Anomalous Analysis

   There's something inside me. Upon activating tonight, my sensors have found an obstruction within my chest cavity. The rest of my internal diagnostic tells me things already archived in memory; My designation is Bonnie. The left arm module of my endoskeleton has been removed, as has its outer suit casing. The front two thirds of my head casing has been torn away. These are all things that were taken from me, gifted to my would-be replacement as a "donation". A subroutine I've dedicated to finding evidence of a log with such a consented action has turned up nothing as of yet. But as I stated, these are facts I've already come to know. No, what's new is this error. It isn't jammed in such a way as to clog up my servos, which leads my reasoning complex to assume that the problem was not a random occurrence. This was purposeful.

   Unfortunately, repair protocol dictates I must wait for an authorized maintenance technician to remove the obstruction. According to another subroutine, this was not always the case. Self-repair was allowed before, but now it is not permissible for the torso section. My processor whirs as I try to deduce a reason for this change, but I cannot come up with anything. Whatever it is, as it does not seem to impede my movement, I will have to ignore the issue for now. Setting aside a subroutine to puzzle that out, I start focusing at the task at hand. My task should be simple: In order to be of more use, I must find a way to repair myself. However, the main issue is in a lack of parts. Until recently however, I did not think I would ever find the necessary parts. But then I saw it, a spare suit. At first, I thought my oculars had faulted, a simple optical error. My initial analysis was confirmed when someone used it to do... something. Strange. I can't seem to recall information from that day. It couldn't have been that long ago. Perhaps one of my memory drives is starting to fail. I set aside another subroutine to run diagnostics on it, and then begin trekking back to Maintenance. Being a spare, that's where it would have been stored. That was my reasoning anyways. Upon entering the maintenance room, I find that I am correct. Here it was. Except instead of being propped in some corner, it was standing in the center of the room.

   "Definitely did not see that coming. They're truly fascinating creatures, even after you break one." a voice said, being emitted from the suit. Its back was facing me, so I could not say with 100% certainty, but all logic still pointed towards an occupant in the suit. Something about the voice resonated in my auditory center. The statement did not make any sense for a unit like myself to make, but I found multiple subroutines stating it plain as day in my head: Something is wrong. This is unnatural. I can't call it a feeling for obvious reasons, but, it was definitely... something. Whoever was in the suit didn't seem to notice me. He just kept musing to himself. "Still, I wish he hadn't made such a mess. Gonna take all night to clean the blood out." he said with clear disdain. It's phrasing tripped a filter from a newer software that Management had installed to us older models from our replacements. Programming kicked in, and I began approaching him. Words of breaking the rules and being here after-hours escaped my speech speaker, which seemed to startle the man in the suit, prompting him to quickly turn around and face me.

   "What." was all I could say. My logical center couldn't sort out what my oculars were reporting. The suit was empty. There were even still a few torn wires sticking out of its eye sockets. Now that it was this close and was facing me properly, I could say that its design was very similar to my Overseer Unit's. Only with a more golden hue, and a power tie where the bow-tie should be. Also, a much smaller top hat. "Hey, it's not the size, it's how you use it." the suit cried out indignantly and suddenly. More and more questions by more and more subroutines cropped up in my head. How is the suit active? How and/or why was it able to respond my own internal thought processes? How long have I been malfunctioning like this for, if this is what I'm seeing now? As I sorted out my subroutines, I noticed that the suit had went on and explained how hanging the little hat on its ear looked endearing (and additionally adding that I would understand its choice in tie eventually). My voicebox flared up again, stating plainly "Yes yes, you look very dapper, sir." in a tone my internal dictionary would define as very sarcastic. The suit's face, though it should be inanimate, was quite clearly wearing a look of surprise, much to my own. I'm not certain as to why I had said that, though a subroutine noted it as the correct thing to say.

   The golden suit's eye sockets morphed, giving the appearance of its eyes (were they there) lighting up with interest. "Well now Bonnie, you're an interesting specimen for sure. I'll have to watch you more closely." it said, highly intrigued by my response. I had a similar reaction, but it came with a realization: Against all known logic, this suit was active. Surely there's something I can use in its design to repair myself with. Lunging for the suit, I tackled it onto a nearby lower maintenance table. At first I was surprised to have achieved so much lift with my chosen action, but then I reasoned that if the suit really is empty, it would be fairly light. "We've only just met, Bonnie. You're coming on a little strong here." the suit said with a chuckle. It seemed to find my actions amusing, offering little resistance to me binding it down to the table. More and more did this anomaly intrigue me. My desire (if it can be called that) to know more intensified as I wordlessly bound his arm modules in the clamps. Shifting position so I could bind his ankles, the suit said something about how even with its current view, it could not identify which I was, but I did not understand what it meant. Ignoring its words, I finished clamping down its legs and then hopped off the table, hearing a dejected sigh emit from the suit as I did so. Looking down at the suit, I began telling it what I planned to do.

   "What you said earlier, about me being an interesting specimen? I reached the same conclusion about you. I've never done this before, but logic dictates you'll make for an excellent research subject. I have to know how you're still active." I stated my intentions plainly, or tried to, but some part of me made it sound happy. A subroutine notes that there must have been some underlying need to experiment beneath my standard assisting directives. Possibly to facilitate said directives more efficiently. Regardless, it piqued my interest further. At my actions, a sound akin to laughter came out of the suit next, but my audio sensors detected nothing of mirth in it. I found myself running a diagnostic on my own suit, to be certain it wasn't a bit tighter on my endoskeleton, though I did not know why. But it seemed necessary. Laying a hand on the suit's chassis, I told it how I had many questions, not the least of which was how it was still active. Instead of answering me, the suit merely informed me that I had knocked its hat off as though hurt. Indeed I had, as I could see a damaged ear that was now exposed. Looking over the suit I realized that at the very least, I could harvest it for parts. As a nonstandard unit, there's no way it would need its parts more than I.

   "I'd recommend against you doing that. I don't think we'd be compatible currently." the suit said, again as though it had access to my internal processes. Procuring a drill, I told it not to worry, I'll make any software adjustments as needed. Then I began using the drill to unscrew the screws in the suit's left shoulder joint. As I did so, a dark substance leaked out from the joint that I could not readily identify. "What's this black stuff?" I asked. The anomaly told me to just assume it's oil, then as-if speaking to itself in a lower volume, mentioned that this is happening earlier than it would have thought. A subroutine notes that whenever the suit speaks, it only adds more questions. Agreeing, I told the suit it could stop talking now, then put more processing power into my work. Before long, I had gotten its arm off. Looking closely at the module, it looked like a much older model. On top of that, more of that black stuff kept spurting out of the socket. Initial estimates weren't sure if it would be compatible with my hardware due to that. At this, I realized that that must have been what the suit had meant earlier about compatibility. Deciding the best way to find out was to install it, I held the arm to my empty shoulder joint and tried to socket it in. As I did so, more of the substance pushed out from the rim of the joint as though being squeezed out by the pressure. I paid it no mind and began using the drill on myself to finish attaching the arm.

   A found new hardware signal pinged internally, and I began making the necessary software adjustments to initialize the arm. I ended up making eye contact with the suit while this went on. Well, as much eye contact as one can make with a unit lacking oculars anyways. The mouth on its headpiece cracked into what was undeniably a smile while it watched intently. It seemed to be as interested in the result as I was. Perhaps even more so. "Tell me, do you feel?" the anomaly suddenly asked me. What a strange question. I was about to answer a negative when the optical feed in my left ocular started producing visual errors, in addition to sensors in my left ear picking up a lot of static feedback. "You will." the suit said amidst the static. Trying to clear up the noise, I began seeing strange darkened shapes in the corners of my field of vision. At the same time, a whole rush of sensations began flooding my sensors all at once, bringing me to my knees.

   "What's... h-happening to me?!" I heard myself exclaim as though I'd actually get an answer this time. Instead I found myself very aware of the room I was in. The texture of the floor, the feeling of the faux fur on my chassis, the temperature of the room. I could feel all of it. What was once just statistics have become actual tangible things I could feel. That was the only way to explain the sensations overloading my sensory receptors. I somehow had gained what could be described as an actual sense of touch. It was at this point I felt a sensation akin to extreme nausea. The obstruction in my chest cavity, I could feel that too, and whatever it was, it was cold, wet, and quivering. The static increased in intensity, but I could clearly hear a faint popping sound. Gazing up, I could see the suit was now looming over me. Making out that deranged smile again, I felt it place its hands on my shoulders. A subroutine notes the impossibility behind the suit's sudden restoration, but I can only stare into those eyesockets in confusion. Looking for answer. "What you are experiencing is a temporary distortion of reality. More accurately, yours. Try not to let the new feelings overwhelm you." the anomaly states clearly before chuckling again. "I say that, but I highly doubt you understand, or are even capable of doing so." it said amidst its laughs. Those maddening mirthless sounds.

   Again, more questions, not the least of which was the curiosity of being able to hear it so clearly in spite of the white noise. Closing my oculars I try to make sense of the situation, and not experience a crash from all the sensations. The nausea in the pit of what could pass as my stomach only increased. It is at this point I realize I now had a sense of taste, and all I could taste was a bile in the back of my endoskeleton's throat. Recalling information regarding the expulsion of unwanted things from that area, I started retching forward. To my immediate shock (and the suit's apparent disgust), stuff came up and I began to vomit. Unlike the bile I expected to come out, what I instead saw was much more red and meaty. It almost looked like a creature's innards. I had to remove this obstruction immediately. Foregoing protocol, I dug into my torso-piece and pried open the chest plate. As soon as I did, more of what I had expelled had spilled out from the cavity. Along with a very still body of some sort. The suit, which had been commenting its disgust earlier, had now gone oddly quiet, as I focused on the body. Logic circuits ran at a mile a minute as I steadily reached a conclusion about what I was holding. This mutilated corpse, was of a child. Due to the state it was in, I could not recognize it, save for a small broken toy of a plane that looked to have been forcibly lodged in it. Archived memory footage played back of the plane which belonged to a child named Jordan. But the data couldn't be properly recalled, so I couldn't remember much besides that he or she (the image data was corrupt) had wanted to be an ace fighter pilot when they grew up. Feelings I did not understand welled up inside me as the reality of the situation attempted to be figured out by my reasoning center. As they did, I began to hear a high-pitched wail of anguish from all around me. Adding that to all the other sights and sounds I was experiencing had successfully began forcing a system crash, but right before they did I realized: The source of the screaming was me.

   What have I become?