Chapter 3: Aegis
Zephyr slowly opened his eyes and found himself staring at the wooden ceiling. His vision wavered for a second before easing up, then he tried to sit himself upright.
’Second day I’m waking up feeling out of it,’ he rubbed his temples, expecting pain from sitting upright, but there wasn’t really much pain. In fact, whatever little disorientation he felt upon waking was rapidly fading away. His mind was sharpening into clarity, he had never felt this good in his life.
"What’s going on?" he muttered, staring at his hands. His thoughts drifted back to the previous night and the black liquid that had seeped into his body.
’Is that what’s making me feel different?’
’Oh yeah!’ What about that foreign thought I felt in my head?
He focused and tried sending out a general probing thought directed at his own mind.
’Hello?’
’Hello, host’
"Whoa!" Zephyr recoiled in shock. The experience was weird, almost trippy even. The interaction had been instant. It wasn’t like thinking in complete sentences, more like transmitting pure intent and receiving a response in return. It was seamless and natural, like he was just thinking to himself.
He sent another thought. ’Who— What are you?’
’I am Aegis Nexus 09, an artificial general intelligence repurposed to specialize in being of service to you, host.’