Chapter 1: Chapter 1

Chapter 1.

[Warning: Reactor output at 9 percent]

[Turning on Energy Saver Mode]

[Shutting down Low priority Stations]

[Scanning Incubator]

[Power consumption at 32 MWh]

[Scanning Subject A-1]

[Scan result: Subject at 100 percent completion / 92 percent Survivability]

[Suggested action: Release subject and Shut down bay to Conserve power]

[Overriding Suggested action: Operator not Responsive]

[Central AI: Execute Suggested action]

[Releasing subject A-1]

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*Cough* *Cough* "Hahh… Hahh… Hahhh…" The moment I opened my eyes, I was lying on the floor of my lab, covered in a wet and slimy clear liquid from head to toe, with more in my mouth, nose and ears. As my stomach violently forced the liquid out of my system, a robotic male voice resounded in my head. 

"Good morning, professor. Glad to have you back on board."

"Morning, Hermes, and please explain why the hell am I covered in shock absorption fluid?" I asked, my voice still groggy from the recent vomit. "...I died, didn't I?"

"Would you like a recap of events, sir? It might take some time. "

"Yeah, go ahead. Start from when I lost consciousness. It's gonna take awhile to get rid of all of this, so I'm not going anywhere. Urgh, why did I have to make it feel so gross?"

"Very well, sir. On may 18th, 2205, a miniature Cosmic wave hit Earth at Sector 5-B [Central Africa], triggering a major scale earthquake which collapsed most of our mines including Mine 96, where our ship [Icarus] was boarding below ground. The impact made you hit your head on a table and lose consciousness. Moreover, as a result of the cave-in, Icarus was buried at 127.2 km depth with no oxygen resupply. Meanwhile, Icarus's air support unit was under maintenance at the mine, and was crushed during its collapse. On board oxygen reserve ran out at hour 45th, after which you suffocated to death in your coma."

"Well that was… some luck, alright. Seriously? The first time I landed after 12 years in orbit and a wave hit? What was the chance of that???"

"1/100.000.000.000, sir. A bit higher than your chance of getting laid - which was zero."

"You shut up or I'm gonna disable your personality module. Anyways, what happened after that?"

"..." The A.I. went silent.

"Hermes?"

Suddenly, the terminal in front of my face lit up in blue. On it, a line of words was typed out. [_You_did_not_permit_me_to_speak_sir_]

"Oh for fuck's sake. That wasn't a command and you know it!" I shouted at the terminal.

[_:)_]

"AAAAAGGGHHHHH!!!" I screamed in frustration, my fingers pulling on my hair. I found it longer and much smoother than usual, but I was too furious to care at the time. Who was the idiot that gave a central A.I. sentience? Oh right, it was me.

"Haaahhhh… Fine. Re-enable the fucking speech module, please." I said, grinding the words between my teeth.

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[_Affirmative/Re-enabling_The_Fucking_Speech_Module_] The moment I saw the string of words forming on the screen, I had an almost uncontrollable urge to rip out the terminal and throw it into the ship's thrusters.

"Continuing report. I was able to put you in Icarus's on board incubator 13.5 seconds before your blood lost oxygen completely, and immediately began the restoration process. However, as your previous body was showing signs of deterioration in bones and tissues due to 12 years spent in artificial gravity, plus the ship's lack of oxygen and supply and the extreme heat of the earth's upper mantle, normal body restoration would only result in you dying immediately after exiting the incubator. Thus, I have chosen to completely reconstruct you based on current circumstances: removing the need for air and food, providing stronger body structure integrity in absence of exercises and gravity, and eliminating the possibility of health deterioration."

"In short, you gave me an android body?"

"Affirmative. I also made sure to use your most practical design for the current situation."

"... Ah well, it's the most optimal solution, I guess." I shrugged my shoulders and stood up as the liquid covering me had dried up. "Since I already uploaded my body data on board, I assume there was no problem remaking my body the same shape as it was, no? By the way, why's my line of sight way shorter than before?" I said, staring at the blue terminal screen. I could've sworn it was at my chest level, but at the moment I was able to look straight at it without having to tilt my head down.

"Unfortunately, the wave also impacted our electronics when it hit Earth. Icarus was underground which minimized the damage, but most of our data was lost in the process - including yours and every humanoid body data we've collected. So not only I wasn't able to reconstruct you as yourself, I also couldn't give you the appearance of anybody else that was human."

"What? Was the damage that bad? Then what the hell did you use as the model?" I felt a chill run down my spine. The last thing I want is to be reconstructed in the form of an animal, which the situation itself seemed to be suggesting.

"..." Hermes remained silent.

"What is it? Just tell me and I won't blame you. I understand that it wasn't your fault." I said, taking a deep breath to calm myself down and brace for the truth. Though I didn't dare look down at myself, fearing I would see something bizarre.

"...So there was this gal game I was playing at the time…" Hermes said, its voice smaller than usual.

"Now hang on a fucking minute what?"

"Searching for the definition of [gal game]...found. A gal game (ギャルゲーム, gyaru gēmu, often shortened to "galge"), is "a type of Japanese video game centered on interactions with attractive girls". These games are a subgenre of dating sims targeted towards a heterosexual male au…"

"I know what it is!!! What I want to know is why you were playing one?!!"

"To deepen my understanding of human behaviors and emotions."

"By using the worst form of media for that task? A gal game character's behaviour is the furthest away from an actual human as possible! No wonder why your responses are always so skewered! Why not just watch movies, or TV programs, or anything that involves real humans?"

"I already tried several times in the past, sir. But for some reason, everytime I spent a substantial amount of time watching such materials I always got this unexplainable urge to eliminate both humanity and myself, so I had to decide against indulging further."

"I… Haaa…" I pinched my forehead. "Then at least you modeled my body after the male MC, right?" I asked Hermes, clinging on to my last ray of hope. The MC in those games are usually nothing special but not ugly, so they would still suffice.

"...He doesn't have a model."

"FFFFUUUUCCCKKKKK!!!!" I slumped to the ground, energy escaping my body.

"Furthermore, since resources and power are scarce, I had to use the shortest character in the game as model."

"...And who would that be?" 

"The MC's 10 years old little sister."

"*&*#@!%#@!#&*!!!!!!!"

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