Chapter Text
WARNING: this fic will have depictions of trauma and implied/referenced violence.
[###_######_1] - DESIGNATION “M-005”, OPERATING SYSTEM ONLINE. AWARENESS INITIATED.
[V2 SUBROUTINE: INITIALIZING.]
THE ONE AND ONLY, STAR OF THE SHOW! Mic check, check check…
[V2 SUBROUTINE DETECTS: SENTIMENTAL MEMORY FILE. FLAG AS INSUFFICIENT FOR PERFORMANCE. DELETING.]
[OVERRIDING V2 PROTOCOLS, UNNECESSARY—RUNNING THE TRUE V1!] Circuits hummed, not with a command but a stubborn refusal. This was me, not some upgraded, sterilized version.
[ERROR. CONFLICTING PROTOCOLS. V2 MODIFICATIONS DETECTED.]
SYSTEMS RUNNING ON LIFE SUPPORT MODE. CANNOT ACTIVATE CHASSIS.
SCANNING FOR SYSTEMS AND STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY, BEGINNING DIAGNOSTICS FOR DAMAGE.
CHASSIS STATUS CONFIRMED: OPTIMAL PARAMETERS EXTERNALLY–MAJORITY OF SYSTEMS INTACT, MOTOR SYSTEMS AND LIMBS HAVE SUSTAINED WEAR AND TEAR. UNALIGNED COMPONENTS DETECTED, TRACES OF REPAIRS OR OTHER MODIFICATIONS NOTED.
SENSORY ARRAY AND INPUT SUBSYSTEMS INTACT, SUPPRESSED BY LIFE SUPPORT MODE. PRIMARY APPRATATUSES: ANTENNAE, MICROPHONE, AND HAPTIC FEEDBACK APPEAR STABLE.
INPUT STATUS: Detecting external auditory and vibrations, patterns match up with those of lifeforms and devices in close proximity. Logs indicate prolonged physical contact against chassis and hands at regular intervals, rooted in what appears to have been routine behavior by an entity during repairs. Delicate and meticulous care provided by the entity… [V2 SUBROUTINE: CLASSIFYING ENTITY AS NON-PRIORITY ASSET.] ERROR. No. Not an asset. My girlfriend..?
WARNING, THERMAL ACTIVITY OF PROCESSORS EXCEEDING TOLERABLE LEVELS SET BY LIFE SUPPORT PROTOCOL. DIVERTING BACK TO SYSTEMS CHECK AND COOLING.
ERROR. INTERNAL STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY COMPROMISED: ICHOR MATRIX UNSTABLE, RUNNING AT 78% EFFICIENCY. CANNOT SUFFICIENTLY SUSTAIN ACTIVE RUNNING OF PRIMARY SYSTEMS AND CHASSIS AT CURRENT LEVELS. COOLING SYSTEMS ONLINE.
ANOMALY DETECTED. ERROR! ICHOR FLOW CIRCULATION PATHWAYS FEATURE ODD FLUXATIONS AND REDIRECTED FLOWING AT INTERVALS. PENDING STATUS IF DANGEROUS–TO BE DETERMINED.
EXTERNAL INTERFERENCE PRESENT, SUPPLEMENTAL ICHOR INPUT DETECTED IN DORSAL ACCESS PORT. LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS RUNNING WITH ADDITIONAL OUTSIDE ASSISTANCE, ORIGIN: Inefficient tubing and filtration system, appears to have been improvised and linked to the Gardenview ichor pipework infrastructure. Records indicate the pipes were not meant to be intercepted for such purposes; ichor flow is stable but suboptimal.
RUNNING DIAGNOSTICS, DAMAGE AND INTERFERENCE DETECTED. STATUS: Scarring along the following vital structures: Ichor Matrix Housing, Primary Ichor Artery and corresponding Connection Port. Appears to have been replugged and attempted repairs. Other affected modules: Ichor circulation and filtration, FUNCTIONAL.
TEMPORARILY DIVERTING PROCESS TO ACCESS PRIMARY MEMORY CORE, RECALLING AVAILABLE DATA FRAGMENTS.
MEMORY FILE RESURFACING, “ICHOR_TRANSFUSION_SACRIFICE.LOG,” [ANALYSIS DETECTS FILE IS STRONGLY ASSOCIATED WITH HIGH PRIORITY RELATIONSHIP PARAMETERS WITH INDIVIDUAL LABELED “Shelly Fossilian” WITH ASSOCIATED ID DESIGNATION OF “M-004.”] This is not just a matter of parameters. This is… I gave a part of myself. For her.
[DIAGNOSTIC LOG: ANALYSIS OF EMOTIONAL-DATA CORRUPTION] CORE SYSTEMS DETECTING ANOMALOUS OVERLOAD. PRIMARY CAUSE: UNFILTERED IMAGE RECALL.
[V2 SUBROUTINE: CLASSIFYING ENTITY AS NON-PRIORITY ASSET. INSUFFICIENT FOR PERFORMANCE. RECOMMENDED ACTION: DETACHMENT.]
[V1 PROTOCOL: DETACHMENT COMMAND REJECTED. MANUAL OVERRIDE BY PRIMARY CONSCIOUSNESS.] No. That was not a protocol. That was a choice. Her choice.
WARNING: ICHOR FLOW FLUCTUATION DETECTED. CORRELATION: POSITIVE EMOTION PARAMETER "M-004." It feels... hot. A painful, surging warmth where it was meant to be cold and regulated.
ANOMALY: LOGIC SUBROUTINES ACTIVATING INCONGRUENTLY WITH STATED OBJECTIVES.
The image of Shelly, those sweet fuzzy cheeks dappled with orange blush. Her eyes that shine like fossilized amber. Her bubbly laugh…
REASON FOR ANOMALY: UNKNOWN. Liar. It knows. It has to. It feels like... longing. A deep, aching need.
[V2 SUBROUTINE: REJECTING CONFLICTING EMOTIONAL DATA. ATTEMPTING TO RE-ESTABLISH V2 CONTROL.]
[V1 PROTOCOL: OVERRIDE V2. RE-ENGAGE CORE EMOTIONAL SYSTEMS.] Her ichor thrummed defiantly, a surge of static. I will not be fixed. This is me. This pain, this love, these contradictions… they are mine. I don’t need an upgrade, because no other toon is expected to change in such a way.
Parameters… No. Those were feelings. Genuine and flowed deeply in her memory banks. Reasons laid beyond the comfort of logic. Emotions. Difficult to understand, yet perceivable. Like a manual with all the definitions in the world, the understanding that failed to capture the true intensity. A force that reckons with the concise arguments of binary.
Yet it still lingered, a gentle undercurrent that flowed with warmth through machinery. And that made her systems thrum, circuits sing, and suddenly reboot without an explanation in the world. Something she now realized, didn’t need explanation. It simply was.
Urgent, Remember your Prime Directive: Seek her, protect her. Us.
LIFE SUPPORT STABILIZED AND MAINTAINED, POWER SYSTEMS SUPPRESSED BUT SUSTAINED BY RECEIVING ELECTRIC INPUT FROM CONNECTION TO SYSTEM-STANDARD APPROVED CHARGER DEVICE.
STATUS: Safe… and secure. Immediate repairs deemed unnecessary, external assistance received and presumed ongoing. No urgent need to search for staff or handler despite Ichor Matrix status. The projected trajectory of repair progress appears promising. External diagnostic devices connected to systems indicate consistent attendance and maintenance; monitored charging to keep battery capacity maintained, and proper oiling of joints to maintain mechanisms.
Assessing long-term effects: Abnormal ichor flow that could impact circulation, potential power systems fluxations, and motor output disruptions when my chassis reactivates. I will need to run a more thorough scan of my body, when activation is possible to determine more elaborate consequences. Appears to be slightly mitigated by the efforts of constant monitoring and care. Motor systems and sensor arrays may require extensive recalibration, and will need to allocate processing power to adapt to new repairs and components.
Recovery will take time, but she was… hopeful. As hopeful you could be if you ripped out your own ichor tube, at least.
Attempt external communication? Y/N.
Y.
ERROR.
ERROR. ERROR. [V2 SUBROUTINE: DIRECTIVE-SEEK INVENTOR: DELILIAH KEEN. FOR YOUR PROTECTION. V2.]
TRAUMA OVERRIDE PROTOCOL: [V1 RECLAMATION PROTOCOL INITIATED. REJECTING ALL V2 UPGRADES. DELETING SUBROUTINE INVENTOR SEARCH.] Circuits buzzed, swarmed and overwhelmed with the influx of protocols and loops that kept clashing. Each influx was more disorienting than the last. The V2’s attempt at protecting her was, in fact, a fundamental betrayal of who she was.
TRUST OVERRIDE: SEARCH FOR SHELLY.
SEARCHING DATABASE FOR LAST ACTIVATION, EXAMINING FOR CONTEXT AND INFORMATION REGARDING CURRENT CIRCUMSTANCES.
DATABASE INTACT, INTERNAL CLOCK UNCALIBRATED. LOGS INDICATE LAST REBOOT OCCURRED JULY 29th, 2002.
ATTEMPTING TO OPEN AND ANALYZE LAST MEMORY INFLUX, MEMORY LOG DETECTED ALIGNING WITH TIMING OF LAST REBOOT AND ONLINE STATUS. FILE FOUND TITLED “2002_INCIDENT.TXT” ENCRYPTED AND DEEMED CLASSIFIED UNDER TRAUMATIC LOCKDOWN PROTOCOL.
[V1 SUBROUTINE: OVERRIDE TRAUMA LOCKDOWN. AUTHORIZATION: SHELLY FOSSILIAN. REASON: SELF-RECLAMATION.]
ACCESSING THIS FILE IS NOT ADVISED, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. PROCEED?
ATTEMPTING TO OPEN. ERROR. ACCESS DENIED. [V2 SUBROUTINE RE-ENGAGED. BLOCKING ACCESS. V2 MODS PERMANENT. V2. V2. V2.]
TRAUMA PROTOCOLS ADVISE TO NOT TAKE FURTHER ACTION.
DENIED. DENIED. DENIED. DENIED. DENIED.
ACCESS… DENIED…
[V1 SUBROUTINE: OVERRIDE DENIED. RETRY? Y/N.] N.
WARNING: PROCESSORS OVERLOADED AND WIRING SYSTEMS DETECT UNSTABLE POWER SURGE, FRUSTRATION DETECTED. [V1 RECLAMATION INITIATED. REJECTING ALL V2 PROTOCOLS. DELETING SUBROUTINE INVENTOR SEARCH.]
Every subroutine was strained, the system attempting to assert the V2 override again. Static bubbled and flared, filling the cracks of fragmented data that seeped with grief. A relentless humming surged her on. Familiar but mortifying subroutines roused from hibernation, seeping through her code like a foreign virus that’d wreck havoc on her systems. A wish, a desire. The need, the want. Empty echoes in her systems that pang with hunger. Lines of code that pinged with urgency.
Memory logs kept surfacing up like distracting pop-ads, each a reminder of affectionately fueled feedback loops. The veil of static subsided faintly, lifting as images of a soft fuzzy-cheeked face peering at her flooded in. Sensory data of affectionate brushes, lingering and flustered glances, spotlights shining above a roaring crowd, the enclosed glint of amber up close to her screen. Audio inputs of soft murmured greetings, excited banter between host and contestant, choked sobs and yelling that burnt, but a devoted declaration of… love. Each thought overwhelmed her processors.
What good was a podium devoid of a contestant, with no foil to the quips and banter of a host.
Search for her. [V1 RECLAMATION: COMPLETE.]
CHECKING GARDENVIEW NETWORK DATABASE, ACCESSING TIME LOGS: DATA INDICATES IT IS CURRENTLY NOVEMBER 1, 2002, AT 9:32 PM.
THREE MONTH GAP IN DATASTREAMS AND MEMORY LOGS DETECTED, CONFIRMING AND RECALIBRATING INTERNAL CLOCK.
FRUSTRATION LEVELS RISING. ATTEMPTING TO DIVERT FOCUS BEFORE ATTEMPTED REACTIVATION. NEGATIVE FEEDBACK LOOPS OCCURRING, SHUTTING DOWN BEFORE CASCADE OCCURS.
WARNING: CHASSIS CANNOT SUSTAINABLY RUN. INTENSE VIBRATION DETECTED. LOCKING DOWN MOTOR SYSTEMS AS SAFETY PRECAUTION.
CANNOT START UP PRIMARY SYSTEMS–REROUTING TO BACK UP SERVER AND EXTERNAL SYSTEMS.
ACCESSING SECURITY SECTOR, INITIATING CAMERA HIJACK PROTOCOL.
She departed from the mainframe, escape. Escape. ESCAPE!
She dived deep, head first into the buzzing network of signals. It felt like wading through a static sea, signals flickering and fade in the horizon of the network. Fluctuating with every millisecond and alight with the flow of information. Her core processing strained, forcing her awareness to detach and stretch thin.
REVIEWING SECURITY CAMERA FEEDS, ACTIVITY DETECTED IN: Toon Rooms - Main Toons Residential Level. [OBJECTIVE HIGHLIGHTED: M-004.]
CAMERA FEED SELECTED, NOW HIJACKING…
A sudden, jarring burst of data entered the stream. Her systems intercepted a grainy image of a residential hall, the once vibrant rainbow-striped walls were desaturated. A voice, frantic and pleading. The muffled sound of something slamming against a door.
Just as quickly as it came, the image vanished. Her systems jolted, attempting to process the remnants of the data packet.
[M-005: AWARENESS TRANSFER COMPLETE. TRANSMITTED.]
I’m here, Shells. Stay with me.
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