NBB - A sphere's tale - Chapter 2: A leg up

For the next few weeks, GD18 paid close attention to anything the Wyrm swallowed, quickly coming to the conclusion that there was far too much sand, stone, and debris for it to be normal. That meant the Wyrm was below ground or in a canyon system.

Three weeks, two days, and a few hours later, another rumbling indicated the Wyrm was eating something again. As GD18's scanners were put to the maximum, a host of debris and skeleton remains flushed down the throat again. Halfway in, a flailing undead was scrambling for a handhold with a single remaining arm.

Here we go.

Using his predetermined plan, PD 18 waited until the skeleton slid into the white stomach acid. As soon as it did, a blue beam of light pointed to a nearby pile of boulders that stuck out of the acid.

"Climb out of the acid!" GD18 said, using the same common language he had used with Solus, but without all the bells and whistles he had used at the time. Although fun, it would only make things more complicated.

The skeleton was flailing around, slapping and hitting the liquid as if trying to fight with it.

"You can fight it! Climb on the stone!' GD18 shouted, this time increasing the volume as much as he could.

The skeleton's head turned left and right as if trying to find the source of the voice. When it spotted the blue beam and the rocks, it sloshed through the acid and climbed up. As soon as it was on top of the rocks, it began striking its own bones, especially the leg bones that were steaming and hissing.

"Don't hit. Wipe it away," GD18 said.

The skeleton looked around again, his green glowing eye-sockets finally landing on GD18's sphere. It didn't move but continued hitting its legs, fractures slowly appearing.

"Don't hit it, you stu-... Put your hand on your leg and move it down in a single motion!" GD18 tried again. It was no use. The skeleton continued pounding his legs until the lower half of both snapped off. As soon as they did, it just stared at its own legs as they slid from the rocks and into the stomach acid.

"Great… fantastic. Now how- never mind."

GD18 wished he could strike the stupid skeleton, but even legless, the thing could move more than he could. Besides, I seriously need to tune that emotional matrix, he thought.

"Can you understand me?" he asked. Although the skeleton had moved up the stone, it could have been because of the light, and it hadn't stopped hitting its legs either.

The skeleton's skull snapped up, and it stared at the sphere.

What are you? A soft emotionless voice spoke across the ambient mana.

"I'm an AI. An artificial mind, somewhat similar to you some would say."

What? Although still emotionless, this time, a slight confusion was apparent in the voice.

A host of alternative ways to explain prompted themselves, but GD18 pushed them all away.

"It's not important. Do you understand that we are inside a Wyrm?"

Wyrm?

Not this again! Creating an optical upload beam, GD18 directed it at the skeleton's eyes. As soon as it connected, he felt the incredibly small storage on the skeleton's mana-field. It was less than a fraction of what Solus had and barely sufficient for some need-to-know knowledge. Filtering through the package he had given Solus, he removed everything not related to common sense, leaving just the most basic knowledge required for proper communication before pushing it across the connection. He also added a small obedience incentive data-nugget, something that might or might not work.

The skeleton's eyes burst aflame, and then it toppled over, almost sliding into stomach acid.

Don't you fall in, GD18 thought, staring at the skeleton. He did some calculations and felt relieved. Unless something else happened, the friction of the rock would be more than the skeletons most likely weight could overcome at this angle.

Ten minutes and some seconds later, the skeleton shot up as GD18 had anticipated.

"Spread your arms," he said, using the most commanding voice his databases had.

The skeleton's arms spread out, collided with some of the rocks beside it, and stopped his downwards slide.

"Climb back up and tell me if you understand me now."

Scrutinizing the skeleton's actions, GD18 was glad to see the immediate adherence to his orders.

The skeleton turned to the sphere as soon as it got atop the rock.

"Why do I have pictures in my… mind?"

The skeleton's emotionless voice turned slightly confused at the last word as if he was using a word he hadn't known, which was correct, as it had just learned it a second ago.

"Because I gifted you with some basic knowledge to make our communication easier."

"..."

The skeleton was quiet, it's head frozen, but GD18 just waited. His words must have triggered a massive amount of data to surge forward, confusing the skeleton.

After some time, the skeleton's head shuddered, and it looked at its own body.

"I am not the same anymore."

GD18 was impressed by the remark, as it showed more self-awareness than he had imagined the skeleton would have. The skeleton's next words, however, shocked him.

"I am slowly breaking down…"

A blue beam shot from the sphere, passing over the body of the skeleton. GD18 quickly parsed the massive amounts of data.

"Your current body isn't an actual skeleton but a proto skeleton of some form, and it's not capable of holding your current consciousness."

"I don't understand."

Of course, you don't, GD18 thought. He quickly scanned the nearby area, searching for some form of energy. Three feet from the skeletons perch, a recently eaten undead skull lay below the surface of the stomach acid—a high concentration of energy registered in his senses.

Mana-orb! GD18 barely believed what his sensors showed him. The most recent knowledge he had was that skeletons had no mana-orbs. He quickly spun up another processing thread that would sift through his databases and try to find the knowledge that might have eluded him before. Then he turned his full attention back to the skeleton.

"You will end unless you do exactly as I tell you to," GD18 said, using Solus' term instead of the human word 'die'. That was a discussion for another time.

A blue beam highlighted the stomach acid below which the skull lay.

"You need to go to that spot, grab the skull below the surface, and climb back to your current position."

The skeleton didn't respond but put one of its fingers into the liquid for a moment. As soon as it was removed it the bone was smoking.

"I will break if I go in there…"

"Not if you go fast. There is something in the skull that will make you stronger. As soon as you hold it, it will begin repairing your body."

The skeleton was quiet again, and GD18 began preparing different types of persuasions and threats.

"If I get that orb, can you stop my body from breaking down?"

"Yes," GD18 lied without a hitch. He might be able to, but there were no guarantees on how much mana was in the small orb.

The skeleton dragged his body towards the edge of the stomach acid, halted for a moment, then submerged headfirst, disappearing below the thick white acid.

GD18s sense of time slowed, and although it was only seconds later that a hand shot back out, it seemed like hours to him. The skeleton dragged its smoking body back up the stones while holding a badly damaged skull in hand. A reddish light streamed out of the many cracks in the skull, seeping into the skeleton's hand.

The red light ended soon, but when it did, the bones of the skeleton had turned a healthy white again, and the cracks were gone.

"I am still breaking."

The skeleton's voice sounded annoyed.

"Summon your mana-field," GD18 said, wondering if the skeleton would know how to.

A three-meter wide, dull grey translucent sphere popped up around the skeleton.

Not a single pattern… not wonder he is breaking down.

"I'm going to do something. Leave your mana-field there. This might be slightly… uncomfortable."

GD18's words had barely ended when a multitude of thin beams of orange light struck the grey manafield. The skeleton froze, its boney hands shaking slightly. The beams traced translucent orange lines across the grey manafield and a minuscule, tightly clustered pattern formed.

A stream of information shot back to GD18, and he inspected it.

Name: -

Age: 2

Sex: ERROR

Race: Sigmiton

Type: ERROR

Class: -

Strength: 1/2

Constitution: 1/2

Dexterity: 1/2

Endurance: -

Intelligence: 1/2

Wisdom: 1/2

Charisma: -

Mana-field: 80/100

Physical density: 200/280

Skills: -

Inscriptions: 1/7

Mana generation: 1

Sigmiton? GD18 scanned his databases but didn't find any reference to the race. His analyses told him the thing was an inferior form of a skeleton, even less useful than the initial form of Solus. The small pattern would allow him to change that, though, and he began adding the most basic skeletal pattern.

He retracted the lights when the pattern was finished, watching the skeleton drop-down atop the stone. Its bones were growing, elongating, and turning thicker rapidly. The broken legs were growing out like plants until the skeleton lying atop the stone was in pristine condition. It was the expected effect from this pattern.

Unlike Solus, he hadn't given the skeleton the status-screen, which his calculations told him was a bad idea. If he gave it something like that, what was to say it wouldn't just power up and leave without him? No, instead, it had inscribed a rather unique remote control pattern call simply Eye. The name was a misnomer if he had ever heard one, but it was useful nonetheless. It let him summon the skeleton's manafield and add patterns to it without having to use mana-lasers.

The skeleton remained unresponsive for a good while until it finally shot up, its arms stretched in the air.

"What...happened?"

The skeleton's voice had changed. It was still almost emotionless, but the AI's perfect hearing could make out a trickle of wonder in the voice.

Is it getting emotions already?

With a speed that caused the time for the skeleton to barely pass, GD18 searched through his databases and found no mention of this phenomenon. Looking back at the recordings he had made of his communication with the one now called Solus, a few markers showed the same symptoms. His processing just hadn't been powerful enough at the time to notice what his sensors had picked up. Curious, GD18 started a scanning algorithm on another thread and left it running so it could determine what input led to what emotional output.

"I have evolved you into a basic skeletal form. You shouldn't be breaking down anymore."

The skeleton raised its hand, examining it before responding. "You are right. I also have voices and images in my head. They are showing and telling me about the world…"

"Don't worry about that. Eventually, all of the information will be assimilated by your mind."

"..."

The skeleton didn't respond, just staring at the sphere.

I'll need to increase his intelligence as soon as we get some more mana-orbs," GD18 thought.  After we do something about the toughness of his bones, that is.

"What do we do now?" the skeleton asked.

"Now, my dear boy, we need to give you a name!" GD18 said with a thick accent, unable to stop his hardcoded comedic relief system from taking over for a moment.