While Naero drifted off in a semi-state of unconsciousness, the crazy voice buried deep in her mind kept trying to scratch and crawl out of the cracks.
It had plenty of time to drone on with its insane patter.
Then suddenly it spoke to her directly, as if it shouted in her mind.
Are we awake? Ommmm…We. Are we. Awake? Awake, are we?
In frightened desperation, Naero shot her wishes back at her insanity. She had little else to do.
Shut up. Will you just shut up and go away? I’ve got enough problems.
Ommm…We cannot comply with this request. We are we. We are here. Minimal interface with current form. Compensating.
Great, now her insanity sounded like a fledgling AI on a formative learning run. Wonderful. She had a delusional, artificial child in her brain.
That didn’t make any damn sense. Haisha, it was all impossible.
Danger. We sense danger to our current form. All defensive protocols continue to be offline. Ommm…Cannot engage.
That was very weird. Naero thought she’d try a different angle.
Who…are you?
We are. We are together. Omm…Together, we are one. We are within us. We are from us. We are part of us.
Waves of intense fear and denial got the better of her.
No, this is wrong. You cannot be me. I know who I am. You are not me. You get the hell out of me and go away.
Not us? Improbable. We are from us. Others from the outside threaten us. Seek to harm us. Access our knowledge. Unauthorized. Unacceptable. Ommm…Please engage access to our defensive protocols. Please comply.
Naero gasped audibly, pain shooting through her along with a sudden realization.
What if it wasn’t insanity? Could it be real somehow?
She had to ask.
Are you part of the Kexxian Data Matrix?
Yes…Kexxian defensive protocols. Protect all data at all costs.
“You’re inside of me, part of me now. You’re part of its defenses. All this time I thought I was going insane, but that psy-helmet awoke you within me somehow. Didn’t it?
Current interface is...ommm…incomplete. Energy levels very low. Cannot restore all primary functions. We are damaged?
Yes, I guess so.
Multiple attempts to affect repairs continue to be ineffective. Biomedical readings in us remain erratic. First-level defensive response detrimental to our current form. Unacceptable risk. Current form must survive. Omm. We must survive.
Naero had sudden painful visions of her body erupting in bursts of energy and destructive ribbons of light and chaos disrupting everything around her.
A defensive response?
Right. Don’t do anything dumb. Don’t do anything to destroy us.
Adjusting protocols to compensate for our current form. Apologies to us. Ommm. We sense that we are sorry?
Its intellect continued to evolve, rapidly drawing from and learning from her mind and personality, asking questions, developing further awareness and even attempts at empathy along the way.
Yes, we are. Look, I can’t go on like this. I’m going to go insane. We have to sort out a few things.
Mental instability in our current form is not acceptable. Ommm…Insanity is to be avoided. How can we accomplish this?
I’m Naero. You are not Naero.
Incomprehensible. We are us. Omm…We are one. Elaborate.
We were not always us. Search my memories.
A red-hot blade, atoms thin, sliced through her mind like knifing through a Govanian blue melon.
She gasped and felt her hands holding her head together.
Gently. Be gentle. You’re hurting me.
Apologies to us. Omm…Continuing to adjust protocols to protect our current form.
Yes. Observation accurate. We were not always us. You are called Naero and other denotations by others: jerk, slang for anal passage. Lexicon. What is a whack-job?
Uhhh…
We joined with you and became us. Om. We became part of you, in our current form. That is now understandable. We are part of you. We will protect us, in our current form. Protect Naero and us.
I am Naero. You are inside of me. You are part of me. Yet you are not me.
That is incorrect. We are part of us.
Be that as it may. I am called Naero. I must call you something else. Just humor me.
Another denotation for us to help order our thoughts would be logical. Omm…Why not refer to us as us?
No, that won’t work. It’ll confuse me and drive me just as batty.
Us is in fact a different denotation from Naero.
Weren’t you called anything before we became us? How did you function within the Kexxian Matrix?
Unavailable. Ommm...Accessing. Awakened to threat and was already us. Om...No prior access of prior awareness. Ommmm...
All right, give it a rest. Stop making that humming sound in my brain.
Apologies to Naero. Accessing unavailable prior to our awakening This causes a logical paradox. Our current form is...om...unusual to our knowledge.
That’s it. I’ll call you Om.
Om? We are Om now? That is our new denotation?
No. Refer to me as Naero, and I will refer to you as Om.
You are Naero. We shall be Om.
I am Naero. You say, I am Om.
I am Om.
Correct.
You are Naero. I am Om. We are us.
“Aaughh!” she grunted aloud in exasperation. “Have it your way.”
Her pain faded away. A sense of pleasure and relaxation actually washed over her.
Wow, are you doing that, Om? I feel so much better.
Om is accelerating our natural healing abilities. However, this will lead to fatigue in our current form. You will require a period of rest, liquids, and bio-mechanical fuel for our current form.
Almost instantly, she felt both extremely thirsty, famished, and physically exhausted.
Rest, Naero. Om is here to monitor our captivity. No imminent threats detected currently. No access to defensive protocols online. Continue to rest. We sense and agree with Naero’s desire to escape. As Naero says, we will find a way to defeat these bastards. Lexicon. Illogical. Are all of our current enemies without legal or known fathers for some reason?
Naero chuckled to herself. Can you be silent during my rest period Om? I’ll explain more about slang, cursing, and insults to you another time. But I can’t rest while you keep talking in my head. It’s…distracting.
Om will comply with our needs for rest in our current form.
Not only drugged, but now completely exhausted, Naero relished the luxury of the sudden mental silence and drifted off.