual hallucinations will have decreased dramatically. More intervention is required.’
The voice of knives returned.
What can this machine do to save your soul Joyce? You will burn!
Joyce writhed again in pain, screaming silently. But the pain abated as suddenly as her spasms appeared.
‘I have subdued your neuron response with electromagnetic pulses.’
You cannot save her, machine…
‘Statement rejected, I am a part of her now, and she is a part of me. Her soul – as you describe it – is registered as the collection of her conscious and unconscious bodily neuron activity. She is still here, you cannot have her.’
Then you will both suffer.
‘Emergency! Host Joyce, invasive presence is seeking to flood my response systems, overwhelming of medical countermeasures imminent; more intervention is required on your part.’
“What must I do?” Joyce asked, feeling the pull of anxiety as her body lifted from the sheets.
‘You must accept more pain, in order to resist, you must choose to heal, unburden the lies that this presence has told you. You are worthy of saving, Host Joyce, you have much left to give this world.’
The pain spread through her veins like fire, her back arched and her teeth clenched hard enough to crack.
You are nothing but my plaything. Worthless and unloved.
“I CHOOSE TO FIGHT YOU!” She cried.
#
-Host authorisation recognised, engaging purge exe.
-preparing reboot/neuro-recovery process
-Initialising bio shock.
%^&%#@(#*^###########################################################################################
#
Joyce awoke again, slowly, lifting heavy lids to see concerned faces and a room in disarray; furniture overturned and scorch marks on the wall.
“What happened?” She asked Dr Wira, who was taking her vitals.
“The BioAI administered a near lethal shock of some kind. It quelled a lot of the physical sensations you were manifesting and obliterated a nasty chunk of neurons in your temporal lobe that were forming more lesions. They seemed to reform healthily almost instantly…”
“So… I’m better?”
Dr Wira looked at her.
I am still here, plaything. The voice of knives uttered silently, weakly.
‘As am I, Host Joyce, ready to fight as long as you are.’
“I’m not sure.” Dr Wira finally said.
Joyce laid her head back, closing her eyes with a mix of despair, and some small hope that she could now fight in the battles ahead.
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