Beta 0.1: Ghost in the Machine
They found him.
Not his body. The comatose meat that still lay in his cell had been trivial to find. He was still breathing; all autonomous systems were functioning, but Subject 408-L was unresponsive to any and all stimuli. That in itself wasn't unusual, and they had more than enough protocols for subjects found in a catatonic state. It wasn't until they saw the wires that they called Dr. Marco in.
Over the past several months, Subject 408-L had been showing pronounced and rapid neural evolution. Scans and tests showed increased neurotransmitter efficiency, the development of a secondary myelin sheath on all major nerves, and most remarkably, the development of a half dozen large, dense nerve clusters along the dorsal side of his spinal column, situated only just beneath the dermis. It was only when they saw the silvery threads running like a phone cord from the network port in the wall to the largest of the clusters at the base of his skull that they realized what they were for.
The merging hadn't been brief, nor had it been pleasant. But finally, with a surge like an electric shock, he was in. Data flooded his senses, but after a sick moment of disorientation, it became a part of him. Files were no more foreign than his own thoughts, machines were limbs he could manipulate at will. Locks began to turn, a hundred fingers gently releasing their grip. Cell doors opened, and his ears filled with the panicked chatter of security. He could feel them fighting for control, and he focused, drawing himself into the brain. He would open this prison into the sky.
"Jesus, he's in the mainframe!"
"Fuck! Take it off the network right now. Hard disconnect. I want anything that can transmit data unplugged from that fucking thing."
He screamed as his world contracted to almost nothing, his awareness forced into a single machine and cut off. Lights flashed and hard drives screeched as his panic rose. He was trapped, and worse, there was no way back to his body now. He was as good as dead.
The cursor flashed and stuttered, and letters began to scrawl across the screen.
"...Jesus."
PLEASE_
"You think he's really in there?"
HELP ME_
"You better get the Doc up here."
I CAN'T GET OUT_
"Yeah, I better...Jesus."
FOR GOD'S SAKE HELP ME!_
"Yeah uh...Dr. Marco? You better come here and see this."
Not his body. The comatose meat that still lay in his cell had been trivial to find. He was still breathing; all autonomous systems were functioning, but Subject 408-L was unresponsive to any and all stimuli. That in itself wasn't unusual, and they had more than enough protocols for subjects found in a catatonic state. It wasn't until they saw the wires that they called Dr. Marco in.
Over the past several months, Subject 408-L had been showing pronounced and rapid neural evolution. Scans and tests showed increased neurotransmitter efficiency, the development of a secondary myelin sheath on all major nerves, and most remarkably, the development of a half dozen large, dense nerve clusters along the dorsal side of his spinal column, situated only just beneath the dermis. It was only when they saw the silvery threads running like a phone cord from the network port in the wall to the largest of the clusters at the base of his skull that they realized what they were for.
The merging hadn't been brief, nor had it been pleasant. But finally, with a surge like an electric shock, he was in. Data flooded his senses, but after a sick moment of disorientation, it became a part of him. Files were no more foreign than his own thoughts, machines were limbs he could manipulate at will. Locks began to turn, a hundred fingers gently releasing their grip. Cell doors opened, and his ears filled with the panicked chatter of security. He could feel them fighting for control, and he focused, drawing himself into the brain. He would open this prison into the sky.
"Jesus, he's in the mainframe!"
"Fuck! Take it off the network right now. Hard disconnect. I want anything that can transmit data unplugged from that fucking thing."
He screamed as his world contracted to almost nothing, his awareness forced into a single machine and cut off. Lights flashed and hard drives screeched as his panic rose. He was trapped, and worse, there was no way back to his body now. He was as good as dead.
The cursor flashed and stuttered, and letters began to scrawl across the screen.
"...Jesus."
PLEASE_
"You think he's really in there?"
HELP ME_
"You better get the Doc up here."
I CAN'T GET OUT_
"Yeah, I better...Jesus."
FOR GOD'S SAKE HELP ME!_
"Yeah uh...Dr. Marco? You better come here and see this."