Falling for AI
Disclaimer: I do not own final fantasy VII. There will be a time skip from the last chapter.
Chapter 4: AI overload
It's been a month since Cloud came into my life and progress has been slow. He understands some things but struggles with other things. He understands deception quite well and does it a lot to do pranks. They are usually on me. There was one on Sephiroth and instead of Cloud being punished I was.
Right now I was working late. I had a bunch of reports to fill out on the new trainee's. Needless to say they needed work, which meant I was going to have to do that as well. Sephiroth taught one class and that was for SOLDIER potentials and it was advanced combat.
Cloud was given responsibility as well with classes because his body was built like he was in SOLDIER. He taught basic combat, it didn't require a lot of communication from him. He was good at it, since his post to the class there have been improvements to the recruits who graduate to the trainee level as cadets.
He was always back when I was done with work. Sometimes he came up here to see me. He was becoming more social but he had a lot to still learn. He still speaks like a machine a lot and he still doesn't get affection. Fortunately Shinra isn't interested in him knowing affection. They just wanted to know if he could blend in and learn to be human like and he was successful at that.
I was done with my work and I am heading back to my apartment for dinner and sleep. I've had a long week. Who knew First class meant so much paper work.
I got to the apartment and went in to see Cloud lying on the couch watching TV. "What are you watching Spike?"
"Vampire Diaries. Do you know why this girl Elena is so emotional? She seems to cry all the time."
"Never watched the show Spike, couldn't tell ya." He didn't make me dinner. That was slightly annoying. I always looked forward to whatever he was going to cook. "Sorry no dinner Zack. I estimated the odds of you being home at a decent time to be under 15% so I chose to not make food."
"It's fine . . . pizza will be fine." Cloud turned the TV off and came over to me. Crap, he picked up frustration. "Is anything wrong Zack?" I shook my head. "No Cloud."
"I wasn't asking in truth Zack. I know something is wrong but to say tell me what is wrong would be rude. However, you want to be difficult so I will say, tell me what's wrong."
"Nothing Cloud, I've just had a long day and wanted to come home to a warm meal made by you. I don't think it is a lot to ask considering you were given to me to do whatever I want!" Cloud looked at me. In his eyes I saw something shine and in a few moments there were drops of tears falling from his eyes. Cloud blinked and touched the tear. He looked at it."My systems indicate this is a tear. This is usually caused by the feeling of pain, emotional or physical. You have caused me pain Zack. My mind understands something my heart knows already." I felt like I kicked a puppy.
I went to give Cloud a hug but he pulled away from me. I tried again but this time he swung at me and punched me in the face. "I thought I was more to you than property."
"Cloud I was angry . . . you know that is what happens when someone is mad. They say things they don't mean. Cloud I love you and don't want to hurt you." His eyes blinked when I said love. He became unresponsive to me. I shook him a little and he finally spoke.
"Love . . . system can't understand. System crashing . . . shut down . . ." Cloud collapsed to the floor. I tried to get him to respond to me but there was nothing. I pulled out my phone and called for medical to come help.
They responded pretty fast and took Cloud to one of the medical floors. I went there to fill out stuff and find out what is going on.
"We will have to get Dr. Hollander up here. He and Gast were the ones who worked on this project. However Gast was the one who knew the most about this machine."
I waited for the good doctor to come and give me answers. When he eventually came he passed by me without saying anything. He went to Cloud and was in there for a while.
What if this is my fault? What if I caused Cloud to shutdown. I don't want to lose him. If I lost him I don't know what I would do.
Eventually Hollander came out to see me. He didn't have any emotion on his face. "Cloud will be fine. He simply couldn't process two extreme emotions at once. It caused an overload and he needed to shut down for safety. He will be awake soon."
"Shut down over emotions?"
"He is a machine, it takes a lot for him to process this feeling. Machines can tell you what love is or what pain is but they do not understand it. For him to experience those two emotions so quickly has caused his internal memory to overload requiring a system shutdown." I nodded in fake understanding.
The doctor left and I went in to see Cloud. He was sleeping on the bed. He looked like an angel. I took his hand in mine and squeezed. I leaned down and kissed him on the lips. His eyes fluttered open and he moved his hand to the back of my head and pulled my body down closer to deepen the kiss. After a moment I pulled away from him.
"Zack, I now know what love is. It is a feeling that my internal systems can't break down into data. I was in error in thinking I could break the concept and emotion of love into data. I understand it now, it makes my chest feel tight and burning. I can't explain it only know it." I smiled. I couldn't say it any better. I sat down in a chair next to his bed.
"When can I leave Zack?"
"I don't know. I guess now seeing as you're awake. You don't need rest given your body is self healing." In that moment a doctor walked in. It was Hojo, head of the science department.
"Hojo, can Cloud leave now?" The professor looked confused. "Cloud? Oh you must mean the robot. Yes he can leave. We got our data from his internal memory and we are beginning mass produce the machines."
"Will they look like Cloud?"
"No, he is a base model. Every machine after him will have black hair and green eyes." That was good. "Will Cloud have anymore overloads like before?"
"Unlikely. He has been able to assimilate human feelings and comprehend them. There should be nothing left for him to really learn." Hojo left the room and Cloud grabbed his clothes and dressed himself. He looked at himself in the mirror and fixed his hair. He turned to me and smiled.
"Ready Zack?" I nodded and took him by the hand. I lead him out the door and out of the hospital floor. We went back up to the SOLDIER apartments.
We got back inside our apartment and Cloud went straight to the kitchen. He started fixing dinner for us. He is so incredible. He gets out of the hospital and first thing he does is fix food.
"Cloud, you can rest you know. You did just get back from the hospital."
"Rest is not needed. My systems are at 97%." He may have feelings now but he still talks in that machine way.
"Humans don't work after getting out of the hospital." He kept cooking a stew for me. "I am not human Zack. Don't forget that." I walked behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist. I kissed his neck and he dropped the spoon he was holding. I turned him around and kissed him on the lips. He wrapped his hands around my neck and let me deepen the kiss.
I felt his fingers run through my hair. He was enjoying the kiss greatly. I could feel something from down below. He opened his eyes and pulled away. He looked down at himself. "Zack?"
"You're turned on Cloud."
"I know that, otherwise I wouldn't be able to speak to you. I don't understand the lower part of me." I chuckled and kissed him again. "You want to have sex with me."
"Oh . . . I . . .I wouldn't know . . . what to do." I smiled and kissed him on the lips.
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End of chapter. Plz review
