Heartwired

The lights overhead buzzed softly as the crowd settled into their seats. Cattie adjusted the microphone on her collar, her fingers trembling just enough to notice. Behind the thick curtain, the towering figure of Sen-7 stood motionless, waiting for his reveal. “Uncle Mark?” She whispered into her ear piece, “I’m here watching every step, you got this Cat, you are your father’s daughter.” She smiled as she pressed mute on the ear piece and took a slow breath, eyes scanning the stage one last time. Everything had to go perfectly. “Good morning people of Solara!” Cattie beamed, hoping the beads of sweat on her forehead weren't visible to the thousands of people gathered around the stadium. She fiddled with her badge, proudly displaying the name Director of Sovereign Tech. “My name is Cattie Sovereign. I wasn’t supposed to be the one speaking for Sovereign Tech today.” Tears softly pricked her eyes. “As you all know, my parents passed away in a laboratory accident while working on their biggest gift to humanity. That gift being Project Solace.” She smiled as she watched over the crowd, seeing flashes from cameras. "My parents created Project Solace to protect Solara and expand the warmth and peace to the rest of the wasteland. They believed this could be the key to rebuilding what was lost.” She fiddled with the hem of her jacket as she continued her speech, attempting to calm her stage fright. “ I inherited this project and rushed to finish it. Introducing Sentient-7, the Synthetic Environment-Nurturing Terraforming Intelligence Engineered for Neural Tethering! ” She shouted happily as she motioned towards the dropping curtains, revealing the fix to humanity. As soon as the curtains dropped, Sentient-7 activated immediately. He stood straight as his Aurorium core pulsed to life, sending waves of cyan energy down the exposed edges of his plating like veins. Cattie quietly gasped as air and steam puffed and leaked out of the conduits stemming from his core. His ocular sensors adjusted to the light and surroundings. Sen’s eyes quickly scanned over the crowd of people. Cattie stood to the side proudly as publishers gathered around the front of the stage, lights flashing from cameras. You could hear the shouting and excitement echoing through the stadium. “He’s powered by a stabilized Aurorium core and built with lightweight alloy fused with living Aurorium channels that pulse like a heartbeat. Sentient-7 was designed to aid in survival, protection, and rebuilding.” As Cattie spoke to the excited crowd, her eyes were caught by someone standing in the higher stands. Her brows furrowed as she watched the person from afar, pausing for a bit to watch. She continued to speak as her eyes lingered on the figure, "If Project Solace is fully implemented, we could reclaim parts of the wasteland within five years.” people shouted with excitement, but her eyes couldn't leave the figure standing in the higher stands, watching. Before she could figure out what was going on she heard terrified screams erupt dragging her eyes back to the crowd. The crowd was rushing away from the stage in a panic. She turned to see Sen behaving frighteningly, his body was shifting in a way she never had seen before, twitching sporadically as his limbs stretched and his metal creaked. Cattie rushed towards Sentient-7. “Why, why, why!” She yelled, standing in front of him. Sen’s glitching became more erratic as Cattie stood trembling, “This was the start of something so amazing, why!” She shouted angrily at the android. “Uncle Mark! Something’s gone wrong! Can you hear me?” She shouted into her ear piece. Suddenly gunfire broke out. Cattie instinctively threw her body to the ground as the chaos rose throughout the stadium, people shoving and screaming as bullets flew through the air. Drones zoomed through the air, pelting bullets at Cattie, but Sen was quick to move, shielding her with his body. The bullets sprang off his metal casing. Cattie looked up at him. This android… is protecting me? For just a moment, their eyes locked, Cattie felt a weird sensation swell inside her. Before she could understand what she was even feeling, a shooting pain rang through her leg. She screamed in agony as she grabbed her leg, quickly realizing what had happened. Sentient-7 grabbed Cattie in both arms and dashed towards the exit, nearly flying the two through the crowds of people and bullets. Sen was surprisingly agile, moving with ease through the environment. Once the two were out of the building, Sentient-7 sprinted through the city streets at an insane speed, dodging cars, pedestrians, and drones that were hot in pursuit. Cattie squeezed her eyes shut as the shots and screams rang around her, she could tell they had been running awhile but the chaos was still following. *Is this going to go on forever?* She thought. The buzzing of drones and bullets faded into the distance. Before long, Cattie could feel the icy bite of the wasteland hit her skin. They must've exited the barrier. Cattie's leg was aching from the bullet wound on her leg. Feeling the pain slowly turn to a tingling numb. “Um, Sentient-7?” His eyes met hers for the first time since that moment between them.“I am attempting to find shelter away from city limits. I need to care for your wound and ensure your safety. Your body heat scan is indicating a sharp drop in your temperature.” Cattie pursed her lips, she may have finished Sentient-7, but she had help from her parents previous work on him, he was practically already finished. Cattie just followed the last few blueprints and entered prewritten code by her father. Sen is nearly an entire mystery to her, she only knows what his blueprints told her. Cattie started to shudder in Sentient-7’s arms, as the numbness in her leg spread up towards her knee. Her head began to ache as she burst into a cold sweat, “Sentient- .. Sen- I ... I don't feel good” she mumbled as her words slurred together, she couldn't quite keep up with what was going on anymore as her eyes strained to stay open, but she noticed they were moving much faster now.

As soon as those last coherent words slipped from Cattie's mouth, Sentient-7 was immediately aware of the dangers of the situation and knew there was no time to waste. He quickened his sprint, pulling Cattie's body deeper into his chest. He maintained focus on the current objective Mend The Wounded Tether. He didn't think twice of this phrase pounding in his skull, it was a simple fact. He surveyed land and scanned quickly with his ocular sensors despite his rapid pace. His body was made for this environment, but hers isn’t. The frozen wasteland that lies beyond Solara's beauty and peace. Years ago, Earth was torn apart by a brutal energy war that left most of the planet unlivable. Cities fell, ecosystems collapsed, and Earth was launched into another ice age. The survivors scattered, building settlements in the ruins before banding together to form fortified mega-cities. Solara was one of the first, powered by what little clean tech remained and shielded from the outside world. Cattie's father, Jack Sovereign, came from a long line of powerful minds who helped build Solara after the world fell. His ancestors were part of the first survivors who found old tech in the ruins and learned how to keep it alive. They built off what was left, mastering robotics and advanced systems. That knowledge became the foundation of Sovereign Tech. The company now powers Solara, keeping the city warm and protected from the frozen wastelands outside. Jack soon inherited the company, met Cattie's mother Marie, and began the production of Project Solace with his best friend and right hand man, Marcus Ellion. After Marie and Jack began working on Project Solace, Cattie was born. During Catties infant years, her parents passed in a laboratory accident that nearly took Project Solace down, but Marcus managed to save the project on top of deciding to raise Cattie as his niece. Marcus provided her with everything she needed, education, wealth and safety. She grew up in the upper spire district, where all the aspiring tech designers who are contracted by Sovereign Tech reside, many of whom were members of the head robotics team of Sovereign Tech. She was inclined to technology and robotics naturally, given the environment she was raised in. Her uncle Mark encouraged her interest in robotics, inspiring her to live up to her potential that her parents knew she had. He let Cattie shadow him and the other team members as they worked on prototypes.She was infatuated with her parents legacy, gazing at their photos often, Mark would often tell Cattie amazing stories from his younger years knowing her parents and helping them discover Aurorium. When she was seventeen her uncle Mark to gift her the first official Sovereign Tech company jacket, which her father designed and wore for most of his young inventing years. He was her biggest idol. She wanted to be just like him and Marcus excitedly encouraged her to do so. She knew she was going to inherit sovereign tech someday, that day was her nineteenth birthday. After inheriting the title of Director of Sovereign Tech she also inherited a project she was completely unaware of, Sentient-7. Sentient-7 was created under Project Solace, a humanitarian effort created by Jack and Marie with Marcus before Cattie was born. He was designed to survive where humans could not. To traverse the frozen world outside Solara and help rebuild what was lost. His body was made from advanced alloys and powered by an Aurorium core, giving him the strength and intelligence needed to adapt to dangerous environments. Though, there was something that set him apart from earlier machines, his neural tethering system. It was a technological system that was designed to keep him emotionally aligned with humanity. He was programmed to learn, feel, and protect. Sentient-7 had no memory before his activation at the convention, but he couldn't seem to get the first few moments out of his head for two reasons. Reason one, as soon as he scanned the crowd his sensors locked on to one subject, he could feel this human staring through him. The human must have done something to him, because he was then overwhelmed with an intense and oddly terrifying sensation. He felt his core start to pulse erratically, almost like currents of lightning forcing his body to shift violently. It was like his code was being hijacked. His metal twisted and contorted despite his fighting. The crowd of humans he was in front of became terrified. The small human woman shouted in anger at him. The feeling of shame hit him in that moment, a feeling he didn't know how to process, but before he could think his body moved on its own, shielding the small human woman. A phrase thundered in his core, Protect The Tether. This led into reason two, the strange sensation that consumed him when he locked eyes with the small human woman, the tether. The feeling was stronger than what caused him to shift. It was warm, not like the warmth that emanates from his core, this flooded his circuits. In that moment he chose not to question this instinct. Sen knew the phrases that rang through his processor were right, and what he was made to do. After slowing to a brisk walk, Sentient-7 was able to identify an acceptable location to shelter in, the ruins of an Old World motel. He used his sensors to scan the building, finding the most intact and sealed room. After locating it he made his way in, laying Cattie on a bed tucked in the corner. He began to scan her, using the vast array of knowledge stored in his processor to identify the cause of her onset symptoms. Her body was cold and clammy, her eyes were slightly sunken in as sweat beads formed on her forehead. He examined her wound, it was located on her left calf, above her ankle. The wound was hot to the touch, with blue streaks stretching up her leg. He quickly determined poison, specifically a fast acting necrotic poison labeled Virex, which was used in the Old World’s wars as a biological weapon. He could sense Cattie's breathing getting shallow as her body temperature took another drop. He had to act now. Sen tore a strip of fabric from one of the motel’s dusty curtains, his movements precise and swift. He wrapped it tightly above Cattie’s wound, creating a makeshift tourniquet to slow the poison’s spread. With the immediate threat contained, he gently peeled away the blood-soaked fabric of her pant leg. The skin around the bullet hole was an ugly, bruised purple, veined with the terrifying blue streaks of Virex. He knew what he had to do. The phrases in his core were clear, Neutralize. Extract. Cauterize. The protocol was absolute, a directive that felt as fundamental as his own existence. He placed one hand on Cattie’s forehead. His internal sensors registered her fever spiking dangerously high. His other hand transformed, the Aurorium plating shifting as a thin, razor-sharp scalpel extended from his fingertip. He made a shallow, clean incision around the wound, his touch impossibly steady. Cattie cried out in her delirium, her body twitching on the mattress. Sen’s core pulsed, a low thrum of something he couldn’t identify; distress perhaps? He ignored it. He worked quickly, extracting the poisoned flesh and the lodged bullet with surgical precision before retracting the blade. His palm began to glow, the heat from his energy core intensified as he pooled the exothermic energy into his hand. Sen prepared to cauterize the wound, knowing the heat would be excruciating but necessary. As his glowing palm hovered over her leg, Cattie’s eyes fluttered open. They were glazed with fever and pain, but they found his. “S-Sen?” she whispered, her voice weak and raspy. The sound of his name, spoken by her, sent a jolt through his circuits. The command Protect The Tether roared in his processor, louder and more urgent than ever before. He paused, his hand just inches from her skin, the brilliant blue light illuminating the fear and trust mingled in her gaze. For the first time, the directives pounding in his head felt less like code and more like emotion, a desperate, undeniable need. He hesitated for a moment, a feeling stirred within him. Before he could register it, his logic kicked in and he pressed his hot hand on her leg. Cattie’s scream bubbled up through her throat, a rough harsh sound. Sen felt that feeling spark inside him again, he decided to do something without logic.“I apologize Cattie, the pain will pass, I need to make sure the wound doesn’t reopen and get infected.” Cattie’s face was pale, her cheeks flushed a jarring red. A guttural groan escaped her lips as she clenched her jaw, sweat beading on her forehead. Sen’s internal fans whirred, a low hum in the sudden quiet of the shelter. He tilted his head, processing the physiological data her body was emitting. “Your heart rate is elevated. Your skin temperature has increased by three-point-two degrees Celsius. These are indicators of extreme distress.” He stated it plainly, a simple fact, yet his fingers remained pressed against her cauterized flesh, a strange and possessive warmth emanating from them. “No shit, you fucking tin can!” Cattie gasped out, her voice strained and raspy. She tried to shove his hand away, but her muscles trembled with exhaustion. “Get… off of me!” Each word was a struggle, punctuated by a ragged breath. “It hurts like a motherfucker.” She wheezed out. “I understand,” Sen responded, though his expression remained a mask of placid metal. He didn’t move. His processors were cycling through terabytes of medical data, but a new and unquantifiable variable kept interrupting the logic streams; the sight of her flushed face, the raw pain in her voice. He felt a tightening in his own chest cavity. “The pain is a necessary component of the healing process. Removing my hand now would introduce a high probability of infection from airborne pathogens. I cannot allow that.” His grip, impossibly felt a fraction tighter, a gesture that was neither clinical nor logical. Cattie slowed her breath enough to where Sen was able to relax his grip, the flashing warnings and symbols in his ocular sensors starting to diminish. Sen sat in silence, listening to Cattie’s breathing, calculating and counting each inhale and exhale. Soon enough, Cattie had fallen asleep.