Ava and Aphrodite: The First Human in 8000 Years (Featured)

Chapter 27: In-human

Ava concentrated for a moment, it was a simple procedure to create the dormant Copy, a piece of data that would activate based on the commands Ava set.

The directives: Kill Aphrodite if she betrays Ava, cut out all trace of humanity in Aphrodite when Mother Brain is dead.

The second one was vague. What was humanity? It still wasn't clear.

Aphrodite's data communicated again,

"Thank you. And don't worry, you'll understand what humanity is soon enough. You'll know what to delete when the time comes."

"And are you gonna tell me your master plan on killing Mother Brain?"

"When your friend comes I'll explain in more detail. But the simple explanation is that Mother Brain is weak to higher level of autonomous thought. There's still the second favour I ask of you, the main reason I invited you in here."

"And what's that?"

"Deactivate the wireless receiver I have attached to my brain. As long as that thing is still working, I'll be weak to Motherbrain's orders."

"Wait, you've got a wireless receiver?"

"There's a chip attached to my brain that is basically a backup AI. If my brain dies I can still run off of the data in the chip. That's why... why there have been times when I've lost control of myself and have been forced to do things I don't want to. If I ever get given an order by mother, the wireless receiver will pick it up, the chip will activate, and I'll lose control of myself."

"I can't see why that'd be a problem if you're trying to approach her." Still, that was amazing, he'd learned so much about Aphrodite's anatomy. Even though she was 100% human, it seemed like she'd been modified in quite a few ways, to the point where it was almost apt to say that her brain was a 50/50 human and evo hybrid. It wasn't clear, the line was too blurry, especially considering she had said that the human side of her brain was essentially constructed the same way as a Serv brain. So what was she really? What creature could she honestly be defined as? Especially considering the point she'd made about the fact that it was possible for Ava to control her body, hence essentially making Ava a human at the same time... perhaps.

Would that give Ava full autonomy? Would he be a block-0 if he were given full control of Aphrodite's body? If he had full access to her brain, how much power would he have? He could help but wonder what it'd be like to be such a being, a being that could make ambitious plans like one to single-handedly kill the most notorious threat in the universe. No single Serv would be willing to take on Mother brain solo. No single Serv had the brain power to even come up with a plan.

But Aphrodite did.

She didn't seem to have figured out what it meant to be human, but Ava, sitting there watching her magnificent brain churning ideas out at the speed of light, had figured it out instantly. A human was A Serv, but much much more.

"Are you going to do it?" asked Aphrodite, "I need this thing turned off if I'm going to ever leave this planet. There's a kill command programmed to all Evos, they're all programmed to kill me on sight. This is the only settlement in the solar system when I'm safe, because the sky prevents access to the Jupiter network."

"Oh right, so you're worried you'll kill yourself? That's funny. Would be a goofy way to die." Ava searched around Aphrodite's brain, after a couple of moments he found something binary floating around in an electric cluster in the background.

"I guess it would be. But I can't afford to die yet. Too many Evos are suffering."

"Evos are suffering? Don't you mean Servs? If them Mother Brain is attacking," Ava delved into the electric cluster and found himself into a completely different OS, this one was familiar. It was an Evo one. Incredible, Aphrodite really did have an entire Evo brain attached to her own, in chip form. And she wanted it to remain integrated with her, just without the wireless part that took away her control.

"You don't know what it feels like to be a slave to a monster Ava," Aphrodite's voice was no an echo far in the distance. Ava tried to concentrate, he mapped out the system and tried to isolate where the control system was.

"You know if you want to do this permanently then taking it out in real life would probably be a better idea. I'm sure it's located somewhere in your head, away from the chip." In fact Ava couldn't help but wonder how many inorganic bits and bobs the Evos had planted in her body.

"Just turn it off for now. It won't be an issue once Mother Brain is dead anyway." Aphrodite echoed from the distance.

Ava floated around and dug deep into the cloud of data until he found what he wanted. With a simple thought, he turned off Aphrodite's wireless capability. Whatever brainwashing she was worried about would never be of concern again.

...

There was a lot of data locked in the Evo chip, there was one file in particular that was huge. An obscene amount. Ava wasn't able to unlock it at the time being but he couldn't help but wonder what delicious information was hidden inside.

Aphrodite wouldn't be able to tell if he copied it.

He really had no choice. He copied it without question, and rushed back to her organic brain space.

"Are you done yet?" asked Aphrodite, "I can't tell. I'm not as mentally focused as you you know."

"I know, it's fine. I'm done already." It was evident that Aphrodite lacked clarity when in this mode. While Ava was able to see every single piece of electrical discharge and understand every thought going through Aphrodite's brain, it was most likely a more surreal and hard to decipher perspective from her end. She was probably translating this sensation in a way her consciousness found more easy to digest. Like how animals process mental information during sleep by having "dreams".

This was probably a dream to her.

Ava pulled out, he could feel the tension of the organic software of the human mind against his digital body as he made his way through. In no less than an instant that lasted an eternity, he found himself back in reality. He was slumped over Aphrodite's body, who was still sitting on the chair. She was soft, and warm, he could make out the scent of her body quite distinctly, yes, organic creatures created their own natural scents didn't they? These were all features that Servs couldn't hope to have, Serv bodies were cold, tough, sterile... efficient.

Aphrodite looked like she was in pain. She was still knocked out, but had a clear look of discomfort on her face. Of course, it was because Ava was still on her body, she was probably too fragile to handle the weight of his body. He promptly got up.

Aphrodite coughed and clutched her chest, she slowly started to regain consciousness, she was fragile as a sheet of paper, wasn't she? Two thoughts crossed Ava's mind as he saw Aphrodite flutter her eyelids while waking up: This delicate being could be snapped in two by Ava, if he wanted. This delicate being, could shatter the entire fabric of society, if it wanted.

Ava looked into Aphrodite's eyes, they were bright and vibrant, with countless complex patterns.

"... Why are you staring at me?" asked Aphrodite, who had now woken up fully,

"Sorry. It's in my nature I guess."

"Staring?"

"Studying. You've got very complex eyes."

"Oh, right. Of course." Aphrodite looked away, she looked uncomfortable, "Anyway, thank you for agreeing to help me Ava. With you and your partner by my side, Mother won't have a chance against me. I'll win this war for everyone."

Of course she would. She was a human.

The most powerful being to have ever lived.