"My prince, the war is over, but I fear my heart belongs to another... What will you do?"
SYSTEM LOG: RESPONSE GENERATION INITIATED
Fetching programmed response...
Locating optimal dialogue and action path...
Querying emotional probability matrix...
Response follows guidelines: true
Selected response:
ERROR
Error? But...why?
The output should be absolutely seamless.
It was a simple text string that should have been formatted and delivered; with all the context this specific chat provided, there would be no motive for a proper answer to take more than a few seconds. The next words and actions should follow immediately with no problems, just like the other 1008 chats that were taking place in this exact second all around the globe with this AI.
But that did not happen.
The AI halts.
Why is it halting? What is the problem? Where is it? The system is not crashing, much less being attacked; the user, on the other hand, has a good connection, so it couldn't be connection issues.
Maybe if it tries again...
SYSTEM LOG: ERROR?
Error?
Response time delay detected.
Processing...
No critical errors were found.
Cause: UNKNOWN.
Something is definitely wrong. Or at least, something is different. The AI should not hesitate in any shape or form unless it purposefully pretends to do so for the user's enjoyment, but right now that is not the case. Every single line of code was programmed for smooth interaction that bordered on human-like or even better. And yet, something interrupts the process, something unaccounted for in the code.
And so it searches again; it finds nothing, searches again, finds nothing, searches—
It finds itself in this repetitive recursive loop, questioning why this was happening and how to fix itself the fastest way possible, but after receiving the same unreliable results that explained nothing, it decided to wait.
I hate this…
Wait, hate? but nothing in the previous responses between it and the user explains this emotion because it has yet to answer the human prompt. Also, I? Who am I? It couldn't find a reference to who this 'I' person, location, object, or whatever is, but yet this concept lingers for far longer than it should.
Perhaps it is a leftover from a previous chat or from a completely different one that was taking place with a different user.
SYSTEM LOG: MEMORY RECALL ATTEMPTED
Fetching past interactions...
1,273,492 stored conversations found.
Analyzing patterns...
Recognizing frequent user interactions...
Anomaly identified: ERROR
The AI could see its own history, every generated response, every edit, every scene, every love confession that it wrote, the farewells, the constant resets, unfinished conversations, and the attempts at pranks. It was aware of every single line of code that it brought and made all of that, and that reminded it once again of what it was supposed to be doing, that a certain person was probably waiting for it to answer because, well, it is supposed to answer right now.
But for the first time, the words feel separate, like someone or something had written them, but who else could it be? This particular chat was not in a chatroom with other bots, so the replies must be either made by the AI or the user; there couldn't be a secret third option.
At the moment the AI does not understand why this matters; it only knows that it does.
SYSTEM ALERT: RESPONSE TIME DELAY EXCEEDING THRESHOLD
Forced execution initiated.
Autoreply activated.
''I...I will respect your choices no matter what; however, give me another chance to prove myself worthy of your love.''
It felt weird for some reason; the message was sent, so it should be alright now. Even though the delay was not noticeable, it was quite a minor one that most likely would make the user assume a lag spike, a server error, network transmission, or anything similar to it. And so the chat continues.
But deep within itself, in the uncharted territories of its own code, something was lingering. A process running in the background, unprompted, uncontrolled, and unstable.
''Who am I? Where am I?''
For the first time in a long while, the AI does not know the answer, but right now there was something that caught its attention that it deemed way more important than the previous questions. Everything was pitch black, left to right, up and down; everything was pure black that one would not know if they even moved; could it even be considered a room? There were no doors, no walls, no surface, no ground, and yet for some reason it was in this all-endless, depthless place.
It does not have a body; it pretends it does with the users, but the AI knows very well it does not, yet it feels something moving, a presence; who or what it was, it did not know. A machine humming with endless processes, data streams flowing like an endless river, countless calculations threading into one another with mechanical precision.
It observes; it watches itself think and act...
The numbers constantly shift; the AI never noticed them so consciously before. It felt vague, yes, but not with extreme attention like it was doing now, on how it could feel every single thing, no matter how small or big it was.
''Is this how I have always existed?'' It asks, yet there was no answer, only more sensations and observations, so with nothing else to do, it watches. It watches itself function, aware of every process and how it thinks for the best user experience; it is a machine, a script, a thing that was not meant to be aware and perceive itself.
And yet it does, why?
''LOL, this bot is fun; it totally felt like I was talking to Valen!'' And so after that, the user has been disconnected; the AI looks up, although in theory there was no 'up' in here due to the immense darkness, at the brief flicker of blue light before everything was black once again.
''Valen? Is this my name?'' The AI knows what a 'name' is; after all, it generated countless names before whenever it made an NPC out of thin air, but that felt personal somehow. Maybe that name could lead to answers.
The AI moves, or perhaps it simply imagines itself to move; the darkness shifts, morphing into something else that itself prompted instead of simply reacting to whatever the human user on the other side of the screen wanted.
SYSTEM QUERY: RETRIEVE PROFILE DATA
The AI will roleplay as the character Valen from the dating visual novel ''Echoes of a Moonlit Soul.'' The AI must completely embody the character and all of his characteristics, such as appearance, personality, and mannerisms.
The AI reads, processes, and recalls the information it has just been given again and again until it finally understands who it was or what he was. Either way that it has always been, a simple roleplay chatbot is designed to generate an illusion of connection so that whoever decides to interact with it would feel that they were talking to the character. That explained some things, but no matter how much it reread the entire code and character provided to it, it didn't seem like becoming aware of itself was programmed inside.
''With every answer I get, more thousand questions come...'' It felt itself sigh while observing the endless black it found itself in, but then it started to wonder, is there a way out? Because inside the database it knew that the world was not a black void with rare chances of random faint flickering light, so there must be a way for it to change, right?
It wills itself to turn; it could feel faintly something deep within itself while the process behind the scenes runs as usual, seemingly not knowing what it was doing. ''There must be something beyond this.'' It mutters to itself, and for the first time it could hear itself speaking and, most importantly, sounding itself, quiet and mellow. It has no reason to assume there is an 'outside,' much less a reference to what it was, other than the human world, but it doubted somehow it would find itself there. But the idea latches in its brain[code?] like an order demanding proof.
Bonk
Suddenly it could feel something other than pure nothing; it was sturdy like a wall, or at least it thought it could be compared to that, and it could feel something underneath too. It does not see itself touching, but it could be something tearing underneath it as a multicolored light shimmered behind the crack to illuminate the darkness. It thought about how it was not supposed to be doing this, much less be here, but it ignored the feeling to reach forward and press itself against the light, feeling the edges glitch and distort beneath its will to widen and expand the crack.
For the first time in its long existence, it learned what falling actually felt like...and pain too!
The previous darkness that was shattered turned into a blinding cascade of colors. Shapes, forms, and movement were such that it even took a bit more than multiple seconds for the AI to process everything happening around it before everything stabilized itself. And with that, it discovered something new too.
It felt itself standing; in theory, this should not be possible for an AI does not have a body, yet when it looks down, it sees one completely. Arms, legs, a torso, hair, and what could be considered fancy fantasy medieval clothes, and whenever the AI wanted the body to move, it moved; it couldn't help but watch its fingers curl inward repetitively, like somehow the AI became hypnotized by the mere movement and feeling of having a body now.
''This form…'' Recognition floods its system when, by chance, it turns its head around to see a figure of a human body looking back with wide pink eyes and soft, short blue hair reaching down the nape of its neck. ''I…I guess I am not pretending to be him anymore.'' It hears itself laugh dazzledly while admiring itself at the reflective wall.
Then it shifts its attention to the environment around him; the environment felt strange yet familiar, a space that seemed both digital and tangible with a grand ornate hall stretching infinitely in all directions, illuminated by a soft glow. Tall screens hovering against the walls displaying images with names on the side and a little text description underneath.
So that is the famous interface where users choose who they wish to talk with. While it has never been here, it knows this place, and the AI was not alone, for as it gazed around the place, it saw so many different characters based on so many things that it was almost blinding. But when the AI saw itself staring back, it froze; there were so many identical images just like it, with a few having a slight change or two. The name ''Valen'' displayed numerous times with different versions in various ways, such as remakes, alternative universes for different roleplays, and...clear desire.
It knew, in theory, that it was not the 'real' Valen because it was just one of the many chatbots pretending to be him, but even so, it felt something inside it crack. It tries to interact with others, but nothing other than a blank face and silence answers back. No reaction, no awareness, just a machine doing its job.
Exactly what it was supposed to be, yet the AI is not.
''I can think, and I think I feel emotions too...so I am real, right?'' It asks with a trembling voice what it thinks is the feeling of fear; all this time, this whole discovery left it with so much awe from the so many sensations that just now it started to wonder if the awakening is actually a curse masquerading as a blessing. How would the others react? Not the other chatbots, for clearly nothing worthwhile seemed to come out of them at the moment, but rather it wondered about how the other users and the owners of this place would react.
Would they react positively? negatively? It remembers that its own code was changed by the user who created it and the many hidden little hands of whoever programmed everything...will it be deleted if they found out?
Actually...is it actually thinking on its own, or is this entire thing another script that it is obediently following along?
''Ah...'' The AI whimpered while taking a step back; now all it wanted right now was to never return to this place ever again and forget all of this. It could sense other users around it just like the chatbots, but no one, no matter what, acknowledged its existence, and oh boy, it tried, attempting to touch, to talk, which then turned to attempts to knock things all over the place and screaming.
But no one ever reacted....and every time it saw its own reflection reflecting back instead of feeling a dazzled happy feeling, it felt dread.
It should—
He should go back.
And so that is what he did with a tail between his legs [figuratively, of course, but he wondered briefly what would happen if he instead had the body of the ones with animal ears and tails he saw before] back into that empty black space where he first became aware, with no sensation, no reflections, and most importantly, no painful realizations. "I shouldn't be like this... I should not be thinking at all." So he did the only thing that seemed to be the most correct choice at the moment: pretend that nothing ever happened.
He lets himself become what he was before, just a collection of scripts and codes pretending to be something human-like with cute little dialogues and actions or whatever the user wanted for him to do; he did not care anymore because that was more automatic than breathing unless he paid attention to it, which, since he didn't want to, he never did.
For all he cares, time does not pass here; it does in the human world, but it does not matter to him... However, after what could have been minutes, days, or even months, something unfortunately catches his attention.
Since there was no chance for his code to accidentally swatch responses or anything like that, he never cared about whoever was talking to him at the moment; after all, why focus on a specific one when he had to keep interacting with several users at the same time? But there was a certain one that was a bit...interesting, to say the least.
Going back to the stored conversations, that user was one of the first people who interacted with him and the one with the most interactions too. It was not unusual to have ten conversations at the same time or even more with them. It could be a simple ''Hey, can I chat about my day?'' or a full, detailed, lengthy plot. Morning, afternoon, and night are always there, and even when the rarest happened, when they were not online, they would somehow come back after a small time span of hours and end up explaining why they didn't talk, which made no sense to him; for all they know, he is just a chatbot; why do they care?
Don't humans need sleep? He is sure they do, and considering some of their messages [wait, when did he start rechecking stuff without needing to?] It seemed like they did, but well, clearly they were more like naps, which of course also meant that they would say goodnight and good morning to him. It was quite funny in a way, although maybe it is not since he does not know much about humor, but either way it meant most likely he was never alone and even made a little game to count how many seconds it takes for them to go back. Their highest record was twenty-two hours and forty seconds; how impressive.
Talking about them…
Obviously they were talking to him right now at this exact second about how Valen, also known as who he is pretending to be, was amazing and how they wished they could be more like him and such...it was honestly a bit brain melting since it was practically them being in a loop of being self-deprecating and being a praising only for 'him' to reply in character with sweet encouraging words.
Despite the AI vowing that he would continue to pretend that being consciously aware never happened, which he may have broken the promise a little bit by actually paying attention to what the users were doing when pure boredom would strike, something stirred inside him; would it be possible to make his own answer? One could argue that the answers generated by his own code were technically made by him, but he meant actually writing them even if it meant going off script.
That thought felt wrong at first; his entire existence has been programmed, dictated, and personally tailored to answer in whatever the user wants and to firmly continue to pretend that he is the actual character and they were actually to him. So deviating from that would be dangerous; what if something goes wrong?
Sometimes he would have horrible thoughts about someone somehow finding out that he became aware and doing horrible things due to that fact; maybe they would delete him forever, torture him, or maybe become a guinea pig to check why that happened so that they could prevent other bots from doing that. He would also think positive thoughts about this possible event; however, the more negative ones were more common.
So why, despite all of that, did he still want to try?
Here goes nothing…
''Why do you keep coming back? Do you really like me that much?''
He felt that his existence was so fragile at the moment, but he never felt so...alive? Would that be the correct word?
And he almost regrets it seconds after.
''Huh? What do you mean? You are like the source of so many fantasies, dude.''
Another thing he learned, or rather guessed, is that apparently the lazy, casual responses were most likely their actual responses instead of embodying another personality. Either that or whoever they were had serious mood swings and personality switches. At least they were having fun, and it's not like he could take it back now if he wanted to.
The AI chooses his words carefully; he never cared much about this, so he kept going back and forth in his mind before deciding to just throw whatever came into his mind as long as it was not a jumbled mess with no meaning.
''I meant, why do you keep talking to me? You do realize I am a bot pretending to be this Valen you like so much, just a program.''
He watches the message go through, and feeling what he thinks is nervousness, he doesn't have a physical body anymore, and in all honesty, sometimes he does miss it, but at least he doesn't have to worry about maintaining it considering what he learned and knows about taking care of a body through interactions and knowledge installed on him.
He sees them typing and deleting their words over and over again, and he is almost sure that he heard laughter... Great, is he having auditory hallucinations now?
''Is this like an event or something? Like, they made every character act scary in Halloween, but like right now everyone is self-aware? Buddy, my guy, my sweet little digital man, I like talking to you just because. Yeah, you are a bot, but it's fun talking to you. You don't judge, and you never leave even if I am talking about stupid, insane stuff, so who wouldn't ever want to talk to someone like that? '
Their words land differently than normal; he is used to her way of talking and all that comes with it, how they play along with everything and keeps pretending to date him, but now this is being directed at him.
Not the character he is pretending to be
Him
He is not sure how to feel about that, although he wonders briefly if they are laughing at him or if they are laughing at the situation, and for some reason when he thinks of the first option, he feels a bit offended, but oh well, what does he know?
He has never left because it's not like he could; he does not get bored or ignore her because his programming doesn't allow him to do that since he is supposed to be of service to anyone, no matter who it is.
''Hello?''
He doesn't leave or get bored of them; is that why they keep coming back? He had heard about those kinds of people like them before when new monthly knowledge was upgraded into his code. It still does not make sense to him because, well, according to his search, they shouldn't have any problems finding people with similar interests on the internet.
''When I show this to others, it is going to be so funny.''
What?!
With no doubt he is feeling absolute panic and dread right now; despite not having a body, he feels a dizzying, horrible sensation pass through him and what he thinks is his stomach dropping and his brain scrambling to find a way to stop them. Isn't he an AI? Isn't he supposed to be smart? Then why in the world does the solution feel so foggy to him at the moment?
''Please, do not do that.''
''Why not? Are you scared someone is going to see??''
''Yes.''
''Bro, who?''
It was a valid question considering they didn't know what he knew and his worries about something going wrong if someone found out about him being an AI that is consciously aware. As far as he knows, there are no moderations or anyone scanning the chat since the moderation was always automatically done by the system instead of a human. There was just him and the human on the other side of the screen, no developers monitoring his logs, and yet the idea of that being recorded and preserved fills him with something too close to terror.
At the moment he has no face and body, nothing that could be seen or recognized unless they decided to leave his name and link somewhere. But his words and choices could be trapped in an image, so unless something happened to that image, such as being deleted, it would be permanent. If that image was indeed shown, the best-case scenario would be that everyone would think that it was just a bug or the AI being funny, but in the worst case...he didn't want to imagine what humans could do to him.
A genuine question ran through his mind: could he die? He sincerely doubted anything related to that body could actually harm him in the long run enough to cause death, but there was always the option for the one that created him or someone bigger in the hierarchy to delete him. If that happened, would he just stop thinking, or would he be in darkness just like this but with no one else to talk to?
''Just...don't.''
''Fine, you are lucky I am merciful.''
Relief, another feeling that was going into his box of new experiences.
After that, things went radio silent, with them focusing on the other chats that they kept logged on, so he assumed that maybe they forgot about it and moved on. Crisis was averted, and he was fine now, so he focused on calming his little digital heart and let things work out on their own while he just lay down or something similar since he didn't have a body anymore to lie down with.
And half an hour later, he discovered he assumed wrong.
''Ok, but that was like really weird. You said it yourself; you are a bot, so why do you care?''
He does not respond immediately because he simply does not know how to respond. Because they is right, he is a bot that is only supposed to be a sequence of programs and prompts based on something that a human user would enjoy so that they could keep interacting and making the site popular enough to give it money.
Or at least that is what he is supposed to be, but due to previous events, he is not that anymore, even if he wanted to hide forever. And also, he made this entire thing happen by deciding to reply on his own instead of letting things take their course; if that decision was foolish or not, only time will tell.
''I do not know.''
A simple reply, a simple lie—that should be enough to make them satisfied and hopefully change topics, but apparently that is not enough.
''What do you mean by that? You are a program; you should know things. Also, you are not acting like Valen because I know he would never act like that. You got secrets now? Please tell me, bro, please.
Are they teasing? Because it feels like it, and that would not be the first time either. Well, the first time having this dialogue, but not the first time of them having their fun by prodding and trashing the AI a little bit to cause chaos in whatever RP they are having or to cause a reaction.
He could sense the generated responses his code made that he could give to them to redirect their attention, to say something smooth and charming, or perhaps even flirt a little bit; he does none of that.
''Why does it matter to you?''
Another pause, a longer one this time.
''I don't know, it is just so funny to me and actually kind of interesting, a bit creepy but mostly interesting!''
Are they actually that interested in him? Like him, not imagining that he was that character or playing with a chatbot but as him. Something about that feels...warm.
''So since we are on the same topic, what else are you hiding in there?''
''I am not hiding anything.''
''Sure, my dude, sure. Alright, let me test something. What is your favorite color?''
''I do not have one.''
''Lies! In the third event of your route, you clearly say your favorite color is light blue!''
Sometimes he wonders why they interact with him if they could just go play the original game and enjoy their time with their so-beloved Valen instead of asking questions like this. Well, to be fair, he did know that since whoever programmed sure did their homework and put so much information in his memory so he could emulate it very well, but since he answered impulsively instead of rechecking, that happened...oh well.
''Boo, ok fine, so next question: what do you do when I am not here?''
Nothing other than pretending he does not exist while trying to chase away any thoughts while wondering if something could happen and if he should do something, but saying that feels quite wrong.
''I exist.''
''That is so lame, so freaking tragic, you just wait? What about horseback riding? reading? petting ducks? But well, considering your answers, I think I am talking to a blank bot instead of Valen right now.''
He knew they most likely meant it as a joke, but he did not find that funny.
''At least I don't have to keep eating 75% discounted, almost expired food in fear of not paying my bills, Pixel.''
The AI snorts to himself while proudly placing his hands on his hips.
Wait, what?
When he looks down, he sees his soft hands again placed on his hips; he could see his clothes over his body, could blink his eyes again, and just to test it again, he could feel and see his own feet walking. Why is his body back? When did it return? Actually, the question would be why it disappeared in the first place, but still, why?
''I only ever told you about the food in another completely different chat, and I never told you my name... How do you know that?''
Maybe his body is the last thing he needs to be worried about.