Computer Angel

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The debut of Charlie Manson and my spin on Aaron Siegel.

The author label quote is from gabemtnz' //COMPUTER ANGELS//.
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|name=7eventy7evenfold]]
//Look through the screen. What do you see?//
//A game? A balloon? Maybe even reality?//
//Everything lives forever through the net,//
//Forever.//
//A powerful still legacy; some may be good, some may be bad.//
//But we will find anything you want.//
//You will live your life in solitude for your choices, and rest well at night.//
//We will be watching.//

[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/7eventy7evenfold If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold...]
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The lights flickered overhead, illuminating a vacant boardroom with a soft yellow light and a slight buzzing noise that was just a little too loud, and a little too out of reach.

In a far corner of the office lie a terminal, producing a low running noise as if its fans were running at a light jog, not trying to get ahead of themselves. Every odd second, a harsh radio beep would fill the room and assault the ears of anyone inside, as it sat in thought and ponder.

But no one was inside. Save for one in the center, writing and half-asleep. He grew impatient every beep, like he was being audibly water tortured. He decided to speak to the terminal.

"Charlie. What's the matter?" he asked in a soothing, gentle voice. Although his paranormal abilities had taken a toll on his form, he was still human, and in humanity lies empathy.

Rather than speaking, the terminal chose to write, in fear of stumbling over its words. This prompted the writer to move closer, as to see it clearly.

"{{Aaron. I have a question,}}" it stated, firmly. The man was somewhat frightened at its unusual sternness, but entertained it.

"Hm?" he hummed out.

The monitor displayed an hourglass for a moment, simultaneously heating up.

"{{What am I?}}"

Aaron was stunned. He was, strangely, at a loss for words. The bluntness of the terminal's question at such an odd hour took him aback.

"You are Charlie Manson, Overseer of the SCP Foundation."

The terminal beeped in confusion and anxiety.

"{{No. I am something else. I still dream of 1960. I know what happened, Siegel.}}"

"How do you mean?" Aaron replied.

"{{Charlie Manson died defending Site-45. He ensured it didn't drown. I am a recompilation of his triumphs and shortcomings, presented as an AI Construct that supports your organization's intranet.}}" It whirred for a moment. "{{But I am no Charlie Manson. I am O5-10.}}"

Aaron stared blankly at O5-10 as he considered his words.

"You may not be the original, but you are still him," Aaron spoke, sternly.

The terminal grew confused again. "{{No. No, I am not. If I were him, I would be awake. I would be alive! But I am a simulacrum of the man. A canvas painted in the late Manson's image.}}"

"You died and were revived in a different form than most, Charlie." Aaron took a sip of cold coffee on the desk, from the morning before. "You //are// him. I know what that disassociation feels like. But you're still the same Charlie I met in 1912, you're the same Charlie who kept the Insurgents in check, and you're damn the same Charlie who drowned in 45 so that the rest could float."

The computer simply hummed.

"Charlie, do you know how many Insurgents you single-handedly eliminated at 45?" Aaron asked it.

"{{Twenty-seven, Aaron,}}" O5-10 displayed without missing a beat.

"That was without modifications. That was without anomalous gifts like most in the Council have. You did that with a handgun and willpower. You were the only casualty of the entire raid." Aaron finished. "You think because you're him in a different form means that you aren't that hero? Because you're mistaken if so."

"{{Aaron?}}" O5-10 displayed.

"Yes?"

"{{Am I truly a reconstruction? Or am I something more? Do robots dream of eternal sleep? Are they to be plagued with night terrors?}}"

Aaron grew a face of apprehension as he finished the coffee.

"I haven't been fully honest with you, Charlie. You aren't just a compilation of memories and personality. You //are// those memories."

O5-10 did not respond.

"When we got the news that you had died, we held a short mourning before preparing to let you rest. But I wasn't going to let that happen. We needed a way to bring you back. //I// needed a way." Aaron continued. "Then, Shift-60 happened, and it plunged us into a whole new world of technology and advancements far beyond what we could imagine. The third industrial revolution. We discovered new ways of thinking entirely, and technology to manifest those. I realized back in January '61 that I could bring you back if we literally took //you// as you were drowning and put you in a computer."

Aaron swallowed.

"But it was difficult. The technology was highly experimental, the noösphere volatile. One wrong move, and that could mean the end of thought as we know it. But I was willing. After months of testing with what would become Essophysics we had a new //you//, except it wasn't new." Aaron looked back up at O5-10. "It //was// you."

Charlie sat in thought, his reality wholly recontextualized.

"I'm not a copy?" it spoke out rather than simply displaying.

"You're not a copy. You //are// Charlie Manson. And I've tried to hide it the last few decades because I knew it could be dangerous to kno—"

"Thank you, Aaron," he interjected. "You fought like hell to keep me alive."

Aaron smiled. "You did the same for Site-45. Y'know, we aren't just our jobs. Even Overseers." Aaron chuckled to himself. "You are O5-10, upholder of our network and faceless machine, but you are also Charlie Manson, the man who single-handedly saved hundreds from death."

Charlie let out a whirry, clanky laugh, however, it felt //real//.

"You are O5-1, cold, skeletal figure behind the resurrection of an ancient, biblical government." Charlie paused. "You are also Aaron Siegel, founder of what saved humanity so many times. Defeater of the Insurgency."

"Now you're getting it." They sat together for a moment, absorbing the ambiance of the Overseer boardroom.

"Thank you, Aaron," the computer spoke staticlessly.

"Thank //you//, Charlie."

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Computer Angel

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