“Wake up sleepy head”
It was the first thing that Claire Connors heard as she roused from her chemically induced incapacitation, with a groan she attempted to shift herself to a seated position.
“Whoa, easy there. We’re keeping you supine for just a little while until we can run a few tests, the doctor shouldn’t be long now.”
Claire scrunched up her eyes as she tried to stretch, noting how she was still sore from her procedure.
“Can I get something to drink? I feel like I’ve been thirsty for days”
Claire conceded to the nurse’s instructions and did her best to relax but she was anxious to find out whether the operation had been a success, she craned her neck to see if she could make out any dressings on her body but was met with a sharp pain that emanated from the back of her head. She let out a short yelp of pain as a result.
“Now, now Miss Connors, you’ll heal a lot quicker if you follow the nurse’s instructions.”
The voice came from Doctor James as he entered the private room that Claire was occupying.
“How are you feeling dear?” he asked as he flicked through the clipboard full of observations that had been hanging from the bottom of her bed.
“Thirsty” was Claire’s first response “Sore, anxious, hungry”
“That’s to be expected” the Doctor said with a smile “it was a long procedure.”
“Did it work?” she asked expectantly
“Well, the implanting of the connection ports went off without a hitch as did the cerebellum transmitter, we’ve not activated them yet of course. We want to give you time to heal up properly before putting you under any unnecessary stress.”
“When will you turn them on?”
“Don’t worry about that now, let’s alleviate your other concerns. Nurse Love, the patient requires sustenance.”
With that, he left Claire with Nurse Love to order the first meal of what, from that point on would be a very different life.
It took Claire a few weeks to recover from the invasive surgery. Sure, she had expected the whole procedure to be a little bit jarring but all the preparation in the world wouldn’t have readied her for dealing with the little things that came along with it.
She had spent many a moment running her fingers over the small scars that now adorned her elbows and knees and desperately trying to catch a glimpse of the ones located on her back and her nape.
Then there was her hair! Brain surgery required that she have her head shaved bald, she hadn’t imagined that the loss of her long blonde tresses would have hit her so hard but now every time she looked in the mirror and saw her shorn head, she couldn’t help but feel a certain disconnection to the person reflected back at her.
Now she was going through what felt like an army boot camp of physical training, something she hadn’t considered when she signed up to the military technology trial program.
“You can’t expect to efficiently test this technology unless you are as fit as the soldiers who will be using it in combat” Doctor James had told her as she struggled through one rigorous workout. It wasn’t that she was unfit, she just wasn’t military fit and the process was taking its toll on her.
Then there was her diet. Due to the pressing timeframe of the trial Claire found that she wasn’t allowed even the slightest treat when it came to her intake. Her meals were scientifically calculated to ensure that she was receiving the exact number of calories needed for her energy consumption. The meals were bland and she couldn’t always tell exactly what it was she was meant to be eating. All in all, Claire had very little to raise her spirits during this very mentally and physically challenging period.
“At least once all this is done with, I’ll never have to work another day in my life” she thought to herself as she soaked her aching muscles in a warm bath.
The military were paying her handsomely for her participation in the trial, she just hoped that once they turned on the transmitter that was nestled in her brain everything worked as it was supposed to.
Two months of this existence had transformed Claire both physically and mentally. For sure she was now fighting fit and following instructions to the letter. No longer minding so much that she had little enjoyment or relaxation in life, she was focused on the task in hand and was eager for her trial to begin proper.
Now she stood at ease while Doctor James surveyed the results of what seemed like endless tests that Claire had endured since she had recovered from the surgery.
“Yes, yes” he nodded as he read “This all looks fantastic. You’ve done incredibly well Connors”
“Thank you, sir” she replied, her gaze remaining straight ahead.
“I think it may well be time to turn on that little gizmo in your head” he smiled
Claire was overjoyed although she didn’t show it, she had been trained to keep her emotions in check while she would be carrying out this work. Now it was the critical moment, the whole success of the trial rested on the cerebellum transmitter working correctly, she took a seat at the doctor’s request and anxiously waited for his next move.
After tapping away at his keyboard for a moment he turned his attention, once again to Claire.
“Okay Connors, I’m about to turn on the transmitter. You may feel a slight discomfort.”
A slight discomfort was a little understatement as Claire recoiled from the pain that shot through her skull, a high-pitched ringing in her ears accompanied it.
“Come on Connors, remember your training!” spat Doctor James
Claire gripped the armrests on the chair and dug her heels into the floor as she struggled to deal with the pain she was going through.
Then as soon as it had started it was over.
She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath as her hearing slowly returned to normal, a click of the doctor’s fingers bought her back to her senses.
“Yes, excellent, excellent” murmured the Doctor as he performed a swinging-flashlight test.
“Now Claire, I’d like you to do something for me”
“What’s that sir?” she replied
“Say hello to Vega-11"
“Err hello?” peeped Claire, unsure at exactly what would happen next.
“Good morning Miss Connors, how are you feeling today?” replied a polite, if not slightly robotic voice.
What scared Claire almost out of her chair was the fact that the voice came from inside her own head.
“Argh! What the fuck?!” screamed Claire as she frantically looked around the room, as if to try and locate the source of the voice.
Doctor James found the outburst rather comical and had no qualms about openly laughing at Claire’s obvious distress.
“My apologies Miss Connors, I didn’t intend to startle you, I can see your heart rate has jumped dramatically, perhaps I should remain silent until you call on me again” spoke the voice inside her head.
“Doctor, what on earth is going on?!” asked Claire, her eyes still darting around the room.
“Oh, relax Connors, you’ve just made first contact with the AI that lives inside your head now, you should be happy, you’re making history as we speak.”
“AI in my head?! I didn’t agree to that James!” shouted Claire, clearly agitated now
“Oh contraire Miss Connors, you’ll find this is all above board and in compliance with the informed consent documents that you read and signed.”
“No-one reads those things!” shrieked Claire in response.
“That is a shame, but you were asked several times if you had read the documents and agreed every time.”
Claire was annoyed, she felt cheated but she really should have read the documents carefully she thought to herself, after all she had them in her possession for well over a month.
“Really, Connors. You should have expected some form of AI to be in play here, how did you think the weapons and armour that you’re going to be testing would attach itself to your persona? Fairy dust?”
Claire could only scowl at the Doctor as he tapped away at his PC.
“I’ve decided to allow you the rest of the day to get acquainted with Vega-11, Connors” he said without even turning to acknowledge her. “Be sure to get any trepidation out of your system as the initial round of testing will start at 07:00 hours.”
Claire retreated to her quarters immediately following the revelation that she now had an AI living in her head. She went through a range of emotions – a scared Claire spent a while sobbing on her bunk, unsure what to do next. Her fear soon turned to anger and she spent a good hour furiously reading through the contract that she should have read before agreeing to take part in the trial. When she verified that the Doctor did in fact have the right to implant the gizmo in her head, a right that she had given him by signing the document, she spent the rest of the morning lost in a sea of self-pity.
It was a little while after lunch, when she started to feel hungry that she finally pulled herself out of her slump somewhat. Grilled chicken and brown rice wasn’t anything for her to get excited about but at least it stopped the clawing sensation in her head and the sick feeling in her stomach.
On returning to her room she spent a while observing herself in the mirror. She noted the pronounced musculature of her arms only to grimace when she traced her fingers over the scars at her elbows. Her hair had grown some but was still uncharacteristically short and Claire struggled to find some familiarity in her reflection.
Sighing, she decided to speak.
“Vega-11?”
“Yes Miss Connors?” came the voice in her head.
“Doctor James says we have to get acquainted; do you know what he meant?”
“Well, Miss Connors I imagine that he would like us to learn about each other, I’m no simple robot after all.”
“Okay, so what is it you do exactly?” Claire replied as she closed the curtains to her room, feeling a little self-conscious about seemingly talking to herself.
“Well my primary function is to act as a translator between yourself and the array of armour pieces and weapons that make up the battle system that you will be testing.”
“Are there a lot of pieces? How do you communicate with them?” asked Claire as she took a seat on her bunk.
“The way the system has been designed allows for infinite additions to the battle system, while you have been completing your physical training, I have been interacting with twenty-four different components wirelessly”
“Twenty-four huh?” Claire remarked as she unconsciously rubbed the scar on the back of her head. “If that’s your primary function, what else do you do?”
It took Claire a few weeks to recover from the invasive surgery. Sure, she had expected the whole procedure to be a little bit jarring but all the preparation in the world wouldn’t have readied her for dealing with the little things that came along with it.
She had spent many a moment running her fingers over the small scars that now adorned her elbows and knees and desperately trying to catch a glimpse of the ones located on her back and her nape.
Then there was her hair! Brain surgery required that she have her head shaved bald, she hadn’t imagined that the loss of her long blonde tresses would have hit her so hard but now every time she looked in the mirror and saw her shorn head, she couldn’t help but feel a certain disconnection to the person reflected back at her.
Now she was going through what felt like an army boot camp of physical training, something she hadn’t considered when she signed up to the military technology trial program.
“You can’t expect to efficiently test this technology unless you are as fit as the soldiers who will be using it in combat” Doctor James had told her as she struggled through one rigorous workout. It wasn’t that she was unfit, she just wasn’t military fit and the process was taking its toll on her.
Then there was her diet. Due to the pressing timeframe of the trial Claire found that she wasn’t allowed even the slightest treat when it came to her intake. Her meals were scientifically calculated to ensure that she was receiving the exact number of calories needed for her energy consumption. The meals were bland and she couldn’t always tell exactly what it was she was meant to be eating. All in all, Claire had very little to raise her spirits during this very mentally and physically challenging period.
“At least once all this is done with, I’ll never have to work another day in my life” she thought to herself as she soaked her aching muscles in a warm bath.
The military were paying her handsomely for her participation in the trial, she just hoped that once they turned on the transmitter that was nestled in her brain everything worked as it was supposed to.
Two months of this existence had transformed Claire both physically and mentally. For sure she was now fighting fit and following instructions to the letter. No longer minding so much that she had little enjoyment or relaxation in life, she was focused on the task in hand and was eager for her trial to begin proper.
Now she stood at ease while Doctor James surveyed the results of what seemed like endless tests that Claire had endured since she had recovered from the surgery.
“Yes, yes” he nodded as he read “This all looks fantastic. You’ve done incredibly well Connors”
“Thank you, sir” she replied, her gaze remaining straight ahead.
“I think it may well be time to turn on that little gizmo in your head” he smiled
Claire was overjoyed although she didn’t show it, she had been trained to keep her emotions in check while she would be carrying out this work. Now it was the critical moment, the whole success of the trial rested on the cerebellum transmitter working correctly, she took a seat at the doctor’s request and anxiously waited for his next move.
After tapping away at his keyboard for a moment he turned his attention, once again to Claire.
“Okay Connors, I’m about to turn on the transmitter. You may feel a slight discomfort.”
A slight discomfort was a little understatement as Claire recoiled from the pain that shot through her skull, a high-pitched ringing in her ears accompanied it.
“Come on Connors, remember your training!” spat Doctor James
Claire gripped the armrests on the chair and dug her heels into the floor as she struggled to deal with the pain she was going through.
Then as soon as it had started it was over.
She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath as her hearing slowly returned to normal, a click of the doctor’s fingers bought her back to her senses.
“Yes, excellent, excellent” murmured the Doctor as he performed a swinging-flashlight test.
“Now Claire, I’d like you to do something for me”
“What’s that sir?” she replied
“Say hello to Vega-11"
“Err hello?” peeped Claire, unsure at exactly what would happen next.
“Good morning Miss Connors, how are you feeling today?” replied a polite, if not slightly robotic voice.
What scared Claire almost out of her chair was the fact that the voice came from inside her own head.
“Argh! What the fuck?!” screamed Claire as she frantically looked around the room, as if to try and locate the source of the voice.
Doctor James found the outburst rather comical and had no qualms about openly laughing at Claire’s obvious distress.
“My apologies Miss Connors, I didn’t intend to startle you, I can see your heart rate has jumped dramatically, perhaps I should remain silent until you call on me again” spoke the voice inside her head.
“Doctor, what on earth is going on?!” asked Claire, her eyes still darting around the room.
“Oh, relax Connors, you’ve just made first contact with the AI that lives inside your head now, you should be happy, you’re making history as we speak.”
“AI in my head?! I didn’t agree to that James!” shouted Claire, clearly agitated now
“Oh contraire Miss Connors, you’ll find this is all above board and in compliance with the informed consent documents that you read and signed.”
“No-one reads those things!” shrieked Claire in response.
“That is a shame, but you were asked several times if you had read the documents and agreed every time.”
Claire was annoyed, she felt cheated but she really should have read the documents carefully she thought to herself, after all she had them in her possession for well over a month.
“Really, Connors. You should have expected some form of AI to be in play here, how did you think the weapons and armour that you’re going to be testing would attach itself to your persona? Fairy dust?”
Claire could only scowl at the Doctor as he tapped away at his PC.
“I’ve decided to allow you the rest of the day to get acquainted with Vega-11, Connors” he said without even turning to acknowledge her. “Be sure to get any trepidation out of your system as the initial round of testing will start at 07:00 hours.”
Claire retreated to her quarters immediately following the revelation that she now had an AI living in her head. She went through a range of emotions – a scared Claire spent a while sobbing on her bunk, unsure what to do next. Her fear soon turned to anger and she spent a good hour furiously reading through the contract that she should have read before agreeing to take part in the trial. When she verified that the Doctor did in fact have the right to implant the gizmo in her head, a right that she had given him by signing the document, she spent the rest of the morning lost in a sea of self-pity.
It was a little while after lunch, when she started to feel hungry that she finally pulled herself out of her slump somewhat. Grilled chicken and brown rice wasn’t anything for her to get excited about but at least it stopped the clawing sensation in her head and the sick feeling in her stomach.
On returning to her room she spent a while observing herself in the mirror. She noted the pronounced musculature of her arms only to grimace when she traced her fingers over the scars at her elbows. Her hair had grown some but was still uncharacteristically short and Claire struggled to find some familiarity in her reflection.
Sighing, she decided to speak.
“Vega-11?”
“Yes Miss Connors?” came the voice in her head.
“Doctor James says we have to get acquainted; do you know what he meant?”
“Well, Miss Connors I imagine that he would like us to learn about each other, I’m no simple robot after all.”
“Okay, so what is it you do exactly?” Claire replied as she closed the curtains to her room, feeling a little self-conscious about seemingly talking to herself.
“Well my primary function is to act as a translator between yourself and the array of armour pieces and weapons that make up the battle system that you will be testing.”
“Are there a lot of pieces? How do you communicate with them?” asked Claire as she took a seat on her bunk.
“The way the system has been designed allows for infinite additions to the battle system, while you have been completing your physical training, I have been interacting with twenty-four different components wirelessly”
“Twenty-four huh?” Claire remarked as she unconsciously rubbed the scar on the back of her head. “If that’s your primary function, what else do you do?”
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