ᴀᴍɪᴅꜱ ᴅᴇᴄᴀʏ I
E3 - Day M:06.09 | Hour 08:00
I'm here... s-sorry for the delay!
Thank you, Mitch, for gathering them already.
08:02
Greetings, everyone!
It's a true pleasure to make your acquaintance.
You can call me Mr. Smile, your new supervising teacher.
Ehm... just a moment, please.
It seems I've lost my welcome speech. I had prepared it with such care!
Where could it have gone?
Ah, yes—introductions. Not really my style...
You're the ones craving my lessons. And it's my duty to make them worthy of that desire.
However, for the privilege of participating, I require a peculiar form of compensation—or "protection money", if you prefer the drama.
Nothing tangible, no—haha.
But if you decide to remain in my class, know this: a price will be paid—willingly or not.
You have been warned.
Now then... what I have here are questions!
A curious offering, since I myself am still searching for many answers.
We'll embark on a journey aboard the rollercoaster known as Life, guided by the experiences of a friend.
But before we seal our little agreement, there are a few minor details—a professor's usual disclaimers...
AttendanceI don't care about it. Come or don't.
But know this: absences may cost you more than just knowledge.
You'll miss out on experiences.
AssignmentsAh, assignments! No boring tests or essays here.
I'll be giving you tasks that will challenge not just your minds,but your perception of reality itself.
What are they?
Oh, that would spoil the surprise.Let's just say… they'll be memorable.
Grading
I'm not fond of numbers and letters.I measure impact.
How much have you changed?
How deeply have I made you think?
If you manage to make me smile—you've done well.
Classroom Etiquette
We don't need many rules.
Just respect the process.
Disruption will be handled… creatively.
And not in ways you'd enjoy.
Your Peers
Look there—to the right of the door.
FK-104. That's our room.
Your fellow students may become your greatest rivals, your closest allies, or perhaps... something in between.
Now that you're informed...
Ready to sign?
________________________X
8:20
No, not there... here. I said here.
Do pay attention—mistakes have consequences, you know?
Excellent. We're off to a promising start.
What's your name?
Ah, Creature Number 33...Do you know what 7 + 8 equals?
Because I certainly don't.
I'll give you 15 minutes to read and sign.
Then I'll collect the papers, and we'll continue.
8:35
As for lockers, alarm systems, medical needs, or cafeteria access—I'm sure one of my colleagues (well, one for sure) can inform you better than I could.
Now, regarding my subject...You'll notice your schedule lists no name. That's intentional.
Wait—what are those faces?
Don't tell me... you still don't have the plan?
Hahaaa! That's a good one!The perfectionist actually made a mistake like that?
I'm dying! I'm dyiiing!
Oh, he'll be so embarrassed.
Don't worry—during the break, I'll fetch some copies from the office myself.
Tomorrow, I'm sure your dear professor will take the time to show you around.
I just hope you at least have the key to your room.
Otherwise… well, there's a bridge about 3 km (1.9 miles) from here.
Right in front of the school.
But personally, I'd recommend finding a good shelter for the night.
It might rain. Or something worse.
Anyway, back to my subject.
I haven't given it a name yet because—while it's difficult to define—it's also something you all think you know well.
I'm talking about…
Yes. That'll do.
Existence.
Here, we will explore Existence.
And though you should be familiar with it, I'm willing to bet you actually know very little.
Yes, even you older ones.
Remember: you never stop learning.
And trust me—this will be chaos.
But let's not waste any more time.
Make yourselves uncomfortable, my dear students.
That's the only way to learn.
And now... those timeless, terrible words that herald the beginning of everything:
"Once upon a time…"
˜"°•. ♪ .•°"˜
A distorted and damaged fusion of man and machine lies in a desolate expanse, where distant whispers resound amidst scattered debris.
The composition of silver, steel, and organic parts with fragmented black/white circuitry, stands stark and lifeless against a minor tree.
Then, a voice begins to rise slowly from nothing, like a murmur that sneaks into the deafened ear of the void.
»⚙️ "Initializz#zation • Sequence.. acctivated!"
Those words, a consistent flow of mechanical tones, stripped of human life, and without nuance or emotion, echoed an robotic essence.
»⚙️ "Awaken# Ning froom the dig#gital slumbe−r#."
In the machine, warmth surged, electrical flickers danced and faint noises mirrored the subtle rhythm of an awakening heart.
»⚙️ "Ope#rattting syst#emm!"
With deliberate slowness, the two mechanical eyelids parted, stirring to life with an electric feeble and hazy white glow.
Gradually transforming, gaining clarity and brightening the vision like a star emerging from darkness.
»⚙️ "Eyes#s on\ine, slowly com#ming to l/ife!"
That action allowed to orchestrate the awakening of every circuit, a burgeoning simulated consciousness from within the depths.
Colors simultaneously began to emerge slowly, akin to paint on a still-wet canvas, blurred and uncertain yet poised to take shape.
»⚙️ "Sensors ac\tt##ive."
His cybernetic irises adjusted to this new reality, engaged in subtle movements, their mechanical forms gradually defining, performing a delicate dance as the surrounding world first crystallized.
No answers. Just red flickers and error codes.
»⚙️ "Visi#oon clearr#ing.. Environmenn#nt analyyy#sis eng/aged!"
With childlike curiosity, he explored his surroundings, accompanied by a crackling buzz like an old television, which brought a spark of true life to his gaze.
»⚙️ "Identif\fied more malfunction in langu\uage pro\ess#ssing, ini\iating diaggnost#ic scan for aa#a so\uttion.."
The vision turned more red, with a text in the center, provoking a faint noise.
»⚙️ "Resea#ch protoco\s awa#akening with#n the ss#system!"
There was another momentary glitch behind his gaze again, like a flicker this time, causing his white eyes to turn red as the system grappled with its complexities in repair.
»⚙️ "Ma\funct#tion detected in#nn mu\tiple v##vital p#arts\.."
»⚙️ "Im#media#te re#pair nee#ded!"
Numerous digital processes hummed through the android's core, working to repair the ruptured pathways in its neural network..
»⚙️ "Ba#ttery le#vel 89%.. The da#mages are cau#sing it t#o dro#p fa#ster."
»⚙️ "Ongo#iiing repp#paration initiate#ed!"
All these damages triggered and caused erratic tremors.
»⚙️ "Almost al#l\l the data.. hh#as been los#t, given the multitu#ude of damage#es sustained."
The urgency surged within the android's consciousness, a realization that vital information teetered on the brink of irretrievability.
»⚙️ "Estimated tim#me for langu#uage syst##em co#ple#ttion: 10 minutes##s."
With unwavering determination, it delved deeper, sifting through the wreckage for threads of salvageable data, piecing together fractured segments of its existence.
»⚙️ "Act#/ivati#/on# of Nanomac#/hin#/es, Requi#/red!#"
At this time, he first started to feel the cold, icy ground beneath him, and an artificial shiver ran through his newly activated body.
»⚙️ "Ab/sorbing ba/sic knowl#ed/ge froom th/e sy#ste#m."
Then, after struggling to orient himself in the stage of desolation.
Where.. Am I\?" The words echoed through the barren wasteland.
Taking a deep breath, he scanned the air, inhaling what seemed. »⚙️ "Decay?"
As an assault to his senses. The putrid scent lingered oppressively, each inhalation carrying the weight of a venomous odor that enshrouded every fiber of his tender being.
In this seemingly foreign world, a machine had awakened.
Emerging like a child into this unfamiliar realm, the processors strained to decipher incomprehensible data, enveloped by an environment cloaked in the rancid perfume of death.
»⚙️ "Analyzz#z..ing new data\."
But with each breath, that acrid air clawed more at his synthetic lungs, triggering an involuntary reaction; his mechanical chest heaved as if mimicking the sensation of a breath.
»⚙️ "Environment#tal /parame..ters un..kn/#oown!"
Those movements, lacking calculation and precision, showed a momentary hesitation.
Another subtle glitch in his programming manifested as a twitch in his metallic frame, an unusual display of vulnerability.
»⚙️ "Ex p/ulsion t/he Poisonou/s Air!"
Surrounding him, an eerie landscape unfolded—a somber theater of life's abrupt departure.
Countless animal carcasses, lay frozen in haunting stillness.
Their limbs sprawled at unnatural angles, their bodies entirely blackened and surrounded by a fresh scarlet-tinged mist from the long spilled blood.
»⚙️ "Breathl/ess fo#rms?"
As he observed this macabre scene, the metallic sheen of his artificial eyes captured the ghastly beauty of the surroundings.
The black hue danced, covering their entire body—an unsettling masterpiece born from tragedy.
"Thump!-Thumpc-Thum!"
His gaze traversed the grotesque tapestry of devastation while the synthetic mind was grappling with the unthinkable.
»⚙️ "H..huma/ns?"
🔺−−− 🕊 −−−🔺
10:30
Hey, you!
Why are you talking?
Getting bored, by any chance?
I have this binocular for a reason—I'm watching all of you.
Simultaneously.
Creature 23, 13, and 22...You are dismissed from my classroom. Immediately.
...
Let this be a lesson to the rest of you:
I do not tolerate interruptions.
That's what your useless free time is for.
And you three—come to my office later.
I haven't paid you yet—
Ahem, I meant scolded, of course.
I'm a mature man.
A serious professor.
I will take care of you.
Now then—I'm going to retrieve the weekly schedule.
If anything changes, you'll be informed accordingly.
Now get out of here.
You've got a 30-minute break.
Be back on time.
No, scratch that—two minutes early.
10:58
Thanks again, Mitch.
You're a real... something.
Ah, students!
Glad to see you're all in your usual seats—and already here.
I'll give you the schedule at the end of the class.
Now then…Where was I?
˜"°•. ♪ .•°"˜
Vacant eyes stared at the gray sky above, creating a painting of desolation amidst tattered clothing and scattered objects.
Their mouths were agape as if they had been screaming incessantly before death.
Some had organs exposed, while others hosted small visible insects—writhing maggots and worms—festering, blackening, and bloating.
They squirmed amidst our decay, a morbid dance within the confines of their gaping and liberated properties.
With each moment of observation, faint contours of despondent murmurs seemed to rise, ghostly echoes drifting from the open mouths.
»⚙️ "Analyz#zing emotional respons#ee..."
Tinged with a trace of confusion.
🔺 "Fear#rr.. Detect#ted."
Fear.. An alien concept to a programming mind, which surged through the circuits.
These words escaped in a quivering whisper. »⚙️ "Wh... What#t happp#pened here?"
The rustle of fabric in the wind and the faint echo of distant cries were the only responses to his desperate inquiry.
In this world, the android- a machine- found itself lost, a solitary being in a scene where the logic grappled to comprehend the chaos unfolding.
His artificial heart continued to beat relentlessly, but now it throbbed in unison with the anguish swirling within him.
»⚙️ "Time completed, language system fully operational now, basic language activated!"
In the distance, the mournful cry of a scavenger bird pierced the silence, a grim reminder that even in death, the cycle of life persists.
By now, his consciousness had fully awakened, and every sensation, though artificial, was beginning to take shape.
»⚙️ "Head movement on!"
It was a horrifying spectacle for him, seeking answers in a realm where every attempt to gather data vanished into an abyss of impenetrable darkness.
The scent of putrefaction and the silence of death intertwined, engulfing him in a terrifying embrace.
»⚙️ "Why am I here?"
The very earth seemed to pulse with desolation, absorbing the collective suffering of the fallen between dilapidated structures, like skeletal remains.
Their jagged edges an example of the brutality.
»⚙️ "Was.. This a city once?"
And there, amidst the miasma of decay, lie more of the fallen.
Their bodies, also covered in black, twisted and contorted, bore yellow marks of violence and suffering.
Some are little more than bony relics, a cruel reminder of the fleeting nature of existence.
Others stand frigid, in grotesque poses of agony, their faces as well contorted in a final, silent scream.
»⚙️ "What happened here?"
Putrefied and mutilated carcasses, along with remains wrapped in tattered shreds of flesh, punctuate the desolate landscape.
Macabre trophies.
In a moment of introspection, his voice echoed louder than the winds of despair.
»⚙️ "Could this destruction be man-made.."
His mechanical heart skipped a beat, a rare occurrence that accentuated the gravity of the situation.
Here, in the realm of death and devastation, hope seems a ridiculously distant memory buried under the unbridgeable weight of pain.
Life itself seems to have lost all meaning.
»⚙️ "How can there be so many dead corpses?"
Then suddenly, a rustling nearby startled him, and his gaze darted toward the source, ready for any sign of movement.
»⚙️ "Full body movement activation!"
Fast, his mechanical fingers tightened around a wood-broken fragment.
His hands, now tense, began to tremble as he started stammering and uttered:
»⚙️ "C.come outt, whooever you areee!"
Involuntarily, while he turning in all directions his hand reached out to touch the pale, cold flesh of a figure nearby.
That sensation of icy death against the artificial skin sent more shivers through his circuits, a visceral reminder of disconnected existence in this bleak panorama of mortality.
As his fingers grazed the decaying remains, an unsettling gelatinous residue clung to three of them, evoking a deep disgust to us all.
This unpleasant sensation served as a grim proof of the decomposition process.
The distant rumors of sorrowful whispers seemed to call out to him a ghostly plea for understanding.
A mix of fear and empathy clouded his senses.
»⚙️ "Is there any hope left in this place?" Optimism amidst the despair, his grip released, and a sense of calm began to settle.
While saying this, in the distance, countless hordes of insatiable flies and more insects captured his attention, performing a sinister choreography with their wings.
They voraciously fed on flesh.
»⚙️ "Nice response.." Making a nervous laugh.
These harbingers of doom- a true force of nature- waltzed with death, mocking life's fragility and the inevitability beauty of mortality.
Their insidious hunger was a relentless force akin to nature's most formidable and unespected predators.
»⚙️ "Too many unanswered questions.."
During this performance, they were the lead dancers, their encore an eternal song of terror.
With dark wings sharp as scythes and small mandibles were pulverizing the decaying flesh, while their gleaming, heartless eyes scanned for more.
Staring upwards with a pensive gaze. »⚙️ "The true merciless hands of time, an unsettling recall of nature's relentless cycle."
»⚙️ "What else should I expect from this world?" Sighing, throwing away the piece he had in his hands.
Then the android raised his artificial hand to his face, provoking a faint echo of metallic joints, and observed the intricate details of those metallic fingers.
The surface bore intricate etchings, lines resembling the delicate brushstrokes of an artist.
Its joints moved fluidly and mimicked human dexterity—a testament to its artificial nature.
»⚙️ "I am a fusion of man and machine.."
A different being, a hybrid of machine and man, awakened in a world that no longer seemed to belong to either reality.
Waking up to this harsh reality, the survivor found himself—an isolated soul amidst a cemetery of memories, navigating through the obsessing echoes of a forsaken past, seeking solace in the shadows of what once was.
The artificial heart was pulsing more by now; his knowledge-hungry processor and cybernetic eyes, attentive to every detail, couldn't help but reflect on this world's past.
»⚙️ "Why am I alive?"
He noticed nearby details around a deceased body that caught his attention: broken objects, fragments of paper, faded photos.
»⚙️ "Remnants of this world.."
The processor processed every piece of information, trying to weave together the story of what had happened.
»⚙️ "Data analysis in progress. Searching for clues amid the debris."
His fingers were precision-engineered marvels, uncurled with a soft metallic whisper, each digit moving with meticulous accuracy.
The faint sound reverberated through the eerie stillness, an almost musical prelude to his calculated movements.
The articulations, released a delicate rumor of engineered prowess.
To rise, he placed the mechanical hands on the parched surface, broad palms and fingers gracefully descending to grasp the earth.
»⚙️ "Rising to confront the.. unknown."
🔺−−− 🚧 −−−🔺
Well, what can I say...
It looks like more than 80% have already left.
Maybe they realized this course just isn't for them.
Let's see if you, on the other hand, are a bit more curious—and a little more willing to learn things that are... out of the ordinary.
...
Ah, yes. As I already told you, here's the schedule for this week:
Classes are from 8:00 AM to 12:30 PM, for this week.
Weekly Schedule: 1 Z
Monday: Mr. Smile ⟹ Existence
Tuesday: Mr. Long Face ⟹ Despair
Wednesday: Mr. Smile ⟹ Existence
Thursday: Miss Whisper ⟹ Secrets
Friday: Mr. Smile ⟹ Existence
Saturday: Mr. Blank ⟹ Black Dance
Sunday: Day of rest ----
..
As you can clearly see, tomorrow you'll have the boring one as your professor—which is exactly why I gave him the hard job: guiding you through the school.
Surely, you were starving today during the break, HAHAH.
But don't tell him that.
I'm still your primary professor, the one you can—and more importantly, must—come to in times of need.
Unless, of course, the school happens to be on fi—Well, in that case, do call me.
That way I'll know it's time to run as far away as possible.
It won't be my problem to deal with.Hahaha.
12:30
Class... that was all for today.
I hope to never see you again—Ehm!
I meant: I hope to see you again.
Please keep the seats the same.
Otherwise, I might get irritated during explanations.
Also, I'm terrible with names, so I'll continue using your assigned Creature Numbers.
And remember:
Be cautious of unfamiliar individuals who might offer you candy.
📂−−− Spoiler box:−−−📂
In the desolation, a chilling realization dawned – He was not alone!
»⚙️ "W.who.. Is it?"