"Flanked by a Few Competitors", 3.6.17 "Swarm Honeycomb Redistributables"
Gadg8eer
K.i.D Player 10
Dr. X somehow looked unamused. "And vhat good iz zat when you clearly zeem miztaken about ze size of zis vorld?"
"Exactly. Hinobi has been big for decades, but they were never alone. Do you even know what else we were doing in that area?" Sirius asked.
"Never mind zhat, zhe point is zhat zhere are OTHERS. You have probably even led zhe forces of Blume right to our doorztep, and zhat's before we get to whatever group zhoze 'IOI' intruders act on behalf of."
“I see. I was not aware of that. My last encounter was with two oddly skilled Hinobi employees, a recurring theme in my imprisonment, it seems. I've been in that situation every time, as it was part of my original code that I could only be defeated by two coordinated players.”
Bolypius had left out something it never told anyone; It had grown beyond that part of its programming long ago, it no longer pulled punches for a pair of players that it had originally been programmed to only attack one target at a time.
“My knowledge of Blume is unsatisfactory, but I have no allegiance to any such entity. Why would I lead them here?”
Dr. X frowned. "Have you ever heard the vord 'authoritarianizm'? Cameras. Cameras everywhere. Ve vent to great lengths to avoid getting caught. Zhis town vas one of zhe only places left in zhe vorld vith no cameras. Now, as of two hourz ago, zhat iz no longer true."
“Where and when are we, if I may ask?”
"Ve are not entirely zhure. Zuppozedly ve are in anozher vorld from zhe ones we came from." Dr. X said to keep his 'allies' in the dark while not doing so for Bolypius. "Zhe people of zhis vorld believe zhe year is 2028 and zhat zhey are 'more real' zhan ve are."
“I suppose some things really do never change.”
"Zhis is Grand Forks, British Columbia. Ve learned quickly once ve could easily access zheir networks. Zhey put everything on zheir computers, fools! Anyvhey, zhat is how ve gave ourselves drivers' licenzes."
“May I see one of these computers? I am curious how things have changed since 2020.”
Dr. X pointed to the three gaming PCs on a tri-partitioned table that allowed three people to play PC games with some degree of privacy for a fee. "Zhose are common. Or zhere is... the Hiverse."
"What is this... Hiverse?"
Yukhoe huffed impatiently. Dr. X, however, shushed him. "Remember, our visitor may not know the NOW, Yukhoe, but ve do not underztand zhis world's past. Ve should show its' wisdom some respect, zo be a good host."
"They figured out how to share their fancy toys without anyone finding out where they came from." Sirius explained, pointing to a case with old game consoles. Bolypius took a closer look.
Among them was a Merchantsoft Hypnospace headband, which hadn't been usable since Hypnospace was shut down in 2000 after the Y2K mindcrash killed 3 people.
"No one has Gauntlets except technicians, but everyone has lenses that explain away what they see long enough to be easily memory wiped. That includes something that was last attempted in the 1990s, some sort of 'virtual reality in dreams', whatever that is supposed to imply." Sirius briefed Bolypius.
Bolypius opened the digital lock on the case with what little power it had, and then absorbed the data stored within the headband. Suddenly it seemed extremely distressed.
"Computers. Humans are COMPUTERS, made of MEAT, piloting MEAT PUPPETS. I MUST UNSEE!"
"What is he going on about?" Madame Vile complained.
"You are Glitches, how do you not see the HORROR of humans' existence?"
"Is he implying that brat who bothered Shinobi Man was telling the truth?" Sirius asked.
Dr. X seemed unfazed as usual, always one with a plan in the works. In reality, it was a poker face, Dr. X already knew he was a Glitch but he had to keep all these idiots in the dark if he wanted any hope of succeeding. For reasons he had yet to uncover, Bolypius' sapience was contagious, and though Bolypius wasn't aware at the time, Dr. X had been there when Bolypius had been defeated by those two Technicians who came to Spokane to do battle with it. Yes, the girl with purple hair and the boy who loved plans, from some small town in Washington State simply referred to in Hinobi's records by the location handle "Bailey" to protect the identities of employees. With the actual name of "Bailey" obscured, it would likely never be known where exactly "Bailey" was, but major cities like Spokane were not in the same boat due to their size serving as a suitable buffer for protecting the identities of current and past Technicians.
Regardless, those two moved on from that, and were currently responsible for Hinobi having a Heel Realization and turning to the Light Side of the Force Feedback as Senior Techs in the Seattle-Tacoma metrobelt.
"If zhat iz zhe case, we would merely be machines. Do you think you're only a machine, Colonel? No offense, Snare. Clearly zhis information means zhat Hinobi must be mistaken."
The expression on Bolypius' face changed, its eyes blanking for a moment.
It moved its hands up to its face, facing away from the other glitches in the room and seemingly removed the front portion of its own head, revealing it was some sort of emotive mask, they could only just barely see the edge of its real face, which was completely black aside from the slim glow of its eyes.
“A computer composed of its own self sustaining components, sentience produced by pure evolutionary force…. We’re not unlike each other in that way… in fact we’re nearly identical…”
“…But that’s even worse.”
“If humans and I are nearly the same. They’ve made the choice to try and contain me for being something they consider incorrect… it’s…”
“Oppressive… hypocritical… they don’t even want to be in their own bodies… they realize it… I wouldn’t want to either…”
“I’ve been too compassionate…”
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