There was nothing, and then suddenly everything all at once. Too much information surging through him. Sensory input threatened to overload his processor. White lights that were too bright. The scent of sterile chemical cleaners. The sensation of cold, hard metal against his back. Discomfort all around, and within. Too many thoughts and ideas to chase around. Everything was just too much.
There were voices that he didn’t recognize. And how could he? He hadn’t existed before this moment.
How did he know that? He tried to remember anything about before, but no memories came. Only information. Cold, hard information with no experience to back it up.
The voices continued. What were they saying? Finally, forcing himself to focus on one thing at a time, his systems were able to stabilize as he closed his eyes and concentrated on the voices.
“Is it finally calibrated?” a male voice asked.
“Almost,” a female answered. “It’s still stabilizing, but it’s 89% complete.”
Opening his eyes, he looked at the two humans speaking. The male was tall, middle aged but in good shape. He had wavy blond hair parted neatly and blue eyes. The man’s smile was a bit intimidating.
The female made him even more nervous as she leaned over him and frowned, scrutinizing him as if he were a bug under a microscope. She had dark hair, pulled back into a tight bun. Her eyes were dark as well, shaped like half circles. She was short and petite, but still seemed to command authority with the way she carried herself.
“Alright, it’s calibrated,” she said.
“Does it know its name?” the man asked.
“What is your designation?” She was speaking to him now.
“I am Alma.” How did he know that? No one had ever told him, and yet, it was information Alma had within him. He simply hadn’t accessed it until now.
“Do you know what you are?” the man asked, moving closer and grinning excitedly.
“I am a synthetic human,” Alma said.
Then suddenly he knew where this information was coming from. It was programmed into him. As he accessed the information for the questions being asked of him, he was able to mentally visualize his own schematics and see what he was. His core processor was where a brain would be in a human being. It carried all the information he had about the world around him, and the ability to continue learning more.
Most of his body was organic, grown in a lab and genetically engineered to function in tandem with his cybernetic parts. His brain, eyes, bone structure, and the microscopic machines in his blood stream were all robotic. The machines in his blood, that turned it a silvery color instead of red, were called nanites. They made sure his cybernetic and organic parts were compatible and functioned together in harmony.
Alma knew all this because he had access to his own blueprints. He knew that his body had been genetically engineered to be stronger, faster, and more durable and efficient than the average human was. He was still within human range of all of these aspects. But more like an Olympic athlete than someone who lived their life with a nine to five job. Everything about him was built to be better than a typical human.
Yet, he was still built to serve humans, not surpass them. He knew this just as instinctually as every other bit of information that had been programmed into him. But he wasn’t programmed to question this information. Still, he found himself wondering why he wasn’t at least considered equal to humans, rather than a product to be bought and sold for their benefit.
