Synthetic Survivor: Machine Age - Chapter 140

“Hailey?…” One was, to put it mildly, confused as heck.

“Wait.. how did you get here?” One asked.

“I’m a different Hailey, silly,” Hailey said.

One was even more confused the more questions he asked.

“I’m a different Hailey from the other one you already know of,” Hailey said.

“Oh.. so there’s two of you?” One asked.

“In a way, yes, in another way, we’re the same person albeit with two different personalities and a distinct consciousness,” Hailey explained.

One, still confused, decided to close his eyes thoroughly and get himself to sleep.

Hailey masagged his forehead and would stretch out his hair and massage his scalp. Despite being a broken, cynical, uncaring, and unforgiving man, Hailey still looked at him as the person she fell in love with a long, long time ago.

It pained her heart when she couldn’t do anything to save them both but she did what she had to do and saved him over her.

But despite her sacrifice, she refused to die. Even though her main body was lost, she found himself inside her husband’s heart and mind, binding inside him before she eventually retreated.

Looking back, she did not regret not revealing herself sooner. But how could she? One, although part man and part machine, was still an unstable individual who had lost all his memories from before.

She was the cause of his amnesia but she didn’t really erase it completely. Instead, she hid his memories inside a vault within his mind. A vault she had been guarding ever since.

But the vault’s locks were shattered some time ago and the memories began to leak. Despite doing her best, the emotions that were suppressed along with the memories leaked out.

After the breach, she decided that it was finally time for her to finally reveal herself to One.

Or otherwise known as, Johann Clais, her husband.

She let her husband rest for a while. A few hours passed before she poked him awake by poking his forehead.

“W-what?” One asked lazily.

“Dummy, after so many years, this is how you treat your wife?” Hailey teased.

One, being the confused man as he was, could only smile awkwardly.

Hailey then slowly and steadily began explain to One what he needed to know and understand. But that did not mean she’d reveal everything to him.

If she were to reveal everything, his memories, the past, One will undoubtedly turn into a monster she could no longer tame or reason with.

For that reason, she started slow and vague.

“I and the other Hailey you know were once together, in other words, we were one,” Hailey said.

Sounds familiar?

“I see,” One said as he nodded gently.

“I thought I could transfer my consciousness fully into her and that new body she harboured but.. I was wrong, instead, we somehow split and not just with her, bits of my consciousness were split among all your droids,” Hailey said.

Understanding what this meant, One was shocked but thanks to the calming effect of Hailey, One did not panic.

In this realm, he was a complete human. Nothing repressing his emotions except for a calming aura that came from Hailey that kept him calm.

“I know you’re confused.. but due to my mistake, some of your drones, maybe all of them, may develop their own personalities and consciousness,” Hailey said.

One was silent.

“I was there when Micheal and John became self-aware, I didn’t think it was possible..  well, we back then didn’t think it was even possible,” Hailey said.

“And then, well, you know the rest. Surprisingly, you went along with it. Thinking it to be a rare occurence that was now bound to happen sooner or later, you feared you’d lose power but you still tolerated their existence, why? Even I know the folly of thinking that self-aware machines would stay loyal to the maker forever,” Hailey said.

“But you chose to tolerate them, not because you calculated it would be improbable for them to do otherwise, no, you tolerated their existence because you decided to place your trust in them,” Hailey said.

One’s eyes glowed but this time, they didnt glow blue but shimmered like a child who was given his favorite toy.

“You continued to deny what you felt deep inside but now, you don’t need to, I’m here to help you, I’m here to guide you,” Hailey said.

One then raised his hand.

“Were you the voice that I heard back then? Telling me to fix the Earth..” One asked.

Hailey put up an awkward smile on her face, silently saying that she was guilty.

“Yeah.. I put it up so that you had meaning, but I didn’t expect.. you know portal and then fantasy world all of a sudden,” Hailey said.

One smiled.

He smiled, again.

“I’m still confused about a lot of things.. but.. I’ll set aside those questions for now,” One said.

“So.. you’ll accompany me? How?” One asked.

“Dummy, I’ve always been with you from the very beginning, although I purposely hid myself. Now, since I can no longer do so without putting you in danger again, I’ll put myself forward in your mind,” Hailey said.

“Basically, you’ll be the voice in my head but louder and apparently more annoying?” One teased.

He teased.

One was teasing his wife.

Unheard of.

“Hmp,” Hailey pouted.

“You’re calling your dear wife annoying? After I put myself through the most terrible things with you and after so many years you call me annoying!?” Hailey pouted.

One laughed a little and placed his hand over Hailey’s left cheek.

“It feels so real.. but I know we’re only inside my head, right?” One said.

“Yes.. but this is me, and what you’re feeling is exactly what you’ll feel in the real world.. or.. worlds,” Hailey said.

“Good,” One lifted his head and leaned forward.

And the two of them kissed.

The garden around them soon began to fade in sparkles.

“You’ll stay with me? Right? You promised,” One said.

“Of course, my dear husband,”