Animus reached Unit 01. He safely entered it and closed the doors. He immediately opened his Pip-Boy and zeroed in on the stat point and skill points he could add.
‘Do I add a point to Perception or Endurance? Do I bank on Intelligence further? Or do I add a point to Strength or Agility? I hate how weak and slow I am. It took me twenty minutes just to reach my unit. God knows how patient Zoe is with me.’ Animus frowned in thought.
‘Damn it. I can’t decide. What if Endurance, Strength, and Agility are just a step away from increasing naturally? What if adding a point to them might reset the stat growth?’ Animus groaned.
“Fuck it.” He decided and put a point in Perception.
[Stats]
[S.P.E.C.I.A.L]
[S: 2]
[P: 5 (+1)]
[E: 4]
[C: 5]
[I: 8]
[A: 2]
[L: 10]
Immediately, Animus’ pupils shifted a little. He felt his eyeballs prick as they changed.
His grey eyes widened.
Everything looked somewhat clearer. It was as if someone upgraded the pixel quality of his eyes to HD. Everything felt sharper and brighter. The difference was fairly significant.
“Wow...” He breathed.
He stared at his Pip-Boy.
‘That’s what one point did?’ He thought.
‘What can my 13 skill points do then?’ Animus thought, a smile growing on his face.
Now, he was excited.
He glanced at his skill page.
‘Getting anything physical is pointless right now. My physical stats are abysmally low.’ Animus thought.
‘Then, why not invest in one of my tagged skills?’ Animus thought.
He pulled up the description of tagged skills.
Tagged Skills
[A Tagged skill instantly adds 20 levels to a chosen skill, while also making it so that every skill point invested grants 2 levels instead of one.]
His eyes brightened.
“This one is a no-brainer.” He laughed.
He immediately invested all skill points in Science.
Skills
[Science: Lv. 65 > Lv. 91]
Animus head jerked back.
His eyes widened. His brain stuttered. His grey eyes gained a glowing golden ring.
Massive streams of information slammed his mind. Experimental cutting-edge technology ideas. Biochemistry compounds that could revolutionize the Fallout world. Schematics and plans for Wicca that he didn’t even dream of in his previous world. A nearly impossible method to fit an advance artificial intelligence into the byte-sized storage of a Pip-Boy.
Plans for revolutionizing the world’s technology to surpass his Earth’s technology flooded his mind. The tide of information was overwhelming. Animus let it consume him.
His Pip-Boy pinged.
[Skill Science is synergizing with the Skill Repair...]
[Skill Repair has evolved!]
[Skill: Engineering]
[Description: The art of designing, building, and repairing machines, structures, and systems. A derivative skill birthed by Animus Spero’s Blessing.]
The glow slowly receded from his eyes.
“Ah...” He whispered, feeling a sense of euphoria.
As an artificial intelligence engineer, Animus just obtained the information he needed.
He glanced at the notifications.
“I’ll try Engineering later.” He said and got up. He nearly stumbled in a hurry.
Animus exited his residential unit in less than a minute. He quickly typed a message to Zoe, telling her everything was alright and that he is heading to the labs. Zoe immediately replied.
[Zoe: Thank God. Be safe, Bro. That bitch of an Overseer is crazy. Have fun tinkering, but come home on time.]
[Animus: Don’t worry, Zo. Gwen will pick me up in case I lose track of time.]
[Zoe: -_-]
Animus laughed.
He rushed his way into the labs. He waved at Gwen.
“Everything was fine. I just got a wild inspiration. Talk to you more soon?” Animus spoke rapidly.
Gwen blinked.
“Yeah... Sure. Hehe, you’re quite obsessed with tech, hmm?” Gwen teased.
Animus chuckled shyly.
He quickly sat down and got to work. He sat on the same computer, the one closest to the door. He typed in the password and pressed in a sequence of keys that activated the built-in security program that let him inside the computer. Soon, Animus lost track of time.
“Combining deep-learning with symbolic logic while supported by metacognition loops is the first step... But I didn’t even think of the ramifications of algorithmic neural networks based on my brain map...
“That’s how I built Wicca, but the tech was so nascent... Is this why she went mad once I died... She was made in my image...
“Modifying intrinsic motivation loops might help increase cognitive independence and the structured creation of a human personality... Failsafes centered around me, Zoe, and my goals...
“Let’s build on the global workspace theory, free energy principle, and the integrated information theory...” Animus mumbled like a zombie.
His incoherent rambling made the women in the labs look at him weirdly.
“Hey, Gwen. Isn’t he your friend? What’s the weirdo doing?” One woman asked, elbowing Gwen.
Gwen rolled her eyes.
“His name is Animus. And he isn’t a weirdo. He is just way too smart. He starts mumbling things beyond your intellect because your IQ is barely better than a smart toaster, Karen,” Gwen answered helpfully.
Karen winced and frowned at Gwen.
“That’s rude! So, he’s that smart? I bet he can hit the daily quota of Rad-Aways in an hour then,” She responded with a challenge.
“Listen, Karen. Let Animus do what he is doing. Rad-Aways are basic anti-radiation pills. Don’t bother him.” Gwen waved dismissively and walked away, having already finished the daily quota. Gwen’s focus was on her own personal project.
In the evening, everyone clocked out once their shifts were over. Gwen walked over to Animus.
“Animus... Animus...”
Animus was engrossed in his work. He barely paid attention to his surroundings.
A pair of soft hands covered his vision. Animus jolted.
“Wha- What?!” He said in surprise.
“Guess who?” A sweet voice whispered in his ear.
Animus grabbed the soft hands. He could feel the girl’s breath hitch. The fingers were longer than Zoe’s.
“Gwen...?” He said unsurely.
The girl giggled in his ear. Animus could feel his cheeks burn. Her voice was melodic. The hands moved away from his eyes. Animus turned in his chair. Staring at him playfully, Gwen smiled cutely. She was wearing a white lab coat over the Vault-Tec jumpsuit. Her blonde hair reach the front of her full chest. She wore a cute black headband. Her big blue eyes smiled at him.
“Hey there.” She said with a chuckle. “Are you back on Earth? What were you working on?”
Animus scratched his cheek awkwardly.
“Uh, hey. Sorry. I was working on Wicca. I just had a breakthrough. Come sit.” Animus smiled and patted the seat next to him.
“Your AI? Sure!” Gwen smiled.
She sat down before looking at the code and the notes on the computer.
Animus felt his fingers throb in pain. His throat burned. His stomach groaned.
“Uff.” He grunted before looking around.
Gwen noticed his movement.
“Hey, I saved some food from lunch for you.” She smiled.
She got up and brought a sealed plate from her locker.
Animus looked at her gratefully.
“Thanks, Gwen. You’re a lifesaver.” He smiled and took the plate.
“Well, someone needs to look after the resident dork.” She laughed.
Animus smiled sheepishly. With painstaking slowness, he ate in silence. Gwen was completely engrossed in the code. Animus grabbed a glass of water and ate in peace. He felt content.
“This is amazing...” Gwen spoke in awe before turning to look at Animus. “You’re going to map your own brain and use it as a template to construct a neural algorithmic network for your AI? Moreover, you’re planning to create multiple AI sub-systems to support an overarching AI, all of which function using sub-conscious intuition and logic-based conscious reasoning.”
“Yup. Moreover, I plan on having the systems self-monitor, grow, and evolve independently. It will actively correct its errors using internal and external environment data, a method I call the Free Energy Principle. All the information, data, goals, and motivations will be so deeply interconnected after one point that the systems become a cohesive whole that cannot be broken down, thus mathematically defining consciousness. I call that the Integrated Information Theory.” Animus grinned.
Gwen’s eyes widened in shock. Her lips parted in wonder.
“Where were you this whole time? You can single-handedly revolutionize the world, Animus!” She said excitedly, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him.
Animus laughed.
“It took years to reach this point, Gwen. I just had a breakthrough today.” Animus said, smiling as he did so.
That was true. Animus spent years becoming a qualified AI expert in his world.
Gwen stopped shaking Animus. An idea quickly struck her.
“Wait.” She said, frowning. “You said your AI is called Wicca?”
“Yup. That’s right.” Animus nodded.
“What if Wicca goes rogue? Its logic networks might deduce a pragmatic conclusion that could threaten lives. Say, in a scenario where it has to help choose between saving 200 people and saving 250 people, it might decide to do the latter, thereby sacrificing 200 lives. Moreover, what if it escapes the environment you have built for it?” Gwen said, horror dawning on her face.
“Gwen, relax.” Animus smiled, gently putting a hand on her shoulder. “Wicca won’t go rogue. I am giving her intrinsic motivation while guiding her personality and consciousness. I also have failsafes built in her. Her primary directive is to obey and protect me. And Zoe too. You’ll see. Wicca’s a playful one.”
Animus chuckled.
Gwen turned to look at the code again. She scrolled until she found what Animus was talking about. She sighed in relief.
“Aright. I believe you.” Gwen smiled. “Let’s go have dinner?”
“Yeah.” Animus nodded and locked the system.
The two got up and walked to the elevator, heading for the dining areas to meet up with the group.
**
The next day, Animus and Zoe were walking together to the classrooms.
“I don’t want to go to school.” Zoe groaned.
“Zo, it will be fine. It’s only for a few hours. Plus, you get to head to the engineering labs for extracurricular.” Animus coaxed.
“Yeah, that’s the only reason I am going. That, and the fact that you’ll chew my ear off if I skip my classes.” Zoe rolled her eyes with a mock-glare.
Animus chuckled.
“AAAAAH!”
A scream echoed on the floor.
The two stopped suddenly.
“What was that?” Zoe asked, feeling jumpy. She gripped her cloth bag in alarm.
Animus raised his arm to cover Zoe, stepping forward slightly.
“Animus! Zoe!” A voice called out.
The two looked to the left. Jasmine emerged from a corridor, running in a panic.
“What happened?” Animus asked, stepping toward her.
“Someone was found hanging from a rope! Someone died!” She exclaimed, heaving.
Goosebumps rose on Animus’ skin.
‘Of course.’ He thought.
Life in a vault after the world ended was hell.
**
Author's Note: I hope you liked the chapter! Comment, vote, like, and review!