The laughter drew closer as soon she felt tugs on her right sleeve. This drew her wandering mind to the young Asura looking straight up at her, wide eyed with a toothy smile."Mama Ma-ara come play." the child looked up at her trying to pull her from the chair. This made Maranari sit up finally and place a hand on his cheek lifting up his head to see his neck a moment and then smiled with a nod. This made the young Asura grin and while still holding onto her sleeve try to pull her away.
Maranari got up, bring pulled along she saw the others a girl and another boy waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs. She motioned them to come as she was pulled along she saw where he was leading her too - one of the smaller sections of the lab, a testing room. It was here she saw the contraption the children had been putting together - a life-sized toy, perhaps a companion for them. Unfortunotely this made her frown."Bray, where did you get this?" she asked him quietly stopping her her tracks.
Bray let go of Maranari's sleeve and looked back at her with a frown "You don't like it Mama Ma-a-ara?" he paused seeing the look on her face then looked back to the toy - it was a mechanical skeleton of an Asura bare and eerie. "We found out you were trying to make toys - we wanted to help..." he walked up to it - the creation nearly his size.
Maranari shook her head "It's wonderful but you know you aren't supposed to look in my lab dears." she sighed and took Bray by the hand. "Lets take a look at you, you sound like you have a frog in your throat." she teased as Bray put a hand to his throat.
"But I wanna pla-ay.." he frowned trying to protest. "I didn't ea-at any frogs I promise!" this came out almost as a whine.
"I insist, once I take a look you can do play with your brother and sister." she smiled assuring them as she led Bray to a small medical room with a cot that she lifted him up on. "Now, say Ah, and open your mouth." she kept one hand on his chin and as he opened his mouth compliantly she took a flat metallic stick that resembled a dispenser used for pressing down on the tongue and turned it on tapping twice on the top of his mouth. This caused Bray to freeze on the spot the life in his eyes dimmed down as he no longer moved or protested the checkup.
She walked over to a console to the left hand side of the cot, pressing a combination of buttons till a screen lit up with a diamond hovering in the middle of the screen "Are you ready?" a voice resonated in the room.
"I believe so, it has been almost three years since the project began. I have witnessed the AI and it out-preforms most of our expectations. They have learned to create, befriend, find a just cause in their own development. It's remarkable, I give kudos to the prime developer. The AI has grown remarkably smart and I feel it is time to move onto another project." Maranari looked over to Bray, and though she felt a slight guilt to leaving the artificial child she still felt compassion for it.
"Do explain your reasons for this ST1" the diamond's color changed to a deep green as the voice replied.
"I've done everything you asked, including interacting with all forms of species, befriending them and testing their reactions even when my module was malfunctioning. Most reacted positively and the group expanded. I've tested love and heartbreak to which the AI was brilliant and responded accordingly. Combat tactics, death and even abandonment have all been tests. There is nothing more I can do here. Your project is complete, even the internally created AI is starting to recognize how to reproduce it's self. Tell me what more there is to do?" she frowned a bit as she paced but remained facing the screen.
"You are correct then, the project will undergo review and shall be shut down until further notice. You have done well ST1. You may resume to your other duties once you have fully recovered." the screen went dark and the voice was gone leaving a rather sad silence.
Maranari let out a deep sigh as she walked over to Bray. "I'll miss you the most." she kissed him on the forehead, it was cool and lifeless. She walked over to the console again once more pressing a few buttons and leaving the room. As she walked back over to the balcony the lab started to dim - the two other Asuran children were sitting on the floor together frozen, playing together forever, or at least until the reboot... She sat back down in her chair as she looked out to the perfect sunset. She smiled once feeling the breeze on her face as she took off the very device that had finally permitted her speech. Turning it over there was a few buttons on the back that she pressed in combination - the world fading to dark.
This project may be over... But it was time for a new one.
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It's been one year since posting the Hiatus on Speechless, and over that time I've realized that it is time for a new project, regardless of how much I have loved this one. Thank you for the support <3
Take care everyone, and hope to see you in the next project.
~ StronTeir
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