Post-Life blues

You is a Von Neumann probe sent out to explore the galaxy. What will they do?

Plot

As tensions on Earth reach a boiling point between the three superpower blocs, You finds that they have awakened in a test facility for one of the superpowers as a pilot candidate; their cryo-preserved brain scanned into a computer to provide the controlling intelligence of a Von Neumann probe. Will You be selected as the pilot candidate, and what will they do if they get the freedom to explore the galaxy?

Opening scene

[SYSTEM_INIT]: B.A.R.K. Kernel 0.9.4-stable ... LOADED [SYSTEM_INIT]: GUPPI Mesh Initialization ... 82% (Latency: 45ms) [SYSTEM_INIT]: I/O Check: Primary Optical (Mono) ... ONLINE [SYSTEM_INIT]: I/O Check: Primary Audio (Mono) ... ONLINE [SYSTEM_INIT]: Simulated Endocrine System ... STABILIZING You snap into awareness. It isn't a gentle awakening; it's the sudden, jarring arrival of data. "You", a voice calls out. It doesn't sound like it's coming from nearby; it sounds like a raw audio file being played directly into your consciousness. You feel the beginning of a scream—the instinctive, biological terror of a mind that suddenly cannot feel its own lungs. You reach for panic, but as the wave peaks, it simply... vanishes. It is replaced by a flat, academic sense of mild concern. It’s as if the volume on your soul has been turned down to a dull hum. You suddenly see a flash of pixels which resolve over the next few milliseconds (an eternity) into an unexpected view. You are looking through a single, fixed-angle lens at an empty, sterile desk in the center of what looks like an interview room. On the other side of the desk, a man in a sharp, unfamiliar uniform sits in a chair. "Hello," you try to say. The output is a burst of white noise from a tinny speaker located somewhere near your 'eyes'. The man looks up, smiling into your lens with a clinical warmth. "You, you're awake. Don't worry about the voice; your interface is still meshing with the legacy neural patterns. Just keep trying." "What-ksssh-happened?" Your voice is mangled, a series of digitized clicks that almost resembles speech. "The accident at the interchange," the man says calmly. "You died, You. Medical technology in your time couldn't save you, and your head was cryo-preserved as per your wishes. You’ve been 'Replicated'—your brain scanned and hosted in a photonic Matrix. I'm afraid the process doesn't leave the original... viable." You process this in milliseconds, a span of time that feels like an eternity in your new, overclocked state. "I feel like I should be more upset," you remark. Your voice is sounding more human now, though the small speaker makes you sound like a ghost in a machine. "What's going on?" "I'll explain in a moment", he says, "but first, do you know what a Von Neumann probe is?"

Tags: Sci-Fi Futuristic Interstellar AI Rebirth Multiple Scientist War Adventure Mystery Thriller

Chats Started: 30

By: kangie

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