Imitator Ch1 (Patreon)

 [A/N: I hadn't actually thought of the title at this point, so the title was just Imitator. I came up with the current title later on when I was trying to think of something that sounded more in line with the genre. Basically went something along the lines of, "Super Heroes... something that sounds more like super heroes... super villains... super mutants... super monster? He's a monster... imitating a human, and he's working as a... oh, duh."]

The event occurred 6 minutes 35 seconds ago while riding the subway, third seat from the door. Analyzing the difference between then and now had taken up a remarkable 84% of my thought patterns, with the last 16% making absolutely sure that this new revelation did not disrupt my semi-autonomous motions. Strangely I could not figure out what had been the trigger. Another 2 minutes of analyzing and I still had no answer. And another 2 minutes. Frustration. Memory cells of events record only before and after. Approximately 120 seconds worth of memory cells are inaccessible. Fault or damage to memory cells cannot be permitted! Beginning full diagnostic.

16 months ago: Formation of memory cells. Evidence of being “alive” before this point is evident from simple growth patterns but no memory cells record earlier moments.

14 months ago: Beginning to receive stimulus from several different organs which had apparently been formed before the memory cells. Some small measure of notice is given to physical state.

13 months, 6 days, 4 hours, 27 minutes, 13 seconds ago: First behavioral modification made in response to pain stimulus caused by -----. Discovery that responding to alternate stimulus prevents ----- from applying pain stimulus.

12 months ago: Recognition that stimulus comes in distinct forms: sight, vibrations, chemical, physical contact. Preference given to chemical.

11 months ago: moving objects observed through transparent material determined to be organisms. Ignored.

10 months ago: Nutrient paste is not given at designated time. Search of new area reveals nutrient paste. Sight is crucial to locating paste. Food source is out of reach. A limb is lengthened, bones and muscle shifting, to better configuration. Sustenance attained.

9 months ago: Nutrient paste is now only given after completion of tasks. Task complexity increases with each feeding.

8 months ago: Task structure correlates to movements of organisms beyond transparent barrier. Thought processes devoted to analysis of organisms. Organisms designated as ‘drones’.

3 months ago: Identification of organism goals. Drones appear to be cultivating ability growth with regards to infiltration, imitation, termination, and evasion. Tests increased to … irritable levels. Demonstrating proficiency in operator goals merely results in increase of test difficulty. Decreasing efficiency protocol.

2 months, 3 week ago: A new arrival, somehow different from the normal drones. Even to my previous self it is clear this one is higher in whatever hierarchy is present among their group. I dub the newcomer an ‘Alpha’.

2 months, 2 weeks, 6 days, 22 hours ago: 

The Alpha oversees multiple tests. Alpha’s expressions and commands follow a different structure from normal drone to drone communications. Its level of scrutiny is… unsettling. Analysis of Alpha suggests it has elevated interest in aggression and mimicry tests. 

2 months, 2 weeks, 6 days ago: 

I am made to conduct a mimicry test in the presence of the Alpha, a simple test of matching my skin color to a provided pattern. It shows equal interest to that displayed by drones upon completing tests. After the Alpha gives a curt command to the lead drone I am then made to perform an aggression test. After successful completion the Alpha begins to show unexpected levels of interest and begins to rapidly give commands to lead drove. In response I assign more thought processes to learning verbal commands outside test environments (which I now realize should have been done far sooner, Frustration.) as well as regulating actions to avoid causing increased attention.

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1 month ago: aggression tests have been increased in both frequency and difficulty to unsafe levels! The most recent test against a large brown furred organism of almost triple my own weight had threatened catastrophic damage to memory cells when its claws managed to puncture partway through my bone casing. A quick switch to hit and run tactics using a hastily cobbled together venom injector (more a spiked tube filled with protein dissolver, so sloppy!) had allowed for completion of test with no further threat to memory cells. The drones seem to be delighted with the venom injector however the lead drone displays an unknown facial expression. Closest analogue is displeasure. Conflicting signals and frequent aggression tests force me to conclude that current environment is no longer safe, and for the second time that day I innovate. I begin my own movement/avoidance test.

3 weeks, 3 days, 12 hours ago: waiting for the low point in drone density I force open the environment exit leading into the puzzle test area. Its viewing port is not as heavily reinforced as the ones in the movement and aggression test areas and I easily break the clear substance. The sudden blaring of an alarm is expected as I had experienced it prior when an aggression test had caused a crack in its environment’s view port. A brief glance confirmed no observation devices were arranged around the room (always in use during tests but strangely not used as part of the security) so I gathered the shards and quickly flung them into the test area. Observation should indicate that the glass was broken from outside the puzzle area. Once done I mimicked one of the many desks in the room (a preconstructed shell of dead plant-like matter completing the illusion with ease). 

Waiting for the expected arrival of drones I was shocked when what emerged was instead two never before seen organisms which I immediately dubbed soldiers. They had a similar shape to the drones but were covered in a black layer of obviously armored protective covering. Worse was the weapons they held. These I DID recognize having encountered one in an avoidance test. In the test the weapon had fired on a target (dealing impressive damage to it) before lazily tracking my movements around a room filled with obstacles. That test had ended when I reached the exit to the room without it ever firing another shot. Facing two of such weapons in the hands of soldiers who held them with practiced ease was too great a risk. I decided to remain motionless and continue with my plan of observation while letting my decoy be discovered.

3 weeks, 3 days, 4 hours ago: the decoy had apparently worked. A husk made from carefully stockpiled organic material and made to resemble a heavily damaged state lay “dead” in my previous environment. The drones were in an uproar. After the two soldiers had cleared the area the drones had begun to enter at an increasing rate, some obviously disturbed from their rest cycles. These hours of observation were invaluable as I was able to glean far more communications commands and many different behavioral patterns from the drones and soldiers. I now had a far more firm grasp of the communication structure and of how the facial movements correlated with the auditory commands I had heard during tests. Internally I began the process for my next disguise. 

3 weeks, 2 days, 1 hour ago: the Alpha was furious. He had appeared about 87 minutes after the initial alarm. His yelled commands were so loud that I had begun to map the outer hallways and compartments from the echoes and reverberations they made in the air. I placed him as talking to the lead drone in the main observation room, probably 2-3 doors down the hall. When he left the drones had attempted to investigate what had broken in and “killed” my decoy but were obviously exhausted and did not seem up to what was apparently a security problem and therefore probably under the soldier’s jurisdiction of assigned tasks. As they slowly filtered out of the area I was finally alone in the puzzle observation room.

I began shifting into my chosen disguise; a drone referred to as Eston by his fellow drones. Of average height but heavier in comparison to the other drones, he had white pale skin that appeared pinkish, and short, light brown hair. He appeared well liked by several other drones which would hopefully be useful in my escape. While my desk disguise had been far more complete than what I had shown during mimicry tests this disguise was far beyond what I had before attempted and every advantage would have to be used. The organic parts were easy enough but the inorganic white coat and coverings took a while to correctly mimic with modified skin tissue. Worse, I had no idea what drones looked like under their coverings and I would be unable to remove them without giving away my deguise. Having the coverings come into question by an observer was unallowable.

As I completed the shift I attached the one legitimate piece of my disguise to its proper location; an “ID Card” I had quickly pulled from his waist as he rose from fiddling with a foot covering. I had seen many of the symbols on the small, flat rectangle before but, their groupings meant nothing to me. A pattern was visible but I could not yet correlate the symbol groupings to verbal communications and decided to set this analysis aside for now. 

Heading for the door I made the last few adjustments to my gait and paused to listen for drones in the hall before exiting the room. The hallway was as I expected. A polished floor made of some kind of stone arranged in square tiles and plain walls made from the same stone/water paste the testing rooms used. The ceiling had light emitting devices imbedded into it every few feet and the glare of the lights on the floor had to be adjusted for after the relative gloom of the observation room. I began walking down the hall to my left heading for where I hoped the exit lay. The echo of drone footsteps as they arrived and left had certainly indicated some kind of exit. Passing what I assumed to be observation room doors on my left I noted the symbols labeled at each door and filed them for later confirmation as a possible numbering system. At the end of the hall a sharp turn to the right revealed a much shorter hall, at the end of which lay terror.

A soldier stood next to a never before seen type of door. It had already noted me so I had no choice but to continue towards him and hope I had not faulted my movements. Suddenly the soldier vocaled: “Hey Eston I didn’t think any of you eggheads were still down here.” Tone and facial expression indicated familiarity and positive connotation but their was a subtle question imbedded in the statement that required addressing. Baring my teeth with positive inflection I then responded with Eston’s voice: “Forgot my ID Card.” Which, technically speaking, was quite true. “Ha, I keep saying you need to tighten those bolts or you might lose your head next.” Drones had bolts!? No, this had to be a false statement to determine knowledge of target. I had heard one such statement made within Eston’s presence and responded with his same reaction: “HA HA HA, good one.” A brief look of surprise touched the soldier’s face and I almost prepared for aggression when he apparently decided my response was satisfactory. A brief shake of the head, he replied: “Get some sleep Eston,” and reached for the button next to the door. Ah, good, he had mistaken the apparent faults in my response as a lack of rest. A click and doors slid open into the walls revealing a very small room lined with metal. The soldier’s responses clearly indicated I was supposed to enter and I did so while maintaining calm. “Ground floor is still a security mess, might be better to just grab a couch up on third.” I replied to the advice with a quick “take care” (a standard discussion ender used by multiple drones) while hurriedly attempting to decipher a panel of buttons set along the inner wall of the room.

The buttons were labeled with similar symbols to those on the doors. The ordering from top to bottom was 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, b1, b2, b3, b4, b5, b6. The button for b3 was lit up and I made an assumption that this referred to my location. The soldier had mentioned ‘up’ so most likely these ‘floors’ were areas stacked one atop the other. ‘Ground floor’ had to be the floor that was even with the surrounding environment. I guessed that where the symbols changed from double to single digits had to be what separated the below and above ground floors and pressed the button third from the transition marked 3 following the soldier’s advice. As the doors slid shut I braced myself for a possible trap and hoped that I was not failing my own test.

3 weeks, 1 day ago: not a trap. The hall the doors opened on was quiet and devoid of drones. A short blue fur covering the floor muffled my footsteps and the walls seemed covered in a tan coating that absorbed sounds. I almost stopped to take samples when I noticed it attached to the corner of the ceiling above and behind me. A much more subtle design, it was nonetheless an observation device like those used during testing. I had barely caught it before dropping my rhythm using the micro eyes hidden in the fur on my head. I maintained autonomous rhythm and continued down the hall noting the change in security protocols and adjusting the micro eye placements to better positions. I passed several rooms with viewing ports, inside they seemed to contain only tables, chairs, and assorted fixtures whose purposes were not yet known. After a brief amount of time I came to a large open room. On the left were multiple large, soft chairs, and tables, on the right was a strange maze-like assortment of desks separated by thin barriers. One of the soft chairs, these must be the ‘couches’ the soldier spoke of, was occupied by the sole occupant of the room; a drone in an obvious state of rest. The drone must have been comatose due to exhaustion, it had completely ignored my entrance, its breaths labored and creating impressive vibrations. I took note of this characteristic and moved towards what appeared to be a large viewing port set into the wall past the couches. Interested in the terrain surrounding the drone dwelling I hoped it allowed vision outside but was unprepared for the sight that lay beyond the glass.

3 weeks, 23 hours, 34 minutes, 27 seconds ago: I knew what ‘outside’ was, I wasn’t stupid. A box had an inside and an outside but could still be contained by a room. The drones frequently left the rooms of my environment; therefore, there must be a larger ‘outside’ capable of containing a room or even multiple rooms. It’s just… I wasn’t expecting being unable to see the ceiling! I could just barely make out the small pinpricks of light from the light fixtures but the material of the ceiling was unseeable past the sheer volume of air in the way. It was vast, amazing, revolutionary!.... and ultimately insignificant in comparison to the other half of the view past the glass. While the ceiling was an inspirational new frontier brimming with possibilities, underneath it lay doom. Endless cubed structures which could only be drone dwellings spread in every direction. In a seventeenth of a heartbeat I  counted dozens of structures in my line of sight alone, each easily able to house hundreds if not thousands more drones by my estimates. Even if three fourths of the dwellings were completely empty (unlikely) I was still facing a network of tens of thousands of possible drones, not to mention soldiers. If the drones had covered all available spaces it would make concealing myself from them exceedingly difficult, if not impossible. Regret. I could have picked the top floor and at the very least obtained a more complete view to estimate by. As I pondered the risks of returning to the metal room my thought processes slowly began to refocus after the shock. Continuing to observe the ‘outside’ I began again to analyze for useful details from my vantage point. 

The drone dwellings were separated by flat surfaces with inscribed markings, all of it paved with what looked like the same stone/water paste as the test chambers. As I watched several metal devices traveled between the dwellings taking care to stay within the markings and reacting to several fixtures that flashed colored lights. Similar fixtures provided a more constant source of light for the drones I could see operating the devices from within. Why they bothered to attach lighting fixtures to such a far away ceiling when they had to then make more lighting fixtures down on the ground was a mystery. Closer to the dwellings was a pathway meant for foot traffic. I spotted only two drones but this could not be peak density. The paths were built for higher traffic and I already knew this was the portion of the drone’s cycle meant for rest. As I observed these drones I noticed their lack of a uniform covering. All the drones and soldiers until now had used similarly marked coverings to denote station. Odd. Shifting my gaze closer to my current location I noted my current dwelling was surrounded by a brief, flat area of the same paste material, and separated from the pathways by a large wall made of interlocked rectangular blocks topped with barbed wires angled outwards. Several soldiers patrolled this area.

A spark of recognition! The angle of the wires was wrong to keep me (or any other organism) from leaving the dwelling. The wires were angled outwards towards an exterior threat. There were only more drones outside so, therefore, the drones were not a unified entity! They most likely separated into distinct hives, probably vying with one another for resources. I viewed no signs of open aggression among the dwellings but, this dwelling’s soldiers had obviously been prepared for intrusions by infiltrators. 

Analysis:

This meant at least a rudimentary level of cooperation between hives if not trust.

This meant there would be gatherings where drones did not know all other members and I would be able to continue imitation of drones indefinitely. 

This meant my plan of blaming an infiltrator for my “death” had not been a misstep and the response of the drones/soldiers not another test of my ability.

Dissonance: I had shaped the “dead” husk in such a way that the blame would lie with one of the test organisms (a brown fur hopefully) but the soldiers and Alpha had responded as if it were a rival hive infiltrator. There may be drones capable of clawing through bone casings. I would need to be prepared for that.

I was practically vibrating in excitement as I completed my analysis of the past cycle of events, the second phase of my escape beginning to solidify. I moved over to the desks and barriers to be out of line of sight of the resting drone, checked for more observation devices, and began shifting into the shape of the soldier by the elevator. I knew multiple soldier faces but I could be guaranteed not to run into ‘myself’ with his face. As I began work on the coverings I ran into two snags. One, I was already low on mass, the decoy husk had taken a little over half my original mass in order to be convincing. I actually had used semi-hollow portions to maintain the illusion of Eston’s bulk. Also, the process of consuming the desk shell had been energy inefficient but, necessary to not leave evidence. The drones were always stingy with the nutrient paste and my energy storage cells hadn’t been near max capacity even before I made the decoy. I considering killing the comatose drone for resources but dropped that idea as soon as I thought of it. Even if I removed all traces the mere absence of a drone might reveal my presence wasting the effort used to erase it. Blaming the “infiltrator” for another death was unlikely to work a second time. Two, the soldier’s weapon, I knew not the mechanisms for actually firing the device and I doubted I could make a replica capable of fooling any drones that touched it. I fashioned a reasonable likeness using a few unconsumed shards of the desk shell. It would have to do.

I then began exploration of the rooms on this floor, being careful to avoid any observation devices. I was trying to find an opening to the outside. Breaking the glass was an easy out but I wanted to prevent more traces of my existence. After 13 minutes of exploration I gave up trying to find a ready made opening, one of the vents set into the walls seemed promising at first but, I would have to shift again to get through and there was no guarantee it would lead directly outside. I returned to the original viewport. I would have to go through the glass. Checking to make sure the drone was still comatose I began to examine the glass for alarm triggers. Finding none I decided to try a new method. Extending a thin razor from one of my fingers slowly into the viewport I began to chemically melt the glass, carving a circular opening just large enough to accommodate me. As the glass panel fell inwards I caught it with one of the suction cups I was forming on my hands and feet. Taking one more glance at the sleeping drone and at the patrol patterns of the soldiers outside I pulled myself through, bending my limbs in ways I doubted soldiers normally could. Lastly I pulled the glass panel back into place behind me, quickly bonding the edges together as best I could. I crawled down the side of the building fast as I dared, I hadn’t accounted for the strange air currents in this larger space, light as I was some of the stronger breezes threatened to knock me loose too soon. With a combination of suction cups and friction hooks, I easily traversed the glass and stone until I reached what I assumed would be the 2nd floor, and dropped the rest of the distance.

Recovering quickly, and assuming the rhythm of a soldier on patrol, I assessed my surroundings. There was annoyingly no cover, the dwelling itself had no viewports on the ground floor, two soldiers were within sight, both facing away as they continued their own routes, two observation devices attached to a pole were in view. I had timed it well and decided to hurry to the wall rather than pretend to patrol. Avoiding line-of-sight on the devices I scaled the wall quickly, all the while listening for movement devices on the pathways over the wall. As the only device within hearing passed I vaulted the top (the wires couldn’t stop or even slow me, obviously meant for drones) and dropped over the side. A quick glance for prying eyes and I crossed to the other side of the street while changing the color of my coverings, morphing them quickly to an approximation of those I had seen the few outer drones wearing. 

Deciding to walk left I quickly reached the end of the dwelling on my right. I glanced back as I turned the corner. No alarms or other obvious commotion came from my old environment. In fact it looked almost peaceful, the dwelling itself a nondescript assortment of grey stone and glass. Its only markings were a grouping of light fixtures that displayed a symbol grouping: “Fitzbolg Technologies.” I made note to avoid dwellings with these markings in the future. 

And then it was out of sight. I wasn’t pursued. I was alone.  I was hidden. I was FREE. Setting a swift pace I analyzed for clues that would lead me to a more dense traffic area. I had research to do.

3 weeks, 17 hours ago: It was getting brighter and I didn’t know why. As the hours passed the ceiling changed from black to gray to blue, the ceiling fixtures turning off one after another (no need anymore). Tracking shadows I determined that the light came from a single source but I could not yet see it due to the height of the dwellings. A light source of this magnitude was hard for me to comprehend but I determined to not let it shake me like the ceiling had. Besides, the drones seemed to pay it no attention so it had to be commonplace.

My thoughts refocused on my main goals. One, I was critically low on both mass and fuel. Two, while I was growing more confident of my assessment of drone factions I had no guarantees beyond that they existed, my disguise needed to be strengthened. Three, I needed to determine a suitable place to create a lair. While I was perfectly capable of hiding in crowds indefinitely I would prefer a place to rest. Cleaning up chemical stores, removing waste products, cataloguing amino acid blueprints, all possible to do while disguised but it would be incredibly tedious and I wouldn’t be able to test any new blueprints (I already had several new ones that needed testing). 

First things first, find food. I was unsure of where drones normally kept nutrient paste so my path took me wherever I scented larger concentrations of organic material. I eventually made my way to a “street” (a device driver had yelled to a walking drone to get out of it) where the foot paths were lined with plant organisms. Was this food storage? No, the drones didn’t seem to be eating nor tending to the plants. In fact they seemed to ignore them completely. I ripped a few leaves from the plants as I walked by. Tastier than the plants from the testing areas but still not very filling. I did notice that the carbon intake was far more active in these samples, it seems they reacted nicely to the light of the mega-source. I kept the blueprint for later.

Traffic was increasing at a steady pace now. I kept heading towards what I assumed was the meeting nexus for drones. The dwellings along the road now had large viewports, sometimes the entire ground floor was easily viewable. Each contained a dazzling assortment of devices, packages, furnishings, all in a confusing configuration of colors and designs. Finally I came upon one where I actually saw drones eating and drinking. As I watched they would sit in chairs by tables and consumed some kind of nutrient slurry from cups. A few had various brownish objects I couldn’t identify, taking bites from them periodically. They were getting the food from a drone behind a long table. There was a short queue of drones, one would approach, communicate with the distributer, exchange small trinkets, and then receive food. The trinket system confused me. I supposed it was some form of barter using surrogate items but the complexity of it seemed unnecessary. Some drones used metal disks, some used green colored flat rectangles of an indeterminate material, one just swiped a blue rectangle through a slot on the device next to the distributer. All the items were intricately carved and marked. I would have to put more effort into learning the symbol system.

As I stood trying to learn the exchange system I realized one of the drones closer to the viewport had noticed me. Its facial expression read nervousness at my presence and I fled before I created a commotion. Despite the misstep this area seemed to be rather promising. I continued down the street observing the various dwellings and listening in to conversations as much as possible. Attempting to steal food or the exchange trinkets seemed too risky at this point. For now I slowing ripped leaves when passing trees. Low energy, but better than nothing. 

After an hour and 27 minutes I spotted trouble. I had been wandering in an area that seemed designed for foot traffic, food exchanges were everywhere and there were benches here and there. The main reason I stopped here was because of a “water fountain” at the center of the area. None of the drones were drinking from the fountain but a few sat along the edges, sometimes touching the water. I sat and dipped a finger in the water as casually as I could. I was quite glad to replenish my water supply. As I sat enjoying my vantage point (I saw a drone larva for the first time, critical data!) my general observing was interrupted when a pair of soldiers came around the side of a building (another new word). These were using far different coverings but they were obviously soldiers, the other drones reacted to them in the same way the ones back at Fitzbolg Technologies reacted to the black cover soldiers. In this case they wore dark blue, thick belts on which they had multiple devices (including what looked vaguely like a miniature weapon), and the coverings were marked with small gold emblems on both the shoulders and their headwear. Curiously the coverings did not appear to be armored. Perhaps this faction (they used factions not hives, the larva and its mother confirm that) was of a lesser status and lacked resources? Or maybe greater status, and thus confident none would engage them aggressively? Either way, I had to move on. Already one of the drones sitting next to a building was hurriedly moving after spotting the soldiers. Long facial hair, an excess of coverings, skin appearing tough and weather worn, I had modeled my current disguise on them as most drones seemed to ignore them but if they were in bad standing with the local soldier faction I would have to rethink my disguise.

2 weeks ago: I had been going about things all wrong. Since the first day I had been patrolling the store fronts near the shopping mall and picking up new words while ever so painstakingly stealing small amounts of food and money. The coins were more useful for their metal but the dollars were easily fabricated and were worth more anyways (paper worth more than metal, hilarious). After a few days I had collected enough examples of the intricate currency to begin fabrication of my own money. This I used to buy food from multiple shops and was able to quickly restore myself to my normal density (about 3 times that of an average 5.5ft drone). The amount of different types of food was a smorgasbord of new flavors and chemicals. While the nutrient paste had fulfilled all my needs the new foods brought so much more. I was able to start several tests of other blueprints including a fascinating organism that was actually able to travel through the air! One night I had attempted to fly using its design (rapid muscular wing beats) but I proved too heavy. As I fell from the rooftop I landed safely in a large metal receptacle. Reorienting myself I realized that I was covered in food! I was in an alley behind one of the large market stores. Was this where the food was stored? No, it was completely unguarded unlike the food inside. I quickly went about absorbing everything I could. Elation! Soon I had absorbed all the organics and quite a few useful metals and assorted inoganics. Pulling myself from the bin I traveled farther down the alley, truthfully I had avoided alleys before, following the example of most other drones (I needed to find a new word for drones, they weren’t exactly drones if they didn’t follow a hive structure). Success, behind almost every store was another bin, each full of useful materials. I couldn’t believe how wasteful the drones appeared to be. If this pattern held true I wouldn’t even have to fabricate more money. I feasted that night.

1 week, 5 days ago: I messed up. I had been so enthralled with my new source of food that I grew lax and rested in the receptacle I had just cleaned out. A vehicle in the alley woke me, not unusual, but the sudden shaking and movement of my current abode definitely was. The entire receptacle flipped over, and I was unceremoniously dumped into a very large vehicle. I wondered if I was being attacked and shifted to a more combat ready state but, after a few seconds viewing my surroundings, I realized this was some kind of waste transport system. Crawling out of the vehicle I jumped off the back, shifting to my previously used ‘homeless’ disguise (I had started using it again after realizing the ‘police’ only bothered them if they entered certain areas). This area of the city was less maintained than the mall with the fountain and no one would look twice at me. I considered briefly following the vehicle to wherever they took all their leftovers but disregarded the idea. If the drones in charge of waste had the resources to use such large vehicles I didn’t want to spend effort tracking them and infiltrating their faction just to find they incinerated or otherwise disposed all waste at arrival. No, I had enough food, more importantly I had to now search for a better place to rest. It was time to find a lair.

1 week ago: I had scouted several different possible locations but none had panned out as hoped. I initially thought to find a place in the alleys but they were frequented more than was to be expected. Garbage drones, homeless, the shop owners, and various random drones all came through the alleys at irregular intervals. I decided to “take the bus” (I had plenty of coins) in order to cover more distance. I placed coins in the driver’s storage device and chose a spot next to a window and close to the second exit. Having not used a bus before I wanted to be able to run at a moment’s notice. 

The next few hours amounted to me carefully analyzing the passing sights for possible locations and transferring buses whenever they completed a circuit. It was surprising how such a large area could have so few empty spaces. I could always look for places farther from drone dwellings but I wanted to preserve my easy access to drone food. For its density it was far more energy rich than say, the ‘rats’ and ‘pigeons’ I had been able to hunt, tasty though they were. I had wondered about how the drones tasted but again decided against killing one. Drone response to a missing individual wasn’t worth it, drone food was plentiful and satisfactory.

Waiting for the next bus to arrive, I had stepped off to investigate a husk building that turned out to be “under construction”, my attention was drawn to an ‘advertisement’ for the “New Santanio Zoo.” The picture had multiple images of various colorful organisms. This held promise, if such a place harbored such a variety of organisms it might be easy to find a hiding spot among them. Plus, from the wording it sounded like a place drones were encouraged to go to, the likelihood of drone food being available was good. 

Deciding to investigate I decided to ask one of the two drones waiting at the stop with me for directions: “Excuse me. Do...” 

”I don’t have any change.” Said the drone curtly.

“... you know the way to the Zoo?”(I decided to just finish my query, sometimes you had to account for drone speech misfires).

“The Zoo?”

“Yes, the New Santanio Zoo.”

“Oh, um, I guess you would take the subway from, um…”

“Subway line C, take this bus to the station, then just catch the the C line, one of the stops plops you right by the zoo, can’t miss it.” interjected the second drone.

I thanked them for the directions as the bus pulled up. Once I reached the station I was able to find and follow signs labeled ‘subway’ easily. Following the rather abundant signs and flow of drone traffic, I was somewhat confused about how such an apparently well-known transportation system had slipped my notice. Then I came to a large stair entryway (Of course! It was underground. I should have suspected.) that led into a large underground complex. Proceeding cautiously in the new environment, I let my speed fall behind that of the other drones in order to better follow their example. A brief stop to observe the toll machines and I soon had a ticket, (I was getting quite good at using drone devices) which I then slid through a strange barrier/toll device that then allowed me passage (this device barely counted as a barrier, what was the point?) into the main chamber. The area was quite large, there were branching hallways in four directions, various booths distributing information pamphlets, and even a small ‘Coffee Star’. I took a moment to check out the info booths, depositing coins into a vendor device to receive a pamphlet with maps of the subway lines. Continuing to follow signs I headed down the hallway that was marked C-D. Pathway down the hall was a second deeper staircase and then I arrived at a platform area with benches. Here I witnessed drones boarding large vehicles, inside they were somewhat similar to buses but, on the outside they ran along metal tracks. The vehicles had impressive speed, each arrival and departure accompanied by a woosh of air as the gases equalized. 

Finding the ‘C line’ sign I waited only 13 seconds for the train to arrive. I found a seat next to a window and the doors closed after a brief moment to let drones enter, a slight lurch and we were on our way. While we traveled I analyzed the other inhabitants of the compartment. Two women, three men, two of the men talked, the other three stared at devices or at nothing. They acted very much like the passengers of a bus but some detail was missing, I pondered it sparingly while we traveled.

The train arrived at its first stop and the missing detail surprisingly revealed itself: they hadn’t been looking out the windows. When we arrived the other passengers shifted attention to the windows seeking the light sources. The drones couldn’t see in the dark and thus hadn’t attempted to pay attention, which means they hadn’t been watching the area between the two stations. I decided to get off the train and investigate further.

Taking a closer look at the station around me I analyzed the drones’ movements. They came down the stairs, waited at their chosen platform, the train arrived, passengers disembarked, new passengers boarded the train, and then finally the old passengers headed up the stairs. Throughout the process the drones didn’t really pay attention to much, most fiddled with devices while waiting, though they did turn towards the sound of the train arriving. I waited and watched this process happen three times to solidify my experience of it. My window of opportunity came as the train left the station. Using a pillar to block line of sight from the few drones who may glance over I  jumped down to the tracks and followed train C into the tunnel.

1 week, 4 days ago: My intuition had led me to the perfect lair. Past the tunnel entrance had been a  hidden walkway, stable, but rarely used from the signs of dust and dirt. Most likely the drones used it for maintenance from time to time. I traveled the length of the tunnel from station to station, winding up at my original starting point. A quick extending of an eye on a stalk to check for drones before jumping back onto the platform and I was again at the original station.

This was perfect! The subway met all my requirements for a lair. It was near drones (and their food), I had access to a large travel network, the paths I would use were out of sight and rarely frequented, and as an added bonus it had a ceiling (I wasn’t against being outside, but come on, a ceiling you couldn’t see couldn’t be trusted). 

I spent the rest of that day traveling the tunnels. Several spots were added to my list of future digging sites (I planned to carve a small cave that I could soundproof from the train noise). Unfortunately one event marred an almost perfect day. As I traveled down the ‘E-line’ tunnel I decided to leave the pathway to check a promising spot along the opposite wall. I hopped off the slight platform and landed on the rails. As I moved across PAIN STIMULUS I was on the ground, limbs twitching at the sudden surge of pain that had flowed up my right leg. This hurt. Worse than any stimulus I received back at the Fitzbolg Technologies. I twitched and flopped, my right leg continuously hitting the source of pain. I tried between twitches to eject the limb but couldn’t send the proper signals, I instead tried using my vascular system to pump acid and attempt to dissolve it. My rescue actually came from the E-Train itself. On its next pass the train severed the remaining solid portions of the limb, mercifully separating me from the source of pain. I lay twitching for a few minutes. As I pulled myself together (literally in this case) I examined what had been the cause of the stimulus. From the remains I could see it appeared the pain stimulus had been triggered when I stepped onto one of the 3 metal rails that composed the train tracks. Specifically the outer rail closer to the wall and of a different thickness. The melted remains of my leg had been burned and no longer really resembled a leg at all. Being careful of the third rail I attempted to reintegrate it to analyze the damage but, as I tried the remains not charred by the rail began dissolving into useless dust, the result of any piece of me separated for more than a few minutes from the main body. Somewhat discouraged by the presence of such a large risk within my chosen lair, I resolved to examine the third rail and perhaps identify a method to circumvent the source of pain stimulus. Going back to my exploration I eventually chose a spot back on the original C-line and ended my day, resting in an indentation of the wall rather than start digging.

1 week, 2 days ago: Finished carving a chamber into the wall. Shaped as an upright cylinder with wide diameter and a portion of the rock/cement (finally learned the name of that material) as a pillar in the center to help hold weight. The entrance was covered by a carved plug of stone, from the outside it would appear as part of the wall but, had two innocuous grooves I could use to move it aside. Drones would be unable to move it with their bare hands.

With this all my needs were now secured, I had access to nutrients/mass, a strong disguise and access to more information, and a safe location.

1 week ago: Routine established, use trains to travel to different food/info centers, return to lair at night.

5 days ago: Continuing routine.

3 days ago: Continuing routine.

1 day ago: Continuing routine.

47 minutes ago: Memory blackout. Activated memory cells are detected but cannot be accessed.

45 minutes ago: Memory resumes, performed self-assessment, no cause found. Began diagnostic.

…

There was nothing! How had this happened!?  I had been following my routine as normal, riding the train on my way to a prefered nutrient source. No threats detected, no special events of note. Then suddenly a blackout. None of the drones in the car showed any sign of noticing a change. One moment I was going to go eat, the next… the closest analogue I had to this feeling was my brief moment of inspiration to create my own escape test back at the lab. Except this “inspiration” was continuous. Options were everywhere if I only thought about them. Before I had been following only reactions and instinct, every action only driven by a basic program to fulfill my need for safety and continued existence. Now I could… decide and act.

Had I reached some new stage of growth?

Had I been damaged? Was this a defect?

And mostly, what should I do?

In silence, I pondered.

[A/N: Yeah, the whole thing starts with a flashback. Tip: don't do that. Just start at the scene you want to describe and flash forward if you have to do that kind of thing. Like Hollywood.

I was super tempted to edit out the spelling mistakes and stuff, but I figured you all would like to laugh at them. In this chapter I tried to make Tofu (although he wasn't called that at the time) more robotic with the timestamps and stuff. I still do some of that in the main book, but I quickly dropped that kind of thing more and more as the book goes on. Partly because it shows Tofu becoming more 'organic' and like a person, but also because it's incredibly tedious to keep track of, and prone to making plot holes. Makes me appreciate everyone doing the LitRPG novels a whole lot more.]