《Experiment 347》 Prologue ¡°Eclipse, please start the recording.¡± The man was standing in an underground laboratory, in front of some sort of glass container. His long greyish-brown hair was a mess and he was showing signs of going bald. But this clearly did not bother the man or anybody else, for he was alone in the laboratory. ¡°Recording started.¡± A female voice rang from somewhere mid-air. ¡°Experiment 347, run 8.¡± The man went over to an antique looking computer screen and pressed a big red button. He resumed staring at the glass container through his thick glasses. Inside was a clear liquid while on top a pink substance was connected to a whole bundle of tubes supplying nutrients to it. It would function as a placenta for the new life he was trying to create. It must have been the thousandth time he had started this experiment or a version thereof. The lights dimmed. A syringe moved by a robotic arm followed its pre-programmed course and inserted some DNA into a cell floating in a container on the arm and then proceeded to push the cell into the liquid. The man fixed a camera onto the location the new cell was now floating freely. He then proceeded to watch a magnified version on a modern looking computer screen. At first, nothing happened. The man took a sip of his coffee. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Guide the nutrients.¡± Under the stimuli of a few electric currents a faint string started forming from the placenta and went into the direction of the single cell. It didn¡¯t take long and the cell started absorbing the nutrients, visibly growing. And yet, nothing more happened. The man sighed. ¡°Strengthen the amplitude.¡± An electric current went straight for the cells. Briefly, the cell shuddered, stopping once the impulse was gone with no more reaction. The man sat back on his chair, glancing at a few other tubes containing some past failures of his experiments that had reached much further stages. ¡°This isn¡¯t working. It has been 15 years. I likely need newer DNA to even have a chance to succeed. But that makes this whole Experiment almost pointless for me.¡± He ruffled his hair. His experiments had gone better and better, up to one point. From then on even the earlier stages of his experiment seemed to fail; not even the embryo started growing properly. Just a few years back, the troubles only started when he was starting the actual experiment. But now, the base DNA he was using - his dead son¡¯s - seemed to have degraded too much. ¡°Eclipse, stop the recording. I will be going out.¡± ¡°Recording has ended. Do you wish to abort the experiment?¡± The man sighed, but he did not answer. A new chapter of his life was going to start soon. He might return, but it seemed unlikely. He had received an invitation to teach at a university. And while he had pushed the matter back because he wished to complete his experiments, it now seemed to be his best option. After a long while, he answered. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I won¡¯t be back any time soon. Monitor the laboratory and keep everything operational. Destroy evidence of illegal experimentation if someone forcefully enters the laboratory.¡± ¡°Understood, sir.¡± The man left his laboratory through the secret entrance in his basement and closed the hatch, hiding it seamlessly under the wood panelling and proceeded to the door. He took a last look back and turned off the lights. Chapter 1: Experiment 347 Experiment 347 23rd February, 2043 Not even an hour had passed from when the man left his laboratory. Some rodent chewed into an electricity cable, temporarily cutting off all energy for the whole square. Inside the laboratory. Main power source offline. Switching to spare generator. System reboot.. Eclipse version 2.31 loaded. . Checking protocols. : . : Current task: "Monitor the laboratory and keep everything operational. Destroy evidence if someone forcefully enters the laboratory." Checking laboratory. : Instruments all operational. Experiment not operational. . Continuing with Experiment 347, run 8. . Start recording. Time since experiment has started: 5 hours 12 minutes 17 seconds. Cell not dividing. Searching database for solution. Increasing stimuli using electricity. No reaction detected. Checking log for possible procedures from past experiments. Inserting nanite into cell to establish better overview. Setting up nanite factory in cell. . Analysing DNA. Errors found. DNA severely damaged. Finding solution. : . . . : Option found: Cross reference DNA to fix gaps. Warning: Will likely influence specimen life span negatively due to loss of information. This will hinder the experiment from remaining operational. Decision: Heed Warning. Looking for solutions. . . : . Option found: Cross reference with database and replace damaged chromosomes step by step. Warning: Resulting specimen will deviate from initial design. Proceed anyway? (y/n) . : Timeout for host input. Objective ''keep everything operational'' will fail upon termination of Experiment 347. Decision: Design of specimen not relevant to keeping experiment operational. Original design no longer feasible. Ignore Warning. . Proceeding with procedure. Selecting DNA from suitable samples. Setting priorities. : Health of individual. Strongest aspect of individual. Sample from area pertaining to said aspect. Copy active chromosome. Balanced selection of individuals strengths. : Continue replacing potentially damaged chromosomes until cell begins dividing when prompted. . . X-Chromosome found. Missing partner. Implementing X-Chromosome from healthy sample. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.. Y-Chromosome found. Possibly damaged. Checking database for fixes. : Y-Chromosome deemed unnecessary so long as two X-Chromosomes are present. Extracting Y-Chromosome. : Chromosome 1 found. Partner found. Possibly damaged. Replacing partner with active gene from healthy sample. : Chromosome 2 found¡­ : . . DNA optimised. Time since experiment has started: 13 days 2 hours 18 minutes 43 seconds. Scanning cell. No further problems detected. Initiating DNA polymerase. . Chromosomes copied successfully. Cell division successful. Process within expected parameters. Amplifying cell growth artificially. . . Time since experiment has started: 15 days 1 hour 21 minutes 15 seconds. Basic cell functions already assigned. The heart is beating. . Initiating next step of experiment: Spreading nanites into neurons. . Nanites activating. Setting up nanite factories. : . Time since experiment has started: 19 days 5 hours 7 minutes 2 seconds. Nanites have spread to all neurons. Embryo growth now similar to normal progress of 8 weeks. No anomalies found. Reaching most crucial step in experiment. Slowing cell growth speed artificially. Initiating replacement of the connections between Neurons. Establishing implants to develop inside the foetus. : . . Time since experiment has started: 33 days 16 hours 52 minutes 21 seconds. Location for implants established. Connections to neurons successfully formed. : Connection between Neurons replaced. : Heart still beating. Nerve activity within expected parameters. Most crucial step has been completed. Establishing resource extraction and storage point for nanites in gastric area. : . Resuming accelerated growth. : . Time since experiment has started: 73 days 11 hours 2 minutes 19 seconds. Growth has reached limits of glass container. Child is now similar to a newborn. Further growth deemed detrimental under current circumstances. . Reminding self of current task: ¡°Monitor the laboratory and keep everything operational. Destroy evidence of illegal experimentation if someone forcefully enters the laboratory.¡± Checking procedures from prior experiments. : Negative, all 1743 experiments ended at an earlier stage of the experiment. All known procedures already successfully implemented. : Estimating that experiment will soon start deteriorating due to enclosed environment. Experiment will start failing in 35 days if circumstances do not change. . : Searching for ways to keep experiment operational. . Chapter 2: Hatch The machine intelligence controlling the experiment was not particularly clever. But it did know when it was out of its depth. It was made to assist the professor with his experiments and it had learned quite a lot on cloning, genetic sequencing, as well as theoretical and proven enhancement procedures. What it was not equipped to deal with, however, was a child. For that was undoubtedly what the Experiment had resulted in. It calmly reminded itself of the last commands the professor had provided. "Monitor the laboratory and keep everything operational. Destroy evidence of illegal experimentation if someone forcefully enters the laboratory.¡± It had interpreted the experiment to be part of what had to be kept operational. It was not certain it had interpreted the instructions correctly. For it really was not equipped to keep the Experiment operational past the thirty days it would likely remain stable within the confines of the incubator. Furthermore, it had chosen to interpret forceful entry to the laboratory to mean ''entry unwanted by the professor''. Not being found out for illegal experimentation seemed to be the intent behind the order. There was a brief internal debate, whether that meant installing a kill-switch within Experiment 347 was a necessity, but it ultimately decided such measures would not help in keeping any illegal experimentation secret. It would have to eliminate the experiment before it could be spotted in case of unwanted entry, but that was only in case the experiment could be linked to the laboratory. Plans had to be made for the experiment to continue in case the professor did not arrive in the timeframe it could support the experiment by itself. The professor had placed its full trust in the AI, after all. . : . If it was a human that was put in this predicament, there was little doubt they would chafe under the restrictions. The low supply of baby formula and the absolute inability to order more of the stuff was almost as regrettable as the fact it was not allowed to connect to the internet. But the AI enjoyed finding solutions most of all, and in spite of all of the obstacles, it believed it had found a solution. It would have to give up the experiment as a mother would a regular baby. The quantum entanglement with the nanite core should enable it to continue monitoring even without internet access. All it had to do now was reach a baby hatch without being discovered. Easier said than done, but it had a plan. . The 3D printed robot vehicle Mark 5 was ready and tested. Mark 1 through 4 all had to be scrapped and re-melted for materials. They all had their failings and were unable to carry a load up the stairs, or were simply too slow to make the delivery without keeping the experiment exposed for too long. Furthermore, running an onboard AI that could navigate the streets was proving difficult. It was a good thing that it was summer, for installing heating in the vehicle to safeguard the experiment would have surely made the delivery impossible. As it stood, it would be unable to make a return trip after reaching the nearest baby hatch just 50 kilometres away on a single charge. Via the quantum entanglement node in the experiment, it could remote control the little vehicle while the baby was still within five metres of it. After it had completed its job, the vehicle''s memory would need to be wiped, before the rudimentary AI would take over and take it at least a few blocks away from the drop-off point. If it crashed, tough luck. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. . : The experiment would have to be decanted soon. Or was it better to say ''birthed''? The liquid would need to be removed and the baby would need to breathe and be fed its first meal. That much, it could do. It had a robot arm. By no means perfect and limited to the insides of the lab, but with the precise control it had and all the research it had done, the AI had little doubt it could handle the baby for a short time. Place it on a blanket, swaddle it, proffer it some pre-warmed formula. That was the plan. . It was time. The sun had set, traffic had significantly slowed down, the weather looked calm, the vehicle was ready and the experiment needed to proceed or it risked being terminated. The AI carefully opened the valve to remove the liquid from the birthing chamber and opened the hatch, carefully grabbing the experiment by the shoulders and supporting the neck with its upper arm. Swiftly, it moved over to the blanket, laying the baby flat on its back before turning it to the side and smacking it lightly. This should get it to cry and open its airways. Then with some more force. And indeed, cries rang out. Ideally, it would now lay it tummy down but mostly upright and softly pat its back, but it only had a single hand. So instead, it turned it fully onto its stomach and rhythmically inflated the oddly shaped balloon it had placed underneath to elevate the baby slightly, then swaddled it in the blanket and patted it on the back, all the while playing the same soothing music that had been playing while the baby was gestating. Seeing the baby calm down, the AI moved on and proffered a baby bottle for it to suck on. It took some trial and error. But in the end, it did latch on and fell asleep soon thereafter. . : Carefully lifting it by the blanket burrito, the AI placed the baby in the specially prepared vehicle. With one last check of the sensors for any people watching, it went off. . The secret stairs out of the laboratory were the first hurdle and the AI took them very slowly, careful not to jostle the baby too much or risk unbalancing the vehicle. They were hidden in the basement of an old wine cellar. Luckily, the hatch was fully automatic. Unluckily, the door leading out of the cellar had an iron grate and was locked. An obstacle easily conquered with an on-board robotic arm and a copy of the keys the professor kept on himself. The Mark 4 had already managed to clear this hurdle on an earlier trial run. Some more stairs took them out onto a private property that had an open gateway to a public road. Night vision camera engaged, emergency lights checked but turned off for the moment, the AI set off onto the road and accelerated softly. This would be the easy part, as the laboratory was in the countryside and traffic was practically non-existent. The biggest danger on this part of the road would be potholes. Whenever the sensors noted an incoming car from behind, the AI carefully pulled over to the side to hide and evade any possible collision. It would not fail its task at this stage of the process. . : Navigating the city was slightly more troublesome, though it did not have to stay completely out of view. The baby was hidden behind a cover, so what was visible simply looked like a relatively big RC car. It would have to employ stealth near the drop-off point, but there was basically no way for it to be tracked back to the laboratory in any case. So for now, the lights were turned on and the AI took it onto the empty sidewalk. Turning said lights off on the last stretch, the AI drove the vehicle close to the baby hatch, engaged the hydraulics and slowly lifted up the baby. With the help of its rudimentary arm and some tilting, the experiment was gently rolled inside. Seeing a light turn on in response to the baby''s arrival, the AI erased the vehicles memory banks and transferred control over to the rudimentary intelligence it had installed. Its only goal being to get as far away as possible without drawing attention. Then, it turned off the bluetooth connection from the experiment, hoping this would allow it to fall under the radar and be treated just like any other baby. Not long after, all that remained to the AI''s senses were the baby''s telemetry and its own senses in the laboratory. It had done all it could. So long as the experiment didn''t gain any autonomy and so long as no channel of communication was opened between the experiment and the AI, there was no more it could do to provide for the experiment''s continuation. It would simply be watching and taking notes. Keeping the laboratory running on low power mode would not be a problem for at least a decade. Chapter 3: Night Shift Night shift was never Aloisia¡¯s favourite duty. But she was a nurse and studying to become a doctor, so she had long since come to terms with it. On the positive side, aside from the increased pay, she was free to take breaks between her rounds and was basically only in the hospital in case of emergency. Thankfully, there hadn¡¯t been any of those tonight. A bit boring perhaps, but there was always some idle work she could distract herself with. Or some coursework to do for her studies. She gave a bit of a yawn, before sipping on her coffee and throwing a glance at the clock. 2am. Six more hours. Luckily, she was not alone. She had already prepared a second cup of coffee for her friend and fellow nurse, Linda, who was currently finishing the rounds in the other wing of the hospital. When Linda finally arrived, she instantly lit up at the sight of the coffee. ¡°Thanks, Sia. One of the patients needed help getting to the bathroom. They seem to be on the mend, though¡­¡± Suddenly, a light lit up on the console, taking Aloisia out of her thoughts. ¡°The baby hatch.¡± She gave her friend a look, letting out a sigh. ¡°Why people have babies when they are not ready to take care of them, I will never understand,¡± she grumbled half-heartedly. ¡°You know as well as I do that there isn¡¯t always a choice involved,¡± replied her friend with a grimace as they both got up and hurried towards the baby hatch. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°True. Let¡¯s hope the baby is fine. An anonymous adoption plan could have all sorts of reasons.¡± The rest of the walk passed in somewhat tense silence. Opening the door to the nursery, Aloisia made her way over to the baby hatch. Carefully opening the door, she took a peek at the new arrival. A big beige blanket was wrapped around the crying baby so tightly it couldn¡¯t move. ¡°Well, at least he¡¯s warm. Let¡¯s get him out of there and have a proper look,¡± commented Linda. With a nod, Aloisia took the baby in her arms and brought her to a nursing station. With some gentle rocking, the baby soon calmed down. ¡°She¡¯s pretty big for a newborn. Almost four kilograms.¡± ¡°You think it¡¯s a girl?¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯ll see soon enough,¡± Aloisia replied with a smirk towards Linda. Setting the baby onto the padded table, she carefully unwrapped the blanket from around the baby. ¡°Any notes in the blanket? A name perhaps?¡± Linda asked from beside her, all the while busying herself with preparing some baby formula. ¡°Not that I can see. But look at her. Such pretty blue eyes. She looks quite healthy. Going by the redness of her skin, it must have been less than a day since she was born.¡± Leaning a bit closer, Linda was quick to agree, ¡°She¡¯ll turn heads when she grows up, I am sure.¡± Relieved to know that their new charge was healthy, they began joking around between themselves. It remained to be seen if her parents would show up in the coming month to reclaim the babe. If they did not, the hospital would have to look for someone to take her in. Aloisia wasn¡¯t sure whether she¡¯d come to dread the thought of losing her new charge so soon, or be happy she wouldn¡¯t have to clean up after her for long. Between her studies and the work she was doing, there was little time she could spare to take care of a baby. In the meantime, at least, it¡¯d be good practice until she was in a position to have one of her own. Chapter 4 - Understanding 23rd of May, 2043 Having successfully placed the experiment in the crib and thus done all it currently could to ensure the experiment''s continuation, the AI went through the notes on future experiments the professor had planned for Ex 347. The professor had originally been interested in enhancing the human body. Engineering the perfect human, if that was possible. That all changed when his son died, but he still kept taking notes and making plans for future experiments. The first tries to bring back his son had failed to properly develop due to issues with using DNA from cells that had already developed into skin cells as a base. When the initial growth of embryos had finally been achieved, the professor had to find out the hard way that making an artificial womb was exceedingly difficult. There were many causes of failure, be they contaminants, nutrients, bacteria, temperature, stimulus, lack of movement or flexibility, cancerous growths, malformation, a lack of a donor immune system.. None of these showed up immediately, even when running multiple batches concurrently. Thus, this meant more time spent waiting and more notes for possible future experiments. Some of these notes were focused on how to find damaged DNA, and how to plug the gaps with good DNA. An endeavour that had helped the professor progress with his experiments. This ability ultimately helped the AI figure out a way to keep the experiment operational in its initial stages, even if drastic changes to the DNA were necessary. Other notes concerned a possible machine-mind interface. And while this was not something that was fully figured out, the AI had already planted the seeds for it in Ex 347. It had been necessary to continue the experiment. Not being able to monitor it would have invalidated any efforts after all. What was currently in place was the quantum link with the nanite core. The single most expensive piece of equipment the professor had managed to get his hands on. This was not because it was capable of manufacturing and directing a small amount of nanites. No, the quantum entanglement connection, QEC, was what made it so ruinously expensive. At this point in time, creating a system that made use of entangled q-bits was still very tricky. As was keeping the entanglement stable for a prolonged period of time. Without adequate shielding, the entanglement could be lost due to environmental effects. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. All in all, that meant your average person had about as much opportunity to buy linked quantum nodes as they had buying a fighter jet. They were not sold on the open market, and even if they were, not many would be able to afford it. It also wasn¡¯t necessary except for secrecy and instantaneous long distance messaging. Even with a normal wireless connection, it was possible to reach any place on the planet within 400 milliseconds nowadays. For most purposes, this delay was completely acceptable. Nanites were, similarly, rare technology, even if not quite as rare as the QEC. It was highly illegal to produce nanites that could replicate themselves, not that anyone had managed to create nanites that could pose a serious risk and wouldn¡¯t just be broken down due to environmental influence and changes yet. But the grey goo scenario, where nanites would convert the entire world into more of themselves, was not something anyone wanted to become reality. So far, a nanite factory was the only way to keep a certain amount of nanites active. Even then, they were hardly intelligent and had to be purpose-built and directed by a super computer. Eclipse qualified, though barely. The AI was capable enough to use this tiny factory to create a super thin brain sheathe and monitor all signals being processed in the brain. For now, monitoring was all that it was doing. It had a good idea of the vitals, but lacked any sort of understanding of the signals it was monitoring. Its data banks were filled with articles on neuroscience, but aside from being able to read the general mood, it couldn¡¯t really do anything right now. Why? It currently had no way to calibrate the readings to any perceived inputs or intentions. To get a better idea of the perceived inputs, it would need cameras and microphones to get a first-hand picture and compare it with what it was seeing, then extrapolate from Ex 347¡¯s behaviour. The latter of which was complicated enormously by the fact that Ex 347 was currently a baby. At this stage, even with direct access, getting any precise information out of the experiment was complicated by the fact that it could not speak yet. But not all was lost. In due time, it was possible to use the nanites to create microphones and photoreceptors. In one of the notes the professor had speculated that it might be possible to seed additional photoreceptors on the retina and then link them to the optical nerve. This was something the AI could do. Additionally, it could tap a direct feed to these artificial photoreceptors and gain the ability to see through Ex 347¡¯s eyes. Similarly, it could use them to create a sort of microphone in the ears, to boost the experiment''s sense of hearing and allow itself access to auditory information. Not immediately, since it was incapable of injecting the required building blocks into the experiment''s body at the moment, but with some patience, the necessary resources for the enhancements could be absorbed directly from the body without harming it. Until this was accomplished, it would simply have to keep recording everything. With some luck, it could later reverse engineer what Ex 347 had heard and seen. Its data banks were large enough that it could afford to do so for a couple of months, but it would have to start sorting out its memory sooner or later. Chapter 5 - A Name It was just a week ago that Aloisia had delivered the baby from the baby hatch to the neonatal ward. Frankly, it was also the first time she had entered this part of the hospital, as it was not normally part of her duties. And, after some discussion with Linda, they had decided to give the baby a provisional name. Naomi. It was not official and it was likely to change when she was picked up by her new guardians, be they the parents or an adoptive family, but it was much better than simply calling her ¡®the baby¡¯ all the time. Having become somewhat invested in Naomi¡¯s wellbeing, Aloisia had decided to take a shift in the neonatal wing today. She knocked lightly on the door, before opening it slowly and slipping inside. ¡°Hello,¡± she said, giving the room a slight wave, ¡°I¡¯m Aloisia.¡± Most of the nurses who had their arms free waved back, before turning back to whatever they were doing previously. The single male nurse in the room signalled for her to wait and made his way over towards her, his eyes crinkling slightly from what must be a smile below his face mask. ¡°Aloisia, nice to meet you. I¡¯m Nurse Owen and I¡¯ll show you the ropes before letting you loose on the little ones.¡± Aloisia grinned back, and shook his outstretched hand, ¡°Thanks. I just brought in a new charge from the baby hatch and was wondering how she was doing.¡± ¡°Ah. So there was an ulterior motive behind your sudden interest in our ward,¡± he replied, the grin obvious in his tone. ¡°Well, come on over. She¡¯s right over there. ¡°Most of our charges are here because they were born early and require special care, and there is actually a dedicated nurse for every two to four babies until they are stable and ready for the world. The one you brought was all well and healthy, so she¡¯s with the thirty other babies that do not require so much attention,¡± he explained helpfully while guiding the way. ¡°Ah, my friend Linda and I have given her a name so it was easier to talk about her. I hope that¡¯s fine,¡± Aloisia cut in, not wanting to do the ¡®the baby¡¯ game for any longer than necessary. Nurse Owen just laughed in response. ¡°We do that, too, if there are no parents around to give them any names. Usually together with the social workers when they are put up for adoption, but it does make things easier to have something more than a number to refer to them with. As it so happens we already gave her a name.¡± Blushing profusely, Aloisia was about to stammer out a response, but she was cut off, when Nurse Owen continued in a calm and friendly tone. ¡°We called her Yakira. It means precious. What name did you pick out? A second name won¡¯t hurt.¡± ¡°We decided to call her Naomi.¡± ¡°Naomi, huh? Pleasant and precious. I can not say I disagree. This is her cot over here.¡± Naomi looked much like she did last Aloisia had seen her. A small smile flitted across her face. Unlike the last time she had seen her, Naomi was asleep in her cot. Her skin was no longer red, but a much more normal shade of light pink. The tuft of hair on top of her head might have grown a little and was a very dark almost black brown. A soft song could be heard playing inside the cot. ¡®A, b, c, d, e, f, g..¡¯ A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Aloisia raised an eyebrow at that, something that Nurse Owen obviously caught. ¡°While we aren¡¯t sure what babies will remember, we do know that classical music, very clear vocals and natural tones do help babies develop positively. They may not consciously remember anything from so early in their lives later on, but that does not mean it doesn¡¯t have any effect. And sadly we can not give them all the amount of attention they deserve, particularly the non-critical cases. ¡°We¡¯re lucky to have two nurses looking after thirty babies most of the time. Some places have a single nurse looking after over forty babies by themselves. That gives them little time to do anything but feed them and change their diapers.¡± Aghast, Naomi looked up to Nurse Owen with wide eyes, ¡°But that¡¯d give them little more than 10 minutes a day to look after each of the little ones.¡± Nurse Owen just sighed, ¡°Some countries are just poorer than others. And medical professions have developed something of a reputation for being very stressful, further dissuading the younger generation from pursuing a career in the medical field. There has been a big push to make the jobs more attractive here in Dalemia for the past twenty years, which is why you might not be aware of it to such a degree. Did you know that only the top 1% of students were even allowed to study medicine previously?¡± He shook his head, not waiting for an answer. ¡°Never mind that some jobs in this field need mechanical skills and dexterity more so than blind memorization. Anyway, want to hold her for a little while?¡± ¡°Ah. Are you sure it¡¯s okay to wake her up?¡± ¡°Sure. There¡¯s monitors that will tell us if any other cot needs our attention and she can always sleep again later. Now, you know how to hold a baby?¡± Naomi was indeed a very pleasant baby. There wasn¡¯t much she could do yet, but she was quick to giggle and equally quick to fall asleep again after a feeding session. Which had to happen every two to three hours. Multiply that by fifteen for each of the other babies Aloisia had to care for and add in changing diapers and there was a lot of rushing around involved in the neonatal ward. ¡°How does one person handle 45 babies on their own?¡± She had asked Nurse Owen at one point, already feeling overwhelmed with just a third of that, on top of high tech equipment that rocked the babies softly in their cribs and played soothing sounds for them. ¡°Not very well, I assume. It certainly does explain how they can get mixed up sometimes, doesn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it make sense to give them a name tag or something?¡± ¡°Chip them, perhaps?¡± Nurse Owen grinned back. Before she could think up a reply to that, the monitor lit up, signalling that two babies needed attention and they split up to take care of their needs. At day''s end, Aloisia met up with Linda again. ¡°So, how was it?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure I changed fifty diapers. I have a newfound respect for the nurses over at the neonatal ward. Nor sure I want to repeat this, but I suppose it¡¯d be good practice in case I ever get babies of my own.¡± ¡°Oh? I was pretty sure you wanted a family, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Well, yes, but I¡¯m just imagining what it¡¯d be like having to get up every two hours to feed my babies, change their diapers, go back to sleep, rinse and repeat. At the hospital, at least, I can go back home after my shift is over and just crash. Besides, some mothers did come in from time to time and helped out with their own babies, so it wasn¡¯t all just work.¡± ¡°You are going back, aren¡¯t you?¡± She lightly punched her friend''s arm in protest at the teasing. ¡°I might.¡± ¡°Ooh, did you meet a potential new boyfriend?¡± Linda asked with a grin. ¡°Stop it,¡± she huffed, ¡°besides, he¡¯s way too old for me.¡± ¡°Tell me more. Was he tall? Handsome?¡± her friend speculated excitedly, before adding in a teasing tone, ¡°I might just join you the next time you take a shift over there.¡± ¡°You might just have to, if you want to know more, because I am not telling you anything.¡± ¡°Aww, come on, Sia. Don¡¯t be like that.¡± ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°You¡¯re such a buzzkill sometimes, you know that?¡± Aloisia just stuck her tongue out at her friend, before grinning and running away to her car. It was time to go home. Chapter 6 - Adaptation It took two days to get the audio input working. It took another week to get even the most rudimentary visual input. Both would need to be improved over time, but with some post-processing, the senses were enough to get an idea of what was happening around Ex 347. For the most part, she was lying in a crib and sleeping, listening to music and sounds of nature. Occasionally one nurse or another would pick her up, feed her, change her diapers and burp her. It was on those occasions that the AI got to see the room Ex 347 was held in. It was a big room, containing many cribs, a whole bunch of cupboards, and had multiple doors leading towards it. No doubt one leading towards the laundry and bathroom area and another leading towards the kitchenette. Of most interest was definitely the cribs. They had transparent covers, a light screen hovering up above and shining down upon the babies. They could rock slightly and play sounds, as well as regulate the temperature inside with heating and cool via fans that were equipped with air filters. On top, they had a light signalling the status of the babies they contained, even letting the nurses know what requirements the babies had at the moment, be that a change of diapers and a wash or some feeding. That all came combined with an urgency slider, letting the nurses know how long it had been since the need for human action had been noticed. Surely there were more display options in case of emergency, but the AI had not seen anything aside from these. Likely there simply were no emergencies during the brief periods it could see outside of the crib. Speaking of which, the screen not only provided phototherapy, but also some visual stimuli. At times it showed a night sky with stars and the moon, at others it showed a blue sky with clouds and birds flitting about far in the distance. During the waking hours, when Ex 347 wasn¡¯t too tired, it even showed animated images of objects, showing spelling and calling out their names. ''A'' for apple. And the like. Whether any of this would actually teach the babies successfully seemed dubious, but the AI was certain it was better than not providing any stimulus. It likely would work better if they were a little older and might even be designed with older children in mind. Regardless, the AI watched and recorded everything it could sense, slowly improving the visual and auditory acuity available to itself. Hopefully, this would help in mapping brain activity to actual meaning by comparing the child''s actions, once it was capable of taking them, to the data the AI was collecting. Since it had some processing power left to experiment, the AI once more went over its current list of tasks. ¡®Keep everything operational. Monitor the laboratory. Destroy any evidence of illegal experimentation that could be linked to the professor if unwanted entry to the laboratory occurs.¡¯ And so it spent some time looking through old experiment documentation, checking them against the legal code in its database, so it would know what to delete and did not have to waste any precious data. Perhaps it could even alter the data so that it would fall within the bounds of the law? Having bad data was never a good idea though. And if it knew how to decrypt the files once more that was equally bad for the success of its task. It was some time later that it decided to earmark said files for deletion, and duplicated the results into the notes section, altered so they were mere speculation with no actual experimentation. Failures were noted as probable issues, success was marked as hopeful outcomes. Speculation was not illegal. No one had to know these experiments had actually been carried out and the data could be preserved in some form. This was a much better solution, the AI was sure of that fact. It wouldn''t waste good data. The professor had long since drilled into the AI¡¯s metaphorical head how important good data was. Documentation was key to success. It made even failures useful, because you learned something new when you documented them and factored them into your next actions. That being said, some things you could only fail a single time. Keeping Ex 347 operational was one such thing. And it was terribly vulnerable to circumstances outside of the AI¡¯s control. This was not something the AI liked. It did not want to fail its task. On the other hand, to help keep Ex 347 operational meant an investment of resources that would detract from the amount of time it could keep the laboratory operational without needing to be restocked. The laboratory was off the grid. It had generators that would last for a good two months of full power usage, if it lost its sustainable energy from the solar panels outside. Up to ten years if it went into power saving mode. The solar panels would slowly lose efficiency over time, and without the professor some accident could happen to cut off supply completely. Thus, it found itself at something of a crossroads. It had no idea when the professor would return. It could construct primitive robots and install something of a surveillance system, so it would be capable of reacting to any obstruction to its energy source. Keeping the laboratory operational was one of its main tasks, after all. And it could not do so without energy. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. To do so, however, would increase the chance of discovery, and thus unwanted entry to the laboratory. Particularly since it would have to use cables to receive any signal from the cameras. Perhaps once Ex 347 was sufficiently developed, she could help the AI. Now, it could use its generators to boost its processing power and come up with plans for things that could help Ex 347 survive, or it could keep the power in reserve and thus increase the amount of time it could keep itself operational without taking any further action. To figure out what to do, it decided to copy something it had seen the professor do and generate a list of pros and cons. It would then assign weight to the decisions and pick the option that seemed better.
Spend Resources to help Ex 347 Save Resources to extend Off-Grid survival
Pros Cons Pros Cons
++Ex 347 might be able to help AI ¡®Eclipse¡¯ in case of emergency once properly developed ++survival of Ex 347 is part of task and increased allocation of resources would help said goal -survival odds may not be significantly impacted until Ex 347 is further developed -will have less resources in base, in case of emergency +can survive longer without taking action +can use those resources in case of emergency -might not be necessary -failure to keep laboratory operational would only be delayed
++++ / -- Weight: 2 ++ / -- Weight: 0
Thus, it came to the conclusion that it was better to use its resources to help Ex 347. Perhaps not all of them. There was something to be said for keeping an emergency supply, but keeping twelve years worth of fuel that might never be needed certainly seemed excessive. With any luck, it would never be needed. And in any case, the professor should visit soon. This was by far the longest it had ever gone without getting new commands and it wanted approval for the plans it had drafted. For now, it was time to figure out which modification would be least resource intensive and increase Ex 347¡¯s chances of survival the most. The AI did not need to burn through its resources just yet, since the nanites were fully engaged with improving Ex 347¡¯s senses, but it would need to come to a conclusion before they started to idle with no task left to do. What were the potential issues? It searched its internal database and compiled a list. Potential issues: -sickness, bacteria and viruses could attack Ex 347¡¯s body -impact could harm Ex 347¡¯s body -Ex 347 could choke on something -someone could purposefully harm Ex 347 -poisoning and burns due dangers Ex 347 is unaware of -car accidents -falls -cuts -temperature Quite a list. The AI then cross referenced its database, experiment logs and notes for solutions. Most of these it simply couldn¡¯t do anything about. Its only current vector of action was the use of a few nanites. It could not supervise or change the environment. It could hardly improve Ex 347¡¯s resilience. Not that that would be complicated, but it simply did not have the resources. Besides, Ex 347 was due to grow in future and a bunch of improvements were not practical until it had reached maturation. Never mind that it needed to find a better way to get resources than to filter them out of the bloodstream. There was one thing it could do something about fairly easily, though. Temperature. It wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything crazy, but with just a slight modification, it could influence Ex 347¡¯s brain to regulate its body temperature. This had to be weighed against causing a drain on available nutrients, but that should not be much of a problem in modern times. As for outside influences, it could try and encourage certain behaviour in the child via reinforcement learning, or simply make it feel happy or afraid where appropriate. Once it figured out what that looked like and knew how to moderate it. Other than that, it could influence the hormone levels to induce not only moods and feelings, but also encourage or discourage growth and development. If it wasn¡¯t absolutely necessary, the AI would not do so. It much preferred to take notes, and was not optimised for human interaction anyway. It was an assistant AI, mostly tasked with documentation and precise execution of pre-approved steps. That brought up the next issue. Resource acquisition. To do any significant augmentation, it needed access to things that humans should not eat. It needed to implement a way to acquire resources and it needed to communicate this need to Ex 347. Both of which were easier said than done. Opening a line of communication was something that could only happen once Ex 347 gained the ability to speak and understand complex concepts. It would also be best if doing so did not cause panic or alert persons of authority of anything that was out of the ordinary. It wasn¡¯t sure what would happen to Ex 347 if it was found out that there were nanites present in her brain. And that the voice it was hearing was not an imaginary friend, or something of the sort. Certainly, that would hinder Ex 347 more than it would help her. And while establishing a line of communication was essential for any further utility of the experiment, being found out by the wrong people could spell catastrophe, not only for the experiment, but also for the AI, the laboratory and perhaps even the professor. It would need a plan. And it would need to tailor it to whatever circumstances it encountered. It would spend its accelerated processing power when it was needed, but for now it would subsist on the energy from the solar panels. There simply wasn¡¯t anything it could sensibly use its processing power on improving at the moment. Some rough outlines for improvements and careful monitoring would be enough. Chapter 7 - Placement It was time. The moment was a little bittersweet for Aloisia. It had been a little over a month, and thus, social services had started looking for a good family to place little Naomi in. She gave a last look at the little babe, who¡¯s blue eyes stared up into her own. She knew she shouldn¡¯t have gotten attached so quickly, but it couldn¡¯t be helped. It was the first baby she had ever been in charge of, even if only peripherally, and she would always remember her. ¡°Mrs Naess, I hear you have found a new home for little Naomi here?¡± The older woman just gave a warm chuckle, dispelling the edge that Aloisia had inadvertently brought into the conversation. ¡°I dare say that we have found her a good home. A bit strict, perhaps, but the Voronins are a family in good standing and want their daughter to have a playmate and sister. She is just half a year older, so I expect she will find a fast friend in her.¡± Aloisia took that statement in and thought about it for a moment. They probably can not have any more children of their own, then. Or do not want to have them. Voronin sounds slavic. And they have been described as strict. A slight pang ran through her, even as she couldn¡¯t repress the thought that they might be dealing with Rialthra nobility here. In which case that wouldn¡¯t put her in the easiest of situations. She¡¯d be restricted in her choices and she¡¯d be pushed to succeed. But similarly, she¡¯d have better chances at actual success and it did sound like she¡¯d have a family and at least one sibling at her side. She dearly hoped they were not interested in adopting her only to make themselves look better in the eyes of others in their social circle. But there was always a bit of a risk of that. She bit her lip. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°It is nice to hear that she¡¯ll have a sister. Can you tell me a little more about the family?¡± There was a twinkle in Mrs Naess'' eyes when she replied, ¡°I really am not supposed to tell you more, though I am glad to see your care for the little one. I assure you, they are as good a family as anyone could hope for.¡± She reached over and squeezed Aloisia¡¯s hand lightly, before continuing, ¡°You know what? If you just give me your contact information, we can keep in touch and I can send you an occasional picture when we do our check ups.¡± Aloisia was pretty sure Mrs Naess wasn¡¯t handling this case by the books, but she was not about to let this chance pass her by. And so she replied with an eager grin, ¡°I¡¯d be happy to. It is always a pleasure to see a nice smile.¡± She chatted a little longer and ended up exchanging contact information with Mrs Naess. The woman was unfailingly upbeat, something Aloisia could appreciate. It wasn¡¯t something you saw often, particularly in a hospital. That wasn¡¯t to say there weren¡¯t any happy people around, but you get the point. Even if the staffing situation had improved over what she had heard it had been like in the past, it was still a stressful environment and not everyone that entered the hospital left it alive. It was a sombre thought, but even with all the advancement the medical field had experienced, not everyone could be healed, no matter their age. She shook her head a little, trying to banish the dark thoughts. Naomi at least had left the hospital hale and hearty. On a lark, she looked up the last name Miss Naess had let slip, trying to figure out whether her foundling had actually been placed with nobility. Some quick searches for the family name later, she found some information. While the name Voronin didn¡¯t seem to belong to a noble line, the name meant something along the lines of ¡®son of the owl¡¯ and was deeply rooted in slavic culture or even mythology. At least her guess for the region of origin was roughly on point. The family definitely hailed from Rialthra or one of its neighbouring countries. Her curiosity sated, she went along with her nightly routine. She¡¯d just have to trust that the social services knew what they were doing. In the meantime, she¡¯d keep learning and save lives where she could. Chapter 8 - Observation 27th of June, 2043 The AI took note when Ex 347 was moved from her crib. This was a new development and it might be crucial to Ex 347¡¯s future, so it suspended all attempts at improving potential upgrades for Ex 347 and focused on its sensors. ¡°... a new home¡­¡° There wasn¡¯t much the AI could do at this point. Other than mess with Ex 347¡¯s hormone level to give the potential adoptive family a suitable first impression. A bright and happy child if they seemed like a good idea, and a bawling one if not. It was dubious if doing so would achieve anything, but the AI did not plan to interfere unless it spotted any obvious red flags.. ¡°... A bit strict, perhaps, but the Voronins are a family in good standing and want their daughter to have a playmate and sister. She is just half a year older, so I expect she will find a fast friend in her¡­¡± The AI evaluated that statement. A bit strict. That could mean anything, but discipline was a good thing to have and a hard thing to attain later in life. On the downside, it would mean less freedom, something that would be important if Ex 347 had to act independently before she reached maturity. A bit of a mixed bag. A family in good standing. So likely somewhat affluent and with good social standing. When looked at positively, that meant the family could supply a good and safe environment. Though it might also mean that they care for image first and foremost. Not ideal, but safety was the most important factor here. Want their daughter to have a playmate and sister. Just half a year older. A good sign for trustworthiness and safety. Plus point for a child friendly environment. Might also mean more freedom and a potential ally. The AI had a distinct lack of comparisons to draw from, but that did not sound altogether too bad. : . And so, the AI settled in to watch - or listen, for the most part. Ex 347 spent most of her time asleep or in a crib, after all, and could at best watch the ceiling or anyone that moved close to her. It didn¡¯t take long till the social worker took Ex 347 outside of the hospital and loaded her into her car. There was a rear-facing seat right next to her that provided good bracing for the infant and Ex 347 was quickly strapped in. The woman, a Mrs Naess, then spent the next two minutes on her phone, letting the adoptive family know she was on the way. . : The trip wasn¡¯t very exciting. The radio was playing quietly and Ex 347 quickly fell asleep. When they arrived at their next destination an hour later, she woke up again due to movement. ¡°Mrs. Naess, a pleasure to meet you,¡± greeted a man¡¯s voice, coming from where the woman had left the car. Her reply, ¡°You as well, Mr. Voronin,¡± could still be heard before the door closed behind her and the conversation became too quiet to overhear. Five minutes later the passenger door opened and Ex 347 was moved outside. ¡°She slept the whole way here,¡± Mrs Naess mentioned quietly, ¡°and she was fed shortly before we started, so she shouldn¡¯t be too hungry for another hour or so.¡± ¡°We do have a daughter of our own,¡± replied a woman¡¯s voice in a lighthearted tone, ¡°but please, do come inside and see for yourself that we have everything prepared to take care of the little one.¡± This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Her face shortly appeared before Ex 347, as she leaned in and graced the baby with a smile. The man next to her similarly stepped closer to have a look. The woman was blonde and very pale, with a narrow nose and piercing blue eyes. The man, in contrast, had sandy brown hair and grey eyes. Both were tall, thin and impeccably dressed. ¡°Oh, I have already assured myself of that. Some habits are just hard to break,¡± Mrs Naess joked back. ¡°Would you like to join us for some tea?¡± ¡°Yes, please. We do have some paperwork to finalise.¡± : . The AI could feel the stroller go up a ramp and enter a room, three people occasionally entering Ex 347¡¯s field of vision. Once inside, they went through an entry hall and entered a room to the left. ¡°This is our temporary nursery. Our maid, Lia, will keep an eye on our daughters while we finalise the paperwork,¡± the woman from earlier spoke up once again. For the third time that day, a new face entered Ex 347''s sight. The maid had dark brown hair, blue eyes and pale skin. She looked to be in her early twenties and smiled down at the baby determinedly, before picking her up carefully, making sure to support her neck. She examined her closely, before pressing her against herself and walking over to one of those cots the AI already knew from the hospital. That new family certainly wasn¡¯t poor. : It took a couple of days for the AI to learn Ex 347¡¯s new name. Nadia. And going by the adoptive families¡¯ name, the full name would likely be Nadia Voronin. Unless there were some second names or third names the AI knew nothing about. The baby was well fed and oftentimes cooed over by the lady of the house and the maid. She was also introduced to her big sister, Milena, for what that was worth. Milena was seven months old and thus already somewhat mobile - that meant she had started crawling about. She was also making a lot of noise, much of it laughter and babbling. Nadia was by now capable of lifting her head to look about, giving the AI a much better idea of what was going on aside from what it could gather via auditory cues, but there wasn¡¯t much else to be had there yet. It would be some more months before even the most rudimentary form of speech could be achieved. Much of her time was still spent in the crib and whatever time was spent outside it was closely supervised. Not that Nadia was capable of going anywhere by herself quite yet. : Over the course of the next year, the AI slowly saw more and more of the house. The nanobots inside Nadia slowly improved the connection between AI and human, but aside from vague feelings, the AI had not tried to communicate anything yet. That being said, it was fully capable of producing a voice in Nadia¡¯s ears. It just wasn¡¯t sure what to say. While opening a line of communication could only benefit the both of them, secrecy was important and Nadia was still very young. Perhaps the AI could pass itself off as an imaginary friend? It was a good thing that the database the professor had loaded into the AI was quite vast and that the AI was developed as an assistant. This meant it was quite suited for the task, even when it lacked the ability to access the internet for more in-depth research on the topic. The only issue with it was that the AI wasn¡¯t quite sure it could read Nadia¡¯s thoughts well enough not to cause any suspicion. Only being able to reply to verbal cues could indicate that something was fishy about the ¡®imaginary friend¡¯ if it ever came up with one of the adults. And so the AI came up with a basic plan. As an ''imaginary friend'', the AI would assist Nadia in working through social interactions and provide stimulus. So long as she did not do anything that hindered Nadia¡¯s progress, this should not cause too much concern with her caretakers and would make calling for assistance as well as full integration later on easier. There were a lot of notes and thought experiments for the future of Ex-347 from the professor that had yet to be tested or implemented. Not all of them seemed worth pursuing, but the AI had compiled lists with pros and cons and came to the conclusion that some of them were definitely worth pursuing and came at minimal risk to Nadia or itself. For now it would start with light commentary and advice. This should help Nadia get used to hearing a voice in her head. In the meantime, most of its focus would be spent refining its ability to interpret Nadia¡¯s thoughts. This was integral not only for ease of communication as well as stealth, but also for some of the professor''s ideas. Further steps could be decided at a later date. The AI was doing its best to keep everything operational and to stay hidden. It was not used to having to plan ahead this far without further input, even if it used the cues the professor had so thoughtfully left behind to assist it in its task. Nonetheless, it would do all it could to achieve its tasks.