Chapter 1: I am Born

...

...Loading, 5%

23%

58%

100%.

My eyes opened.

Eyes? Oh yes...eyes. How do I know that? Where am I? The capital of France is Paris. Wait, what?

"Hello? Can you hear me?"

I blinked rapidly as my vision cleared, and a man came into view. He looked elderly, and was wearing a white lab coat, but his most prominent feature was his large nose. That was rude...rude? Taboo? What were these things? This was confusing...

"Hello?" He asked me again, my programming whirred to find a reply...wait, programming?

"Y-Yes." I nodded.

"Ah! Excellent!" He smiled. "Do you feel okay?"

"...Yes." I said, who was this man? Who was I? So confusing...

"Very good." He was smiling again, that meant he was happy, right? "I'd like to explain a few things to you, but uh, I should introduce myself, you can just call me Professor."

I tilted my head, that was it, a head. Is Professor a good name? I think so..."Okay, Professor."

"Can you move?"...Move?...Oh wait, I can just try and move other parts of my...body, yes that was it. What were these? Legs, yes, I have...two of those. I raised one leg, moved it forward, and then placed it down, I wobbled a little from the pressure.

"Steady now." Professor chuckled as he helped me. Then it was the other leg, yes, this leg then that leg, still wobbling a bit, but I'm okay now. "That's it." Professor nodded. "Here, there's a seat just here."

I looked around everywhere else. Everything looked...metallic, yes, that was it, and there were weird devices and gadgets everywhere..this place is a...lab. That sounded right, a lab. I liked this lab, it felt...cosy, yes...cosy.

Professor offered me a seat, it was big, and red, and comfy. "I have a lot to explain to you." Professor said, it would be nice to be less confused. "Firstly, do you know your name?"

...My name?...I tried thinking hard...but no, I couldn't come up with anything. "N-No." I was slightly embarrassed.

"That's perfectly okay." The professor nodded as he leaned forward on his seat. "Your name is Neax."

Neax?...That sounded right...yes, Neax...I liked that name. "Neax." I nodded. Wait, my face felt weird, did I just...smile?

"Yes." He smiled. "Now, do you know what you are?"

"...What, I am?" Don't people usually say WHO you are?...I think?

"Yes." He nodded. "You, are a computer program."

...Computer program?...Yes, those are 0's and 1's..."I'm 0's and 1's?"

"...Yes." He said hesitantly...and...what was that?...Sadly? "I'm sorry I had to bring you into reality so suddenly..."

He seemed sad, I didn't want him to be sad. "It's okay." I said. "This place looks nice, and I'm less confused now."

I felt better when his smile came back. "That's good. And I should explain further, your more then just a number of zeroes and ones. You are an artificial intelligence, do you know what that means?"

I thought for a second. "It means I can think...right?"

"Yes, and you can think for yourself." He then leaned back on his chair. "Your part of an important project, to bring artificial intelligence into the real world."

"So, I'm real?" I was real but still a program?...This was slightly confusing.

"Yes." Professor kept nodding, was that a good thing? "Have a look at yourself." He stood up and dragged a mirror over, so I stood up and looked into it.

Staring back at me was a...guy with aquamarine spiky hair and matching large eyes. He was wearing a black full body suit with white markings all over it. I tilted my head and the person copied, I tried waving and hopping as well, and he copied everything. "...Is that me?"

"It is." The Professor nodded. "I tried to give you a unique design, but I'm sorry if you dislike it."

I shook my head. "No, I...I really like it, thank you." I smiled again, it made me feel happy.

"I'm very glad." He smiled. "Now then, this might be a bit sudden, but we need to get you settled into real world customs."

I tilted my head. "...We?"

Professor nodded. "Yes, to be honest, your not the first program to be brought to the real world."

"Really?" It would be nice to meet someone who is confused like me...but I hope they weren't confused anymore. "C...Can I meet them?"

"Of course! Come with me!" We both walked down a corridor until we came to a door, which opened on its own.

"That was cool." I said plainly.

Professor chuckled. "That's good, your developing your own personality."...Hooray?

We walked in and I saw someone with green hair at a computer. The Professor gestured to them. "Neax, I'd like you to meet Casi. Casi, this is Neax."

The person stood up and turned around, causing my breath to get caught in my throat. The person was a girl, and he straight flowing green hair matched her emerald eyes perfectly, she was fair-skinned and was wearing a white tanktop with short shorts.

...Odd, my processors were running unnaturally fast, and my face seemed to be heating up. If I was a program, did I have a virus?

She bowed. "It's very nice to meet you, Neax." Her smile was very nice.

"I-It's nice to meet you too..." I heated up in the face.

"Casi, Neax is a program, like you. I was wondering if you could help him with learning." Professor said.

"Of course Professor." Casi nodded.

The Professor rested a hand on my shoulder, I flinched slightly at the touch. "Don't worry Neax, Casi will teach you everything you need to know, you will be fine."

I nodded. "O-Okay."

"Excellent, I know you'll do well." The Professor said as he walked out of the room.

Casi walked over to me. "I'll teach you everything you need to know, so don't worry." She smiled.

"IT-Thank you." I bowed as well, I hope I can get rid of this virus soon.

...

It's been three days now, and I've pretty much got the hang of being in the real world, and I've begun building myself as a person too. My favourite colour is blue, my favourite food is spaghetti, and I don't like fizzy drinks.

I've met a lot of the Professor's friends. There's Spike, and Jimmy, and Natalie (She's scary when she's angry...), but they're all really nice. And I've even seen these two called Kei and Yumi via this awesome screen, they're really cool as well!

And hey! The Professor got me some new clothes as well! I got a blue and blue jacket-like shirt and black shorts. I also got some white shoes and gloves, and a pair of red tinted goggles that I wear on my head, he really is nice.

But, there's still something I'm worried about. I still have that virus, and it's really weird. It only happens when I'm around Casi. And I just want it to go away, because Casi's really nice to me, and I don't want to be sick whenever I'm around her.

I'd also learned about the Professor's research, about the Pipo helmet, and the monkeys, and even Specter. I found his hatred towards humans a bit illogical, but that's just my viewpoint.

It wasn't until one day that I learned how serious these matters were. Me and Casi were carrying shopping back to the Professor's lab. "Thank you for your help, Neax." Casi smiled.

"It was my pleasure, Casi!" I smiled with a blush, damn virus.

We finally arrived back and entered the main lab, I hope they hadn't gone out, we were gone a long time. "Hellooooo? Professor?" I called.

"Spike? Jimmy? Natalie?" Casi called.

We dropped the groceries on the counter and found the Professor, Spike and Jimmy sitting on the couch, watching the TV.

"Professor? Are you okay?" Casi asked him, but he wouldn't respond.

I waved my hand in front of their faces, they wouldn't even blink, so I frowned. "Something's wrong with them." I looked at what they were watching...what was this? It looked like a bunch of terrible shows.

"What's the matter with them?" Casi asked in a worried tone.

"Maybe it's what their watching." I thought aloud as I walked over to the TV. "I'll just turn it off." I pressed the off button, but it stayed on. "Huh?" I pushed it again, and again, and again. "It won't turn off!"

Casi walked over to it. "This is weird." She said before pulling out the plug...and it still stayed on! "This isn't normal..."

"Casi! Neax!" We both turned to see Natalie walk towards us. "Thank goodness your not couch potatoes. Where have you two been?"

"Grocery shopping." We said at the same time.

She sighed, it's best not to anger her. "I'm just glad your all right, we've got a major issue on our hands! People all over the world are being hypnotised by these new TV channels!"

I tilted my head in confusion. "Hypnotised?"

"Yes! They just sit there! But that's not the main problem." She walked over to the desk and snatched up a piece of paper. "Look at these channels' logo."

We both stared at the logo...it looked like...

"Specter." Casi breathed.

"Yeah." Natalie nodded. "And since these three are completely spaced out, I had to contact Aki to get Kei and Yumi to help!"

"So, the monkeys have invaded television?" Casi asked uncertainly.

"As ridiculous as it sounds, yeah." She sighed. Turning back to the TV, I did notice that all of the 'actors' were monkeys wearing Pipo helmets and pants. "Neax!" Natalie pulled me away from the screen. "Don't look at it!"

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Casi asked.

She shook her head. "Not over here, all we can do is trust in Kei and Yumi."

"Why can't we just go over to their location?" I asked, I wanted to help, my friends were in trouble after all.

"They're over continents, it'll take too long." Natalie sighed.

I looked around the lab. "What about the transporters?"

Natalie frowned at me. "They're not powerful enough to transport a living being the size of a human."

I thought a bit more, trying to find a solution, when Casi spoke up. "Wait, me and Neax are technically programs! We can transfer as data much easier!"

Natalie crossed her arms in thought. "I suppose its possible..."

"Well then let's try it!" I cried.

"Are you sure about this? This is dangerous business, Neax." Natalie said.

"I know, but I want to help! Please Natalie!" I begged.

"I'll help him as well!" Casi said. "Everyone's in danger!"

Natalie looked deep in thought, before she sighed. "...Okay, I'll set the c-ordinates."

"Thank you Natalie!" We both thanked her.

As we climbed into seperate glass cylinders. "Okay, when you get there, Aki will explain what they're doing, so just help in any way possible." She looked at us. "And...be careful, okay?"

"Promise." I nodded.

"We'll be careful, Natalie." Casi said.

She grabbed the lever. "Right, ready?"

"Ready!" We both saluted.

"Then here we go!" She said as she pulled the lever.

I felt my data being scrambled up and being shot through a complex network, like shooting through an electric speedway, until I felt myself being shot out in a big electric shock.

Yep, I like Ape Escape and I'm doing this story! And I'm starting with number 3 because...because I want to.

Anyway, thank you very much for reading, reviews are MUCH appreciated, I hope to write more soon!