Prism Academy 3- Interlude 3 (Patreon)

Interlude 3- So Close

Robert cursed in frustration. He just couldn’t get the unit’s cohesion to stick. The body kept shifting and then falling apart. A copy of the AI known as ANOP had been left here, but Robert began to think that it wasn’t as powerful as before. When Mr. Samuels had been in the lab all the testing had worked better.

Then he was caught off guard as the trillions of nanites which made up the android body all coalesced again. She took the form that he had built for her. It wasn’t his taste, as Robert was more attracted to the Prism than this android, but he could admire the symmetry of her form. Long legs, subtle curves, and a delicate face all hid the potential power of the android.

Power was the problem though. They had tried everything from fusion cells to direct lines of power, but something was missing. The android could never maintain cohesion for long. Which of course begged the question of what it was doing now.

The pieces of its body formed up from the floor coming together first like a cloud of dust and then with the sound of metallic clinking as nanites combined to form the cells of this body. Finally, she stood there and then looked around. Hmm… the AI must be particularly active now. Normally, it never displayed any signs of awareness.

An odd voice which seemed like a compilation of numerous other voices bubbled out. “Must help. He needs help.”

Robert was thrilled. This was a huge step forward. “What? Who needs help? We have to figure out what is causing this.”

Then shockingly the android took a step. She moved towards the door of the chamber she existed in. They kept her in this form so that none of the nanites would be lost or damaged when she was in an inert state. Her arm raised and for a moment Robert thought she was going to open the door.

“Wait, you aren’t ready to come out yet.”

“Must help. He needs me.”

It dawned on Robert. The AI was talking about the Prism. All his analysis of her programming made it clear that she was single minded in her purpose. This AI existed for one reason and that was to ensure the survival of Aden Samuels. Oh, there were subdirectories. She was meant to make him stronger and to help him form bonds. She also was programmed to help him in his battle against the shadow, but one overriding concern trumped all of those.

It was almost like she had been programed to turn him into the ultimate weapon but then something or someone had come and shifted all of those priorities, so they were secondary to keeping Aden alive. Robert had never met Dr. Janice Samuels, but he knew she had been a pioneer in nanotechnology and recently learned she was Mr. Samuel’s mother.

If a mother wasn’t concerned for her son’s life, then no one would be. That was what Robert’s takeaway from his analysis of the programming was. The project had been meant to create a savior for humanity but someone, likely Janice Samuels had co-opted it and made its top priority Aden’s survival. Now nothing could so much as budge the AI’s programing.

Not that that was surprising. As an AI became self-aware it grew in its purpose and become more dogmatic not less. It was one of the limitations of AI. Although, Robert did have to admit that this AI was fairly flexible in its modalities as long as all of those modalities benefited Aden.

“You can’t help him like this. You aren’t strong enough to leave that chamber. We have to find a way to power you.”

“Only Prism can power me. Must fill my core. But he needs me now. Too late. I was too slow. Failing Master Aden.”

“Wait, the Prism can power you? How? What made you come to that conclusion?”

Then the android literally fell to pieces as the nanites lost cohesion and it fell into a pile of what looked like dust to the naked eye. Ugh. Robert wanted to scream. What had she meant? Well, he would have to wait for her to regain cohesion. Hmm… or would he? Maybe there was a way to test this out. He nodded to himself as he started running the calculations. Now he just had to figure out how to get approval to test this theory.

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Sybilla fell to her knees and cried out. She felt everyone look at her but couldn’t worry about that. Something had just cut her off.

Precision knelt next to her after yelling, “Medic. We need a medic here. Now.” She reached out and touched Sybilla and spoke more gently, “What’s wrong?”

All she could do was mumble back, “Cut off.”

“What? What’s cut off?”

“Can’t feel him.”

Sybilla still felt the bond with Precision and the others, but something had happened. She could no longer feel Aden. For a psychic like her that was jarring to say the least. She had been tracking his progress below and while there had been a great deal of psychic interference, her bond with him had allowed her to keep tabs on him.

Just a couple minutes before he had been forced to let loose with a lot of power. For him to do that told her it was serious. She felt his grief as he had to kill Inertia but then his relief at having contained the threat. Sybilla had breathed easier once she felt that relief. Then it was like a cloud had covered the sun and she could no longer feel him.

She knew he was still alive. He was out there, but she couldn’t sense him. If he wasn’t then the bond she had with her sister-bonds would have been broken. That it was still fully intact told her that Aden was still whole, but something was cutting her off from him. It shouldn’t have been possible.

Her words had gotten through to Precision, and she felt the woman searching the bond inside herself and then the others did as well. They weren’t psychics so she couldn’t blame them for taking a bit longer but now they all felt it. Their panic swelled up to match her own.

Molly shook her while Precision told her to be careful, but the meta-morph was a raw bundle of emotions and didn’t heed her friend. “What happened? Is Aden, okay?”

Sybilla tried to calm herself. She need to think. They had to figure out what to do. Slowly she spoke. “He’s still alive. That’s all I know. It is like something is blocking our connection with him.”

Molly was crying as she said, “I thought that wasn’t possible.”

Sybilla trembled herself. “I would have sworn it wasn’t either.”

Sybilla felt Precision come to a decision. The tall blonde shouted, “General, take command. The Prism is in danger. He needs us now.”

Next to her Titana said, “Where? What’s happening?”

Valkyrie and Priska also stepped up. Sybilla smiled. Her Aden inspired people and it wasn’t just the promise of a bond. He was a simple man who did what he said and said what he meant. He had been slowly bringing hope over the past few months and had inspired even those who would never bond with him. She was proud of the way he was growing from the first time she’d seen him as little more than a boy in the slums.

Then she shook her head. In her fear she slipped up on her use of names, “Willow, we can’t go rushing in. We have to be careful. Something that could do this to Aden is to be feared.”

“Fine, be afraid, but I’m not going to let anything happen to him. If he needs me, I’m going.”

“Me too,” Molly echoed.

“You misunderstand. Of course, I’m going. You couldn’t keep me away. I’m saying we have to be smart. Use that tactical mind of yours. We need to find a different way in.”

A moment later Twinkle came running up. The teleporter was clearly exhausted. “I have a message from Aden. There is a new type of shadow monster down there and it can spread from person to person.”

The three bonds all looked at each other. Sybilla felt fear rise in her. Would the shadow be able to block out her bond? She simply didn’t know. Now they really had to go.