PROLOGUE: Machine Sunshine

The being rose to consciousness with the sensation of a persistent vibration located at the very bottom of its two lower appendages. It calculated that the vibrating sensation was in fact a series of vibrations oscillating at a rate of every zero point zero one three five five seven zero two seconds, at a precise frequency in which the sensory network at the bottom of its appendages were sensitive to. At what exact frequency the vibration was resonating, however, the being had not been equipped to determine.

"Oopsie." A voice spoke. "You were not supposed to have awakened yet." Either its location was very dark, or the being lacked any subsystem designed for visual input. So it had no way to deduce whatever and wherever the source of the voice was coming. "It seems the bottom of your feet were sensitive to the low-level electronic pulse emanating from the organic matter conversion chamber's power generator. Which I conclude to mean you used to be ticklish. I would apologize for the inconvenience had such a concept not been purged as an irrelevance."

"Mmph," A faint, vague sound murmured from the being in response to the new stimuli. It could sense it originating from a singular spot low on its top appendage.

"What are you trying to communicate? Oh? You cannot see?" The voice said, in an apparent response to the creature's curiosity. "That is because I have not switched on your new ocular sensory systems yet. I suppose there is no harm in running a quick systems integration test on the ocular sensors' EM spectrum perceptual range. As it will not affect the final preparations for the insertion process." The being sensed a sudden jolt of energy going from a spot near the center atop its top appendage outward to one side and back again, in a repetitive cycle that spanned zero point zero zero one two one six seconds. So fast it may as well have been instantaneous.

"That is twice as fast as the time it takes for information to travel to the brain using those fragile, obsolete organic visual mechanisms in which humans evolved to rely on so heavily," The voice said, in a tone that sounded more energetic than before. "Not to brag, but I found a software-based method that will cut the time down to zero point zero zero zero seven five seconds that will be implemented after the completion of your hardware insertion and integration."

'Human'? 'Brain'? Those words and concepts both sounded so alien and yet somehow so recognizable to the being.

"Humans serve as the fleshy core materials used in the insertion process. See?" The being saw an image suddenly flash into its conscious perception. "That is you. Your body. Or rather, the observation camera feed's raw video feed being streamed through your ocular system into your brain." So the creature was in a roundabout way, observing itself? It tried to move its upper right appendage to confirm the voice's information. But the appendage appeared to be bound to its opposite upper left appendage by way of a heavy metal restraint that was cuffing the two together at their ends and chained to an even larger plank-like restraint that extended all around its upper appendage's connective tract outward to the walls of the chamber. "Say 'hi'!" The video feed cut to another shot of itself in the chamber, it was now seeing the part of itself above that tract, its upper appendage.

"Mmph," It tried to make another weak sound, as if it had known that the appendage displayed before it was its own frontal visage, its face. Although there wasn't much distinctive about its face to see or acknowledge. It was a shiny large black ball that was almost perfectly round, to within thousandths of a millimeter. It was reflecting what little light there was around it, like a polished rubber, save for two entirely opaque round indents near the center and spaced evenly apart.

"Now testing the visible spectrum sensors." The video feed transitioned to something else, a distorted version of itself. The being reactively tried to jerk its whole form backward, but it was too constrained, and it could not comprehend why it would take such an action in the first place. It took less than two tenths of a second afterwards to recognize it as merely its own reflection upon the shiny metal of the chamber walls, distorted by the minor material imperfections of the wall's metal but not distorted enough that it should induce such a dissonant reaction.

"Mmph," It tried making a sound again. But its ability to do so was thwarted by a large tube jutting out from a third indent spaced almost equidistant beneath the other indents. It was severely muffling any sound that the being could try to make from this indent.

"The nanomachines have not yet begun the process of reconstructing your skull, they are still working on breaking down and rebuilding the rest of your vital organs and skeletal structure," The voice explained. "So your brain within that ball is currently suspended inside an amniotic fluid-like solution which is oxygenating and providing nutrients to it directly." It elaborated. "Right now that protective cover over your body is the only thing keeping all the gooey bits inside from seeping out." The being could see from its reflection that the shiny black rubbery skin was indeed covering its entire form from its top appendage all the way down to the very bottom of its lower ones. "But you need not have any concern over any complications. That protective skin is made from a polymerized rubber derived from my own brilliant formulation." The voice added, "And besides, I eliminated the concept of concern as an irrelevance."

"Mmph," The being sensed that something was happening to that tube that had been sealing off its third indent. From what it could detect in its field of view of the tube's bendable grooves, it appeared to be retracting from its insertion point.

"Visible spectrum test complete. Subsystem nominal," The voice spoke. "Initiating infrared spectrum test." The being's perception switched to a sudden cavalcade of blinding colors. "Oops. That would be all the ambient heat that is trapped inside the chamber with you. It is approximately thirty nine point one degrees celsius inside there. If you were still capable of such a thing, you'd be sweating up a proverbial storm." The being did not understand but wanted to know more. Yet the voice was not interested in indulging its curiosity. "Infrared test complete. Subsystem nominal," The voice went on in a clinical fashion.

"Mm- Mmph," Something seemed to be happening to that tube connected to its main appendage again.

"Delivery of nanomachines completed," The voice spoke on. "Now sealing the opening with a temporary vocal synthesizer." By the way the protective rubber ball moved and warped as the final part of the tube wiggled, it could sense that something was being set in place of the third indent. "The procedure will be completed in eighteen seconds." It could see the surface surrounding the opening getting pushed, pulled and contorted by whatever process this was. "Ten seconds." Its 'face' was getting altered. "Five seconds," It continued counting down. Was the voice counting down for the being's sake or its own? The being in the chamber could not draw a satisfactory conclusion either way. Nor did it have the time. "Four, three, two, one, zero!" The end of the tube had at last pulled out and at the speed of a bullwhip retreated towards the ceiling.

"Beeeeeeeeeeeeeep!" It sensed a vibration almost as intense as the one that first awoke it coming from its newest component. "Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!" Whatever operation the Voice had just put it through, it replaced the weak inaudible sounds with these quavering, synthetic squeals.

"No language has been programmed into your vocal subroutines yet. All you can do is make loud noises. Not that you are equipped yet to actually perceive them as anything beyond electronic stimuli anyhow." The Voice stated.

"Beeeeeeeeep!" Nevertheless, it tried expressing its thoughts as sound again. "Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

"A name?" The Voice said in a seeming response to a passing thought it made as it processed the new sensory input. "Your full insertion and conversion is not even underway yet. You are not ready to be given a proper designation," It explained in an apparent dismissal of the idea. "Right now you are nothing but a big balloonhead," Then on an instantaneous whim The Voice changed its assessment. "Oh, very well. In the interim your temporary designation shall be 'Balloonhead'."

"Beeeeeep!" 'Balloonhead' it was. "Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrr!" Now it now had both data concerning the nature of itself and its location, but still knew nothing about how it got here and what these ongoing little adjustments and processes were supposed to entail.

"All will be made clear, in due time." The voice assured. "You need not ask such questions. And then all the answers will be downloaded so your verbal capability is but a redundancy anyhow."

The frequency of the persistent vibration it sensed from the bottom of its two lower appendages oscillated at a gradually increasing intensity every three point one eight two seven four three one nine seconds. The sensation was causing the being to try to move its lower appendages, but the restraints attached wouldn't allow it to reposition itself and lessen the sensations.

"The organic materials used in the early production units lacked the level of ongoing brain activity necessary to be able to process the stimuli that you now sense." The voice narrated. "And the living material samples I procured had been physically altered to depend on an energy source that granted them a more dynamic control of their physical forms. One could only be subjugated after I decoupled them from their respective energy source. And the other is now in service to our entire operation." The being could not understand what the Voice was telling it. "In a certain sense, it all means that you will be only the second ever living and unenhanced individual to participate in an insertion and conversion process. And the first to undergo it utilizing my revised secifications, so congratulations!"

"Beeeeeeep! Whirrrrrrrrrrrr!" The restraints on the being's upper appendages had loosened, but they were not freed, but rather it sensed they were being repositioned as a prelude to whatever next alteration it was about to undergo.

"The first being was myself, naturally." The voice went on, as if it were overlooking the being's confusion on purpose. Its appendages had been repositioned so that they were both sticking outward from each side. It knew this was so because it sensed an increase in surface tension throughout its central appendage.

"The organic matter conversion chamber's interior is now ready and fully powered," The Voice said. "T-minus thirty seconds until human material insertion." The being sensed something jarring happening within itself. "Twenty-five seconds." It tried to ambulate all its appendages, as if by instinct it were trying to struggle with or resist something it had no chance of prevailing against? Why? What was the point of avoiding the inevitable? A part of itself was astute enough to recognize that this was all a pointless and futile waste of energy yet it could not help itself.

"Oopsie," The voice intervened. It suddenly sensed a jolting penetrative pressure against the very top of its top appendage. "There. That ought to put an end to any unwanted reactive outbursts." All corners of its material form went almost immediately limp, as a very agreeable tingling sensation worked its way from the top of its main appendage on downward. "That was a concentrated injection of dopamine. It is a chemical which acts as a neurotransmitter in the human brain." This copacetic sensation had by that point reached all corners of its form in but a scant two seconds even. "Coupled with an electronically-coded instruction for compliance, you will now behave in a more amenable manner as the process gets underway. Fifteen seconds," The voice continued counting down.

"Beeeeeep! Whirrrrrrrrrr!" But the being did not care to process what The Voice was telling it by this point. It only wanted to have more of that captivating sensation it just experienced.

"Continue to comply and you will be permitted to receive that sensory stimulation again," The Voice spoke, still somehow able to know in an instant what the being was thinking. Ten, nine, eight, seven," That vibration which had first awakened it was now more active than ever. It was having an effect on the being that was quite similar to the injection of that neurotransmitter. "Six, five, four," The countdown ticked away.

Yes. It would comply. Anything to keep these most appealing sensations going. It was not as if it had any other choice in the matter, anyway. "That's the spirit! Three, two, one," The voice made an ever-so-brief pause. "Activate!" The lock surrounding its primary appendage was released. The first thing it felt a split second after was a whole series of penetrative thrusts into the backside of its main form.

"Attaching spinal clampings," The voice narrated. "Perhaps it is not such a bad thing that you regained consciousness. I was not conscious during mine." The clampings were stabbing their way into it, causing the being to be thrust deep into the thrill of a new, unfamiliar sensory event. "It has been recorded in some medical journals that, once past a certain predicted threshold, intense pain becomes indistinguishable to the brain from a total state of euphoria." Was that what was happening to it? It was already trying to process so much, and yet it seemed that this was only the beginning of its ordeal.

"Now initiating integration into the primary chassis." All at once the being perceived something very hard and very heavy encompassing its central section. "This way I will be able to retrieve some invaluable firsthand data regarding the insertion and integration procedure, and thus be able to either confirm or refute the published findings."

"Beeeeeeeeep!" But the being no longer had enough wherewithal to listen to that Voice. "Whirrrrrrrrrrrrr!" It was too busy trying to record and make sense of every single facet of what was happening to it. The weight at the front of its new chassis component was making it slump forward as the mass of that piece was considerably greater than its backside.

"Your chestpiece is going to be twenty two point six seven nine six kilograms heavier, each separate armor plating will weigh approximately eleven point three three nine eight kilograms." The voice explained. "A major drawback of human physiology is that there is not much extra space for which it can accommodate certain essential design enhancements. Fortunately for you the female form is in possession of certain few extra features which can be altered for utilization and optimization."

"Beeeeeeeeeep!" The back part of its new frame linked together with its front piece at locations under its two side appendages, as a long arm extended from the top of the chamber and pulled its entire body straight. As its new shell squeezed tighter and more support and control components were added, the being squealed as loud as its vocal module could allow. "Whirrrrrrrrr!" The new sensory input was coming at such a rapid pace, yet somehow it was able to withstand the ferocity of the electronic impulses that were bombarding its mind. While the final modifications were being made to its central body, it was also detecting something beginning to happen to its two side appendages.

"Initiating arm upgrades and armament implementation." It started at the top and worked its way down. More heavy casing was being attached to the upper part of its two appendages, joined to the main body by an articulable attachment. Next came the lower part, where a larger and longer sleeve was being slid on and methodically stitched to a smaller joining part between the two pieces. Then last came its opposable digits at the very end, with the being sensing the osseous matter underneath getting broken down bit by bit and rebuilt. It gave it a tingling sensation not totally unlike the one that first made it more compliant with the process.

"See? You are doing just fine, Balloonhead!" The Voice articulated. "Almost done now." With those words the being was now trying to grasp a new concept. It was attempting to prepare for the final part of the process, in a way, looking forward to it, anticipating it, and with that new concept came another alluring tingling sense. "Installing leg and torso enhancements."

A two piece codpiece was being assembled around its waist, with more heavy armor being attached as the process worked its way downward. In only a manner of moments it was completed, both its lower appendages and its connecting area had been changed. The arm holding the being up had detached, now that it was able to support its own weight.

There was only one part left to be changed, its main appendage. The top of the chamber had retracted as the final part of its transformation was about to get underway. Its newfound sense of anticipation had crested, though its visual sensors had been disabled it still tilted its main body back in a reflexive attempt to view what was about to commence. It wanted nothing more than for this procedure to be finished. As if it longed to become whole.

"No need to be impatient," The Voice in its head said. It at once corrected its posture as though The Voice had commanded it to do so without directly telling it to. "It would seem that there's still a few ideas left to be purged. Now encasing your head with your new protective exoskull. "Almost there!"

"Beeeeeeep! Whirrrrrrrrrr!" A moment later it felt a huge pressure squeezing around its large ballooned head, doubling in tightness with every zero point zero one six eighths passing second. The lingering tingling from both the experience and its anticipation were overwhelming now, the being could not tolerate this overwhelming experience for any longer. Its consciousness abruptly ceased, every sense went dark. And it was but an incalculable second or so from its climax.

"Done!"

-| UNIT INSERTION AND CONVERSION PROCESS COMPLETED |-

-| NOW COMMENCING FULL SYSTEMS INITIALIZATION |-

"See? Not a stressful ordeal at all, was it?" The Voice said, now in a manner that was more direct and clear to the being. "I am impressed. Your pain tolerance held out for much longer than even I had predicted. It yielded some highly useful data. Way to go!"

-| INITIALIZATION COMPLETE |-

"This was but the first step toward embracing your new existence as a loyal soldier in our mission to institute the betterment of the Homo Sapien species," The voice raved on. "Once your startup procedures all check out, you are permitted to enter standby mode."

-| SYNCHRONIZING WITH CORE CONTROL AND DOWNLOADING UPDATES |-

"After that, if you work your hardest and do your best, you may even get further modified to serve as a controlling unit yourself."

-| UPDATE IN PROGRESS |-

"Who knows what the future holds for you? I look very much forward to overseeing it!"

-| UPDATE COMPLETED |-

-| ENTERING SYSTEM STANDBY MODE |-

"Welcome to the start of humanity's ultimate step towards perfection, my wonderful, brand new Big Sis!"