"And the last thing I'd want is to inconvenience you like that," Brainiac 5 managed dryly. He sincerely doubted that they were here to actually help him in any way - at best, their words meant that somehow this would benefit them while also giving him some minor benefits - but he could at least accept that the doctor didn't seem intent on killing him, accidentally or otherwise.
He just didn't seem to much care as to the amount of pain he'd put the Coluan through earlier.
He closed his eyes again as the doctor went back to work, feeling the distant tug as the scalpel opened up his skin and the odd feeling as something was slid into place. A feeling which would unnervingly vanish not long afterwards. Now that the doctor had told him what to watch for, Brainiac 5 found himself concentrating to try and detect the first signs of any burning sensations, though fortunately there was nothing other than the discomfort of the procedure itself.
Finally it was done, and apparently finished entirely. He didn't quite sigh in relief, but the tension did start to fall away from him slowly. He'd made it through this nightmare without giving in to the doctor's suggestions that he could simply pass the burden to another. He hadn't been weak.
But then the doctor spoke again, and a thread of apprehension slid down his spine. "What do you mean? What catch?"
And while the doctor hadn't been forthcoming on what the experiment was designed to improve, he had no such issues with telling him what the cost was. Brainiac 5's stomach twisted, and suddenly he again felt as sick and afraid as he had earlier.
"You can't mean that," he said, the sudden dread sounding obvious even to himself. "You can't have gotten him back. It's not possible. It's not... I fought him off myself. There shouldn't have been anything left!"
He was so glad Brainy understood. It would be such a pain to lose a subject after going through all this work. The others, they'd known quite quickly whether their bodies would take to the implants. They'd perished after the first was inserted. To insert all three only to have the subject turn to ash upon the wind?
Thankfully, that was not to be. The boy was speaking lucidly and he was also acutely aware of what was going on around him. The doctor smiled as he began to clean up, putting the scalpels back into place for later disinfection, lining up the containers on the tray, and disposing of anything tainted with the Coluan's blood. "Oh, I assure you, it took quite a bit of work," he said, pulling the goggles off. There were spots of the boy's blood on it. The doctor smiled and dropped them into the hazardous waste bin, too.
"But his programming is much like any other, Brainiac 5. Nothing is ever fully deleted. Nothing is ever fully...lost." Taking one hand, he pushed the tray away, letting it slide off across the room. The lights lowered and the doctor leaned over Brainy, smiling through his mask. "You can't think we'd give you this prize for free, do you? Without him, you wouldn't be what you are. Without him, all we've done for you is for naught. So learn to get along, hm? I'd hate to see you burn from the inside and take the others down with you."
Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed. The same principle is true for information. It was one of the first, most basic lessons he'd learned on Colu, considered an underlying reason for why Coluans had decided to transition to inorganic forms all those years ago.
It also meant, of course, that it was perfectly reasonable for his ancestor's programming to have survived. After all, wasn't survival something that the original Brainiac had been exceptionally good at? Even the Coluan council had realised that removing the code wasn't entirely possible, which was why so many firewalls had been placed around it.
Before he'd broken them down anyway.
But now there weren't any firewalls to keep the Brainiac 1.0 code in line. And as he was organic, he hadn't a clue how to even begin purging it. Or what effects, if any, there would be. Introducing Brainiac to organic life forms had always had mixed results, according to the old records.
Unfortunately he didn't think there was anything that could be done about it now. But all the same, he had to try.
"You can't get along with the Brainiac 1.0 program," he informed the doctor through gritted teeth. "It's simply not an option. Allowing that program free access to my mind will undermine your research. Therefore you would be best to find a way to remove it as soon as possible if this project is really that important to you."
"Can't, can't, can't. What a negative way of thinking." One that had understandable and proven roots and reasons, but the doctor was never one to be daunted by such silly things as facts and past failures. Those could be overcome with more data and the right tweaking of the genetic code. He could force anything together if he knew the right sequence to splice or change or drop altogether.
But this boy was trying to resist and the doctor frowned, furrowing his brow slightly. "I'm afraid removing it would mean taking out your brain, Coluan. I could do that, of course, but I thought you might be opposed to the idea of a lobotomy."
And the doctor was too. After all that work? Just to remove it? How silly of the supposed Brainiac.
Pushing away from the table, the doctor turned and headed off into the dark, out of the circle of light that flooded the table. Once he returned to his observation room, that too would vanish, leaving Brainiac in pitch darkness, with only the meager light filtering in under the door to provide him with a line to freedom. "Whether he gains free access to your mind or not is up to you, Brainy. As I said, learn to get along. You like roommates, don't you? Think of it like that."
He disappeared into the shadows, lingering near the walls to watch Brainy for a moment. His smile returned and the doctor finally felt satisfied with what he'd done. "You'll learn to get along or he'll consume you. Consider this the second phase of the experiment. I'll be watching."
The lights clicked off. The doctor left as if he'd never existed in the first place. The restraints holding Brainy down were released, and somewhere in the inky black of the room, a door clicked as it unlocked.
He just didn't seem to much care as to the amount of pain he'd put the Coluan through earlier.
He closed his eyes again as the doctor went back to work, feeling the distant tug as the scalpel opened up his skin and the odd feeling as something was slid into place. A feeling which would unnervingly vanish not long afterwards. Now that the doctor had told him what to watch for, Brainiac 5 found himself concentrating to try and detect the first signs of any burning sensations, though fortunately there was nothing other than the discomfort of the procedure itself.
Finally it was done, and apparently finished entirely. He didn't quite sigh in relief, but the tension did start to fall away from him slowly. He'd made it through this nightmare without giving in to the doctor's suggestions that he could simply pass the burden to another. He hadn't been weak.
But then the doctor spoke again, and a thread of apprehension slid down his spine. "What do you mean? What catch?"
And while the doctor hadn't been forthcoming on what the experiment was designed to improve, he had no such issues with telling him what the cost was. Brainiac 5's stomach twisted, and suddenly he again felt as sick and afraid as he had earlier.
"You can't mean that," he said, the sudden dread sounding obvious even to himself. "You can't have gotten him back. It's not possible. It's not... I fought him off myself. There shouldn't have been anything left!"
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Thankfully, that was not to be. The boy was speaking lucidly and he was also acutely aware of what was going on around him. The doctor smiled as he began to clean up, putting the scalpels back into place for later disinfection, lining up the containers on the tray, and disposing of anything tainted with the Coluan's blood. "Oh, I assure you, it took quite a bit of work," he said, pulling the goggles off. There were spots of the boy's blood on it. The doctor smiled and dropped them into the hazardous waste bin, too.
"But his programming is much like any other, Brainiac 5. Nothing is ever fully deleted. Nothing is ever fully...lost." Taking one hand, he pushed the tray away, letting it slide off across the room. The lights lowered and the doctor leaned over Brainy, smiling through his mask. "You can't think we'd give you this prize for free, do you? Without him, you wouldn't be what you are. Without him, all we've done for you is for naught. So learn to get along, hm? I'd hate to see you burn from the inside and take the others down with you."
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It also meant, of course, that it was perfectly reasonable for his ancestor's programming to have survived. After all, wasn't survival something that the original Brainiac had been exceptionally good at? Even the Coluan council had realised that removing the code wasn't entirely possible, which was why so many firewalls had been placed around it.
Before he'd broken them down anyway.
But now there weren't any firewalls to keep the Brainiac 1.0 code in line. And as he was organic, he hadn't a clue how to even begin purging it. Or what effects, if any, there would be. Introducing Brainiac to organic life forms had always had mixed results, according to the old records.
Unfortunately he didn't think there was anything that could be done about it now. But all the same, he had to try.
"You can't get along with the Brainiac 1.0 program," he informed the doctor through gritted teeth. "It's simply not an option. Allowing that program free access to my mind will undermine your research. Therefore you would be best to find a way to remove it as soon as possible if this project is really that important to you."
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But this boy was trying to resist and the doctor frowned, furrowing his brow slightly. "I'm afraid removing it would mean taking out your brain, Coluan. I could do that, of course, but I thought you might be opposed to the idea of a lobotomy."
And the doctor was too. After all that work? Just to remove it? How silly of the supposed Brainiac.
Pushing away from the table, the doctor turned and headed off into the dark, out of the circle of light that flooded the table. Once he returned to his observation room, that too would vanish, leaving Brainiac in pitch darkness, with only the meager light filtering in under the door to provide him with a line to freedom. "Whether he gains free access to your mind or not is up to you, Brainy. As I said, learn to get along. You like roommates, don't you? Think of it like that."
He disappeared into the shadows, lingering near the walls to watch Brainy for a moment. His smile returned and the doctor finally felt satisfied with what he'd done. "You'll learn to get along or he'll consume you. Consider this the second phase of the experiment. I'll be watching."
The lights clicked off. The doctor left as if he'd never existed in the first place. The restraints holding Brainy down were released, and somewhere in the inky black of the room, a door clicked as it unlocked.
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