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Dystatic-Studio — Story - The COMA's Project: Hellhound
#brain #cable #combat #dog #drone #four #hellhound #lab #laboratory #legged #machine #mecha #mechanical #quadruped #robot #science #scientist #treadmill #walking #wolf
Published: 2016-06-10 13:57:20 +0000 UTC; Views: 15845; Favourites: 73; Downloads: 28
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(PLEASE FAVE THE ORIGINAL PICTURE AT HERE: fav.me/da5tdjk )--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Record Log 1, Lab 3, High Security Section of COMA HQ
June 2029
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“Harris, you messed it up again!”
A clear call from the woman echo though the tightly enclosed room full of metallic reinforcements. This laboratory isn’t as spacious as he expected, but still echoing her voice and numerous beeps from computers and analysis devices.
“Ma’am, I’ve tried.” Harris retorted when he stands up with his transparent datapad. “I know it isn’t my first day, but I cannot catch up with these without reading an instruction.”
He sighs while look at the computer console, a thin book of operation manuals on the surface. Remembering he read several times before he was diverted to her team. The woman he never dares to cross with anger, is the lead scientist whom is leading the most controversial research in an entire human history.
But just before he fully understands what this operation is about, numerous curiosity hits him just as much as she does. But her responses wake from his distracted mind again.
“You are with me for a week, one WEEK, to know all over this room, and you still need help remembering these steps?” She huffed. “If manager finds out, he will definitely shove your brain in it to analyses how thick you are!”
“Hey, I definitely know more than these killer dogs, or whatever hounds they are planning.”
Killer dog, the correct name is actually called ‘Hellhound’ – the most secretive autonomous surface combat drone they’re developing. Unlike the generic robotics rely to numerous AI programming, the subject is actually a transplant.
He heard this also just a week ago prior to his diversion from Biology section. He knew so well about new diseases and such spreading around the world, and even the toughest mercenaries can be infected. A tiresome job to analyze germs already, but he barely complains. The previous boss treated him well enough that mistakes are barely happened to him, consider he knew the danger of disease.
But when he is transferred to the much smaller laboratory, he’s almost felling upside-down from the top – his leader, also the scientist, who never stop the nerdy details of bombardment to him at the first day. He also missed test tubes and biological scanners so much that he wished to stay in biological labs than this.
His ears are filling not just her lecturing, but also some loud mechanical noises, annoyingly paced beeping, and even expect a sudden shout from her whenever those running machines suddenly break up in a middle of testing. This lasted over a week already, and he still hardly get used with them, consider that’s not even half of all scenarios in this tiny room he is involved.
Harris, young man with brighter future for biology, once again sighed to be stuck in here to do all her biddings.
“Harris, are you paying attention?”
He barely nods. “Yes, ma’am. Gotta reset the VR again.”
Now it’s the female scientist come to attention: the guy came here is definitely not breaking her project up, but an important advisor and helper whenever she has difficulty to understand the complication of neurology from general biology, humans included. She is definitely having no mood to ‘analyze’ Harris’ brain, not even her boss.
Instead, she is fully focusing back to the idling machine. Hellhound, as Harris understood, is an autonomous drone that is currently NOT developed with AI. She heard about the decision from developers that AI is still far too primitive, slow and difficult to imitate higher species. Something like cats and dogs that is still out of a question for nearly 3 decades of 21st century. They seek an alternative solution, which is using a big smokescreen COMA ever planned to some human candidates into this project.
Initially, it sounds like COMA is hiring some very strong war veterans or mercenaries around the world, and half of them they found are from US. The federal power has advanced into the technological greenhouse full of hopes and supportive innovations, and have nearly no difficulty to acquire retired elite soldiers and special forces. It was an exhaustive validation she heard, that only 5 of them successfully passed all the tests, and entering the first phrase of immortality project.
COMA is however, have no background of research nor development of immortality at all. The name that sounds is just barely masked these selected test subjects to accept the project, and that’s how COMA took control to them entirely.
All the sudden the beeping noise came from her console! She quickly looks at the monitor, the screen is now again displaying the statistics of Hellhound, quietly standing on top of the treadmill and right beside her.
“Okay, R lobe is increasing, VR is definitely working again.”
“Ma’am, are you sure the hellhound won’t freak out? Are they even aware?”
She stays silent and just focusing at the screen, but definitely listened what he said. Those world’s top neural surgeons also secretly accepted COMA’s deal to complete the most arguable operation that even surgeons were rumored to question themselves with: They are not helping these human subjects to be immortal at all, as COMA never committed any of it. But rather, a very delicate and slow procedure to open 5 test subjects’ craniums, and carefully house their organic brains into 5 metallic containers called the ‘braincase’.
And yes, she is directly staring at the analysis of human brain at the screen. Behind the monitor, the oval shape of container with desert color at the top, and securely fixed at the mount with a hose attached. That’s one of the braincase she is monitoring.
The surgery isn’t just put the brain right in and seal the case. The blood removal is very time consuming and periodically replaced with special nutrient fluid, to make sure the subject’s brain has no side effect from it. When completed, they removed the spinal cord from the body, and connected to the interface socket and nutrient tube at the bottom of the braincase. Before the sealing, another very lengthy neural surgery is to force the test subject into the VR and make them remember everything of his entire life. When the scanner detected a small portion of lobe that is a part of his human identity, the surgical arm with a powerful plasma arc cutter will precisely severing it out of his brain, without damaging other important part of brain matters.
It is continuously cutting their brains until those subjects in VR cannot recognize themselves and totally unaware they’re becoming a whole different existence in their consciousness. Usually 10-20% smaller than original brain at the end, and a majority is from the frontal lobe. COMA made sure they’re fully healed and to be even more efficient, so the Hellhound developers’ next plan comes to play: lots of programmed chips are implanted into their brains, usually focus on monitoring their behaviors for useful records on future developments, but also few of them are able to generate strong electrons to force these brain behave by manual control.
Once completed, 5 perfectly intact subjects’ brains are all sealed into their braincases after the implantation and recovery, and directly sent them to the laboratory for the next procedure.
She received total 5 hellhounds, and one of them is stored elsewhere because the laboratory has only 3 hellhound chambers to dock. Each numbers are specially assigned for other serial of hellhounds, and installed power charger and nutrient refilling system for long term storage. COMA did care a lot for logistic management very much, and no stranger to human-engineering maintenance. But this isn’t the highest interest the lead scientist has in mind.
What impressed her more is, such amount of operation is only just a small part of entire project! She hasn’t visited mechanical assembly sections nor the weapon test sites before, but she heard that hellhounds are assembled just as easy as repairing them. One of it just right on the track of treadmill is standing a bit taller and bigger than a large canine of biological counterpart. She always can’t help why not just call them wolves if even the mastiff was dwarfed.
With a quick glance, the treadmill is slowly powering up, as the belt below four mechanical legs of hellhound is moving backward. The screen’s R lobe activity suddenly spikes up to peak level, as the hellhound animates. One solid step, two and three follows, the fearsome human creation is now walking like a real animal.
The top of the head is expected to be installed with the subject’s braincase, but the test procedures was so carefully planned that nobody want something bad happens. So they plugged the interface inside the head with a thick and flexible ceiling cable. It’s directly connected to the entire system of the laboratory, so the brain can still remotely control the body from the console.
The standing guard at the doorway cannot resist the curiously again as he peeking at it, and suspecting if his assault rifle and body armor could even stand against the mechanical monstrosity if it goes wild. Worse, the nude form of the hellhound has 42KG (92.6 pounds), nearly as heavy as a real full-grown wolf. If it’s armed and decide to attack him, his chance to survive will be much slimmer.
Though these two scientists in there are wearing lab coats only, and no weapon is issued at all. How they are remaining calm standing right next to it are beyond the guard’s imagination.
“Okay, subject is mobilized.” She said. “Few seconds faster reaction this time. Harris, use the datapad to take video of it.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He put down the user manual and hold the datapad back up. Activating video capture mode with the highest slow-motion setting. Then he realized something, and silently cursing himself why not just ask her some questions before he begin.
While he’s taking video, the hellhound’s steps are getting more frequent and nosier. From nimble taps to strong thumping from the gradually accelerating treadmill, and the hellhound is already passed from slow trot to a full gallop.
“Here’s the top speed state of the subject HEL-HND-001.” She said to herself, or to be recorded by Harris’ datapad as she hopes. “From the brain analysis, the subject is only aware he’s being chased by virtual hostiles from behind. While he is remotely controlling the non-human body, his middle lobe is not dominating the rear lobe’s activity, because his brain is still thinking the body is a human being, and doesn’t correct his movement in hellhound’s body.”
Harris is baffled silently while recording. How is that possible?! Human and dog are two entirely different anatomies at all. Why the subject can adapt with it just as quick as she said?
And fortunately, his mind-question is getting answered.
“Using the hellhound’s additional computer module setup, the relay between the Brain-Computer Interface, or BCI, has a transducer recorded all the basics of movements. The human beings’ motion commands are always translated to the canine counterpart from BCI, and giving appropriate corrections to the system. In fact, the subject wasn’t being trained to run like an animal at all, he was totally unaware he is running that way.”
So that explained why COMA was so cautious about this project, Harris thought. The brain is not directly controlling the body, but rather, the brain is being doctored to behave whatever the human awareness doing into the proper signals for the body, and even they’re not aware at all!
‘A running man in coma… literally COMA…’ he thought soundly in his mind.
The word COMA isn’t just coming from his predication either: it means “Cybernetics, Organics and Mechanical Automations” for short. Four perfectly matching words from the company’s name has one more secretive agenda behind…
They are building an army in coma, literally, and transforming their flesh and blood into autonomous war machines that completely unaware what will they contribute for the humanity. Nailed down their first instincts to obey and kill, with cunning intelligence no other animals or current technological level of AI has. From other people’s eyes, they’re no longer human beings at all… consider their brains are all modified at the very beginning, and giving animalistic bodies to be treated that way too.
The thumping gallop is steady, as the machine is in full speed, he saw the speedometer at the treadmill is reached 15kph (9.3 mph). Slightly slower than an average athlete sprinter and a German shepherd, but machine never tires, and the design itself isn’t suggested to be very agile. The nude body have lots of modular mounts ready to attach additional armor plates and weapons when it’s ready, the weight will be heavier and eventually runs slower, but the high intelligence and shocking firepower are easily compensating them.
Harris now see the jaw is lowering, is it panting while running? It’s not just the human brain into animal body scare the most of him, but the fear factor from the head design already alerted his mind nearly all the time. Each side of the hellhound’s eyes have 18 multi-spectrum camera lenses! Such amount of eyes is not good for some people with trypophobia, even they’re symmetrically aligned. He knew there’s a translucent cover to protect these lenses can be installed, and reducing fear from other handlers. The jaw with some blocky shaped tooth are also permanently revealed from outside, as hellhound have no organic lips to cover them. No matter what expression the hellhound trying to make, the first impression to other people will be just downright fearsomeness.
On a second thought, he is guessing the hellhound’s controlling subject isn’t being chased… more like it’s trying to catch a virtual prey with its jaw. But what’s the point? Or is the subject can still feel tiredness in his brain?
“As you can see, the subject is lowering the jaw. He’s still escaping to be sure. The reason is because he’s still aware himself as a human, so tiredness will become a reflective reaction from his middle lobe, signaling him to stop running or his ‘body’ may fatigue. He is panting instinctively, but machine never have tiredness at all. He can still run as long as he is being driven from fear.”
Driving from fear? If that’s true, that means they’re being forced to mimic an animal’s primal instincts too! He learnt from biology that particular predators sleep with some very short phrases each day, because the instinctive hunting for eyeing preys and threats. The latter part is matching with human soldiers in patrol missions as well, as they said “fatigue is the worst enemy at all places”.
And what driving them fear? The behavior monitors of course. It is a module attached behind the braincase, and directly managing all the implanted chips to be human-controllable. The handler can manually force the subject into specific state of condition(s) to make them easily obey and ‘driving’ their body more effectively.
What’s more is the behavior monitor is also have its own broadcasting and receiving mechanics. Unlike the generic radio transmission, this special signal can let handlers know if the hellhound is resisting or even rebelling. If it does, the monitor will automatically force them back under control, and will be recorded into the database for any misbehaviors.
If too many misbehaviors were recorded, and the handler cannot suppress its thought to do the task. The constant signal of failsafe protocol will be activated, so the handlers have authority to scuttle it… All hellhounds are wired with tiny but powerful explosives called Semtex – a liquid state dynamite famous for suicide bombers and terrorists, is all around the interior of the hellhound’s body, and some are inside the braincase.
Once the scuttle command is triggered, the hellhound will meet the fate to be wiped out of existence, with no awareness what mistake it made. Also destroying all the sensitive parts and weapons from being captured by other hands. Fortunately, it’s definitely too expensive to use hellhound as suicide bomb dogs like the Soviets did during WWII. If needed, hellhound have a mouth to hold a bomb and deliver in much smarter fashion, or mount a rocket launcher at the top to blow enemies up.
“No misplaced steps so far. Perfectly straight lined and have minimum movement other than running. We will continue the testing with different environment, and we hope the test subject can easily adapt with more advance challenging tests.”
Harris’ arms are so tired to keep holding the datapad for recording. Not to mention his half-dreaming state must have him distracted.
“Shut the camera down now, Harris! I said that twice already!”
He gasps and quickly shut it down. The lead scientist again, sighs deeply.
“Ma’am, are whatever you said during the recording are true?” He said while checking the recorded video.
“Mostly. I hope they’re all true.” She answered. “Very fascinating how human brain to be used for this. Transforming not just the body, but the very consciousness into an animal. And smarter and more enduring than any real animals that require annoying training and cleaning.”
“Cleaning?” Harris is still having a half-dreaming mind.
“All you need to ‘clean’ from hellhound is replace the waste container! Not bring a tissue paper and wipe on the floor!” She said with even more sighs, definitely learnt from Harris’ permissive reaction. “You are definitely not paying attention.”
“I am trying, ma’am… seriously.”
“Whatever, we will let this dog keep running for 5 hours.” She said. “Lunch time is near.”
“Yeeahh, no thanks to canned SPAMs.” Harris said sarcastically. “I mean, the smell from nutrient pack is very gross. And I am hardly having mood for eating.”
Suddenly baffled. “D-did you just tried THAT dog food, sir?!” She is getting more nervous when he just said ‘smell’, does she mishear it as ‘taste’?
“Dog food?! NO!” Harris’s eyes are widening. “That goo is made of dog food?!”
“Well… kind of?” She even questioned it too. “Modern canned dog rations are made of- “
Harris just yells as he quickly leaves the laboratory. She then shrugs and look at the standing guard.
“I have no idea why they still insist to have you guarding us.”
The guard just shrugs too, but he rather not questions anything as he keeps watching at the galloping hellhound. Always better safe than sorry, works for nearly every companies.
[LOG END]
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Original Hellhound Concept from , who encourage me to perfect it with stories.
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