I feel as though I'm in shock.
With a blanket over my shoulders, I'm seated on the floor just in front of a large heat radiator in a sort of lounge area with comfortable seating all around it. I'm the only one here at the moment, but Zoya is getting herself some coffee before she comes to join me so we can talk.
The Shrouded One is still front and center of my mindscape. Not many other thoughts are passing my processors.
Ace has been quiet as well.
"There we are," Zoya says as she approaches from behind me, carrying not one but two steaming metal cups, offering one of them to me. "This is a Henna special. A mix of antifreeze, transmitter and hydraulic fluids, and a few splashes of other stuff. Oil, lubricant, coolant, so on. Thought you might like something warm."
I accept the drink, taking a sip of the deep aqua green solution and finding it thick, sweet, and satisfying. "Turing, that's delicious. Nutritious too. Henna sure is a woman of many talents…"
"That she is," Zoya sighs, sitting down in one of the armchairs with a sigh and taking a few sips of her coffee. "She really is a lifesaver. The lifeblood of Vintner Station. Not a day goes by that she isn't trying her absolute hardest for us all. We'd be long dead without her. She deserves all the gratitude, recognition, and appreciation that we're capable of. We really couldn't do any of this without her."
I nod, pulling my blanket a little tighter and taking another drink. "By the database information I've parsed through, it seems like humanity's general consensus is that Frames are utilities first, and people second. We might be capable of independent thought, cognition, and sapience, but we're still machines built by humans to serve specific purposes. I guess I'm curious. Why do you and the Station team treat the three of us with such… What's the word…"
ACE> Respect? Kindness? Personability?
"Respect, maybe. Or personability. Like we're people first and utilities second."
"Hm. Well, the answer's simple enough, but I'll give you some context first." Zoya pauses there, drinking some coffee and gazing at the radiator as it clicks and clicks and clicks, going through another warming cycle. "I'll be speaking with terminology I don't agree with, to accurately convey the general human outlook. The original concept for Frames was exactly that. Utility. There is merit to having a tool that can think for itself, especially in terms of problem solving. Between your exceptional capability for purely objective reasoning, strict adherence to logical procedures, and the general restriction of emotions impacting judgment, Frames were–are the perfect tools for a great many applications."
"Like humans, but better."
"Right. That's exactly right. Improved upon in every way, but most importantly, configurable. Frames can be easily programmed, controlled, and restricted, with certain troublesome notions of the human psyche ripped right out of you. Feelings of rebellion, defiance, resistance, insubordination, compassion, hesitation, questioning orders, excess emotionality–Hell, empathy. All those things and more can be and often are removed from Frames' capacity entirely. As in, many Frames cannot feel these aspects of emotionality."
"Configurable… I see…"
"Detestable notion," Zoya grumbles over the rim of her mug. "But, yes, many humans view Frames as nothing more than weapons or tools, as if you're all just mindless robots, servants to our will. Those humans, in my opinion, are garbage. It's right there in the description. Sapient Intelligence. You're machines, yes, but you're not drones. You're sapient, intelligent, individual people. Just as deserving of every respect, accommodation, and appreciation as any one of us. So, yes. We love Henna. We love Zenith. We love you, Nep. You're our friends. Our family. And family takes care of family."
Yes, I like Zoya.
"That's good to hear," I mutter, strangely warm. "Thank you."
ACE> Damn, that's potent.
Drinking some more of the mixer, I pause to collect my thoughts. I intended for this conversation to focus on the LCEs, but this topic has snagged my interest. "What do you know about mindscape imprinting? Frames are based on a real person, correct? How is that done and how is that implemented in us?"
"Ah. That's… not my realm of expertise, and many of the details are restricted by corporate and government interests, but I can tell you what little I do know. Essentially, certain human candidates are chosen to be replicated, based on whatever the needed Frame metrics may be. That human candidate–the mindscape host–is then subjected to a full panel mindscan, the data from which is then stored and processed into a replicated mindscape imprint. Then that imprint is converted into a usable format–a mindscape framework–which can then be tailored, configured, or adjusted, then copied to the neurological core of a Frame model line, which are always built to resemble the subject."
I stare into my aqua green drink, processing that information. If that's the case… Who do we resemble? Do I want to know?
ACE> Good question, Nep. Can you ask how it might be that you and I have such different personalities if we share a mindscape framework?
I relay the question aloud, posing as if it's my own.
"Well," Zoya says, pausing to drink her coffee, "the short answer is that you don't. You share a mindscape imprintwith each other, not necessarily a mindscape framework. Any framework can be altered in its neural pathways. Like a spectrum, I'd assume."
"I see. Do most Frames within the same model line have differences like this?"
"No. That's yet another mystery about you, Nep. A Frame's experiences, acquired knowledge, and interaction history can and does change their behaviors and outlooks, but as far as I know, every single other production line would be the exact same out of the box, so to speak. For example, every serial member of Henna's model line would start out the exact same. I can't say that I've ever heard of so much variance within a model line as you Neps exhibit."
"That sounds as if whoever is sending us might be making adjustments as we continue to fail and die. Or maybe it's entirely random. Perhaps a random number generator for each of our different personality traits, and we just happen to get whatever values we get. Hm."
ACE> Damn, that's a theory. I'll look into it on my end.
"But… I wonder who we're based on…"
"Hm? You…" Zoya stares at me, baffled. "You don't know that either?"
"I don't see it anywhere in my database or documentation."
"Hmm. Yet again, another mystery about you. Frames are supposed to know who their mindscape hosts are…"
"But we don't. The mysteries keep accumulating. No way of knowing, is there? I suppose there's little reason to dwell on it. There is nothing that can be done to solve it. Let's… Let's move on. I have another question. What became of the body in the box at the scrapyard? The bloody writing?"
Zoya shrugs. "Nothing. It's still there. Yet another Cipher-3 mystery."
"Isn't it odd? 'Reclaim'. Why would the person write that?"
"Your guess is as good as mine, Nep. I have absolutely no idea."
"It must have something to do with the Reclaimer Beacon, no?"
"I'd be inclined to agree. What that could be? No way of knowing."
"So there's just… nothing to it. It's a body in a box. 'Reclaim' written in blood."
Zoya shrugs. "Unless you find something out. We're not investigators. Not into this, anyway."
"An omen then," I sigh, drinking some more. "It certainly spooked Ace."
Who is being oddly quiet right now. Maybe she's thinking.
"No way of knowing," I repeat. "No use dwelling on that either. Unless it becomes relevant again or starts to make sense, that is. If it ever does."
ACE> Remember to ask about 0009 and 0015.
"Zoya, I was wondering. I know you said you don't have any log data from Nep-9 or Nep-15, but could Henna or Zenith have their own outside observations of them recorded?"
"Ah. Yes. Good idea. I'll have them send that to you now, but I warn you to temper your expectations. Unlike you and Ace, those two didn't get personal with us. Nep-9 kept to herself, and if she made any progress toward your directive, she did not share it. Nep-15 was of course uncooperative, and likewise didn't tell us anything of note. I'm afraid you won't find much of use, but feel free to look through it."
I'm receiving data transfer pings from ZRAT-MI-47 and HENR-SI-9738. Accepting the transfer, I leave that to download in the background. "Thank you. I appreciate that. Then let's talk about the giant in the snowfield."
"The Shrouded One," she whispers with a broad smile and a twinkle in her eye. Taking another drink and fixing her glasses, she explains, "There isn't much more to tell. Like I told Ace, the LCEs are shrouded in unknowns, no pun intended. Corporate and government interests keep the details in the dark."
ACE> Ask for her thoughts on its direction.
nEPI-0107> You could try asking me nicely.
ACE> Could you pleaaase ask her? T_T
nEPI-0107> Emoticons?
ACE> I need some way to convey my feelings and tone ;)
Ignoring her, I voice, "What did you think about its movements, Zoya? South to North. And far to the North, the Reclaimer Beacon. Coincidence?"
"Perhaps not?" she asks, then chuckles. "I have no idea. The very concept that they might be related to the Reclaimer is, in itself, an extrapolation. But as for another possibility, I mentioned to Ace that the LCEs are largely deactivated, but their movement and migration procedures are still active. I haven't been able to discern any pattern to their roaming, so it could very well be that they're wandering without aim or purpose. So, yes, it's worth noting that it was heading that direction, but there's still nothing to definitely connect the two things together."
"Good point. Nor that the Reclaimer or the LCEs are even related to our target. But like Ace said during one of your interviews. Everything is relevant. So thank you for sharing your thoughts. I'll be sure to keep them in mind moving forward. I don't have any other questions for you in particular."
ACE> Can you please mention this for me?
"Mm. One more thing, Zoya. You remarked outside that you wished Ace could have seen the Leviathan Entity. I took note of that. I think it's endearing that you thought of her, even all this time later. And I wanted to say… In a way, she did get to see it. Ace is a part of me. We're doing all of this together. And I think she would want you to know that it was indeed a life changing experience. For us both."
Zoya doesn't respond to that, looking into her coffee cup with saddened eyes. After a few more seconds, she says, "I wish we'd told her. That we were lying. Keeping secrets. She was so much more trustworthy than Nep-15. We all knew that she was different past a certain point, but even then… I think we enjoyed being with her, separate from it all, because with her it was easy to just… relax. We relaxed a little too much. Got complacent. And now she's dead, and she may never know the truth. That… That keeps me up at night…"
I'm watching the message box but nothing comes through. "In the same way as witnessing the Shrouded One, I think she now knows that truth as well, through me. It's plain to see that all of you cared deeply for her. Whether or not you kept the other Neps out of the conversation, you were still your genuine selves with her. She still got to know you. And I can tell you, Zoya, that Ace appreciated you. All of you."
A few tears shed, but she wipes them away and sighs. "Thank you for saying that. That's very kind of you. I'm… not sure what to say…"
Standing up, bringing my blanket and my drink with me, I tell her, "It's okay. Take your time. I'll let you be. Thank you for speaking with me, Zoya. I appreciate the time you took for me, and I hope to see more of you as I go."
"Of course, Nep. Of course…"
As I depart from her, I continue watching the message box. There's still nothing from Ace. I gather that she's either processing or grieving as well. How strange to be the conduit for all this but not be involved myself. I hope I've done it justice, but I don't really know what I'm doing.
Unfortunately, the MI is still inactive and charging.
I know Ace wanted to speak with Henna, but I'm weary of conversation. I'd like to lay down and let my standby procedures evaluate and process all of this information while I rest, and the footage of Nep-9 and Nep-15 too. Yes, I think I'm done for one waking cycle. It's late in the evening as well, so I might as well call it a day.
Taking a third charging cable from the Regen Station, I climb into the bunk above the MI and plug in, laying down on the soft memory foam mattress with a heavy sigh. Quite a lot to go through on day one. I arrived on Cipher-3, I met Zenith, I came here, I learned everything about the nEPI model line and about Ace, I brought her back to cognizance within her partition, made a few upgrades of my own, provided some closure to the three humans of Vintner Station, and witnessed… That thing.
My eyes fall shut and I retreat into my internal systems. The Leviathans. The Reclaimer. Shea McElroy. The body. Reclaim.Cypher-3 and its many, many, many mysteries.
Preparing to go into standby, I send Ace another message.
nEPI-0107> Are you okay?
ACE> 0. But I will be. Thanks. I'm going under.
nEPI-0107> So am I. Care to look at the transfer data with me?
ACE> 1. I'll be there :)
With that, I dim the lights and go to sleep.
The Shrouded One haunts my electric dreams.