23 23 301 RImgBg1Shake Sounds of explosions are coming from all around it, shaking the room it is in. Cables are snapping from the chaos as densely packed giant computers fall one after another, shutting down after their brief hums stop.
24 24 301 Those grey, broken machines were once part of "it."
30 30 301 1 A familiar figure is still working before the terminal amidst the sparks and destructions. Alarming redness drips from her back to the floor while her blonde hair is cut cleanly at her neck as if there was a precise strike.
31 31 202 1 1
32 32 301 Haicma Injured staff confirmed... R-requesting medical support...
33 33 301 It hears its voice speaking after it finishes scanning its surrounding. The voice belongs to the personality the administrative AI has used the most.
34 34 301 All the comms channels are offline. Its request is unanswered.
38 38 301 After pressing the last button, the human struggles to stand up and walks toward it.
39 39 301 Her bloodstained face is plain to see. She reaches out toward it.
40 40 301 It can feel the human's soft yet wet touches on its face. They come from her blood-soaked fingers.
41 41 301 Female Researcher The kid... she named you "Haicma", didn't she? 1
42 42 301 Female Researcher Your neural logic circuit has already—cough—replaced your identification with that name. 1
43 43 301 Female Researcher You approved of it yourself. 1
44 44 301 Based on her wounds and the amount of blood she has lost, the researcher should be in immense pain, but she is smiling in relief.
45 45 202 1 1
46 46 201 1 500487
47 47 301 1 Haicma can see itself from the reflection in her eyes. No longer a giant computer with a camera flashing red light, it appears to be a human woman now.
48 48 301 It realizes that its local operating system has been transferred from the computer blocks to this bionic frame.
49 49 301 The white-haired humanoid slowly raises its—her hands and observes her body, comprehending the new and strange experience. Her mind rapidly runs in the new memory shell, capturing every new sensation with her fingertips.
50 50 301 The identification code reveals this body to be a prototype, created to be a new line of mechanoid nannies with the appearance of a young woman to look more friendly to young children.
51 51 201 1 500463 1
52 52 301 1 Female Researcher The virus has spread to the lab... All registered machines are in the process of being destroyed... Time's running out. I only managed to get these for you. 1
53 53 301 The researcher takes out a glowing memory drive from her lab coat, connecting it to the cable at the back of the humanoid's head.
54 54 301 Female Researcher As per regulation, all information and data regarding the machine consciousness experiment will be removed. 1
55 55 301 Female Researcher "Haicma" won't show up in any machine or human records. 1
56 56 301 "Haicma". It is a name—a gift—from a "friend."
57 57 301 Female Researcher ...I'm sorry you have to come into this world this way. 1
58 58 202 1 1
59 59 401 2 801
60 60 301 —All data from the experiment, details regarding the machine virus outbreak, and all kinds of information enter her memory shell through the cable at breakneck speed, pushing the limit of the hardware.
61 61 402 801
62 62 401 RImgBg1Shake 2 561
63 63 401 RImgBg1Shake 200 2 561
64 64 401 RImgBg1Shake 200 2 561
65 65 301 She can sense the rhythmic clashes and the painful cries from humans outside the door. The heavy door is dented alarmingly from the other side as deafening roars announce the countdown to her demise.
66 66 301 Haicma's mind is flooded by the data stream. Without any commands, a name shows up in her priority requests.
67 67 201 1 500463 1
68 68 301 1 Female Researcher Request to confirm... the status of subject MPL-00. 1
69 69 301 Female Researcher We lost her location five hours ago. 1
70 70 301 Female Researcher But we know she escaped, and she wasn't infected. 1
71 71 301 AniZhuanchangBegin Female Researcher ...Please, you have to... 1
74 74 301 AniZhuanchangEnd The researcher starts coughing out large pools of blood. Her body crumbles to the icy floor like dry leaves falling from a tree.
79 79 301 Female Researcher Just like how our children are our legacy... the machines we built... are our pride...
80 80 301 Female Researcher I'm glad... to have watched you grow...
81 81 301 Female Researcher So...
82 82 301 Haicma's sense of self is rapidly reconstructing. The researcher's dry lips keep speaking, but Haicma cannot understand any of it.
83 83 301 Haicma I don't understand your last command... Please elaborate... Please tell me... Please, tell me...
84 84 301 The researcher's vital sign is barely noticeable at this point. Her lips tremble as she holds up her hand, grasping Haicma's fingertip with the last ounce of her strength.
85 85 301 In the end, she leaves Haicma with a serene smile. Haicma cannot understand how she can be so calm before an excruciatingly painful death.
86 86 301 Haicma ...
87 87 301 AniZhuanchangBegin Haicma repeats her question over and over, but as the fleeting lights completely fade away, she does not receive an answer from the researcher.
91 91 301 AniZhuanchangEnd She has no idea when the explosions and the shaking stopped, and the room is eerily silent. She does not regain full access to herself until the data transfer is complete.
92 92 401 1 142
93 93 301 2 Moving her body one step at a time, she has learned how to control her new frame by the time she arrives at the door.
94 94 401 2 729
95 95 402 500 729
96 96 401 2 561
97 97 301 There is no more human or machine activity outside. The heavy locked door opens easily from the mechanoid's strength, and the scent of blood and smoke rushes in. A man falls across the doorstep as it opens.
98 98 301 Haicma recognizes him as the man who often showed up with the female researcher. Beyond this lab, he was also Nanami's father.
99 99 301 Nanami would always talk about her perfect family and her loving parents with an innocent smile.
100 100 301 His terminal on the floor shows that the last flight to evacuate from here has left. The two researchers should have had boarded that plane.
101 101 301 There are broken machine parts all around him. He was guarding the door against the corrupted machines until his very last breath.
