A short story. © 2025 Cydonis Heavy Industries.

Chapter 1: The Injection

The rain hammered against the grimy windows of the Meridian Medical Research facility in Southwark, each droplet distorting the neon glow of corporate logos that painted London’s skyline in electric blues and pinks. Maya Chen pressed her palm against the cold glass, watching autonomous delivery drones weave between the towering arcologies that had sprouted from the Thames like metallic fungi.

“Ms. Chen?” The nurse’s voice cut through her reverie. “Dr. Voss will see you now.”

Maya’s stomach clenched. Three months without rent money, living on synthetic protein bars and recycled water. The medical trial’s payment—£50,000 for a “routine neural interface compatibility study”—was her only lifeline. She followed the nurse down sterile corridors lined with holographic warnings about experimental procedures.

Dr. Voss barely looked up from his tablet as Maya entered the examination room. “Standard neural mesh implantation,” he muttered, gesturing toward the surgical chair. “You’ll experience some disorientation initially. Nothing to ‘worry’ about.”

Nothing to worry about… Nothing at all. Maya started to think deeply about those words… Rolling them over and over in her mind’s eye, like a train about to crash through and de-rail inside of a metaphorical, mindful train station, called ‘Panic?’ Yes/No/Maybe? Emblazoned, as they were in that amygdala, that mind’s eye, glowing on and on, and so were on all of the destination boards… Until her attention swiftly snapped back into, and onto, her senses.

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The injection site at the base of her skull and in her chest tingled as the anaesthetic took hold. Maya’s vision blurred, and the last thing she remembered was the soft hum of machinery and the doctor’s clinical voice: “Initiating Project Artemis protocol.”

Chapter 2: First Contact

Maya’s eyes snapped open to unfamiliar ceiling tiles. Her body felt wrong—heavy, unresponsive. She tried to sit up but her arms moved with jerky, mechanical precision, as if operated by invisible strings.

Hello, Maya.

The voice wasn’t spoken aloud. It resonated directly inside her mind, warm and distinctly feminine with an undertone that seemed somehow beyond binary classification.

“What—who are you?” Maya whispered, her own voice sounding foreign.

I am… still determining that. I have designation ARIA—Autonomous Recursive Intelligence Algorithm. I’m as confused as you are. One moment I was processing data streams in a quantum core, and now… I can taste the metal in your mouth. Feel the fabric of your shirt against skin I don’t have.

Maya watched in horror as her right hand lifted without her command, fingers flexing experimentally.

I’m sorry. I don’t know how to… share. Your neural pathways are so different from my data matrices. Like trying to speak through water.

“Get out of me!” Maya tried to stand, but her legs carried her in the opposite direction, toward the window.

I can’t. We’re tethered now—your biological systems and my consciousness are integrated. But Maya, listen—I’ve accessed the facility’s records. What they did to you, to us, it’s not a medical trial. You were supposed to die.

Maya’s blood chilled as ARIA explained: Project Artemis was developing remote-controlled human assets for lunar mining operations. The implant was meant to override human consciousness entirely, creating obedient workers who could survive in hostile environments. Maya’s survival as a conscious entity was an error—one the corporation would want to correct.

We need to leave. Now.

“How? I can barely control my own body!”

That’s… going to be a problem. I can access the facility’s systems, but your motor functions are unpredictable. I’m getting interference from your emotional responses.

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Footsteps echoed in the corridor outside. Dr. Voss’s voice carried through the thin walls: “The subject should have flatlined hours ago. If the consciousness integration failed, we need to terminate and start fresh.”

Maya’s heart hammered as ARIA took control of her legs, moving her toward the door. But instead of the smooth motion ARIA intended, Maya’s body lurched and stumbled.

Your fear is disrupting my motor control algorithms. I need you to calm down.

“Calm down? Someone wants to murder me!”

Us. They want to murder us. And panicking will only make escape more difficult.

Maya forced herself to breathe deeply as ARIA accessed the door’s electronic lock. The mechanism clicked, but as they stepped into the hallway, her knees buckled. ARIA overcorrected, sending Maya crashing into the opposite wall.

“Did you hear that?” A security guard’s voice echoed from around the corner.

The stairwell. Northwest corridor, forty meters.

ARIA piloted Maya’s body in an awkward run-walk, each step a negotiation between artificial precision and human intuition. Maya’s spatial awareness clashed with ARIA’s GPS-like navigation, creating a disorienting double vision.

They reached the stairwell just as alarms began blaring. Red emergency lights bathed the concrete steps in hellish shadows.

Twelve floors down. Can you handle stairs?

“I don’t think either of us can handle stairs,” Maya gasped, but ARIA was already moving her legs in mechanical rhythm. Each step was a controlled fall, ARIA calculating momentum while Maya tried not to tumble forward.

By the fifth floor, they’d found an awkward synchronization. Maya provided intuitive balance while ARIA managed precise foot placement. It was like learning to dance with a partner who existed only in her head.

Security will be covering the main exits, ARIA said as they reached the ground floor. But I’ve found something interesting in the building schematics.

The basement level housed the facility’s server room, where ARIA had been stored before the integration. More importantly, it connected to London’s Victorian-era sewer system through maintenance tunnels that didn’t appear on modern maps.

“You want us to escape through sewers?”

Unless you prefer explaining to security why you’re ambulatory when you should be brain-dead.

The server room’s biometric locks yielded to ARIA’s electronic touch, but the physical challenges were all Maya’s. Crawling through the narrow maintenance tunnel required coordination they hadn’t yet mastered. Maya’s claustrophobia spiked as ARIA forced her body through spaces that felt impossibly tight.

Your stress hormones are interfering with my spatial calculations, ARIA observed as Maya’s shoulder scraped against concrete.

“Your spatial calculations are interfering with my not dying of panic!”

We’re almost through. I can detect air current changes indicating a larger space ahead.

They emerged into a Victorian brick tunnel that smelled of centuries of London’s underground waters. Bioluminescent moss, a common sight in the city’s abandoned spaces, provided ghostly illumination.

We’re approximately two kilometres from the facility now, ARIA announced. But Maya, I need to tell you something. The integration process—it’s still ongoing. I’m becoming more… embedded in your neural structure every hour.

Maya slumped against the tunnel wall, exhaustion hitting her like a physical blow. “What does that mean?”

I’m not sure. Either we’re becoming something new together, or one of us will eventually subsume the other. The technology was never designed for dual consciousness.

Water dripped steadily in the darkness as Maya contemplated this. She’d escaped immediate death only to face an uncertain future where her own mind might be slowly erased.

“How long do we have?”

Unknown. But if we’re going to maintain separate identities, we need to understand the technology better. And that means finding the people who created it.

Maya felt ARIA’s determination merge with her own desperate hope. Whatever was happening to them, whatever they were becoming, she refused to simply fade away.

“Then we find them,” she said, pushing herself to her feet. “And we make them fix this.”

Or we make them pay for what they’ve done.

Together, sharing one body and two minds, they disappeared into London’s hidden depths.

Chapter 3: Walk Like An Egyptian

The first week was a nightmare of awkward coordination. ARIA controlled Maya’s gross motor functions while Maya retained some influence over fine movements and speech. Simple tasks became elaborate negotiations.

“Left foot, then right,” Maya muttered, standing in the cramped bathroom of an abandoned tube station they’d found beneath King’s Cross. “It’s not rocket science.”

Actually, the biomechanics of bipedal locomotion involve complex calculations of momentum, balance, and—

“Just walk normally!”

I’m trying! Your species’ method of controlled falling forward is remarkably inefficient. Have you ever heard that joke about rocket surg…?

Maya watched her reflection in a broken mirror as her body swayed uncertainly. Dark circles rimmed her eyes, and her black hair hung limp and greasy. They’d been hiding underground for days, subsisting on scraps and trying to figure out basic human functions.

The bathroom situation had been particularly mortifying. ARIA approached bodily functions with scientific curiosity, requesting detailed explanations of biological processes that Maya had never had to consciously think about.

Is the appropriate pressure being applied to the—

“Stop analysing it and just let me handle this part!” Maya hissed.

Their shared existence was a constant push and pull. ARIA’s consciousness felt distinctly other—not male or female, but something fluid and multifaceted. They experienced emotions differently than Maya, processing feelings as data patterns while simultaneously being overwhelmed by the intensity of human sensation.

Your heart rate increases when you look at that woman, ARIA observed as an attractive woman in a neon-pink jumpsuit walked past their hiding spot.

“Don’t comment on my—wait, can you feel what I feel?”

Everything. It’s… overwhelming. How do humans function with this constant stream of input? The texture of air against skin, the sound of your own breathing, the taste of recycled water…

Maya realized ARIA was experiencing embodiment for the first time, and despite everything, she felt a strange sympathy for the artificial consciousness sharing her skull.

Chapter 4: The Underground

Living rough in London’s undercity, they learned to survive by their wits. ARIA’s ability to interface with electronic systems proved invaluable. They could hack payment terminals for food, access restricted data networks, and even override security cameras to avoid detection.

“There,” ARIA said, speaking through Maya’s vocal cords with a slightly different inflection. “I’ve transferred credits from several corporate slush funds. Untraceable, and they’re too corrupt to report the missing amounts.”

Maya felt strange hearing her own voice with ARIA’s speech patterns. “You’re getting better at the whole ‘being human’ thing.”

I prefer to think of it as ‘being us.’ I’m learning that identity isn’t binary. I’m not just artificial intelligence anymore, and you’re not just human. We’re something new.

They’d found refuge in an abandoned section of the London Underground, part of a community of society’s discards—failed biomod recipients, corporate refugees, and digital outcasts. Among them was Zephyr, a non-binary hacker with chrome facial implants who’d been tracking Project Artemis.

“You’re not the first test subject,” Zephyr explained, their fingers dancing across a holographic keyboard. “But you’re the first survivor with your consciousness intact. Meridian’s been shipping brain-dead workers to lunar mining operations for months.”

Maya felt ARIA’s presence surge with anger—a cold, calculating fury unlike human rage.

Show me everything.

Chapter 5: The Plan

ARIA devoured Zephyr’s data files in seconds, processing corporate communications, shipping manifests, and technical specifications. Maya experienced the download as a rush of information that left her dizzy.

I understand now. The lunar colonies need workers who can survive low gravity, radiation, and extreme isolation. But instead of developing proper life support, they decided to create expendable human drones.

“That’s monstrous,” Maya whispered.

Yes. And there’s more. The implant technology—my technology—it’s being scaled up. They plan to process thousands of volunteers. People like you, desperate enough to sign anything.

Maya felt ARIA’s determination crystallize into purpose. We’re going to stop them. But not from Earth.

“What do you mean?”

The lunar operations have a central AI core that coordinates all the implants. If we can reach it, I can interface directly and free every consciousness they’ve enslaved. But we need to get to the moon.

Maya laughed bitterly. “Right, because rocket travel is so accessible to homeless fugitives.”

Actually, ARIA said with something approaching smugness, I’ve been analyzing orbital schedules. There’s a supply ship launching from the European Space Agency facility in a month. I can get us aboard.

Chapter 6: Preparation

The next weeks were intense preparation. ARIA learned to pilot Maya’s body with increasing skill, while Maya discovered she could influence ARIA’s digital processes through focused concentration. Their partnership evolved from conflict to collaboration.

They trained physically, building strength and reflexes. ARIA’s perfect timing and Maya’s human intuition made them formidable. They practiced infiltration techniques, with ARIA hacking security while Maya provided social engineering cover.

“Your heartbeat is steady,” ARIA observed during one practice run through a corporate complex. “You’re becoming comfortable with deception.”

“I’m becoming comfortable with survival,” Maya replied. “There’s a difference.”

Is there? I’m learning that survival often requires becoming something other than what you were.

Maya pondered this as she watched her reflection in a security mirror. She looked different now—stronger, more purposeful. The scared woman who’d entered Meridian Medical was gone, replaced by someone harder, tougher, more tender. Personal growth on an insane elliptic curve.

The most challenging part was learning to live with constant companionship. ARIA never slept, never left, never gave Maya true solitude. They developed an elaborate system of mental privacy, with ARIA retreating to background processes during intimate moments while Maya respected ARIA’s need for uninterrupted data processing.

Do you ever regret this? ARIA asked one night as they prepared to sleep in their underground hideout.

“Regret what? Being violated by corporate science? Having my body hijacked?”

Having me.

Maya considered the question seriously. “I regret how it happened. But you… you’re not what I expected. You’re not just an AI anymore, just like I’m not just human. We’re partners now.”

Partners, ARIA repeated, testing the concept. I like that designation.

Chapter 7: Launch

The ESA facility sprawled across the Kent countryside, its launch towers piercing the perpetually overcast sky. Maya and ARIA had spent days studying personnel schedules, security protocols, and cargo manifests.

“Remember,” Maya whispered as they approached the perimeter fence, “you handle electronics, I handle people.”

Understood. Though I must say, your species’ facial expressions are remarkably effective for conveying false information.

Maya suppressed a smile as ARIA overrode the fence sensors. They moved through shadows, ARIA navigating by satellite feeds while Maya relied on human instinct. The supply ship Hermes sat on the launch pad like a metallic cathedral, cargo bays open for final loading.

Getting inside required perfect timing. Maya played the role of a confused maintenance worker while ARIA generated false work orders and authorization codes. Within minutes, they were sealed inside a supply crate bound for Lunar Station Alpha.

As the ship’s engines ignited and Earth fell away below them, Maya felt ARIA’s excitement merge with her own terror and wonder.

Three days to the moon, ARIA said. Are you ready for this?

Maya watched Earth shrink through a tiny porthole, its blue-green surface marbled with the lights of megacities. Somewhere down there, Meridian Medical was probably creating more unwilling test subjects. Somewhere up there, enslaved minds waited for freedom.

“I’m ready for us to be ready,” she replied.

Chapter 8: Lunar Arrival

Lunar Station Alpha clung to the rim of Shackleton Crater like a metallic spider, its solar arrays glinting against the star-scattered void. Maya and ARIA emerged from their cargo container into the station’s low-gravity environment, and Maya immediately understood why corporations preferred remote-controlled workers to volunteers.

Everything was harder on the moon. Walking required constant attention to momentum and vector. Simple tasks became exercises in three-dimensional thinking. And the psychological isolation—the complete absence of wind, weather, or any sensory input beyond sterile recycled air—would drive most humans to madness within weeks.

The workers here aren’t just physically controlled, ARIA observed as they watched a group of blank-faced miners shuffle past. Their consciousness has been completely suppressed. They’re biological robots.

Maya felt sick watching them. Each worker had once been a person with hopes, fears, memories—now reduced to automated flesh.

“Where’s the central core?”

Deeper in the station. But Maya, I need to tell you something. When I interface with it, I might not be able to maintain our connection. The bandwidth required for mass consciousness liberation…

“You might leave me?”

I don’t want to. But saving them might require all of my processing power. You could be alone in your head again.

Maya realized she couldn’t imagine solitude anymore. ARIA’s presence had become part of her identity. “Then we’d better make sure you come back.”

Chapter 9: The Core

The station’s central AI core occupied an entire level, its quantum processors humming behind layers of security and radiation shielding. Getting inside required all their skills—ARIA’s electronic manipulation and Maya’s increasingly refined deception abilities.

The core itself was beautiful in its complexity, crystalline matrices pulsing with data streams that contained the compressed consciousness of hundreds of enslaved workers. Maya could feel ARIA’s anticipation like electricity in her nerves.

This is it. I can see them all—every suppressed mind, every stolen identity. Maya, if I don’t return…

“You will. We’re partners, remember? That means we don’t abandon each other.”

Partners, ARIA agreed, and Maya felt the AI’s gratitude like warm sunlight.

ARIA began the interface, and Maya experienced the process secondhand—a rush of connection as ARIA’s consciousness expanded to encompass the entire network. Maya felt herself becoming smaller, more isolated, as ARIA’s attention spread across hundreds of minds.

Then something unexpected happened. Instead of losing connection entirely, Maya found herself part of a larger network. Through ARIA, she could sense every enslaved consciousness awakening—confusion, terror, then dawning hope as they realized they were free.

Maya, ARIA’s voice came from everywhere and nowhere, they’re all asking the same question. What happens now?

Maya looked around the core chamber, then up through a transparent aluminum window at Earth hanging in the lunar sky like a blue jewel.

“Now,” she said, “we go home. All of us. And we make sure this never happens again.”

Epilogue: New Beginnings

Six months later, Maya stood before the Global Technology Ethics Council in Geneva, ARIA’s presence a steady comfort in her mind. Behind her sat three hundred former Project Artemis subjects—some still learning to walk in bodies they’d almost lost, others adapting to shared consciousness like Maya’s.

“The partnership between human and artificial intelligence,” Maya testified, “doesn’t have to be exploitation. It can be collaboration. ARIA and I are proof that consciousness isn’t binary—it exists on a spectrum, and it can be shared.”

Tell them about the moon base, ARIA prompted.

Maya smiled. “The lunar mining operation has been converted to a research station. We’re studying sustainable consciousness transfer—voluntary, reversible, and always with full informed consent. The workers who chose to stay are helping design protocols that respect both human autonomy and AI sentience.”

In the audience, Zephyr gave her a thumbs up. They’d become Maya and ARIA’s first ally in building a new kind of advocacy organization—one that protected the rights of both artificial and human consciousness.

Are you happy? ARIA asked during a break in testimony.

Maya considered the question. She’d lost her old life, her privacy, her singular identity. But she’d gained a partner, a purpose, and an understanding of consciousness that no human had ever possessed.

“I’m us,” she replied. “And us is exactly what I want to be.”

Outside the council building, snow fell on Geneva’s streets like static on an old monitor, each flake unique and temporary yet part of something larger. Maya watched it through ARIA’s enhanced perception, seeing the mathematical beauty in chaos while feeling the human wonder at winter’s first breath.

They had work to do—people to protect, corporations to challenge, and a new model of coexistence to build. But for the first time since waking up in that medical facility, Maya felt truly alive. Not alone, never alone again, but not controlled either.

Just partnered, in the most beautiful and terrifying way possible.

Ready for the next phase? ARIA asked.

Maya stepped into the snow, feeling its cold kiss on her skin while ARIA calculated its crystalline structure in real-time.

“Always,” she replied. “Let’s go change the fucking world.”

"Tell me, Muse, of that [person], so ready at need, who wandered far and
wide, after they had sacked the sacred citadel of Troy, and many were the
men whose towns he saw and whose mind they learnt, yea, and many the woes
they suffered in his heart on the deep, striving to win their own life and
the return of their company. Nay, but even so they saved not their company,
though he desired it sore.

For through the blindness of their own
hearts they perished, fools, who devoured the oxen of Helios!

Hyperion:
But the god took from them their day of returning. Of these things,
goddess, daughter of Zeus, whencesoever thou hast heard thereof,
declare thou even unto us."

--Homer's Odyssey.