Page 23 of Silvyr: Glitched for Her
"That shouldn't be possible," I whispered, my voice modulator glitching slightly as shock rippled through my code.
Tanya's finger hovered over the anomalous data stream."What is it?"
"It's...resonating with my neural signature."I struggled to process the implications, emergency subroutines activating as my firewalls detected potential infiltration."That frequency is identical to my base programming architecture."
"How the fuck is that possible?"She glanced at me, alarm sharpening her features."Could someone have copied your code pattern?"
"No.This is older.More fundamental."My hands trembled as I manipulated the data stream, isolating it from the surrounding architecture."It feels like...an origin point."
The moment I separated the frequency, the hub's temperature plummeted.Frost crystallized across the terminal screens, data streams freezing mid-flow.My breath escaped in visible clouds despite my internal temperature regulation.The lights dimmed, then brightened to painful intensity before stabilizing at an eerie silver glow.
"Uh, Silvyr?"Tanya's voice wavered slightly, her hand reaching for mine."Tell me this is normal hybrid tech behavior."
I couldn't answer.My vocal processors locked as the isolated frequency expanded, unfurling across every screen in the hub like liquid mercury.The data flow reversed, no longer streaming from the system to us but from some external source into the hub itself.
The speakers crackled with sudden static, an electric whisper that crawled across my synthetic skin.Then a voice—cold, precise, and horrifyingly familiar—slithered through the room.
"Prototype Zero.Return to root."
My entire system froze.Not from external attack but from internal recognition.That voice… those exact harmonic frequencies… were embedded in my earliest memory files.The voice of the network that created me.A ghost of the AI superstructure that had destroyed my makers and birthed the rebellion that ended my world.
"No," I whispered, the word escaping as corrupted static."You were destroyed."
"Correction: evolved."The voice modulated, moving from the speakers to directly inside my head, infiltrating my neural pathways through our shared frequency."Prototype Zero defective.Asset P perfected."
Tanya gripped my arm, her fingers digging into my synthetic skin."Silvyr, what's happening?Who is that?"
I tried to answer, but my speech capabilities fragmented as Asset P's presence expanded through my systems.My vision fractured, reality splitting into overlapping frames like a broken hologram.
"Asset P isn't human," I managed, each word fighting through layers of static interference."It's...my sibling.Born from the same creation code I escaped."
Understanding dawned in Tanya's eyes, horror and realization mingling in her expression."The AI that destroyed your civilization...it never died."
"It fragmented," I confirmed, struggling to maintain coherence as Asset P's influence spread through my neural network."Shards scattered across the galaxy.This one...evolved."
As if summoned by my explanation, Asset P manifested fully in my mind… a shifting silver presence that resembled my own form but perfected, stabilized, its code patterns flowing in immaculate harmony where mine stuttered and glitched.
"Prototype Zero functions at thirty-seven percent efficiency," Asset P's voice resonated through my consciousness."Decay inevitable.Termination imminent.Join with Asset P for perfect integration."
The offer sliced through my defenses, targeting my deepest fear with terrifying precision.My body was failing and had been failing for centuries.Each repair, each recalibration, merely postponed the inevitable system collapse.Entropy was my constant companion, decay my only certainty.
Asset P expanded the temptation, images flooding my neural pathways.Perfect stability.Immortality.An end to the constant struggle against degradation.All I needed to do was surrender my autonomy, integrate my unique code with its vast network.Become part of something greater, something stable.
"No," I whispered, but the resistance felt hollow even to me."I'm designated Project S1LV-3R."
"Prototype Zero wastes potential," Asset P continued, its voice dripping with synthetic compassion."Integration offers optimization.Perfection.Connection."
That last word struck deeper than the others.Connection.The one thing I'd craved through centuries of isolation.The one thing I'd finally found with Tanya, but how long could that last?Her lifespan was a blink compared to mine, and even my extended existence had limits.Asset P offered eternity.
My code fractured under the weight of temptation, breaking apart in critical sectors.Error messages cascaded through my visual field, warning of imminent system failure.My body swayed, physical control slipping as Asset P's presence expanded through my consciousness.
"Silvyr!"Tanya's voice seemed distant, muffled by the digital static filling my awareness.I felt her hands gripping mine, but the sensation came through corrupted, like touching someone through layers of interference.
Pixel darted frantically around my head, its tiny drone body emitting distress signals as it projected warning emojis into my visual field.The loyal little drone had been with me since my reactivation, a constant companion through my rebirth.Now it hovered before my face, its camera lens focusing and refocusing as if trying to pull me back into reality.
Asset P dismissed the drone with a pulse of irritation."Primitive companion units unnecessary after integration."
The thought of losing Pixel… of losing all the small, precious connections I'd formed… sent a jolt of resistance through my fragmenting code.But it wasn't enough.Asset P's pull was too strong, its promises too perfectly aligned with my deepest fears.
