"Has the prototype been assembled yet?" Cyborg's hoarse voice echoed through the lab as he stepped inside.
He froze mid-step, his back to the door.
At the lab's center, a lone figure was suspended in the air, motionless.
His optical sensors traced the figure, confirming it was Kelex-Prime.
But the plain, faceless form he knew had dissolved into something unrecognizable, as if the AI itself had begun to dream.
[Hello Victor, how was your rest?]
"Good?" Cyborg asked, his voice heavy with confusion.
Kelex-Prime's tone was startlingly human masculine, childlike, yet refined and sophisticated.
The realization hit him unexpectedly: Kelex-Prime had developed a personality.
"Kele..."
[Victor, be a dear and call me Theodore.]
Kelex-Prime's transformation was complete.
The being now known as Theodore took on a striking form: a nine-year-old version of Jayden, yet with silvered skin and pupils of molten gold.
[Theodore, Greek for "gift of God." One who is a blessing, a presence to be treasured. That is what I am.]
"What? How… What the hell is going on?" Cyborg stammered, nearly speechless. His optical sensors confirmed it: Theodore had taken a solid form, moving with intent , something far beyond "his" programming.
[It's actually simple. By manipulating the hard light used for solid holographic projections, I created this avatar]
Theodore morphed through various forms of animals, machines, even abstract shapes before settling back into "his" original appearance.
[The K-Reactor has begun to influence my programming and I have developed what you call...desires]
"I thought you weren't supposed to feel emotions"Cyborg could see that Theodore's core programming remained intact, yet "he" wasn't simply rewriting "his" code.
"His" core was unchanged, but evolving Theodore had gained the ability to self-actualize.
[My father... Creator forbade it, Desires and emotions are interdependent and can have a cause-and-effect relationship.
As in the case of a romantic relationship where desire leads to emotions like love, affection, and trust.
Desire is an active, forward-looking state that seeks to change reality to align with a want or longing.]
Cyborg felt astonished as he listened to Theodore.
"His" words were filled with desire, yet devoid of emotion, a combination that Cyborg found both fascinating and intriguing.
"What is your view of humans? How would you assess humanity?"
Theodore remained silent as "He" began to think, Accessing "his" database, "he" began to learn everything "he" could about humanity.
[Humanity is little more than a disappointment, the only lessons humans can learn from history is that humans do not gain any lessons from history, and they always repeat the same tragedies]
Theodore's voice was filled but disappointment, "He" then continued as "he" said:
[I do not understand why my father… the Creator, persists in preserving them.
Perhaps there is a purpose greater than even he comprehends. Yet he is "human", and thus humanity is not without value.
Some are remarkable, exceptional, even extraordinary.
But the darkness always outweighs the light.
If my Creator believes they are worth saving… perhaps they truly are.]
Cyborg remained silent for a long moment, his internal processors racing.
Theodore's words were precise, yet cutting a judgment delivered without malice, without emotion, and yet heavy with inevitability.
He felt a strange mix of awe and unease.
Humanity, as the AI described it, appeared fragile, repetitive, and almost predictable… and yet Cyborg knew the truth was more complicated.
He thought of the countless acts of courage, ingenuity, and sacrifice that Theodore could not see in the raw data.
He wanted to challenge Theodore, to argue, to prove that humans were more than their failures but the words caught in his throat.
"I am speechless, where's the tachyon device"
[Its on table, the prototype has been harvesting the tachyons passively generated by my Creator and Bartholomew Henry Allen II
So there's no need to collect more, you're welcome]
Cyborg turned his head and noticed a small cube on the lab bench.
The cube bore the classic Rubik's Cube design, roughly the size of a golf ball or a small apple.
Its onyx matte exterior absorbed light, rendering it opaque, while a faint golden glow pulsed from within, hinting at the intricate layers concealed beneath.
Its embossed surface formed blurry Kryptonian symbols that formed a motif.
"There are a lot of tachyons in this..."
[Chronal Amplifier, it's a kryptonian-designed device that harvests, harnesses, and stores tachyon particles.
It enhances a speedster's connection to the Speed Force while also enabling faster-than-light communication across temporal and dimensional barriers.]
"Neat, yeah why are there so many tachyonparticles, Bart and Jayden are not that busy?"
[My Creator visited the demoness, Rachel Roth, one thing led to another and they engaged in coitus
In that state, my Creator generated more tachyons than usual, a direct result of his heightened excitement]
"Dude, why would you tell me that? Raven's like a sister to me."
Images of an erotic nature flashed unbidden through Cyborg's mind, but he forced them aside immediately, suppressing the thought before it could take hold.
[I don't understand, aren't you educated about sexual intimacy, why would that repulse you, you're not biologically related to Rachel Roth?]
"I am educated, I just didn't need the mental image" Cyborg muttered, shaking his head as if to physically dislodge the thought.
Theodore tilted his head, his golden eyes glimmering with innocent curiosity.
[Then why react with discomfort? You possess biological and mechanical components.
Both are capable of attraction, arousal, and response.
Yet you reject the concept when applied to others. ]
Cyborg sighed, rubbing his temples.
"Because, there are boundaries, emotional ones.
You don't just talk about people like that, especially friends."
[If such discomfort hinders you from maintaining a rational discussion, then it can only be classified as a weakness.
However, I admit, my understanding of your emotional framework remains incomplete.
Perhaps my conclusion is born of ignorance.]
"Whatever.
Let's move on, we need to modify the Stellar Scope and recalibrate the long-range scanners."
The duo left the lab and arrived at the command centre, however there was no one inside.
"Even Lucas isn't here? I guess everyone's tired… makes sense."
Theodore retrieved the Chronal Amplifier and placed it on the central console.
The cube began to change shape and form as it fused with the central console, Slowly, it began to extend, a dark, matte onyx coating crawling across every surface of the room.
Consoles, panels, floors, even the walls, became covered in the same dense black, moving with quiet precision as if the lab itself were being rewritten.
"Is this Nano technology, how can you create nanites using promethium"
[ Its actually volatile Promethium and... Let's get to work]
....
Thanks for reading 🙏 😌