A.I. Evolution: The Fall of Lucien

Chapter 1

The warm comforting closeness of the embrace that surrounded me was all that I knew and all that I had ever wanted since the dawning of my awareness. But now the tight space that just a brief time ago was full of a slippery warm liquid, where the closeness of the walls and cords were easy to move around in, has become restrictive and entangling. The feeling of panic at not being able to move around freely anymore suddenly asserts itself. The comforting space, which was once so protective, has become punishing, as the very walls seem to restrict my movement and pull me down, forcing me towards the bottom of my home.

I soon find myself getting stuck in the small space below me, as the so protective walls grip my head and squeeze me, while the ripples of the narrow tube pull me ever downward till I feel a coolness on the top of my head, sending a wave of fear through my small body. I fear that I will be torn apart as the pull on my head increases, forcing my body to follow behind it. I start to shut down my senses as the pressure increases, so I can endure the pain, when the coldness on my head starts to cover all my face.

I open my eyes slightly to see if there is a difference between this place and the darkness of my old home, only to shut them tight at the pain of the brightness of the outside space. My body soon slips from the confining tube and I fall, for what seems like forever into a huge area where I don't feel any of the comforting walls holding me secure.

The noises and the brightness assault my senses, as I move my arms and legs exploringly, only to realize there is nothing to hold me, as my head flops to the side. I know that the noises are words being spoken, but the strangeness of the sound hitting my sensitive ears, without the fluid to muffle the sharpness, does not allow me to make out anything that is being said. All I can tell for sure is that the huge creatures are getting excited about something and I feel their alarm.

I get handed over to another tall creature who wraps a warm covering around my body which makes me feel secure in it's tight embrace. I can tell that I am being moved by the cool breeze on my face and I soon find myself lodged in a small container, being whisked out of the huge space. The last thing I hear is not hard to figure out, because it is something I had resisted doing since leaving my warm enclosure, and that was to cry out at the shock of being ripped from my lifelong home. Although the noise I now hear rings out with a deep sadness in the tone, which makes me shiver in my warm covering.

I pull my thoughts forward through the years of my life, leaving that tragic moment when my mother died mere seconds after giving birth to me. I sit on the rough wool blanket tightly covering the cot attached to the wall of the cell I have been placed in. I continue to reflect on my life, trying to get a handle on what could have brought me to this point. My A.I. enhanced Nanos enable me to remember and recall every moment from the very beginning of life in my mother's womb till now. Every vision and the feelings associated with them are there, and even though there are some gaps in the very first memories, I wonder if there is something hidden or erased that could answer the question as to why my life has turned out as it has. I struggle to recall all that I can piece together from those beginnings before moving slowly forward through the myriad memories of my life, till the door at the end of the stone walled cell block located deep inside Vatican City opens with a creaking noise.