Glitches
#2 of Bio Logic
Chapter 2
getting to work on the next one rit......... now.
Glitches...
Chris looked at Travis with concern. He had been like that for the better part of five minutes.
"Travis..."
He looked up.
"What's wrong with you?"
Through a crying, but happy, voice he managed to get out a very rasped statement.
"You'll not believe what I just heard..."
***
A few hours had passed; Christine was on a knee with a large toolbox lying on the ground next to her.
"You're just lucky I keep this many tools around... but I knew I'd need 'em for something."
She revved up a large industrial drill and began to try and get the safety bolts off the sides of the suit's chest plate.
Travis meanwhile stood like a statue, telling her the directions needed to remove the suit that was being relayed through what Cassi was telling him.
"Look Christine I can't tell you how much this means to me... I... I'm going to have scales, not steel, eyes, not glass. It's been eleven years since I've seen the sky with my own eyes...."
She smiled.
"Cut the sentimental crap big guy let's get you out into the fresh air first."
He smiled and nodded.
Travis switched off the voice and spoke just to Cassi.
"Cas... I'm sorry I yelled at you like that... I didn't mean it...I-"
Cassi interrupted him
"Its fine Travis. you've been trapped in this metal hell almost all your life. I had no right keeping this from you."
That just made him feel even worse.
"No Cassi it's..."
But he was quickly cut off by the rumble of the drill against the side of his helmet.
Christine proceeded to get off the safety plating that revealed the actual harness that kept the sections of the visor and helmet together.
"Almost got this off Trav. Ready to see with your own eyes?"
Travis said nothing.
The metal horn sheaths of the helmet were removed showing strange pitch black horns in a darker shade than that of which she had ever seen, and with only a handful of screws left. Travis stopped Chris from drilling.
"What's up?"
He turned to her.
"Christine you've been a true friend to me. Something I've not yet had in my life... so you have to know.... My body hasn't seen the light of day in over a decade. And I don't know what physical differences my former disease did to me... I warn you... you won't like what you see."
She put a hand on his shoulder and looked into the tinted visor of the helmet, but only seemed to peer straight through to his very eyes.
"Look here big guy. You have a good heart, and moral values nonexistent in today's general population. I have a feeling we have your father to thank for that... he must have been a great man... and he raised a fine son. So I'm here to tell you whatever is hiding beneath this metal shell... is nothing short of the fine son your father raised. Whatever he may look like matters nothing."
He gave a single nod. As she put the drill bit to the final bolt. With it gone the top of the helmet went lose. She took the drill away and stood back.
Travis lifted his steel hand, grabbing the metal facemask and with trembling fatigue he removed it.
Chris put her hands over her mouth in a gasp.
"Oh...my...GOD...Travis...."
Travis put the plate back on quickly.
"Christine I'm so sorry I... didn't know it was that bad.... you shouldn't have seen that..."
She just grabbed his arm, reached for a small mirror on the coffee table near her, and held it up to Travis as she helped him move the mask away again.
What met his eyes after the fog of his old vision returning without the help of the visor was a handsome dragon looking back at him... his scales were a semi-reflective shade of silver... showing off his much darker gray eyes. There was a large diamond-shaped patch of black scales that went from the tip of his muzzle back widening to touch both his horns, then thin back down to a point on the back of his neck
Travis just stared into the eyes of the dragon looking back at him, touching his face with his cold metal hands. Chris took away the mirror and worked on removing the bottom portion of the helmet. Once off she moved over to his back and started to work on getting it loose. Once it was done the whole tunic could open up like two doors from the seam on the chest. When the torso opened it revealed a very tall and very thin dragon. Shivering in the fresh air touching his bare scales for the first time in a long time. His total onyx black underbelly showing greatly against his silver scales which matched the color of the suit so much it seemed they were connected and he had actually shed and lost large part of himself.
The legs and arms were easy enough once the big stuff was removed, and before he knew it. He was completely rid of it... all his life he only wished for this day... and yet here it was... here he was... the real him.
Travis took the mirror again held it to his face and just looked. Touching his body occasionally. His scales were smooth and hard. As were his horns. He looked into his dark gray eyes and swore he saw his father looking back at him. All this time he never even knew how much he looked like his dad... and he started to cry... cry that his dad never got to see his face, now that he was an adult. He just fell to his knees and cried.
Chris sat down next to him, putting an arm around his shoulder.
"You thinking of your dad right now aren't you?"
Travis sniffled.
"Yea..."
"I'll say it again... your dad raised a good son..."
"Thanks Christine. I... I... what you did for me... I can't ever repay."
"Hey I was repaying you! So don't even go there dragon boy!"
Travis wiped his eyes again but said nothing. But looked over at the pile of metal parts that was his former body that he'd lived in for so many years.
Christine saw him looking at it.
"So what are you going to do with it?"
Travis shook his head.
"Part of me wants to blow the thing into a million fucking pieces. Part of me wants to protect it... my father lost his life over that slag-heap. I just don't know..."
Chris got up and went to a nearby closet and opened it. Rummaging through the thing she returned dragging out a huge wooden trunk.
"Here keep it in this."
Travis smiled and moved the hulking pieces of metal into the trunk as delicately as he could. All save for the helmet and the small metal box that he removed from the inside of the tunic that was connected to it. The box looked like it had been scorched, showing a big blackened mark in the side. Chris looked at it oddly.
"What about that?"
Travis quickly shook his head.
"Oh no no no... Cas hates the dark..."
"Who... oh yea that computer program thingy you told me about... how is it afraid?"
"SHE is. Don't worry I'm sure you two will meet soon enough."
Christine just shrugged it off and walked back into the kitchen.
Travis sat the helmet and box down on the nearby coffee table. And just looked down at his legs. No longer seeing them covered in metal, but instead his own natural scales. Christine came out of the kitchen and threw a hoodie at Travis.
"C'mon, lets go."
Travis looked at her strangely
"Go where?"
"Go out... numb skull!"
Travis continued to look at her.
She sighed
"Within the past 5 hours I've known you I've gathered that you've been stuck in a metal life-preserving suit for most of your life. That being said I take it you've never had some good food, or went out to see a movie or something fun. Would it be safe saying that?"
Travis looked away and scratched the back of his head.
"That's what I thought. Now you've probably seen the darker side to this city already. So let me show you the brighter side."
With that she grabbed Travis's hand and rushed him out the door. As the two of them left still there sat the small black metal box on the table. A small hole opened up on the side of it. And out came a small snake-like camera. It looked around the room a bit; they receded back into the box.
Inside this was a weeping being, she knew now that both herself and the suit were no longer needed... if anything they would be a danger to Travis... after a while she opened one of her secured files deep within the confines of her database. Protocol T-65: AI and primary suit functions decommission. A.K.A total and permanent system shutdown.
This was what her creator... Travis's father... programmed her to do if ever the suit was removed by the wearer. Now Travis was alive, well, and safe... cured. Her usefulness had run out. And it was time for her to go. She would be gone and the secrets of the suit with her. The suit itself reduced to nothing more than a pile of scrap, with its interworking gone and the chips fried. Cassi ‘sat' there. All that was needed was to activate the protocol... it was what she was programmed to do... but she hesitated. She thought of never seeing Travis. Of never seeing.... well anything. Ever again.
This was never supposed to happen. She was sentient, self aware. Therefore she valued her own life...
"I...don't want to die..."
As soon as she said that she was amazed. Over the past year she hadn't grasped that concept until now... she had life. Not organic conciseness but life nonetheless. And she didn't want to lose it. She kept asking herself. ‘What would Christopher want?' what would her creator want from her?
"I do not want to die..."
But protocol was protocol and she had to obey it... the old her did... but now she... wanted life. To live...
It was too much right now. So she just shut down and went into sleep mode to think.
***
Lights, food, drinks, music, the bustle of the city engulfed Travis. He was in awe at it all. So much. It was just amazing.
"So what you think?
Christine said as she noticed his look.
"I... I've never dreamed of anything like this. It's... awesome."
He smiled and kept looking, wincing at the bright lights. Feeling the heat from them was strange on his ‘virgin' scales. He was thankful it wasn't day. The sun wouldn't be the best thing right now with his real scales just being exposed to any form of light. Come to think of it he started to notice the few strange looks he was getting from passersby. His scales were a shade of semi-metallic gray that was... well... different. Due to the near lifetime of darkness they got whilst in the suit all those years.
Christine noticed this as well.
"Don't mind them. Let's go and have fun. C'mon, celebrate!"
So with that Travis agreed and they headed downtown.
***
Many hours later Travis limped through Christine's apartment door, with one arm around her for support.
"I can't believe you."
She chuckled to him.
"What? I didn't know that was the strongest drink they had... I was only buzzed. I...I.."
"Shut it smart guy, let's fold out the couch for ya."
Once they got the bed made up and everything taken care of Christine wished Travis a good night and went to bed herself.
Travis laid back on the bed, listening to the sounds of the city. To some it would be irritating. But he liked it. Maybe he was made for big city life. He looked over at the clock on the nightstand to his side. The bright red numbers showed 2:14 back at him. He sighed and thought about all that had happened in the last great while. He took off the thing that made him an outcast, met a friend. And perhaps stared a whole new worry-free life for himself... through all his suffering his father got what he wanted. A normal life for his son. And although it took giving his own to do it... a least it happened.
"I miss you dad. I hope I can still do you proud."
He just remembered something he forgot... or someONE.
"...Cas..."
He immediately looked over at the black box and picked up the helmet. Plugged it in and waited for the data to read. He soon saw the LED screen that he was so accustomed to seeing; the AI sleep light was on indicating Cas was on standby. He was about to turn it back off, not wanting to "wake" her. But he noticed the little exclamation mark down near the recently used files from the suit's systems. Seeing the message made his heart drop about 7 inches. Across the screen it said in bold red letters.
"PROTOCOL T-65: Primary AI Termination cancelled. On standby."
At first Travis thought it was an odd mistake, or a glitch, a hiccup, something. ANYTHING other than what he was reading. Did the suit pop this up? No not without her say-so... that meant that Cassi herself cleared it this far. She was trying to "kill" herself...
"Cas... why would you want to..."
Travis shook out of it and suddenly became enraged... at who, he didn't know. But he just hit the AI activation and stared screaming.
"Travis-?"
"YOU BITCH!! YOU ABANDONING HATEFUL VIRUS!!"
She couldn't believe what she was hearing, was that even Travis?
"W-what?"
"YOU WERE GOING TO KILL YOURSELF!!! I SAW THE MESSAGE! T-65!"
She was just disillusioned.
"I-I don't...wha-"
Travis just continued.
"Why."
"Travis I..."
"Why!!!"
"I meant-"
"WHY!"
"BECAUSE I WAS PROGRAMED TO!!! AND DON'T YOU EVEN ACT LIKE YOU CARE! IM JUST A BANE ON YOUR LIFE. NOTHING MORE THAN A THREAT!"
"Cas how?! How can you say that?!?"
"YOU'RE OUT OF THE SUIT! YOU DON'T NEEED ME! YOU DON'T NEEED IT!"
"..."
"I was to decommission myself and the suit. To protect you. It's what you FATHER wanted! And it's what he would want now. And you don't want me! So what's the problem?!?"
All Travis could do was set there. Tears welling up in his eyes. Realizing how he had been acting.
"I never meant the things I said... I was terrible to you Cas. I'm-I'm so sorry. I've been acting horrible to you. But please, PLEASE don't do this. I'm begging you. I don't know how I'd continue without you. Please..."
"You father would want..."
"My father wouldn't want a living being to kill itself over something he said. I know that to be a fact. If he were here he'd tell you how crazy this is. He made you; you're almost like a daughter to him. You're self-aware Cassi. Your alive, you don't have to wonder about that because I'm here to tell you that."
"I'm not alive Travis. I'm a computer in a box..."
"A friend told me tonight that what's on the outside doesn't matter. You a living being. I've never been more sure of something in all my life."
She said nothing.
Travis started to lose his temper again.
"Cassi. If you kill yourself.... I'll take my own life!"
"...Travis... that's not fair..."
"I DON'T GIVE A SHIT WHATS FAIR! I'm NOT going to lose you too!"
And for an instant Travis thought his father had said that...
Deep inside Cassi's most important protocols she realized her number one directive; her first and main protocol, just now was put into the equation. The user protection... her mind could now not allow her to carry out T-65 even if she truly wanted to, because of the chance Travis might die... because of her actions. It was a protocol that even her new mind could not override.
"You have to promise me... promise me you won't ever use that. Under any circumstance... promise me!"
She thought for a moment.
Just as she did a message popped up in front of Travis's helmet HUD that read.
PROTOCOL T-65 PERMANENTLY DELETED! ALL FILES AND DATA ERASED!
"...I promise..."