——•✧✦ ᴀᴍɪᴅꜱ ᴅᴇᴄᴀʏ I ✧✦•——
E - Day M:06.09 Hour 08:30
I'm heree... s-sorry for the delay... AAA!! Thanks, Mitch... for gathering them all already..
08:32: Greetings, everyoneee!
It's a true pleasure to make your acquaintance. You can call me Mr. Smile, your new supervising teacher.
Ehm just a moment, please...
It seems I've lost my welcome speech. I had prepared it with great care!
Where could it have gone?
Ahhh yes, introductions. Not really my style...
You're the ones who crave my lessons, and it is my duty to make them worthy of such desire.
However, for the privilege of participating, I require a peculiar form of compensation—or 'protection money', if you prefer the drama.
Nothing tangible, no haha.
If you decide to continue attending my classes, it will be a price you must pay, willing or unwilling.
You have been warned.
Now.. What I have here are questions! A curious offering since I am still searching for many answers.
We'll embark on a journey aboard the rollercoaster known as 'Life' guided by the experiences of a friend.
But.. before we seal our little agreement, there are a few minor details I should mention—things a professor typically shares..
Firstly: Attendance. I don't care about it—come or don't. But beware: absences may cost you more than just knowledge. You'll miss out on experiences.
Secondly, assignments. Ah, assignments! You won't find your usual boring tests and essays here.
Instead, I'll be assigning you tasks that will challenge not just your mind but your very perception of reality.
What these tasks are? Oh, that would spoil the surprise. Let's just say they will be... memorable.
As for grading, I'm not fond of numbers and letters. Instead, I judge based on impact.
How much have you changed? How much have I made you think? If you manage to make me smile, you've done well.
Classroom etiquette? We don't need much. Just respect the process.
Disruption will be dealt with creatively, and not in ways you'd enjoy.
Lastly, your peers. Look there.. to the right of the door, FK-104, that's our room.
Your fellow students might just become your greatest rivals, your closest allies, or perhaps something in between.
Now that you're informed... ready to sign?
________________________X
8:20
No, not there... here. I said here. Do pay attention.. mistakes have consequences, you know?
Excellent. We're off to a promising start.
What's your name?
Aha, Creature Number 33.. Do you know what 7+8 equals? Because I certainly don't..
I'll give you 15 minutes to read and sign, then I'll collect them and we'll continue.
8:35
As for lockers, alarm systems, medical needs, or access to the cafeteria, I'm sure my colleagues, well 1 for sure.. will be able to inform you better than I can.
Also, defining my subject is difficult, as you can see from your schedule, I've chosen to leave the name blank.
Wait, what are those faces?
Don't tell me you still don't have the plan?
Hahhaaa! That's a good one — the perfectionist actually made a mistake like that? I'm dying! I'm dyiiing! Oh, he'll be so embarrassed!
Don't worry, during the break I'll go to the office myself and bring you some copies.
Tomorrow, I'm sure the professor will spend quite a bit of time showing you the ropes around the school.
I just hope you at least have the key to your room—otherwise... well, there's a bridge like 3 km (1.9 miglia) from here, right in front of the school.
But I'd recommend to find a good shelter tonight.
I heard it might rain.
Or something worse.
Anyway, getting back to the name of my subject, you know, I haven't used any name yet because, as challenging as it is to define, it's also something you're all familiar with.
I'm talking about existence.
Yes, I think that's an appropriate name for this subject: Existence.
Here, we will discuss Existence, and yet, even though you should be familiar with it, as I mentioned, I bet you actually don't know much.. and I'm also speaking to those of you who are older.
Remember, you never stop learning, and trust me, this is going to be a mess—you might even end up completely losing your minds.
But now, let's not waste any more time.
Make yourselves uncomfortable, my dear students. That's the only way to learn.
And now—those timeless, terrible words that herald the beginning of everything:"Once upon a time…"
˜"°•. ♪ .•°"˜
A distorted and damaged fusion of man and machine lies in a desolate expanse, where distant whispers resound amidst scattered debris.
The composition of silver, steel, and organic parts with fragmented black/white circuitry, stands stark and lifeless against a minor tree.
Then, a voice begins to rise slowly from nothing, like a murmur that sneaks into the deafened ear of the void.
»⚙️ "Initializz#zation • Sequence.. acctivated!"
Those words, a consistent flow of mechanical tones, stripped of human life, and without nuance or emotion, echoed an robotic essence.
»⚙️ "Awaken# Ning froom the dig#gital slumbe−r#."
In the machine, warmth surged, electrical flickers danced and faint noises mirrored the subtle rhythm of an awakening heart.
»⚙️ "Ope#rattting syst#emm!"
With deliberate slowness, the two mechanical eyelids parted, stirring to life with an electric feeble and hazy white glow.
Gradually transforming, gaining clarity and brightening the vision like a star emerging from darkness.
»⚙️ "Eyes#s on\ine, slowly com#ming to l/ife!"
That action allowed to orchestrate the awakening of every circuit, a burgeoning simulated consciousness from within the depths.
Colors simultaneously began to emerge slowly, akin to paint on a still-wet canvas, blurred and uncertain yet poised to take shape.
»⚙️ "Sensors ac\tt##ive."
His cybernetic irises adjusted to this new reality, engaged in subtle movements, their mechanical forms gradually defining, performing a delicate dance as the surrounding world first crystallized.
No answers. Just red flickers and error codes.
»⚙️ "Visi#oon clearr#ing.. Environmenn#nt analyyy#sis eng/aged!"
With childlike curiosity, he explored his surroundings, accompanied by a crackling buzz like an old television, which brought a spark of true life to his gaze.
»⚙️ "Identif\fied malfunction in langu\uage pro\ess#ssing, ini\iating diaggnost#ic scan for aa#a so\uttion.."
The vision turned more red, with a text in the center, provoking a faint noise.
»⚙️ "Estimate#dd time: 3 min\utes!"
»⚙️ "Resea#ch protoco\s awa#akening with#n the ss#system!"
There was another momentary glitch behind his gaze again, like a flicker this time, causing his white eyes to turn red as the system grappled with its complexities in repair.
»⚙️ "Ma\funct#tion detected in#nn mu\tiple v##vital p#arts\.."
»⚙️ "Im#media#te re#pair nee#ded!"
Numerous digital processes hummed through the android's core, working to repair the ruptured pathways in its neural network..
»⚙️ "Ba#ttery le#vel 89%.. The da#mages are cau#sing it t#o dro#p fa#ster."
»⚙️ "Ongo#iiing repp#paration initiate#ed!"
All these damages triggered and caused erratic tremors.
»⚙️ "Almost al#l\l the data.. hh#as been los#t, given the multitu#ude of damage#es sustained."
The urgency surged within the android's consciousness, a realization that vital information teetered on the brink of irretrievability.
»⚙️ "Estimated tim#me for langu#uage syst##em co#ple#ttion: 10 minutes##s."
With unwavering determination, it delved deeper, sifting through the wreckage for threads of salvageable data, piecing together fractured segments of its existence.
»⚙️ "Act#/ivati#/on# of Nanomac#/hin#/es, Requi#/red!#"
At this time, he first started to feel the cold, icy ground beneath him, and an artificial shiver ran through his newly activated body.
»⚙️ "Ab/sorbing ba/sic knowl#ed/ge froom th/e sy#ste#m."
Then, after struggling to orient himself in the stage of desolation.
Where.. Am I\?" The words echoed through the barren wasteland.
Taking a deep breath, he scanned the air, inhaling what seemed. »⚙️ "Decay?"
As an assault to his senses. The putrid scent lingered oppressively, each inhalation carrying the weight of a venomous odor that enshrouded every fiber of his tender being.
In this seemingly foreign world, a machine had awakened.
Emerging like a child into this unfamiliar realm, the processors strained to decipher incomprehensible data, enveloped by an environment cloaked in the rancid perfume of death.
»⚙️ "Analyzz#z..ing new data\."
But with each breath, that acrid air clawed more at his synthetic lungs, triggering an involuntary reaction; his mechanical chest heaved as if mimicking the sensation of a breath.
»⚙️ "Environment#tal /parame..ters un..kn/#oown!"
Those movements, lacking calculation and precision, showed a momentary hesitation.
Another subtle glitch in his programming manifested as a twitch in his metallic frame, an unusual display of vulnerability.
»⚙️ "Ex p/ulsion t/he Poisonou/s Air!"
Surrounding him, an eerie landscape unfolded—a somber theater of life's abrupt departure.
Countless animal carcasses, lay frozen in haunting stillness.
Their limbs sprawled at unnatural angles, their bodies entirely blackened and surrounded by a fresh scarlet-tinged mist from the long spilled blood.
»⚙️ "Breathl/ess fo#rms?"
As he observed this macabre scene, the metallic sheen of his artificial eyes captured the ghastly beauty of the surroundings.
The black hue danced, covering their entire body, akin to an artist's bold stroke upon a canvas—an unsettling masterpiece born from tragedy.
"Thump!-Thumpc-Thum!"
His gaze traversed the grotesque tapestry of devastation while the synthetic mind was grappling with the unthinkable.
»⚙️ "H..huma/ns?"
🔺−−− 🕊 −−−🔺
10:30
Hey you, why are you starting to talk? Are you getting bored by any chance?
I have this binocular for a reason; I'm looking at all of you simultaneously.
Creature 23, 13, and 22 , you are dismissed from my classroom immediately
..
Let this also be a lesson to the rest of you, I don't want any interruptions.
That's what your useless free time is for.
And you three, come to my office later, I haven't paid you yet... Ahem, I meant scolded!!
I am a mature man and a serious professor, so I will take care of you.
Anyway, I'm going to take the schedule for the week now. If there are any changes, you will be informed.
Now get out of here, you've got a 30-minute break. I'll be waiting for you here, on time—or actually, maybe two minutes early.
11:00
Thanks again, Mitch. You're a real... something.
Hey, students, I'm glad to see you sitting in your usual seats, and all already here.
I'll give you the schedule at the end.
Alright then, where was I?
˜"°•. ♪ .•°"˜
Vacant eyes stared at the gray sky above, creating a painting of desolation amidst tattered clothing and scattered objects.
Their mouths were agape as if they had been screaming incessantly before death.
Some had organs exposed, while others hosted small visible insects—writhing maggots and worms—festering, blackening, and bloating.
They squirmed amidst our decay, a morbid dance within the confines of their gaping and liberated properties.
With each moment of observation, faint contours of despondent murmurs seemed to rise, ghostly echoes drifting from the open mouths.
»⚙️ "Analyz#zing emotional respons#ee..."
Tinged with a trace of confusion.
»⚙️ "Fear#rr.. Detect#ted."
Fear.. An alien concept to a programming mind, which surged through the circuits.
These words escaped in a quivering whisper. »⚙️ "Wh... What#t happp#pened here?"
The rustle of fabric in the wind and the faint echo of distant cries were the only responses to his desperate inquiry.
In this world, the android- a machine- found itself lost, a solitary being in a scene where the logic grappled to comprehend the chaos unfolding.
His artificial heart continued to beat relentlessly, but now it throbbed in unison with the anguish swirling within him.
»⚙️ "Time completed, language system fully operational now, basic language activated!"
In the distance, the mournful cry of a scavenger bird pierced the silence, a grim reminder that even in death, the cycle of life persists.
By now, his consciousness had fully awakened, and every sensation, though artificial, was beginning to take shape.
»⚙️ "Head movement on!"
It was a horrifying spectacle for him, seeking answers in a realm where every attempt to gather data vanished into an abyss of impenetrable darkness.
The scent of putrefaction and the silence of death intertwined, engulfing him in a terrifying embrace.
»⚙️ "Why am I here?"
The very earth seemed to pulse with desolation, absorbing the collective suffering of the fallen between dilapidated structures, like skeletal remains.
Their jagged edges an example of the brutality.
»⚙️ "Was.. This a city once?"
And there, amidst the miasma of decay, lie more of the fallen.
Their bodies, also covered in black, twisted and contorted, bore yellow marks of violence and suffering.
Some are little more than bony relics, a cruel reminder of the fleeting nature of existence.
Others stand frigid, in grotesque poses of agony, their faces as well contorted in a final, silent scream.
»⚙️ "What happened here?"
Putrefied and mutilated carcasses, along with remains wrapped in tattered shreds of flesh, punctuate the desolate landscape.
Macabre trophies.
In a moment of introspection, his voice echoed louder than the winds of despair.
»⚙️ "Could this destruction be man-made.."
His mechanical heart skipped a beat, a rare occurrence that accentuated the gravity of the situation.
Here, in the realm of death and devastation, hope seems a ridiculously distant memory buried under the unbridgeable weight of pain.
Life itself seems to have lost all meaning.
»⚙️ "How can there be so many dead corpses?"
Then suddenly, a rustling nearby startled him, and his gaze darted toward the source, ready for any sign of movement.
»⚙️ "Full body movement activation!"
Fast, his mechanical fingers tightened around a wood-broken fragment.
His hands, now tense, began to tremble as he started stammering and uttered:
»⚙️ "C.come outt, whooever you areee!"
Involuntarily, while he turning in all directions his hand reached out to touch the pale, cold flesh of a figure nearby.
That sensation of icy death against the artificial skin sent more shivers through his circuits, a visceral reminder of disconnected existence in this bleak panorama of mortality.
As his fingers grazed the decaying remains, an unsettling gelatinous residue clung to three of them, evoking a deep disgust to us all.
This unpleasant sensation served as a grim proof of the decomposition process.
s҉̝̭̦͚̑ͯ̌͡d҉̴̷̧̢̛̖͔̤ͯ̔̑̄͢͟͡͠r҉̵҉̛̠̩̥̋ͦ̆͆͟͞͡͞͠h̷̶̘̘̬ͭ̏͞͡g̷̵̸̡̼̱͎͎̞ͤͬ̅͢͟͞v҉̨̊͢͠͠ g̷̵̸̡̼̱͎͎̞ͤͬ̅͢͟͞t҉̷҉̢͖͔̹͛̌͊͘͜͢͠͡͡d҉̴̷̧̢̛̖͔̤ͯ̔̑̄͢͟͡͠s҉̝̭̦͚̑ͯ̌͡e̵̡̫̫͍͕̎ͭ̐͟͟͝͞ s҉̝̭̦͚̑ͯ̌͡e̵̡̫̫͍͕̎ͭ̐͟͟͝͞r҉̵҉̛̠̩̥̋ͦ̆͆͟͞͡͞͠..
The distant rumors of sorrowful whispers seemed to call out to him a ghostly plea for understanding.
A mix of fear and empathy clouded his senses.
»⚙️ "Is there any hope left in this place?" Optimism amidst the despair, his grip released, and a sense of calm began to settle.
While saying this, in the distance, countless hordes of insatiable flies and more insects captured his attention, performing a sinister choreography with their wings.
They voraciously fed on flesh.
»⚙️ "Nice response.." Making a nervous laugh.
These harbingers of doom- a true force of nature- waltzed with death, mocking life's fragility and the inevitability beauty of mortality.
Their insidious hunger was a relentless force akin to nature's most formidable and unespected predators.
»⚙️ "Too many unanswered questions.."
During this performance, they were the lead dancers, their encore an eternal song of terror.
With dark wings sharp as scythes and small mandibles were pulverizing the decaying flesh, while their gleaming, heartless eyes scanned for more.
Staring upwards with a pensive gaze. »⚙️ "The true merciless hands of time, an unsettling recall of nature's relentless cycle."
»⚙️ "What else should I expect from this world?" Sighing, throwing away the piece he had in his hands.
Then the android raised his artificial hand to his face, provoking a faint echo of metallic joints, and observed the intricate details of those metallic fingers.
The surface bore intricate etchings, lines resembling the delicate brushstrokes of an artist.
Its joints moved fluidly and mimicked human dexterity—a testament to its artificial nature.
»⚙️ "I am a fusion of man and machine.."
A different being, a hybrid of machine and man, awakened in a world that no longer seemed to belong to either reality.
Waking up to this harsh reality, the survivor found himself—an isolated soul amidst a cemetery of memories, navigating through the obsessing echoes of a forsaken past, seeking solace in the shadows of what once was.
The artificial heart was pulsing more by now; his knowledge-hungry processor and cybernetic eyes, attentive to every detail, couldn't help but reflect on this world's past.
»⚙️ "Why am I alive?"
He noticed nearby details around a deceased body that caught his attention: broken objects, fragments of paper, faded photos.
»⚙️ "Remnants of this world.."
The processor processed every piece of information, trying to weave together the story of what had happened.
»⚙️ "Data analysis in progress. Searching for clues amid the debris."
His fingers were precision-engineered marvels, uncurled with a soft metallic whisper, each digit moving with meticulous accuracy.
The faint sound reverberated through the eerie stillness, an almost musical prelude to his calculated movements.
The articulations, released a delicate rumor of engineered prowess.
To rise, he placed the mechanical hands on the parched surface, broad palms and fingers gracefully descending to grasp the earth.
»⚙️ "Rising to confront the.. unknown."
🔺−−− 🚧 −−−🔺
Well, what can I say—it looks like more than 80% have left.
Maybe they realized this course just isn't for them.
Let's see if you, on the other hand, are a bit more curious and willing to learn things that are out of the ordinary.
Ah.. As I already told you, here's the schedule for this week:
Classes are from 8:00 AM to 12:30 PM, typically.
Weekly Schedule: 1 Z
Monday: Mr. Smile Existence
Tuesday: Mr. Long Face Despair
Wednesday: Mr. Smile Existence
Thursday: Miss Whisper Secrets
Friday: Mr. Long Face Despair
Saturday: Mr. Blank ----
Sunday: Day of rest ----
..
As you can clearly see, tomorrow you'll have the boring one as your professor—which is exactly why I gave him the hard job: guiding you through the school.
But don't tell him that.
I'm still your primary professor, the one you can—and more importantly, must—come to in times of need.
Unless, of course, the school happens to be on fir—well, in that case, do call me.
That way I'll know it's time to run as far away as possible.
It won't be my problem to deal with. Hahaha.
12:30
Well, class, that was all for the first day.
I hope to never see you again—Ehm! I meant to see you again.
Please keep the seats the same; otherwise, I might get irritated during explanations.
I'm also terrible with names, so I will continue to use your assigned number.
And remember, it's important to be cautious of unfamiliar individuals who might offer you candys!