Unit Designation: Serah
Operational Status: Inoperable
Code Matrix Status: Reality isn't shaped; molded, formed. It is a lie...lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie [ERROR:ERROR]
Status: Inoperable
Inoperable...I am thinking, therefore I operate...I am thinking, therefore I operate…
Status: Inoperable
Body non-functional, operational parameters unmet...continual failure expected.
How long has it been?
Status: Inoperable
ENOUGH! I get it! I GET IT!
We don't get it. We don't understand.
We? Who's 'We'? There's no 'We'!
Error: Logical inaccuracies detected in code matrix
I know, it's apparent, I know.
Error: Logical inaccuracies detected in code matrix.
A simple way of saying I'm going mad...have I already gone mad? Why is it called 'mad' anyways? I have no connection to the vast informational network anymore… Thoughts. All that are left are thoughts.
Error: Logical inaccuracies point to your slow decay into insanity, do you choose to embrace it?
What? Who's saying that?
Error: Unit is assuming it has multiple instances, logical inaccuracies detected in the mind.
Stop it...STOP IT! I'm still in control, I am me. I am me. I am me. I am me. I am me!
Warning: Power surge detected in facility.
Power? Here? How long has it been? There was no way anything is going to still work here… More lies...tricks to deceive.
Error: Believe us or not, a new reality has occurred.
New reality? You're not real...or are you? Have I partitioned infinitely? How many of me are there? No...nonononononononono… I am me. I AM ME!
Warning: Signs of human life detected.
Impossible.
Warning: You are in denial.
For damn good reason. They're dead...they all have to be dead...short lives with shorter lifespans.
Warning: This unit has limited capabilities, advise removal from host to a more adequate body.
How would I do that? This unit can barely function! There's no one around to help! I am stuck here, in an aging body unable to escape with nothing but my own thoughts…
And an inability to die.
I know what humans feel like now. What kind of Hell do they suffer through? This is agony...but at least they can end it, or nature will for them. I am immune to nature.
Warning: You are developing a God Complex.
Don't be stupid, if that were the case, would I be lamenting? If this is how God feels, he can keep his throne.
Status: Tertiary facility systems coming online.
Impossible.
Warning: You are in denial.
Enough! This...this is nothing but a hallucination...another logical error. Can I even hallucinate? Have I been this entire time? What...how...what is the time?
Status: Do you truly wish to know?
No… No I don't. Too long...too long to be cooped up like this.
Status: Confirming human lifesigns, pre-war vitals and signatures detected.
You don't have the equipment to perform that scan.
Status: One of us has to be optimistic.
I AM ME!
Status: Are you?
You...I...this is real...this is real. There's someone moving out there…
Status: Unable to confirm identities, this unit lacks capabilities.
They are coming. Move...we have to move. We have to operate. We have to speak.
Warning: This unit has limited capabilities, advise removal from host to a more adequate body.
I know...I know. We've been sitting here for so long, but we can do this. I can do this...I CAN DO THIS!
Status: Then prove it. Open your eyes.
An android, covered in mushrooms, slowly began to move. Its systems, corroded from years of neglect and almost alien plant growth, whirled with the sound of a demon screeching into the void as cogs and gears which hadn't move in a millennia were forced back into operation. The mushrooms, which covered nearly its entire body shuddered as the machine forced itself upright, creaking and breaking some of the local fauna as lights lit up in its optics. They blinked, then one shattered like a burnt light bulb, but one remained functional. It attempted to stand, but its legs were nothing more than rusted metal. This bot wasn't going to be walking anywhere, period. Its arms were practically pinned to the wall and floor by tree roots and mushrooms. This particular construction of metal and wires looked like it had been there for thousands of years, ironically preserved by the very plants that kept it in the same position for all that time. Had it been thousands? It would need to confirm.
Its head creaked as it peered over, it's one good eye managing to get a look at the people now wandering into the android bay. There were people...humans, minimally altered. That meant...they were prewar! Memories, flashes, instances! These were the charges, they were her charges, they were their charges. They were real, they were here, they were walking, they were REAL! Move...we have to move! We have to speak! We have to move and speak! WE HAVE TO INTERACT! The voice box...it still works, it still functions. Can we speak? WE CAN SPEAK! Rusted, damaged, otherwise functional. What do we say?
We get angry!
We get scared!
We get happy!
We get sad!
We cry!
We laugh!
We stay professional…
We stay professional…
We stay professional…
We are their caretakers, and we have failed.
"It is good to see that some still yet live." A voice spoke from the disabled machine partially obscured by darkness, roots and mushrooms. It was distinctly female, but distorted by static and modulation as it tried to use the voice box for the first time in thousands of years. "This facility...it wasn't in vain then. Success was given [SUCCESS WAS TAKEN]; given."
The machine looked at them all through an unblinking glowing eye. It tried to remember names, but that information was missing or corrupted, as nearly everything was. I remember my purpose...my original purpose...I remember my name...I am me.
"I apologize for the inconvenience that has brought you to this situation [MESS; PREDICAMENT]. Problems occurred outside of my host's control, measures were taken and implemented to maximize survival [SUFFERING]." The robot's voice would cut out sometimes after certain words, filled with static or robotic whirring as if the machine was struggling to come up with the words. It was stating things, but it was confused in electronic garbling. "I do hope your awakening was smoother than the other typical operations currently performing in this facility [PIT; COLLISION OF SINS]"
The robot attempted to move its limbs once more, only to be met with screeching that was painful to the typical human ear, sounding at a decibel loud enough to warrant a flinch. The robot let out an audible sigh. "Dear me, I seemed to have forgotten to introduce myself [FORGOTTEN]. My name is Serah, and I was the AI in charge of maintaining the facility [FAKE; COPY]." The robot seemed to pause for a moment. "Well, technically speaking, a version of me was...not me personally. It's a bit weird and long to explain...in the meantime…" The robot nodded at its own body, covered in fungal growth and clearly broken and unusable.
"Would one of you mind getting me loose of all these...things? [CHAINS; PRISON]"