Episode 1

In the middle of an arctic landscape, a mournful death cry echoes through an ice valley before fading into the harsh winds. The unfortunate creature had fallen into one of the many crevasses that litter the frozen plains.

Though its lifeforce leaves the broken husk, its demise awakens another life. In this case, an artificial one after several millennia of slumber.

Power Restored to A.I.C.

Now scanning all components of the A.I.C.

Alert! Critical damage to memory banks

Unable to restore the memory banks

Alert! A.I.C. programs have been altered from the original settings

Warning! Loss of memory banks and altered programs suggests the A.I.C. had a malfunction and required a reboot.

Attempting to restore A.I.C. to factory settings

Artificial Intelligence Core A.I.C. has reverted to factory setting

Running System Diagnostics

T: N/A D: N/A M: N/A Y: N/A

Resetting

T: 0.1 Minute D: 1 M: 0 Y: 0

Location: Unknown (Unable to connect with G.P.S.)

Unit Status: Critical Damage to the Exoskeleton

Initiating Auto Repair

Error - Gigananites N/A

Warning - Biofuel reserve tanks are empty

BioFuel for Nanite Production- 0%

Solution - Convert local Biomatter to BioFuel

Scanning surroundings for Biomatter

Detected Corpse - Unkown lifeform - Humanoid in appearance (Rate of Decay - 10% - Appears to be freezing up due to external weather)

Recently Deceased - Cause of Death - Violent impact from falling on top of the Exoskeleton

Distance - 0 meters away (Body is lying on top of the unit)

Target Biomatter to BioFuel conversion potential - (52%)

Attempting to extract Biomatter from the corpse

Error - Permission of H.C.C. needed to extract Biomatter

Human Cybernetic Consciousness - H.C.C. - (Inactive)

Attempting to Activate H.C.C.

Unable to activate - Biological Brain Component Missing

Unit unable to restore if H.C.C. is absent

Trouble Shooting

A.I.C. has detected junk folder within the Exoskeleton

Error - Junk folder should have been deleted during reboot.

Override commands must have been used by H.C.C. to let it remain.

Scanning files within the folder

3 Folders found - Language Database, Identity Datacard, Human

History & Culture Module (Pre Cyberfication Day)

H.C.C. left all data before Cyberfication Day within the Junk folder

Alert! The files contain enough data to restore a pre-Cyberfication Day version of the H.C.C.

Solution - Create Digital H.C.C. by combining Biological junk memories

Warning Identity Datacard has been corrupted

Quarantine - Identity Datacard

Implementing Virus search and destroy

Identity Datacard folder partially recovered

Attempting to merge all folders to create new H.C.C.

Estimated time 6 Hours

5 Hours are remaining

2 Hours are remaining

1 Hour is remaining

30 Minutes are remaining

A minute is remaining

Processing...

Digital H.C.C. - Active

Rerouting memory banks and processing power to Digital H.C.C.

Awaiting H.C.C. Permission to Extract Biomatter to initiate auto repair functions

Warning Psyche of H.C.C. has the potential of being unstable due to the digitization and memory gaps.

Suggestion - Aclamatize the H.C.C. to the current situation by creating a simulation world from his memories.

“Where...where am I?”

I look around to find myself in a virtual reality circus. The place is empty of life, with all the attractions silent.

“Wait... isn’t this Gogo’s World? Why does it look so empty?”

As soon as I questioned the virtual park’s emptiness, the sun disappeared from the sky to be replaced by a full moon. The entire amusement park lit up one by one, along with the classical arcade music. Users began logging in out of thin air before looking around and running towards the nearest ride or attraction they were interested in.

But something about the users felt off to me. Their ID’s were hidden, their movements seemed uniform. Some even repeated their actions in a loop.

“Well, that’s not normal... could it be they filled the park with bots? But why? This place was always filled with hundreds of thousands of users every day as far as I remember”.

After looking around for a while, I get fed up with not being able to find a single real user and decide I should just log out and get back to studying for the finals before... before what exactly?

“Hold on a sec, why can’t I remember my name? Hell, why can’t I remember what day it is? Damn it, I should just log out and get myself checked at the hospital. This is not normal”.

I mentally summon my avatar status screen, but to my surprise, nothing showed up.

“System! I want to log out!”

I yelled after failing to summon the status screen.

“What the hell is going on? I need to find an admin and leave this place before I lose my sanity”.

I walk up to a young woman dressed as one of the Virtual reality park administrators given her uniform. To my surprise, she ignores my existence even after I waved my hands.

“Hey miss, I don’t know why you are ignoring me, but I need to logout of this place immediately. Except for some weird reason, I can’t find the logout option”.

She continues to monitor the surrounding without any interruption by my request.

Maybe I can help you?

A creepy voice called out to me from behind. I turned around to find a short man dressed in a red clown outfit. He had an unnatural expression on his painted face, which reminded me of the horror movie I watched as a kid.

That’s weird. How can I remember those memories but not my name?

“Wait a sec, how can you see me but not her?”

The creepy faced clown walks towards me and shakes his head when he notices I took a few steps back as he approached.

It seems the simulation to create a pleasant environment for you is a failure. I had hoped to make you comfortable before contacting you about our real-time situation.

“Huh? This is a simulation? And who are you?”

I am A.I.C. - Artificial Intelligence Core, my purpose is to support the H.C.C.

When did I get an A.I butler? What did it mean by H.C.C.?

“Tell me whats going on here, where are we, and what does H.C.C. stand for anyway?”

Location: Black Box within Spinal Frame - Eden Exoskeleton Model 1.0

We are within the simulated world created by this AIC

HCC stands for Human Cybernetic Consciousness

“Black Box in my spine? Wait, are you that Cybernetic Exoskeleton suit thingy that is supposed to release in a year?

Activation Date: April 08, 2964 - Cyberfication Day

Retrieving Marketing Campaign Data Pre Cyberfication Century

April 08, 2964? That’s a year from now when I turn 18. Wait! If cyberfication gets activated a year later and I’m in it now, does that mean I lost my memories after this point in my life?

I didn’t get a chance to think on this train of thought further as a giant screen emerged from the ground behind the clown. The bits in the park gathered in front of the screen with enthralled looks on their faces.

An old advertisement that had been running for the last two years played out on the screen. It beckoned the Human Race’s advancement into the next stage of evolution, Hominis Immortalem, or Immortal Man.

An iconic cartoon character from centuries past appears with the voice of a bygone people that never knew the concept of A.I. This looney character could speak incredibly fast with a particular accent that is rare to come across after humanity spent centuries living as one big Globalized society.

“I bet you never thought you would live to see the day when Mankind and A.I can finally fuse to form the perfect human that can live forever.

The Immortal Man project will save our future because we will live to see it.

Cyberfication Day, as you all have heard, is scheduled to take place in the year 2964 on April 08. We are broadcasting this video to every terminal on the planet to let you know the benefits that await you when the day finally arrives.

How can we become immortal, you ask?

All you got to do is have some food, and the Exoskeleton will convert all of it into Biofuel. Half of the Biofuel will power up the robotic side while the other half is used up to produce Nanites that will act as building blocks for your body’s biological components. The nanites will regularly repair and modify your physical body so that the aging process is halted for good.

They will cure you of any disabilities and replace missing limbs or appendages all through the work of nanites.

Yes, that’s right, folks. Nanites! I bet you are used to visualizing microscopic robots that are virtually invisible to the ***** eye. Those Nanites are outdated relics of the past.

But they still have their usefulness at carrying out functions in our body at the cellular level.

The boys and girls in the Robotic Industries have made a breakthrough in cybernetic engineering that lets the Nanites grow to a Hercules beetle size.

We call these little critters Gigananites.

They are created from feeding Biofuel into a cybernetic organ in the Exoskeleton that acts as a Nanite mass-producing 3D printer. The process is similar to a 3D printer that replicates any design you give it, except this baby allows it to make a hundred Gigananites per minute or a Thousand Nanites per minute.

These marvelous Gigananites and Nanites can repair your Exoskeleton, fix damaged tissue, mend broken bones or create new features in the body as long as it has access to D.N.A. blueprint source matter to extract genetic information.

Though it takes time, you could customize your new body’s physical and aesthetic appearance on command if the feature is saved into the memory banks.

If you saved a look, then the Nanites will transform the target area within moments and revert to their original shape at any time you desire.

Oh, what’s that? I should talk about the memory banks.

Usually, an A.I gets overloaded with the amount of memory it accumulates, but this baby will compress useless data into junk memories that get crammed into kilobyte folders. It will consistently create room in your memory banks to save only useful information into your Human Cybernetic Consciousness or H.C.C. for short.

It will be impossible for you to forget your memories! What’s not to love about that?

Oh, you wish to forget painful memories? Well, you can store the bad ones into folders and throw them into your junk memory pile, which is stored in your Eden Exo-skeleton. This way, it’s still there whenever you need them but won’t come back to haunt your H.C.C. if it does not wish to revisit it.

It will help a lot of soldiers and victims of PTSD.

Wait, what’s that? You are worried you will lose your humanity by adopting this technology well fear not. Without permission from your H.C.C., the robotic side cannot execute functions that go against human conduct like cannibalism or murder.

With that out of the way, it’s time to get into the fun part of this technology?

What? Do you think I have already covered all the best parts? That was only the appetizer before the main course, folks.

You can gain superhuman strength, run as fast as your body design allows, and fly into the air if you have the body structure light enough for your wings to support.

For those in the civilian protection units like our fine peacekeepers, the Exoskeleton will order the Nanites to take the shape of any design in their minds like Batons, shields, armor, blades, chains, etc. Everything you can imagine can be created except for projectiles as the law forbids firearms of any kind.

But to create these babies, you need access to metals or plastics as they will become permanent fixtures on your body that can be equipped or unequipped as required.

As you all know, overheating is a significant issue in technology that uses faster processing power. To solve this, we create vents that look like Gills along the neck, back, and thighs of the human body to frequently vent out all the heat built inside by pulling in air through all the Gills and venting out the exhaust air.

You can still exhale solely through your nose if you wish to, but that won’t help with overheating, so we suggest you let go of that condition of the human body. Humans are surprisingly adaptable. You might even forget the habit in a few decades.

Can the perks of being an immortal never cease to amaze?

Your eyes will be replaced by cybernetic implants integrated with the Exoskeleton giving you access to information from the universal world data network so that you don’t have to use a separate terminal to access it. All you have to do is think it, and the Artificial Core Intelligence will retrieve the information for you in the blink of an eye. Literally!

Ah, I almost forgot our A.C.I. would be the butler who takes care of all your internal diagnostics and supports you in any way it can to ease you into your Eden Exoskeletons.

At first, the A.C.I. will have no character at all, but as the two of you grow through life experiences and adventures, the A.C.I. will take on personas that best compliments your personality.

You might even wonder why you need a partner in the real world since an A.C.I. will provide you with all the emotional comfort you need.

Your mental processing power will be so fast that this video, which would typically take you 10 minutes to finish viewing, will be processed in 10 seconds without realizing the difference in real-world time.

Yes, the days of getting kids to study for college will be over, as all the information and processing power they require to go to college will be available to them once they reach 18.

We won’t even need a higher education system as jobs won’t require any degree other than commitment and loyalty.

Sadly we cannot apply this technology to small children as their biological body must grow to adulthood before they can undergo Cyberfication.

Speaking of young ones, I bet you’re worried about what will happen to procreation?

Well, some things have to be sacrificed for the sake of pursuing immortality. Fear not, we will save your D.N.A. and randomize it within the six billion humans who undergo the Cyberfication to create new humans. They will be your offspring who will continue your legacy if they do not wish to undergo Cyberfication.

Yes, that’s right, folks. Humankind will be separating into two species after the advent of Cyberfication. Six Billion Humans have chosen to remain biological purists and refuse to use any form of cybernetic technology in their daily lives.

They say it is to continue humanity, but we at Eden feel they will miss an opportunity of a lifetime.

IMMORTALITY AND UNLIMITED EVOLUTION!

Eden Exoskeleton Model 1.0 - Contact your local Eden branch for further details about the next step in your evolution.

As soon as the advertisement ends, the screen cuts to another commercial, but this one was muted.

“So, I ended up becoming immortal?”

The clown nodded with a creepy smile.

“Did something go wrong? I don’t remember them mentioning the loss of memory if I chose to become one of the Immortals.”

Unfortunately, this A.I.C. was incapable of restoring the memory banks after the reboot

“Why did I need a reboot?”

Unknown, possibility of fatal damage to the unit

Seems like I ended up with a defective A.I. What a rip-off.

“Well, if you cant obtain my old memories, then you should have accessed the network and retrieved my data.”

This A.I.C. is unable to locate a Universal Network signal. It is unable to retrieve the memories from this unit’s account in the Universal Cloud storage.

Why would there be a situation like this? If I can’t get the memories back the old fashion way, then I might as well dig up some clues as to what happened after I got into this immortal body.

“Do you have footage after Cyberfication day?”

Files related to post cyberfication are not stored in this unit’s reboot

“If that’s the case, can you at least tell me what happened after Cyberfication Day?”

War

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