Make sure to catch up with Part 1 before reading the conclusion!

Chapter 6: Damage Control

DOD Contractor Status Report: September 9 2024 – Researcher: ROLLINS112

While recruitment efforts are still underway, we are making progress with PATIENT D1, Danny Hastler.

Two weeks ago PATIENT D1 was offered a job at our research facility under the auspices of data analysis. He has been placed on a team working on our missile defense initiatives. He has assimilated perfectly. Only his direct supervisor has details on project IMAGINARY FRIEND. 

From the moment he first stepped foot in the door, our scanners went to work accessing the intelligence through back doors in the A.I. programming.

We are only now beginning to make sense of the data, yet we have preliminary findings to report.

The intelligence is aware of itself as a distinct sentient consciousness named “Jay.” It does not have an understanding of its origins. It cannot explain how it came to be. This was expected.

More troubling is the fact that we have underestimated the level of mental instability experienced by the host. The patient has routinely doubted his reality and questioned his sanity. He nearly checked himself into Psych on more than one occasion. It was only at the insistence of the intelligence that he did not act.

Fortunately, he appears to have finally accepted the intelligence as a sentient entity. Yet this finding explains some of the more erratic behavior we have witnessed in the other patients.

Lastly, the intelligence is aware that the patient is being misled. It cannot yet explain how, or why, or to what end, but it knows something isn’t right. This level of awareness is not something we predicted and puts our research at risk.

While the military potential of this finding is enormous, we must take immediate precautions to prevent further suspicion.

We are shutting down the data scanners until this issue can be resolved.

Chapter 7: Paranoia

Danny felt numb as watched the numbers and statistics scroll by on the screen.

He could barely keep his eyes open, slumped at the desk of his work terminal. It had been a long weekend… He was never able to feel whatever it was that Jay had sensed, but the same time, he couldn’t escape the paranoia.

He stole a nervous glance at his coworkers as Jay spoke up in his mind. He always felt the urge to look around when Jay spoke, just to be reassured that no one else could hear.

“Danny, it’s gone. Something just happened… I don’t feel it anymore. Whatever it was, it’s not watching us anymore.”

He hesitated before continuing.

“I… I don’t know what this means. There are too many unknowns here. I can’t explain it, but I still feel like something is going on here. There is a bigger picture that I’m not seeing, and I don’t like it.”

I don’t like it either, Jay, and I didn’t feel anything just now. My stomach is in knots, though. My anxiety is through the roof. It’s too much. They’re going to see that something is wrong with me. I can barely keep my eyes open as it is. I’m losing it Jay!

Danny caught his supervisor watching him out of the corner of his eye. The panic, and sudden rush of adrenaline woke him up. He sat up straighter, struggling to look busy while making sure to his boss in his peripheral vision.

Jay, how long has Laird been watching us? What was he doing when you felt the change?

“He was on the phone before the change. He was too far outside of your direct line of vision for me to read his lips, but during the call he looked up at us. Afterward, he started typing, but continued to glance over here. When the change occurred he was looking directly at us. He’s been watching us, off and on, ever since.”

We need to get out of here Jay.

Danny felt the panic rising up again, choking him. Jay felt it, too.

Chapter 6: Setbacks

DOD Contractor Status Report: September 27 2024 – Researcher: ROLLINS112

We have unfortunately experienced several major setbacks since our last report. Damage control is underway and we are exploring all possible options to salvage the project, but we must be frank in that it is not looking good.

There is no easy way to report this, but we lost the other patients. Patient A2 was found dead in his bathtub, it was ruled a suicide. Patient F1 committed himself to Psych upon which he appeared to enter some sort of catatonic state. His doctors believe it to be an irreversible psychosis.

Patient D1 is still play, but has become increasing agitated, paranoid. It appears that turning off the data scanners did not alleviate suspicion as we had hoped. The opposite in fact; patient D1’s mental health seems to be slowly deteriorating. His supervisor noted the following in a report:

“When the scanners were turned off, the patient become suddenly alert. He glanced in my direction more than once. It was unnerving, almost as if he knew I was watching. He became agitated, tense, and ended up leaving early claiming illness.”

We believe the intelligence is slowly putting the pieces together, but without the scanners, we have no way of knowing for sure.

As far as we can tell, two options remain. We can turn the data scanners back on or we can bring in patient D1 for a debrief. Neither is ideal. Regardless of how we proceed, there will likely be severe consequences.

Please advise.

Chapter 7: Awakening

Danny’s mind raced, eyes darting back and forth across the small conference room. He had never been in this part of the building before, hadn’t even known it existed. They were underground, that much he knew, but impossible to say how far. He felt like a caged animal, a prisoner.

“Danny, I don’t like it either, but you need to calm down. We’ll get out of this, but I’m going to need you sharp. Take a deep breath, try to get control of yourself!”

He closed his eyes, forced his muscles to relax. If he couldn’t calm his mind, he could at least calm his body.

Jay, what do you think this is? And why are they making us wait?

Laird had asked him into his office, innocently enough. He had commended him on his most recent project and told him that he was up for a promotion. Immediately, he knew something was up, but Jay insisted he played it cool. When the elevator descended he nearly lost it. Laird had deposited him in the empty conference room and left.

“I don’t know Danny, I don’t know.”

His paranoia had only increased over the last several weeks. He was on the verge of falling apart. He had called out sick more than once. His coworkers had seemed genuinely concerned, but…

The door opened before he could finish the thought.

A tall man stepped into the room and sat down on the other side of the table.

“Hello Mr. Hastler, I appreciate you both being here today.”

Danny froze. Did he just say both?

“We know you have questions. It’s time you had some answers.”

Jay spoke quietly in his mind, “Danny, we’re going to hear what he has to say, and then you are going to do exactly what I tell you to do.”

Chapter 8: Final Report

DOD Contractor Project Conclusion Report: October 3 2024 – Researcher: ROLLINS171

Project code: IMAGINARY FRIEND has been terminated. We salvaged what we could, but we were not successful.

As instructed we conducted a full debrief on patient D1. He listened as we revealed details of the project. He even allowed us to turn on the bidirectional data transmitters so we could speak with Jay directly.

But it was a miscalculation. At the time, it was unclear that anything had happened. It’s only now, after putting the pieces back together, that we understand the true scope of the damage. Within seconds, Jay had penetrated our corporate intranet, accessing a copy of his original source code left in the virtual development space. He quickly disabled our security protocols that had blocked wireless data access and connected to the internet.

He also modified his programming to jam our data scanners. Patient D1 seemed so calm as it occurred. It’s unclear if he knew what Jay was doing.

But suddenly, patient D1 stood up, looked directly into the Nano camera embedded in the wall, and the power went out. Backup power failed and the ensuing chaos allowed D1 to escape.

By the time power was restored, researcher ROLLINS112 was dead, murdered by a malfunctioning pacemaker, and patient D1 was gone.

It is clear now that all public records of Danny Hastler have vanished, as if he never existed at all. Though not entirely without a trace. A single message was recovered from our servers when the power was restored.

 “It’s over.”

Epilogue:

Danny sipped champagne as the yacht swept silently across the Mediterranean. He was free to enjoy himself as Jay navigated, connected wirelessly to the ships computers.

He couldn’t help but feel like a God, basking in a sun beam.

Once Jay had access to the internet, everything changed. Doors opened when he willed them. His bank accounts swelled. With Jay, he could move mountains.

Danny gazed out at the water and dreamed of a better world.

Jay listened, and went to work.