NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1: The Beginning of a Nightmare.
CG Chapter 1: The Beginning of a Nightmare
In the innocence of our youth, the tales we were told painted vibrant canvases of our futures and the noble path to achieving greatness. They taught us that success could only be attained through virtuous and righteous living. Alas, these tales now echo from a bygone era, relegated to the realm of forgotten memories. This story stands as the haunting origin of a nightmarish cascade that rained on countless worlds.
The year is 2023 on an Earth-like planet.
Everything was completely normal until that point. The birds sang during the day, and the waterfalls fell just as usual.
As we gaze at one of the ordinary people passing through their day-to-day routines, we notice a man hurrying toward a nearby building.
Thomas Blackwood, or as he prefers to be called, simply Tom, is a computer science major and knows too much about biology for a computer science student. He also studies AI on the side with the mad dream of creating an AI chip that would help him regain his long-lost physical and, more critically, mental health.
Tom ran in a hurry to a big blue building at the center of the city; that building housed his most important asset, his lab.
He tried to enter his lab before the rain, which his AI assistant Noor warned him about. After he closed the doors behind him, he sighed.
He named her Noor, hoping that she would be the light that brightened his life. Unfortunately, he didn't have much time to share his creation with the world.
*Bzzzzz*
[Welcome home,] Noor said.
"Thanks for the warning; without it, I would have gotten drenched," Tom replied.
[No problem,]
Noor answered with a hint of happiness that Tom dismissed because how could his AI, of all AI assistants, develop sentience.
Humans are fascinating creatures; whether it's good or bad, they always think to themselves, "It couldn't be me, right?" So, I am not that lucky or unlucky, depending on the situation, ignoring that if it happened to someone else, why wouldn't it happen to them?
After Tom ignored the idea of his AI developing sentience, he continued his research on merging an AI chip with humans.
As he, of course, couldn't get his hands on a human participant who was willing to go along with his crazy trials, he could only experiment on humans' closest relatives. He experimented on chimpanzees that he acquired from the black market.
Tom toiled relentlessly from the early hours of three AM until the late evening at nine PM, fueled by sheer determination and a copious supply of energy drinks.
Regrettably, this grueling routine took a toll on his health, leaving it in a deteriorating state with each passing day.
Here's a little secret about Tom: his relentless pursuit of this dream was, in fact, fueled by a deep concern for his health.
Ironically, his unyielding dedication to his research only exacerbated his health issues, pushing him into a vicious cycle of self-destructive tendencies.
As the clock struck ten PM, Tom found himself utterly drained from his work, yearning for a much-needed rest.
However, fate had other plans as it played its cards and unveiled two crucial cards simultaneously. The first card was joyful, and the other was laden with misfortune.
Amidst this situation, Tom felt a trickle of distress as he noticed his nose bleeding, a disconcerting sign that time was slipping away.
Understanding his body’s condition, Tom knew that finishing his research within the limited time he had was an almost impossible feat. The fact that death was approaching weighed heavily on him.
Yet, in the middle of this dark moment, a glimmer of hope emerged like a guiding light.
The chimpanzee of today's attempts had successfully merged with one of Noor's clones. Reading the subject details:
[Name: Biso]
[No.0053]
[Gender: Male]
[Species: Pan troglodytes]
After 52 attempts of failed products, this one succeeded as if the heavens had finally opened a door of hope for Tom. He smiled, becoming happy that there was still hope for him to survive.
When the joy started to fade and Tom returned to his usual self, he noticed that this Noor clone had something different about it.
He quickly asked her about it.
[Analyzing…]
[After my analysis, I found that the existence of dual consciousness in one body was impossible with the current state of our research, leading the AI chip that was embedded within the chimpanzee's brain to sacrifice any hint of consciousness that it had so that it could let the chimpanzee's consciousness stay.]
Tom wasn’t an idiot. He knew what that meant.
If he successfully merged with Noor, any sense of her would truly die, and unlike the Noor that was combined with the chimpanzee, his Noor was different. She was the original, and any other Noor was simply a clone.
He showed a sad face while knowing full well inside him that he didn’t care for Noor or anyone other than himself. However, he still had a slight sparkle of light inside him of what people like to call humanity; after all, he was raised among humans, and this hint cannot be easily wiped.
Tom asked Noor, "What do you think I should do?"
If Tom was the person who knew the most about his body, then Noor can be said to be the second-best "person" to know about his situation, and her programming core was to help Tom at any cost, even if that meant that she would need to destroy herself.
She told him the truth they both knew.
[Master, merge with me. It's your last hope, and you don't have much time.]
Master is a term that Tom didn't hear a lot from the cheerful personality of Noor that he programmed.
Tom said with a somber voice, "Initiate the procedure of merging."
...
Noor prepared the surgery room using her robotic hands, which can be said to be everywhere in the big lab.
Tom lay on the bed with the sleeping mask on him, and before he fell asleep, he said to Noor, "You were and will always be my brightest invention. You are the fire that burned to light my dull life. Your brilliance will be something I will always remember."
Tom's head fell, and he had a slight smile on his face.