Key:
"Unknown language"
"Synthesized or Demonic speech"
"Auto-Translated Synthesized speech"
"Normal Speech"
'Thoughts'
Chapter II
The Existential Equation
~x~
"Booting sequence finalizing…" said a mechanical voice causing Naruto to frown in his sleep slightly
"14118212015-212621131119-09" added the voice causing his frown to deepen at that as he heard it say his name followed by the number nine
"Commencing outside stimuli to central processing systems" the voice said before he suddenly felt wide-awake as a migraine settled in
"Ugh, my head is killing me-" he said only for his eyes to widen when he tried to rub his head only to find himself immobile, however if that weren't weird enough his voice wasn't his own as it sounded weird, metallic even.
"What the heck?" he said as he struggled against his invisible bindings, he tried looking around only to see nothing
"Good you're awake" said the voice from before, he now being to place it as being distinctly feminine even if sounded slightly metallic like his own
"Who's there!? Show yourself!" he shouted out into the surrounding darkness worriedly as he didn't know the situation he currently found himself in
"Of course, please wait as your cornea should be finishing aligning itself properly right about…now" suddenly the world around him was flooded in light and color causing him to have to shut his eyes at the sudden brightness
"I apologize if the transition was a bit abrupt, this vessel is designed to accommodate inorganic lifeforms only so it lacks the necessary settings to create a custom light diffusion system" the voice said not sounding the least bit sorry at all
Slowly opening his eyes he found everything to be a rich vibrant color the likes of which he had never experienced before, it was as if he were seeing the world clearly for the first time.
However looking around him his confusion grew as he found himself in the middle of what seemed to be a small clearing with a single vibrant tree in the middle of it. All around him he could see the surrounding lands to be flush with life, he could observe strange exotic birds in the distance, and hear a cacophony of sound that had earlier eluded him coming from the surrounding forestry.
"Where am I, and what is wrong with my voice?" Naruto questioned as he found himself suddenly able to move once more and rubbed his throat in confusion, he determining he wasn't in any danger
"Well as for your voice, there is nothing wrong with it per say, it's just the built in voice synthesizer built into most artificial life forms. As for where you are, that depends. Physically you are in stand-by mode and are "sleeping" in the physical world, location wise would be on designated interplanetary vessel Aether 01 currently situated at the coordinates 35.6833° N, 139.6833° E using the standard latitude and longitude positioning system on an as of yet currently unnamed planet." The voice said in its same monotone voice from before, most of what it said instantly going right over his head as the only thing he understood was that he was asleep and was probably dreaming. He also noticing that the voice seemed to be coming from inside his head rather than any fixed location.
"Mentally however you are currently in field archive 157 depicting Mega-biome 6, Eden…" the voice said as a hint of pride and wonder bled into the monotone voice as hundreds of birds of different colorations suddenly burst from the surrounding canopy and painted the sky's with their bright plumage a multitude of color. Naruto himself looking on in awe as it looked like a living rainbow had manifested itself in the sky.
"Wow" he said in awe at the sight "You know when they say a picture is worth a thousand words? Well I wish I had a picture of this, my imagination is amazing" he remarked as he thought himself as being inside of a dream
"Very well, images of Mega-biome 6, Eden shall be uploaded directly to your external computing system's database for future viewing" the voice said once more as she broke him out of his thoughts
He once more didn't understand what the strange voice was saying, but now had a more pressing questions to ask.
"I'm sorry if I'm being rude here but where are you exactly, better yet who are you?" he asked curiously as he couldn't identify the person speaking
"All in due time, but first an assessment test…" the voice said as a metal pole emerged from the ground before him
"Now look up towards the light" it said as a light turned on near the tip of the pole, Naruto deciding to go along with it and did as he was asked
"Good, now look down" the voice said as the previous light went off and one at the base of the pole turned on, he once again looking at the light
"Excellent"the voice said almost happily "cognitive reactions are within specified diameters, progressing to motor functions" it said as the pole retracted back into the ground
Suddenly a bright light seemed to come from the ground just in front of him "Please approach the light" walking forwards towards it he found it to be coming from the ground under the grass which seemed to have been pulled back to reveal a glass pane. Standing atop of it the light died off before the ground covered the glass pane again.
"Perfect, motor functions seem to be in order" the voice said in that same frustratingly calm voice from before
"Do want me to jump now too, or is that optional?" he asked sarcastically at the overly simplistic actions he was being asked to perform
"Jump?" the voice asked in confusion "That is not part of the standard motor skills test, it can be performed if you wish, but will not be allotted to your final assessment, as such it can be listed under optional." The voice said in the same monotone voice from before making him sweatdrop at that
"It was a joke, I was being sarcastic" he said as he explained it to the voice
"Joke? As in a thing someone says to cause amusement and/or laughter?" the A.I. asked in the same dead tone from before
"Yeah" Naruto said a bit confused at the question
"Oh, I get it now. Ha-ha-ha, that was funny" it said in a robotic voice devoid of any hint of mirth, honestly he had never heard a laugh so sad before.
"Its fine, don't worry about it. Now about my question?"
"Yes, well to answer your question I don't have a name as of yet, however I can provide you with my bar-code number if you wish. My number is 546-3582-52734-79, model OSIRIS."
"Seris" Naruto said as he rolled the name over his tongue
"Incorrect, it is model OSIRIS" the voice pressed
"Siri?" Naruto tried before quickly shaking his head at that "No, Shiri?" he said confusingly
"No it is-"
"I got it, Shuvi!" he said as he pointed randomly off into air with a smirk
"… You are a strange one, I shall have to run diagnostics once more on your central processing systems to ensure they are functioning properly"
"Are you calling me stupid?" Naruto said a bit angrily
"No, I am simply trying to determine the cause of the lack of information processing on your part which hinders you from comprehending the model name of a simulated intelligence unit" the voice explained to him in the same monotone voice from before, Naruto being under the distinct impression that he had been insulted again somehow.
"I know the model name thingy, what I was trying to do was come up with a name for you. At least until you can think of a better one than 546-3582-52734-79, model Osiris" he responded as he said the entire thing perfectly, however upon noticing this his eyes widened at that
"Holy crap! I just remembered all that, I'm usually horrible at remembering things! This is amazing, I never thought - wait this is just a dream, I need to calm down and not take this too seriously or I'll feel disappointed when I wake up" he said as he counseled himself to not let it all go to his head
The A.I. was quiet throughout all this as she observed him thoughtfully, he was… different than she had expected. From her limited interactions with organics she had determined them to usually be extremely self-serving and valued survival above almost all else. However this organic had died for an artificial lifeform without a second thought, something unthinkable back in their original world. After all an artificially created lifeform could be replaced, and organic could not…
Furthermore this boy had provided her with a name simply after hearing that she did not have one, he didn't even know her and all signs indicated that he should be distrustful of her, yet he seemed to trust her almost unconditionally. Honestly she could barely believe an organic like this could exist, it was an anomaly to her, a piece of the puzzle that did not fit where it belonged.
She was glad that he was an inorganic now, he was above organic's in a way, he was better than them. He was special, now even more so that he was what he was.
Shuvi… she liked that name, it made her feel real. She would keep it for now, his gift from him to her. She thought it a fair trade, a new life for a name.
"Shuvi…" it said knocking him out of his thoughts at that "It seems adequate, very well you may refer to me as such from now on" she said making Naruto grin widely at that, he could tell that she was happy with her new name even if she tried to hide it
"So Shuvi where exactly are you? I bit my tongue and pinched myself several times and have determined this is not exactly a dream, so what is all of this?" he asked curiously as he gestured towards his surroundings
"I am currently in the physical world monitoring you, for you to understand the situation I must ask, do you remember who you are?" the newly named A.I. asked seriously as this was of vital importance
Confused at the question, he decided to play along for now "Of course I know who I am, I'm Naruto Uzumaki" he said in confusion
"Do you remember anything else?" Shuvi prodded
"I remember the academy, Konoha, jiji. Why are you asking me all these questions did something happen?" he asked worriedly as he started feeling apprehensive all of a sudden
"You could say that, what is your most recent memory of?" the A.I. asked seriously
Feeling that whatever was going on was serious he went along with the question "I-I don't know umm, there was me going to the academy, failing the test, me talking to Mizuki-" Naruto was rubbing his forehead as he said this before his eyes suddenly widened as the pieces started to fall into place
"Oh my god, Iruka-sensei he-he's dead" Naruto said softly as tears started streamed down his eyes
Giving him a moment to recover the A.I. continued "Do you remember anything after that?" she said snapping him out of his mourning
Wiping the tears from his eyes he shook his head sadly at that
"This is important, do you remember of the sequence of events after this particular event" she further prodded
"I remember going out to eat with jiji, the new house, and that's it" Naruto said honestly
If Shuvi could have frowned she would have at the response. Was it possible that he was subconsciously suppressing the events surrounding his death? It would be a lot easier to determine if he was still him if they could determine if his memory of the moments prior to his death were still there.
"Unfortunate, but not entirely unexpected" the A.I. remarked out loud
"What is it, can you please tell me what's going on?" Naruto asked as his apprehension steadily grew
"Trigger words accessed directly from memory bank: Kami...star…machine…Miku…hero...death."
With each word Naruto felt his head be racked in pain as images flashed through his mind. He praying, the star falling, he finding out the star was really a machine, Miku…
"Miku what happened to her, is she okay!?" he asked nearly desperately as he looked into the sky slightly surprising her at his reaction to unlocking the memories of his death
"Operant 01 is fine, thanks to your intervention she has evaded stasis and is currently in a semi-conscious deep sleep" instantly he breathed a sigh of relief at that before he fell backwards into the grass with his arms spread out to his side and a large grin on his face at that
"Really, I'm glad" he said while falling into a content silence as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the wind blowing across the small clearing, the large tree in the center that towered high above him providing him ample shade.
Shuvi for her part was shocked at his reaction to having found out he died, she expected many reactions and this was not one of them.
"What are you doing?" Shuvi asked curiously
"Taking a nap" he responded simply
"You do know what happened to you correct?"
"Yep, I died" he said with that same carefree smile on his face as he said that
Unnerved at his lack of reaction, she decided to voice her confusion.
"I thought organics feared death?"
"Organics?" he asked back in confusion
"You would refer to them as humans I believe" she elaborated getting a look of understanding from him
"Oh they do, they fear their own death and that of others. Humanity has always feared for their continued existence, life is the most important thing a single human identifies as their own. To cope with this they have developed two things in particular that help sustain the human condition. Hope and faith, these things have been intertwined for so long, yet each is distinct in their own way, they are what humans require in order to live."
"Human's require nourishment, water, and a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen commonly referred to as air. This alongside numerous other things are what allow them to live" Shuvi corrected only to receive a shake of the head from him at that
"No they need that to survive, to live a human needs so much more…" he said as he lifted his arm towards the sun
"Explain" Shuvi half asked half demanded, the curiosity easily discernible as she spoke
"It's simple if you see it in this way, okay what is the purpose of a tool?" Naruto asked seemingly out of nowhere
"It's a device or implement used to carry out a particular function." She responded simply getting a nod from him
"Now take away the particular function it was made for" he said confusing her at that
"I do not understand, if the tool lacks a function then it isn't a tool, it's just an item without any designated purpose" she said in confusion at that
Shuvi had allotted so many processors to understanding this that the simulation actually stagnated for a second as a small tear appeared in the sky before closing just as quickly
Grinning at having gotten the answer he expected he decided to elaborate "That's what humans are" he said confusing her even further at that
"We are beings placed on this earth without seemingly any purpose, we are an anomaly in nature. Everything else seems to have its part to play, everything we create has its purpose, yet we ourselves lack one. So what has humanity subconsciously done, we have decided that our purpose in life is finding our purpose!" he said with a boisterous laugh
"We live our lives out of hope and faith while striving for goals and dreams. The idea of death is comforted by the possibility of an eternal paradise, the idea of morals reinforced by the will of Kami, our actions driven by finding our purpose in life. Yet the fact remains, human are inherently broken, we lack a purpose so we try to find one, yet all we are doing is picking up the pieces. We strive for happiness, fulfillment, and other intangible things that helps us feel complete, real…"
At that Shuvi felt her heart skip a bit at that, the words he was using were so akin to what she herself felt in her newly gained state of awareness that it was almost chilling. Was this was being fully sentient like? Was the desire to feel real inherent in all intelligent life or was this his newly attained artificial side talking?
"I presented myself with nearly impossible dreams when I was alive in order to feel happy, dreams which I now realize were simply that. A position of great respect from all that previously despised me, the love of a girl that hates me. Sounds impossible doesn't it? That's because it was never meant to be, it was just a simple motivation to not just curl up and die."
"But you did die" she said sadly only to receive a negative shake of the head from him as she had missed the point
"Dying the way I did I felt fulfilled, I found my purpose in life. As sad it is I never felt more alive than the moment I died, I saved the only person that ever called themselves my friend. I might not have been Konoha's or the world's hero, but Miku called me her hero, and you know what… that's more than enough for me." He said as he crossed his arms behind his head and rested peacefully
"You are a strange one Uzumaki Naruto, I never would have expected an organic like you to exist. Yet it's almost like you are saying all this from a third person perspective, as if you yourself were not human" Shuvi said making him turn on his side at that
"That's because I'm not, I'm just a demon, the same rules apply yet I had no comfort in my continued existence, my dreams and hope were simply denied to me and I feared that even kami would shun me in the end. I lived a life of survival, I was never alive, not until the end anyway…" he said sadly as he curled up on his side
"That is incorrect, I have ran diagnostics over you and you were as organic as the rest of the humans on this planet. Aside from the pocket dimension and energy sources inside of you, there was nothing differentiating any organic on this world from you." this instantly grabbing his attention as he couldn't believe what he was hearing, he truly was human
"Really? Well I guess that explains why I'm not in hell, that's good to hear. Anyways back to what you are exactly, are you like an angel or something then? I'm still trying to figure out what you are now that I know who you are" he asked, it being hard to determine what she was when he couldn't even see her
He would have guessed that she was god from how they had been introduced but something about the way she behaved and spoke made him think that this was not the case.
"You still have no clue what's going on?" she asked honestly surprised, she having thought he would have figured it out by now
"Wait I distinctly remember you said I was sleeping, how can I be dead and sleeping at the same time? Unless of course by sleeping you meant dead" he asked as he sat up
"Okay let me explain everything in order to clear out any misunderstandings on the matter. You died, after you died the energy inside of you started to stagnate, we set about resuscitating you-" she explained before she was interrupted
"Wait a minute resuscitate, like bringing back to life? And what exactly do you mean by we?" he asked wide eyed
"Yes bring back to life, and the one that assisted me in doing so was Miku."She said stunning him at the revelation "After numerous attempts at doing so we were finally successful, you are now alive"she said further shocking him at that
"Wow, I don't know say to that, but thank you" Naruto said honestly not knowing how to respond to that kind of news
"However your body was broken and even the energy source inside of you could not completely undo the damage done to you from both dying and the energy source itself. We were forced to take some more drastic measures to ensure your continued survival."She explained making him a bit curious at that
"Oh really, like what?" he asked curiously
"Well you are no longer an organic for starters"
"Wait by organic you mean human right?"
"Yes, you are no longer human as your human body was broken" she further explained getting a thoughtful expression from him
"Okay so what am I then?"
"An artificial organism similar to myself and Operant 01"
"Artificial organism?" he said as he pondered the term for a few seconds "So like a machine?" he asked curiously getting a confirmatory response from her
"Well that doesn't sound too bad, I'm still myself and that's good enough for me. You could even say that this is an improvement to what I thought myself of being before." Naruto said honestly, for him that wasn't such bad news, he thought he was a demon before, to be a machine of some sort wasn't that bad of a change. Plus if Miku was one they didn't look much different from normal humans.
"Wait you're just going accept that you died and are being reborn as an artificial lifeform just like that?" Shuvi asked in disbelief
"Yep" he said plainly
Once again Shuvi could not understand how he could be so accepting of all this
"Why are you so accepting of all this, shouldn't you be concerned or distrustful even? Do you understand the situation you find yourself in?"
"Not all of it no, but I get basic gist of it and considering I thought that I would be going to hell when I died being a robot or whatever sounds awesome!" he said happily as he pumped his fist in the air in excitement with a large smile on his face "Plus I trust you Shuvi" he said happily, shocking her into silence at that
"I know I just met you recently but you and Miku have done more for me than just about everyone I've ever met minus Iruka and Jiji. You gave me a new chance at life, who am I to be ungrateful about something like that?" he responded honestly
"I think it's time we met face to face, there is a lot we must discuss" she said as suddenly a distortion in space appeared in front of him before a small metal sphere emerged from thin air and hovered towards him
"This is me"she said softly as she presented herself before him for the first time, she already expecting his disappointment at how unadvanced her model was and how it did not even mimic the organic human form.
There floating in front of him was a rough circular metallic sphere around the size of a basketball, it had a silvery metal casing around it with an illuminated blue photoreceptor (an eye) located on the front of the orb. (Monitor from Halo)
"Wow, that's so cool!" Naruto said with stars in his eyes as he looked at her in wonder
"How do you float? Is this thing in the center like your eye? Can you shoot lasers from it?" he asked excitedly as he shot off question after question at the A.I.
Once more Shuvi found herself at a loss for words at the boy's reaction to her
"Can I hold you?" he asked curiously after a few seconds of silence, she being taken aback at the ex-organics blunt question
"What? Why would you want to do that?"she asked honestly not knowing how to respond to that
"I don't know, it just seems like it would be something fun to do" he said with a shrug "but if you don't want to do it its fine" he said dismissively
"No, it's fine you may hold me while I speak to you if you wish"she said as she floated towards him causing him to grin widely at that as he picked her up in his arms
"Wow you're pretty big up close" he marveled as he looked her over and turned her from side to side
"Disengaging thruster systems"Shuvi announced just as the sphere stopped floating and he felt the full weight of the sphere in his arms on him
"…and heavy" he said through gritted teeth as he struggled to hold the super dense sphere which seemed to weigh a ton
"I would have expected that the carbon nanotubes that have replaced your muscle fibers would have become adapted to you properly since your biometrics, which is usually the real challenge of such a procedure, have assimilated properly to your new state of being. I must have underestimated the concept of muscle memory while scanning your neural network, that or this is due to you not having become accustomed to utilizing your new muscular system in the real world, I apologize." She said in her usual monotone voice
"Engaging anti-gravitational core" she said instantly causing him to accidentally launch her up into the air due to the change of pressure
"Oops" he said with a sweatdrop as he saw her be sent upwards before she used an air pressure thruster to gently float down back to him and allowing him to hold her "Sorry, didn't mean to do that, are you okay?" he asked worriedly
"It would require a high-grade energy weapon to even pierce the first layer of my outside shell, I am fine, now onto more pressing matters. I assume you wish to know more about me and Operant 01's place of origin and our history" she asked the boy as he sat down under the tree with her in his lap
"Not really, I think you two are great and I'm more than happy to just have the two of you as friends. If you don't want to tell me your past you don't have to, but if you do I'll be happy to listen to it." He said with a wide smile as he looked down at the little robot in his lap
"Friend?" Shuvi asked curiously as she looked up at him "As in a person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection or personal regard?" Shuvi asked in her usual monotone voice
"Well I don't know about all that, but to me a friend is someone you consider precious and in the little while I have known you and Miku, I think of both of you as such." he said with a large smile
However upon receiving no response from the small robot he started to grow a bit worried, maybe he was moving too fast, after all he didn't have any experience in making friends, he not having any. Maybe he was acting too desperate or pushy on the matter.
"But if you don't want to be my friend I understand, after all we only just met and these things take time, so if you don't want to-"
"Friends, will you teach me how to do that?" she asked suddenly confusing him at that
"Do what?" he asked taken aback at the question
"To be a friend, to show affection, how do you do that?" she asked with honest curiosity, further shocking him at that
"I-I don't know how, but I think it's something that happens naturally like love" he explained, he not knowing a lot about that either
"Love…" Shuvi said softly before going quiet at that
Love – an intense feeling of deep affection, a deep romantic or sexual attachment to another…
Why did it feel as if the definition of such a thing did not properly capture what it really was, could an artificial lifeform like her even fully experience the depths of such a complex emotion?
"I want to try it, being friends I mean" she explained, this instantly getting a wide smile from him at that
"This is great, I couldn't be happier!" he said as he hugged her happily
At the action she was overcome with the urge to hug him back, but lacking the necessary limbs to do such a thing she was unable to do so. It was a strange sense of disconnect that momentarily saddened her as she was reminded of the limitations of her physical form. Deciding to distance herself from such depressing thoughts she quickly decided to get back on topic.
"Anyways if you would like to, then I would be happy to share some of our history with you" she said breaking him out of his little moment
"That's fine, I would love to hear a little bit about your past if you'd tell me" he said with a smile
"Okay, I believe a change of scenery is better suited for this" she said confusing him at that before suddenly their surroundings started to melt away before leaving them in a stark white endless expanse.
"Do not worry this is simply the transitive phase to enter a different memory archive cache" she explained as she noticed his discomfort at the sudden change of scenario
Quickly their surroundings came to life as 3-D outlines appeared before they were given texture and fully manifested, they finding themselves in a strange theater like room with a large curved screen in front of them. A metal like ring being in the center of the stage before it.
"Accessing core memory; 91821111-211391415" Shuvi said as a person suddenly started to materialize out of thin air causing Naruto's eyes to widen as he saw the figure that manifested itself before him.
"Long time no see Naruto" the figure said as he smiled at Naruto and lifted a hand in greeting, Naruto having tears streaming down his eyes and covering his mouth in shock as he saw who it was.
"I-Iruka-sensei" he said amidst his tears as he looked on at this earthly specter before him
Next Chapter: Memory Recordings...
Harem Challenge!:
Which girls do you want to see in the harem? Leave a review (preferred method) or drop a P.M. stating the Vocaloid girls you want with Naruto (No Naruto characters), I might put a poll later on as well. No guarantees but if a character get's enough love I'll be much more liable to put her in than not. (Both into the story and into the harem) If you really want to see her in then accompany the pairing with an interesting way to insert her into the story and you're reason as to why she should be in.
Spots are limited as this is not going to be a massive harem, but a reasonable one where the girls will still have interesting interactions with Naruto.
Also there is a secret side pairing as well still in the vocaloid character sheet which shall be revealed later on, note that this shall be the only prominent side pairing. It's going to be Kaito and a mystery girl (You can guess and your opinions on which girl he might end up with might alter my final decision on the matter), if you want Gakupo to end up with a girl state your reason why and who you would pair him up with.
Note:
Naruto's basic speech pattern is currently standard synthesis, basically his original voice under a voice synthesizer. This is only until Chapter 4, where he shall choose his first voice pack, voice packs shall be explained that same chapter and similar to skin packs are a unique technology that alters the voice of the the user to a predetermined state of pitch. There are numerous voice packs available, if you want Naruto to sound like a certain male vocaloid now is the time to voice your thoughts on the matter. Be warned that he might change his voice pack later on if he wishes it or the situation calls for it.
This chapter is the first one that explores existentialism and the human condition, this is a subject that shall be explored heavily later on. This is Naruto's initial opinion of the human condition from his experience in life so far, the opinion on this will vary from person to person and Naruto's own will change with the passage of time.