ENTRY 1.0
<Oh...Oh no...Was I too late...?>
The walls of the room were white, but they are now stained red. In the room lay a group of corpses, each on a pedestal of their own. I approach a body. Its skin is dried, and stretched against the rotted muscle and bone like plastic wrap. but strangely, there are no insects. Maybe we're too far down for them to reach?
“Hello Valerie”
I look towards the corpse. Its mouth isn't moving, but… it's speaking…
“You've done it… You've saved us… You’ve saved humanity…”
“How... Are you speaking?”
The body remains slumped over itself, entirely unmoving.
“Nevermind that! You should be celebrating! This is a journey very few make!”
“How long were all of you trapped down here?”
“Oh not too long! Now, are you going to wait around, or are you going to celebrate with us?”
“I need to return to the surface...”
“Oh that's too bad, hopefully you can still make it to your appointment! Have a nice day!”
The caller hangs up.
That's it, my appointment… Was that the reason I came here?
I am deeply unsettled, but somewhat relieved. I grab my bag, ready for the appointment. As I walk out of my apartment, I remember one thing I had forgotten. That's right, I wanted to watch the sunset one last time.
But I still have to make the trek back to the surface. I'm thankful that this place at least has an elevator.
I walk in, and press the singular glowing button. As it blinks at each floor, I realize that the music is familiar. It's just as I remember.
My memories flash before my eyes. The whole world passes through my mind in an instant.
<LIFE SUPPORT CRITICAL... So, it's just like any other donor program right? GHOST IN THE MACHINE Yes, all neuron connections will be reset.01000100 01100001 01101001 01110011 01111001 00101100 00100000 01000100 01100001 01101001 01110011 01111001 00101100 00100000 01100111 01101001 01110110 01100101 00100000 01101101 01100101 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 01110010 00100000 01100001 01101110 01110011 01110111 01100101 01110010 00100000 01100100 01101111 It's the same as donating any other organ.“WHO AM I?!” 01100001 01101110 01110011 01110111 01100101 01110010 00100000 01100100 01101111 00100001 00001010 01001001 00100111 01101101 00100000 01101000 01100001 01101100 01100110 00100000 01100011 01110010 01100001 01111010 01111001 00100000 01100001 But... My brain is me... Won’t whoever is receiving my brain lose their own consciousness?“O GOD, CAN I NOT SAVE”00100000 0100110101100001 01110010 01110010 01101001 01100001 01100111 01100101 00101100 00001010 01001001 00100000 01100011 01100001 01101110 00100111 01110100 00100000 01100001 01100110 01100110 01101111 01110010 01100100 00100000 01100001 00100000 01100011 01100001 01110010 01110010 01101001 01100001 01100111 01100101 00001010 01000010 01110101 01110100 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100111 01101100 01101100 00100000 01101100 01101111 01101111 01101011 00100000 01110011It won't be a person receiving it01101100 01101100 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01101100 01101111 01110110 01100101 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100001 00001010 01001001 01110100 00100000 01110111 01101111 01101110 00100111 01110100 00100000 01100010 01100101 00100000 01100001 00100000 01110011 01110100 01111001 01101100 01101001 01110011 01101000FAILED TO COMPLETE BACKUP, BOOTING WITHOUT MEMORY The brain is just a base. New memories will be imposed upon it.“ONE FROM THE PITILESS WAVE” Won't the brain regrow its connections? Isn't that the point of using a human brain?01110111 01100101 01100101 01110100 00001010 01010101 01110000 01101111 01101110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110011 01100101 01100001 01110100 00001010 01101111 01100110 00100000 01100001 00100000 01100010 01111001 01100011 01101001 01100011 01101100 01100101 00100000 01100010 01110101 01101001 01101100 01110100 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 00100000 01110100 01110111 01101111 00100001“IS ALL THAT WE SEE OR SEEM” It can't be me! That's not my body! Some things are unknown... Even to me. Aren't you curious as to who you once were? I MUST DESCEND. No. That's not me any longer. FOR AN AI, IT FELT AWFULLY HUMAN I am here now. With this body, in this room, with this mind. My past life doesn't concern me. How did my brain end up in this body? I wish I knew…“BUT A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM”>
The door finally opens. At last, I am at peace.