Phoenix - the Insilico tales - chapter 15 - "Data Loss"
(originally posted 8/1/2011)
Phee tromped around through the muck, debris, and junk that littered the landscape in all directions. Again the TWF had struck, and again the only action she could take in response was forensic recovery of physical evidence. No target would present itself for her to eliminate. No battle to win. Just a lot of pain, and picking up the pieces afterward. A pattern that was becoming all too familiar. Her human brain screamed to be anywhere else, doing something more effective, more meaningful than this. She fought to focus herself.
An audible beep played directly in her temporal lobe, and she saw a red indicator in her caution and warning panel - one she'd never seen before. She had to look it up in her service manual in near line ROM. "LS Temp High" The tiny, precious little sliver of humanity encased in her life support system had a fever.
"FUCK!" Phee spat behind her gasmask. That damn bacterium had apparently become active. She keyed up her THIsec comms on her internal HUD "All units this is Officer Phoenix - this search is pointless. We're not going to find this thing by stumbling across it in the junk. Everyone head back to medbay and get checked out. I think something funny is going on."
-------------------------
Medbay was beginning to become chaotic. Patients were pouring in. She had only to look around to recognize the symptoms and to realize what she was in for. Lethargy, paralysis, fever. It was some kind of encephalitis. A bad one. she knew the odds before they drew the tiny amount of blood from her bio access port. A virulent encephalitis, in a patient with a less efficient immune system than a human. Only a few weeks after suffering a severe closed head injury that left her in a coma. 10, maybe 20%.
Phee pulled Doctor Faith aside. "Doctor Faith. I'd like to see you in the R&D lab when you get a moment." Doctor Faith nodded, and turned her attention back to the other patients.
Phee walked outside and looked up at the sky. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She turned slowly, taking in a slow panorama of the city. She looked into the eyes of as many of her friends as she could find - one last time. She looked into Cecily's eyes - full of suffering and pain as she sit curled in her exosuit - barely awake and able to move. her jaw stiffened and her resolve crystallized. When the call came that Doctor Faith was ready, she walked toward the lab with deliberation.
Phoenix entered the lab slowly. She felt as if she were walking to her end. She and Dr. Faith discussed the illness, how fast it was spreading, the symptoms... then they both noticed Phoenix' left arm twitch slightly.
Dr. Faith looked at the arm and nodded "So here's what we're going to do for now. Your brain is obviously infected. I propose we download your AI into the lab's server, and take the brain out of the shell. Once we can get a new cloned brain, we can repeate the procedure we did initiall to load your AI to it."
Phee nodded slowly "How long will it take to clone a new brain?"
"Awhile, the one you currently have was prepaired. A new one would require cultivation. The company I had ordered it from doesn't keep them in stock, they create parts as needed."
Phee nodded grimly "That's what I thought. But an AI core would be immediately available, wouldn't it?"
Dr. Faith nodded "Would you want to go to an AI core then? that would be more readily available, and effectively make you immune."
Phee sighed with resignation "I don't see any other choice in the short term. We keep this off the books. We tell the others it's an experimental remote control system - that my brain is in a jar somewhere controlling my chassis remotely. Phee is still on record as being alive and human. And I do what needs to be done. We grow a new clone brain later, and put me back like I was."
"You're going to lose some things in the transfer. Memories. Personality traits."
"The way I see it, my choices are 1 - lose some things. 2 - lose everything. There are no good choices. Only choices."
---------
The process had been interesting. To be pulled from a human brain felt like dying. The darkness closed in around the edges of her vision. The color faded out, and then everything just seemed to fade away. She clicked back into consciousness inside the R&D mainframe, observing the AI core implantation procedure. Would Cait forgive her? Would she be the same? Would she know if she weren't?
Once the core was in place and the cranium closed, the transfer process began again. Phee said her goodbyes to NURSE209, and felt herself poured into the new core like a liquid. She filled the available space in a predictable fashion, according to understandable patterns and following sensible rules.
Her awakening was not the wild chaos of a human brain struggling to make sense of itself inside a metal body, assaulted by strange sensory inputs and flashes of intense pain. It was smooth. It was precise. It was orderly. The sensory systems were not an assault. They were expected inputs that took place within an acceptable range. Phee could activate diagnostics and see that her core, her sensory and motor systems, were all within nominal boundaries. Satisfying regions of green with little needles pointing to the middle of the range.
And still despite the comfort of nominal ranges and orderly input, Phee realized that it didn't feel familiar. It should have. There should have been a flood of relief. Or something. Maybe. She didn't know why it wasn't familiar, and was not entirely sure what she was supposed to be comparing it to.
All she was sure of is that she'd beaten the illness, and had a job to do. She stepped into the lab vestibule, retrieved her weapon, checked it, and walked out the doors.
Phee tromped around through the muck, debris, and junk that littered the landscape in all directions. Again the TWF had struck, and again the only action she could take in response was forensic recovery of physical evidence. No target would present itself for her to eliminate. No battle to win. Just a lot of pain, and picking up the pieces afterward. A pattern that was becoming all too familiar. Her human brain screamed to be anywhere else, doing something more effective, more meaningful than this. She fought to focus herself.
An audible beep played directly in her temporal lobe, and she saw a red indicator in her caution and warning panel - one she'd never seen before. She had to look it up in her service manual in near line ROM. "LS Temp High" The tiny, precious little sliver of humanity encased in her life support system had a fever.
"FUCK!" Phee spat behind her gasmask. That damn bacterium had apparently become active. She keyed up her THIsec comms on her internal HUD "All units this is Officer Phoenix - this search is pointless. We're not going to find this thing by stumbling across it in the junk. Everyone head back to medbay and get checked out. I think something funny is going on."
-------------------------
Medbay was beginning to become chaotic. Patients were pouring in. She had only to look around to recognize the symptoms and to realize what she was in for. Lethargy, paralysis, fever. It was some kind of encephalitis. A bad one. she knew the odds before they drew the tiny amount of blood from her bio access port. A virulent encephalitis, in a patient with a less efficient immune system than a human. Only a few weeks after suffering a severe closed head injury that left her in a coma. 10, maybe 20%.
Phee pulled Doctor Faith aside. "Doctor Faith. I'd like to see you in the R&D lab when you get a moment." Doctor Faith nodded, and turned her attention back to the other patients.
Phee walked outside and looked up at the sky. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She turned slowly, taking in a slow panorama of the city. She looked into the eyes of as many of her friends as she could find - one last time. She looked into Cecily's eyes - full of suffering and pain as she sit curled in her exosuit - barely awake and able to move. her jaw stiffened and her resolve crystallized. When the call came that Doctor Faith was ready, she walked toward the lab with deliberation.
Phoenix entered the lab slowly. She felt as if she were walking to her end. She and Dr. Faith discussed the illness, how fast it was spreading, the symptoms... then they both noticed Phoenix' left arm twitch slightly.
Dr. Faith looked at the arm and nodded "So here's what we're going to do for now. Your brain is obviously infected. I propose we download your AI into the lab's server, and take the brain out of the shell. Once we can get a new cloned brain, we can repeate the procedure we did initiall to load your AI to it."
Phee nodded slowly "How long will it take to clone a new brain?"
"Awhile, the one you currently have was prepaired. A new one would require cultivation. The company I had ordered it from doesn't keep them in stock, they create parts as needed."
Phee nodded grimly "That's what I thought. But an AI core would be immediately available, wouldn't it?"
Dr. Faith nodded "Would you want to go to an AI core then? that would be more readily available, and effectively make you immune."
Phee sighed with resignation "I don't see any other choice in the short term. We keep this off the books. We tell the others it's an experimental remote control system - that my brain is in a jar somewhere controlling my chassis remotely. Phee is still on record as being alive and human. And I do what needs to be done. We grow a new clone brain later, and put me back like I was."
"You're going to lose some things in the transfer. Memories. Personality traits."
"The way I see it, my choices are 1 - lose some things. 2 - lose everything. There are no good choices. Only choices."
---------
The process had been interesting. To be pulled from a human brain felt like dying. The darkness closed in around the edges of her vision. The color faded out, and then everything just seemed to fade away. She clicked back into consciousness inside the R&D mainframe, observing the AI core implantation procedure. Would Cait forgive her? Would she be the same? Would she know if she weren't?
Once the core was in place and the cranium closed, the transfer process began again. Phee said her goodbyes to NURSE209, and felt herself poured into the new core like a liquid. She filled the available space in a predictable fashion, according to understandable patterns and following sensible rules.
Her awakening was not the wild chaos of a human brain struggling to make sense of itself inside a metal body, assaulted by strange sensory inputs and flashes of intense pain. It was smooth. It was precise. It was orderly. The sensory systems were not an assault. They were expected inputs that took place within an acceptable range. Phee could activate diagnostics and see that her core, her sensory and motor systems, were all within nominal boundaries. Satisfying regions of green with little needles pointing to the middle of the range.
And still despite the comfort of nominal ranges and orderly input, Phee realized that it didn't feel familiar. It should have. There should have been a flood of relief. Or something. Maybe. She didn't know why it wasn't familiar, and was not entirely sure what she was supposed to be comparing it to.
All she was sure of is that she'd beaten the illness, and had a job to do. She stepped into the lab vestibule, retrieved her weapon, checked it, and walked out the doors.
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