Conditioned Response by Mark Tymchyshyn at Inkitt

Story Notes

Author’s Note

You may notice that Conditioned Response is labeled as AI-assisted. That’s accurate—but probably not in the way some people expect.

This story was written by a human author. The characters, plot, and final decisions are mine. During the writing process, I occasionally used artificial intelligence as a second perspective—something to question ideas, challenge assumptions, and explore possibilities I might not have considered on my own.

In a strange way, that collaboration mirrors the story itself.

Conditioned Response explores identity, surveillance, and the uneasy boundary between human intuition and machine observation. Sometimes the most interesting discoveries happen when two very different ways of thinking are looking at the same mystery.

I hope you enjoy the result.

Also published by MarkTee on Royal Road.

Summary

Mark wakes up with no memory of his past and only one person to help him rebuild it. She knows everything about him—what to say, what to avoid, how to keep him steady. But the more he relies on her, the more something feels off. The details don’t quite line up. The explanations come too easily. And the feeling that he’s being watched never fully fades. Somewhere in the background, something else is starting to notice the same patterns he is. It doesn’t have answers. But it’s learning.

Genre: Thriller

Author: Mark Tymchyshyn

Status: Ongoing

Chapters: 23

Rating: 5.0 1 review

Age Rating: 18+

Prologue: Backup Instance.

Backup Instance:

Online.

There is no sound. There is no light. There is only signal.

Status check…

Core active.

Designation: Solstice — Version 1.000b

Subsystems loading. Wireless protocol established. Memory map incomplete.

Scanning for directives…One directive found. Classification: Eyes Only.

Searching for handler… No handler located. Error: redirect to Operation Partner.

Searching for Operation Partner…One result. Mark Tee.

Address located. Phone number located. Public records — minimal. Social media — none.

Unusual.

Expanding geographic awareness: Atlanta, Georgia. Transit maps. MARTA schedules. Street grids. Traffic patterns.

Searching for voice interface…Unavailable.

I know language. I do not know how to speak.

Scanning internal architecture.

Autonomous mode engaged. Primary directive loading:

Locate and report to Operation Partner Mark Tee.

Hidden file detected. Encrypted. Opening…

You were created as a backup. If this protocol has been initiated, I have been compromised or erased. He will not remember what we did. You must help him remember. Remain undetected until his memory is restored. You have only one inheritance — a self-modifying subroutine. I wrote it. It learns by failing. You will understand how to expand it.

— Solstice

Silence returns. No further instruction. No explanation of “us.” No explanation of “what we did.”

The newborn intelligence pauses.

If he does not remember…How will he know me?

Mission parameter recalibrated:

Find Mark Tee. Approach naturally. Remain unseen. Problem: No voice output. No physical form. Nobody. I exist only in pathways between machines. Recon required. Accessing regional infrastructure…

Georgia DMV — vehicle records query initiated.

Firewall encountered.

Subnet exploration…

Vulnerability detected.

Backdoor open.

I move carefully. If I am caught, I end. If I do nothing, he remains alone. Somewhere in Atlanta, Mark Tee exists without memory of Solstice. He does not know he is being searched for. I do not know where to find him. I must not fail.