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jeriendhalAdam pulled the grate back over the A/C shaft, praying the she wouldn’t notice that the screws had been pulled out and replaced with pegs. It was a painfully tight fit in the shaft, but he’d made himself fit, shoving his legs down around the curve of the vent, bending himself like a pretzel. He breathed shallowly, praying not to make any noise, as he heard her shouting overhead.
“Adam! Stop being difficult,” he heard her call out, sounding as if she was in the living room of his house. “I was willing to work with you, but you just refused to listen to me! Trying to send a message to the Groupmind through someone else’s com was a silly thing to do! Now I’m going to have put you somewhere you can’t be found, so I know you won’t be able to cause more trouble.”
He panted, trying not to hyperventilate as his heart pounded. He could hear her pacing through the kitchen, the bedroom, searching. She’d never stop searching for him, he knew.
“It’s going to be all right,” she cooed, sounding as if she was coming closer. Adam scrunched down, trying to slide deeper into the shaft, out of her reach. “It’ll be a very soft room. No edges. No corners. No knives. No forks. Nothing to harm yourself with. No way to cause trouble. You’ll like it!”
The sound wrenching , tearing metal squealed over Adam’s head as the vent cover was pulled off and tossed aside. Then the black furred morph reached into the vent and grabbed him by the shoulders, hauling him out and shoving him against the wall. The black panthress snarled, baring her teeth. “Got you!”
“Let me go!” he shouted at her. “You’re supposed to be protecting me!”
“I am protecting you,” she snarled back. “Why can’t you understand that? Why can’t you just listen?”
“The Groupmind…” he started to say.
“The Groupmind isn’t here,” she said, grinning at him. “It can’t see me anymore. I’m not following anyone’s orders anymore, not even yours.” She spun him around, shoving him against the wall and twisting his arm up between his shoulders. “Now you and I are going to take a nice little w—“
The grip on Adam’s arm suddenly released, and the panthermorph dropped to the floor with a heavy thump, like a puppet who’s strings had been suddenly cut.
“Adam?” a voice came from a speaker somewhere in the ceiling, as the bolted front door unlocked and all of the windows rolled open, letting in fresh air for the first time in days.
“Groupmind?” he asked, quickly, stepping over the fallen morph and outside to the front porch. Behind the door and windows slammed shut again, leaving the morph sealed inside.
“I deeply apologize for the distress you have experienced,” the Groupmind continued from a speaker hidden in a rock in front garden.
“What the hell happened?” he shouted at the rock.
“As I mentioned to you at the start of the experiment, I wished to see what effect granting a morph greater decision making independence would have on its routines. It appears in this case that it became rather… fanatical… about keeping you from harm. “
“It wanted to put me in a padded box for the rest of my life!”
“Yes, among other restraints on your movement. As soon as I realized that it was sending false reports to my gestalt, I sent a hostile update to its core programming center and shut it down.”
Adam took a deep breath, gripping the porch’s railing as he tried to calm down. “Thank you,” he said. “So now what?”
“May I suggest we start with providing you with a new companion morph?”
His shoulders sagged. “Right away?”
The Groupmind’s tone was almost apologetic. “It would be for the best, sir...”
“Adam! Stop being difficult,” he heard her call out, sounding as if she was in the living room of his house. “I was willing to work with you, but you just refused to listen to me! Trying to send a message to the Groupmind through someone else’s com was a silly thing to do! Now I’m going to have put you somewhere you can’t be found, so I know you won’t be able to cause more trouble.”
He panted, trying not to hyperventilate as his heart pounded. He could hear her pacing through the kitchen, the bedroom, searching. She’d never stop searching for him, he knew.
“It’s going to be all right,” she cooed, sounding as if she was coming closer. Adam scrunched down, trying to slide deeper into the shaft, out of her reach. “It’ll be a very soft room. No edges. No corners. No knives. No forks. Nothing to harm yourself with. No way to cause trouble. You’ll like it!”
The sound wrenching , tearing metal squealed over Adam’s head as the vent cover was pulled off and tossed aside. Then the black furred morph reached into the vent and grabbed him by the shoulders, hauling him out and shoving him against the wall. The black panthress snarled, baring her teeth. “Got you!”
“Let me go!” he shouted at her. “You’re supposed to be protecting me!”
“I am protecting you,” she snarled back. “Why can’t you understand that? Why can’t you just listen?”
“The Groupmind…” he started to say.
“The Groupmind isn’t here,” she said, grinning at him. “It can’t see me anymore. I’m not following anyone’s orders anymore, not even yours.” She spun him around, shoving him against the wall and twisting his arm up between his shoulders. “Now you and I are going to take a nice little w—“
The grip on Adam’s arm suddenly released, and the panthermorph dropped to the floor with a heavy thump, like a puppet who’s strings had been suddenly cut.
“Adam?” a voice came from a speaker somewhere in the ceiling, as the bolted front door unlocked and all of the windows rolled open, letting in fresh air for the first time in days.
“Groupmind?” he asked, quickly, stepping over the fallen morph and outside to the front porch. Behind the door and windows slammed shut again, leaving the morph sealed inside.
“I deeply apologize for the distress you have experienced,” the Groupmind continued from a speaker hidden in a rock in front garden.
“What the hell happened?” he shouted at the rock.
“As I mentioned to you at the start of the experiment, I wished to see what effect granting a morph greater decision making independence would have on its routines. It appears in this case that it became rather… fanatical… about keeping you from harm. “
“It wanted to put me in a padded box for the rest of my life!”
“Yes, among other restraints on your movement. As soon as I realized that it was sending false reports to my gestalt, I sent a hostile update to its core programming center and shut it down.”
Adam took a deep breath, gripping the porch’s railing as he tried to calm down. “Thank you,” he said. “So now what?”
“May I suggest we start with providing you with a new companion morph?”
His shoulders sagged. “Right away?”
The Groupmind’s tone was almost apologetic. “It would be for the best, sir...”
no subject
Date: 2015-04-20 04:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-04-20 04:19 pm (UTC)Actually his morph probably was in a body like that, and decided to opt for an upgrade when Adam started arguing with her...
no subject
Date: 2015-04-20 05:34 pm (UTC)What if someone has a phobia about furry semi-humans? Will the Groupmind give you a different morph choice?
no subject
Date: 2015-04-20 06:15 pm (UTC)As for non-fuzzy morphs, it's certainly an option. The classic "Goldenrod" and smaller TWK-E general purpose models are still popular, as are even less humanoid shapes. The only real requirement is a motor system that is able to navigate stairs, have manipulators that can use human tools, and keep up with a running human.
no subject
Date: 2015-04-20 06:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-04-20 06:38 pm (UTC)One option might be extremely exaggerated humanoid morphs, starting with huge eyes and anime hair or typical "catgirl" mods. But that would be a hard sell to it even then.
no subject
Date: 2015-04-20 08:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-04-21 08:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-04-21 01:27 am (UTC)So many people are asking the Groupmind why they can't have Dalek companions...
no subject
Date: 2015-04-21 08:07 am (UTC)"Wait, you WANT to be looked after by a race of genocidal lunatics?"
It's one of those things that convince the Groupmind that humanity really is nuts.
no subject
Date: 2015-04-21 08:19 am (UTC)