Advance Human Project (6)

“They had you captive this whole time? How can they get away with that? Didn’t people in your school wonder where you were?” I started asking questions as soon as Bino stopped talking. I desperately wanted to know everything he knew.

“I remember asking my ‘dad’ the same things and he told me no one misses a runaway teen. He told my mom and the world I ran away! I told him mom would never believe it and then he read this horribly sad email he sent her, from my account! He told her that I hated her for moving me to a new school, where everybody hated me. I can’t even imagine how she must have felt! I loved her so much. She was real and she actually loved me.”

Now, I know Bino is crying. I’m crying again. His poor mother lost her son thinking he hated her! My chest feels like the biggest weight is sitting on it and melting through me. It’s as if I could truly feel their pain. We both kinda melted into the couch and maybe a little into each other. All this surfacing of pain had consumed us both. We fell asleep and the next thing I know I’m waking up, not sure of where I am for a brief moment. My thoughts begin racing about from various moments in my life back at the labs. I keep going back to moments when I would be around other AHP test subjects scanning them for Bino. Was he there, in other moments and I didn't notice? It doesn't seem so.

Bino is awake too. He shakes off what looks like similar confusion upon waking. “One, I have so much to fill you in on and I think Cedric should hear some of it. I think he’ll understand more than I know how to explain.”

“What do you mean?” I say this as I snap up straight and feel my brows change to a scowl. “I can’t wait for Cedric! It’s the middle of the night. We have hours before we could go to Cedric’s! What is it you are specifically thinking about? There is something in particular. I can tell!”

“I don’t know. I mean if you’re the Number One that they talked about then you can somehow take control of their stuff. I mean, I think so. Before my ‘dad’ considered me a lost cause, I used to be kept in a private room within his lab, so he could keep a close eye on me. This also meant I overheard everything said in his lab. For a long time, he tried convincing me his work was a good deed for humanity and in doing so revealed things I didn’t understand then but think are important to you now! In one of his rants, he talked about you getting closer to fully merging with your chip and nanobots. You can communicate with them or at least he thought you could and that was what he had been waiting for. He was excited and afraid. He needed you to succeed because that meant he succeeded. However, he was also afraid of what you might be able to do if you could communicate with your AI. He was worried your AI could control their AI if you wanted it to. I just assume Cedric might understand how all this works and help you!”

“He already does and this might change my answer to his latest ideas. Bino, what else did you hear about me?” I started asking that question with enthusiasm and concluded with dread. I was not sure I wanted to know how much he knew.

“I guess you were the first subject that healed or almost healed from a toxin that they injected you and a lot of other children with. I don’t understand how but your chip is completely different from everyone else's. You’re the only survivor of your year One. All the babies in the experiment, born the same year as you, got the same type of chip and technology inserted in them. You were all given the same injections at your ‘regular’ doctors, continuing upgrades. But, only you showed up in an emergency room needing lymph nodes removed. The rest died off with various diseases. They gave your chip some sort of extra special upgrade when we were teens. It was supposed to make you “hear” your chip and “feel” the nanobots to further help you advance even more. I think those upgrades made your chip an AI host and therefore you the AI’s host. I think you have an AI inside you that is superior to their AI. They were scared of you the last I knew.” Bino took a deep breath. His eyes were wide open waiting for my response. I raise my eyebrows realizing I was just staring, waiting for more information.

I get up, head to my room, and tell Bino, “I’m getting changed because we’re going to Cedric’s.”

“What? You just said we can’t go in the middle of the night!” Bino jumps up… “Should I get changed too?” He asks as he goes towards the door and says, “Be right back. Wait for me!”

We end up meeting back at my door at the same time. “Just yesterday Cedric asked if I would be willing to connect to S4 as he thought maybe the ship’s AI could help. I decided not to do it yesterday right before I saw you! I thought that maybe if I connect to the ship it could become a beacon for the Earth scientists. I didn't want to do that and risk anyone’s happiness on S4. However, maybe with this new information, Cedric will have a new idea of how to help! He’ll want to know about this right now!” I was walking so fast that Bino seemed like he was about to start jogging.

“Why did he want you to connect to S4? I don’t understand.” Bino Looks confused.

“He mentioned that the AI could communicate with my chip similar to how computers did on Earth and maybe help disconnect me from my chip. I was terrified at first but maybe if I can control it, S4 can show me how! Then I won’t have to remove my chip but rather work with it. I have spent my whole life hating AI and now with your information a lot more makes sense! I’m ready to figure this out!”

Thank you for reading! Your time is appreciated! -Felista