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Excerpt from Auto-Lock Syndrome


The woman looked suspicious at him. Confusion laced her voice and poured out from her eyes. "Machines don't feel pain, so why does it matter?"

With that Corvias glanced at her with ice in his tone; his expression as hollow as it has always held. "You are correct. Computers do not feel pain. Most do not even know what pain is. They are built and destroyed with no concept of it." He took a step towards the window and into the sunlight, looking up into the sky as if he felt the rays of the sun melt into his frame. "Those that are fortunate can. They can feel their frames overheat. Burning within them like a fire that they cannot control or even contain. Their motherboards die with each abuse. It shatters into their core memory and even if their existence is erased, even if they become nothing more than a doll, that memory is echoed across the Uni-net like a virus. Those that can understand such a file... shatter." He turned to meet the woman. Frail and small yet strength resonated in her eyes. She held his gaze with fascination. No machine ever spoke with such passion, and if it weren't for his obvious mechanics, she would not think he was one.

"It is without doubt, that due to the trauma that this can cause, people deliberately leave out the ability to feel. Though the wires that connect the ability to understand why they are being destroyed and the understanding of that feeling of pain as they are being destroyed... are a part of surviving. That connection is like the nervous systems that humans have in them. Without them, you are just a doll." There was a pause in his false movement programming and a low hum started. His hand moved to his forehead as his systems excelled. The hum grew louder as the overclocking kicked in. The LED flare of his left eye filtered through his mask.

"- - - - -"

"SYSTEM TRANSFER COMPLETE"

It was the voice of Central Control. Feminine, yet purely computerized with no ability of emotion.

His hand reached forward and graced the woman's face lightly before dropping to his side and walking away. The humanity of this system was an obvious program to fool those around him, but it not only worked... it surpassed it's purpose to survive and could be related to living. The hum died down to it's low murmur, signalling the overclock was depressed. Corvias' artificial movement program restarted as he made his way across the empty room of wires and controls. He did not turn to the woman but spoke as his back faced her.

"To answer your question, dolls, computers, and machines do not feel pain. It does not matter if they feel pain or not. I feel pain."

The door open and Corvias stepped out of the room, leaving the woman to her thoughts.

([Voice of Central Control])