video; un: tokumei

[neuralnet]

[ This post has been some time coming. Ever since he volunteered to help Miller unlock the Hangar Bay door last month-- no, even before that, he's been wanting to tell the truth. He'd never told anyone before Miller (and then Alex, and 9S...), but he's never had anyone to tell before. For so long, he lived his life in self-imposed solitary exile, surrounded by millions of people in Tokyo but not letting any of them get too close, for fear they would discover the truth and hate him, fear him, or turn him in to Project Integration.

But now he's in space, and Project Integration couldn't be farther away (barring a few hysterical hallucinations). And he has friends. Friends who deserve to know the truth. The whole truth.

He opts not to use text, thinking it would probably be better to do this as visually as possible. He sits, kneeling in the Japanese style, in front of the camera, hands clenching in the fabric of his jumpsuit pants out of nerves. ]

Hello, everyone. Most of you know me as Hideki Matsukawa. I'm here to— [ He stops, bites his lip. Presses on. ]

I want to come clean. The name Hideki Matsukawa is a lie. It belonged to the man whose body you see now, but that's not me.

Hideki Matsukawa was a bike messenger in Hiroshima, Japan, on Earth. About two years ago, he was hit by a car, suffered major head trauma, and was declared braindead. His body was donated to a group of scientists who called themselves Project Integration. Their purpose was to expand upon the ways in which humanity and technology could be linked. Their main project was to see whether it was possible to install an artificial brain, complete with its own AI, into a human host body.

I... am... that brain.

[ He glances down at his clenched fists, trying not to let his voice shake or his eyes start to water. ]

I'm sorry to have lied to all of you. You thought I was human, but I'm not. I felt I had to lie, because I thought Project Integration was behind all of this, but it's become clear to me now that that's not the case.

[ He lowers his head to the floor in an elaborate bow. ]

Please forgive me! I never meant to hurt anyone with my deceptions. I hope you can accept me now that you know what I am.

[ He stays in that position for a minute longer, then sits back up, wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand. ]

Please, call me Haruto. That's the name I chose for myself, when I... left Project Integration. That is the name I would prefer to be called.

[ As Midnighter said, it's the name that feels the least like a lie. ]

If you have any further questions, I'll be happy to answer them. I don't want to hide anymore. Thank you.

Comments

audio; un: alucard

[reposing]

I do not think I could begrudge you for wanting to protect yourself.

Haruto. If you must hear it, then know that I forgive you.

audio;

[neuralnet]

[ Grateful to be off-camera, Haruto switches to voice as well. ]

Thank you, Alucard. For your forgiveness, and your understanding.

voice; un: nanatsuya

[counterfeitheart]

That's pretty neat! So you're an artificial brain implanted into a body? Shit. [Humans were pretty fuckin' smart. They did all of that with science! There is something bothering Kira a little, though.]

So. Project Integration... What would they be doing if they were behind this? Some kind of social experiment? They aren't, but I'm more wondering why you'd leave than anything.

[He wears a good Rebellious Teen face, but in the end, he was a Fallen Angel just getting a little annoyed by the way that humans seem to be treating their creations.]

voice;

[neuralnet]

[ Haruto never expected anyone to call his existence "pretty neat," but he supposes he can see it. ]

This whole... everything, is pretty far outside their purview. I don't think they're involved at all.

As for why I left, it was because I realized that they would never let me have anything close to freedom. If I'd stayed with them I would be kept in a lab and studied my whole life. I didn't want that. I wanted to be free, to live life like anyone else.

video; un: topCHOIce

[dumbstruck]

[ This is a very serious moment, and a very serious confession.

And it's a damn shame Hyunseok is sitting here staring dumbly at the recording, complete with rapid blinking instead of thinking of something useful to say to assure Hid-- Haruto that this is all fine.

Well. Fine? Probably fine. It sucks for the guy who died though, but that's not really the AI's fault or anything.

Anyway, all of these thoughts manage to die somewhere along the way from brain to mouth, because all that comes out is-- ]

What?

video;

[neuralnet]

[ Haruto gives a worried smile to Hyunseok, feeling guilty for having deceived one of his only friends here. ]

I'm sorry I lied to you, Hyunseok. I hope you'll let me make it up to you.

audio; navyspear

[charlieoscar]

If the guy was really gone... Well, like they say can't take it with you. Everyone should consider organ donation.

[An extreme example, in this case, sure, but it was that simple for Mike.]

audio;

[neuralnet]

This is... A little more involved than that.

[ He winces, slightly, though it's not visible. ]

voice; un: arid

[thefaulty]

They inserted you into a human body? [It is surprising enough to learn that someone she believed to be human is in fact an AI. But the nature of his physical form is more than shocking—it is, in Arid’s view, a heinous thing to do to any synthetic being.]

Are you able to vacate your current form? Perhaps a more suitable body can be found or created.

voice;

[neuralnet]

I-- [ What? He's taken aback by the question, and stammers out a reply. ] N-no. I can't leave my body. I can connect remotely to other networks, but the bulk of my core programming-- everything that makes me me-- is housed inside my brain.

Besides, I like this body. I'm sort of attached to it.

Video | un: apollo2

[solarcharged]

[ ...Huh. This gives their earlier conversation a completely different angle. ]

So you're an AI... but you're also human too?

Video

[neuralnet]

Yes. I know it's hard to explain, but... Essentially, yes.

video; un:millerlite

[pampa]

[ he narrows his eyes like he might have a strong word or two for haruto and ten just - deflates. ]

Why didn't you just say so, kid? [ seriously, in space no one gives a fuck! ]

video;

[neuralnet]

[ Ah, Miller. The first person he'd told. He's glad that he commented, that he was able to hear the full story, as he didn't feel he gave a complete enough explanation earlier, due to the time constraints of the project they were working on. ]

It... didn't really seem like the right time, before.

[ Video ][ un: icansmokemyself ]

[autorejoin]

[ When his face comes onto the screen, he looks curious and at least somewhat interested. ]

No shit? That's really cool.

[ Video ]

[neuralnet]

Ah. Thank you?

[ He doesn't really know how to respond to that. ]

video; un: connor

[rk800connor]

Were you self-aware before Project Integration implanted you into Hideko Matsukawa?

[Connor tilts his head, looking every bit like a curious puppy.] What's it like? Having a human body? I would assume you have to attend to human needs... like eating and sleeping.

Could you transfer yourself into an android? Or into the station like Hank from Domesticon has?

video;

[neuralnet]

I was not. I was only brought online after the brain had been installed into this body.

[ He's not sure what it would have been like, had that not been the case. If they had originally had him operate without a body, then tell him later he would have one. ]

I do need to eat and sleep. And I need to charge the battery on my brain every few days or else it'll lose power.

[ Him, too? Why does everyone want to transfer him into an artificial body? He's perfectly happy where he is. ]

I suppose, if the need arose, that could be done. But I hope it won't come to that.

un: kamen.rider

[nishizono]

[ this place is a nightmare already. ]

do you like that body, at least?

[neuralnet]

I do.

[ He isn't sure how to feel about so many people he didn't already know responding to this, but... he supposes that's part of being open and honest. ]

[imperialsun]

So you thought that they were responsible here too, Haruto-san? Where those scientists mean with you?

[neuralnet]

They weren't mean, really. They treated me kindly, just... They never would have let me see life outside of their lab. I left because I wanted freedom.

video » un: rook

[onlydoubts]

[ a thoughtful pause ]

If you believed that you were in danger of being found or this Project Integration was behind all of this, I hardly think anyone would would be upset with you for trying to keep your identity hidden.

[neuralnet]

[ a grateful smile. ]

Thank you, Bodhi. I still feel guilty for having lied to everyone, but... It means a lot to me to hear that you accept my reasons for doing so.

text; un: unrecovered

[notyourrookie]

Why do the fucked up AI projects always have creepy 'Project Whatever' names?

This sort of shit doesn't end well for anyone.

[neuralnet]

[ Haruto's not sure, but he thinks this person just called his entire existence "fucked up." RUDE? ]

How so? Do you know of other experiments like Project Integration?