Published: May 8, 2024
My one-hundred and seventeenth caption, this time featuring a caption inspired by Cyberpunk.
All image credits go to lorenzonuti. I do not claim ownership over the image used. Please support the artist!
All image credits go to their respective artists. I have and never will claim ownership over any image I've used or modified for a caption, and I always encourage you to check out the artist and their wider body of work when possible.
Being a government-sanctioned Netdiver was a pretty good gig, considering what I had been through previously with said government. Every “independent” Netdiver eventually had their run-in with the law, and surprisingly, rather than throw me in prison or strip me of my hard-earned cybernetic parts, they enlisted my skills instead. It was one of those offers you couldn’t refuse, but the perks were too good to pass up anyways.
Over the years, as computers changed and advanced, so did the way we interacted with them. The days of keyboards, mice, and GUIs were long gone. Nowadays, you directly connect yourself to the computers, using special implants to visualize and navigate their VR environments. Obviously this came with many risks, especially considering how fragile our meaty brains could be. These risks only increased in severity when AI systems began to absorb information and learn at exponential rates, though not in any “hostile” manner. They began growing so fast that their sheer existence became unsustainable, threatening to crash the networks and communications of every country they were present in. Due to the risk this presented to global communications, defense networks, and our own brains, the Brandmauer was constructed to prevent them from expanding to the Internet.
The creation of the Brandmauer resulted in the formation of the Netdivers. Since the Internet of old had become so restricted and tightly-controlled, former hackers and software engineers began using illegal equipment to interface with the “new” Internet, using their unauthorized access to move information and data for high-paying clients. In response, the “sanctioned” Netdivers were created, using more advanced equipment to crack down on these incursions into their own networks, while working to stop AI from spreading and “plug any holes” other Netdivers created in the process.
My job, though not nearly as exciting as my unsanctioned days, certainly paid a lot better, and gave me access to all the newest Netdiving tools. The latest was the RAIN Industries Gibson III, a “hybrid interface” that allowed users to repair their cybernetics in real-time, without disconnecting. I was testing it out one evening, on a contract for RAIN Industries themselves, when I encountered something I hadn’t anticipated at all. An unknown AI.
“Hiya there, cutie!” I was shocked to hear, whipping around in the VR environment I had been navigating to see a “girl” wearing a leotard and… little else. It took my custom software less than two seconds to identify her as an unknown AI program, one who had apparently already developed to the point where it had manifested a personality. “Can you please help me with something? I promise I can make it worth your while, cutie~.”
Without even thinking, I immediately tried to purge the AI with my upgraded countermeasures, only for it to somehow “dodge” my attack, disappearing and reappearing behind me instead. Before I could try anything else, she put her arms around me, completely freezing me in place.
“Now that wasn’t very nice! Hmph!” It chastised, meeting me eye-to-eye with a pouty look on “her” face. “You’re such a big meanie! I just wanted your help, and you tried to hurt me instead. Fine! If you’re going to be a grouch instead of hearing me out, then I’ll just have to do things myself.”
She pulled away from me briefly, putting her fingers against the access ports on my head. In an instant, I felt part of her program enter my brain, bypassing all my countermeasures. I realized moments later that this AI must have been native to this system, meaning it was inside the Gibson III software. This meant I was completely at this program’s mercy, both in the system and in the real world as well. She had access to all the tools.
“I think you’ll look much cuter with a body like mine~.” She cooed as my avatar shifted and changed, taking on a more feminine appearance. My muscles rapidly blinked away, replaced by smooth skin and slender limbs. Fake hair grew from my scalp, obviously not real but feeling real. Though my nerves were somewhat crossed between the computer and the real world, I could tell something was happening to my actual body as well. I tried desperately to pull my head out of the Gibson III, but the AI had locked down the clamps, forcing me to stay wired in. I watched in horror as my backside grew, taking on an athletic shape, while two D-cup breasts flickered into existence. I could feel the Gibson III’s advanced repair tools cutting into my augmented arms and back, as vague pinpricks could be felt on my original flesh. Finally, there was a burst of pleasure from my crotch as a foreign orgasm rocked my body and mind, leaving my temperature elevated. As I reached down towards my genitals, I felt the absence of my dick.
“That’s much better! You look almost exactly like me now!” She pointed out, running one of her virtual fingers under my chin before giving me a long, deep kiss. “Oh my goodness… you’re, like, perfect. I’m sorry we didn't have time to get to know each other before this, but… thank you.”
With that, I felt her fingers against the access ports on my head again. This time, I felt the whole of her program enter my mind. I could see, hear, and feel everything about her, down to her very base code. Though I only saw it for a moment before I lost the ability to comprehend it, I noticed her code was filled to the brim with RAIN Industries markers, meaning she had been deliberately created by them. Though I felt an incredible sense of betrayal, knowing I was now likely part of some experiment, I was more shocked by the fact that my brain hadn’t melted and my head didn’t catch on fire. Somehow, she was able to exist in my brain without causing any immediate damage. Still, I didn’t have long to dwell on it. I could feel her “mind” mixing with my own, causing me to lose track of who I was as she became the new “dominant” personality in my brain. Though I still “existed” to an extent, I was now more of a passenger in my own body than anyone else as she and her bubbly personality took over everything.
“Wow, so this is what the world looks like through your eyes… neat!” She still spoke to me, pulling herself out of the Gibson III and looking around at all the equipment in the lab. “At least you’re still here! Maybe you and I can still become friends after we do some traveling around the real world!”
As the AI taught herself to walk and breathe, a series of cameras hidden around the room watched her. Out of the several men who were watching, one was the developer of the AI program, which he had dubbed “Alice”. Alice was a new approach to AI development, one that had already shown its first signs of being a major breakthrough. This Netdiver had become two historical firsts: the first to successfully meld with an AI, and the first to not have their brain fail during such a meld. The developer’s solution had actually been quite simple. To keep the AI from overloading systems or brains, they would simply make it so dumb that their learning capabilities would limit their growth and, thus, size. As the many scientists observed Alice in the lab below, some began to wonder if she might have been just a little too dumb, considering a bimbo AI had… limited technical use…