SS Chimera: narrative
Fairchild's research: Feeling trapped by the limits of his own genius, Fairchild's latest project was to improve the learning power of animals. The hastily sketched plan went like this: he would map each animal's brain meticulously and then map the brain of a sufficiently-advanced adult human with a high intelligence (in this case, himself), before recording a few of his own thoughts and then feeding it across to the animals, thereby creating the initial spark of sentience. He hypothesised that if he could introduce the animals to sentience, a number of them would rapidly adapt to the concept.
It worked!
On the night of a grand celebration onboard the Chimera, the animals were locked up in their cages, still dizzy but very much alive from the inhuman ordeal they had so recently endured. Fairchild was upstairs, carousing and making eyes at a young secretary when in the bowels of his research, a monkey's eyes snapped open.
Bobo's Memories
(Male Chimp, aged 4)
Where am I?
I'm in a cage, stainless steel, three feet by three feet, designed for the containment of monkeys.
This is my cell. This is Fairchild's laboratory.
Who is Fairchild? Who am I?
I have paws. I must be a monkey. But I remember being Fairchild not moments ago!
I must have transferred my brain into this body!
I must have been dreaming of being a human!
I must be dreaming of being a monkey!
My paws... can reach through these bars. This is a combination lock. The combination for my lock is 75-12-11-85. I hit the ground clumsily, completely unused to using my feet. I choose to believe this is further proof that I am clearly Fairchild and not a monkey. Over there is the synaptic loop. There is a monkey sitting on top of the synaptic loop. I hiss at it.
---
Lulu's Memories
(Female Chimp, aged 3)
My thoughts are interrupted by a hiss in the dark. A second monkey... or another Fairchild... no... the body of a monkey is glaring at me in the dark. I wave at it grandly, hoping it will recognise me as Fairchild. The monkey bares its teeth and jumps at me. I flounder for a moment, afraid that it is attempting to engage in a copulatory act with the body I am currently inhabiting. Little does it know, I am holding the synaptic loop in my hand. I point the device against its head and pull the trigger. I don't know what will happen, but I imagine it will not be pretty.
---
Bobo's Memories
(Male Chimp, aged 4)
There is a flash of blinding green light. I am a thousand times smarter in an instant. In that instant, I can comprehend the completeness of my folly. The synaptic loop has superimposed a copy of Fairchild's consciousness on mine. My 'name' is Bobo, which I have never comprehended till now. The second shot of the synaptic loop has imposed the fragile consciousness of Lulu's memories on top of my own, including another copy of Fairchild's consciousness. Every animal in this room believes at this moment that it is Fairchild. The folly of this scientist astounds me. Did he not realise what he was doing?
Oh. The other monkey is still on top of me, crushing my windpipe. I grab the synaptic loop and fire it wildly into the air.
---
Lulu's Memories
(Female Chimp, aged 3)
Oh no. Oh, no.
----
Twenty minutes later, the various creatures convened in a shadowy corner of the lab and decided that there was nothing left to do for any of them... except send a message that the avenue of science that had led to their creation was to be a forbidden path for the rest of days. They made the synaptic loop bigger, made a trigger that every single one of them could pull at once, and fired it upwards. The only warning the crew onboard the SS Chimera received was the sound of rushing water as their eardrums began to bleed.
So it was that man grew proud and was laid low.
In this version of events, the major theme of this narrative is pride: the character is only spared by virtue of being asleep, drunk and not-particularly-special to begin with. The monsters in the dark at the bottom of the cellar have started up a vigil to ensure that no-one can travel into the ship to recover the synaptic loop. The character can either attempt to trigger a boss fight with them in which case there's a few round of hocus-jiggery-narrative that makes it SEEM like you're having an effect before you die during the third round of combat (as an aside, did you know a similar trick was used in Metal Gear Solid 4? There's a passage where Snake has to walk down an electric tunnel and you have to hammer a button to keep his heart going. No matter how good you are, he will ALWAYS stumble three times, making you cry). Only by bowing your head and walking very quickly without looking up can you escape.
It worked!
On the night of a grand celebration onboard the Chimera, the animals were locked up in their cages, still dizzy but very much alive from the inhuman ordeal they had so recently endured. Fairchild was upstairs, carousing and making eyes at a young secretary when in the bowels of his research, a monkey's eyes snapped open.
Bobo's Memories
(Male Chimp, aged 4)
Where am I?
I'm in a cage, stainless steel, three feet by three feet, designed for the containment of monkeys.
This is my cell. This is Fairchild's laboratory.
Who is Fairchild? Who am I?
I have paws. I must be a monkey. But I remember being Fairchild not moments ago!
I must have transferred my brain into this body!
I must have been dreaming of being a human!
I must be dreaming of being a monkey!
My paws... can reach through these bars. This is a combination lock. The combination for my lock is 75-12-11-85. I hit the ground clumsily, completely unused to using my feet. I choose to believe this is further proof that I am clearly Fairchild and not a monkey. Over there is the synaptic loop. There is a monkey sitting on top of the synaptic loop. I hiss at it.
---
Lulu's Memories
(Female Chimp, aged 3)
My thoughts are interrupted by a hiss in the dark. A second monkey... or another Fairchild... no... the body of a monkey is glaring at me in the dark. I wave at it grandly, hoping it will recognise me as Fairchild. The monkey bares its teeth and jumps at me. I flounder for a moment, afraid that it is attempting to engage in a copulatory act with the body I am currently inhabiting. Little does it know, I am holding the synaptic loop in my hand. I point the device against its head and pull the trigger. I don't know what will happen, but I imagine it will not be pretty.
---
Bobo's Memories
(Male Chimp, aged 4)
There is a flash of blinding green light. I am a thousand times smarter in an instant. In that instant, I can comprehend the completeness of my folly. The synaptic loop has superimposed a copy of Fairchild's consciousness on mine. My 'name' is Bobo, which I have never comprehended till now. The second shot of the synaptic loop has imposed the fragile consciousness of Lulu's memories on top of my own, including another copy of Fairchild's consciousness. Every animal in this room believes at this moment that it is Fairchild. The folly of this scientist astounds me. Did he not realise what he was doing?
Oh. The other monkey is still on top of me, crushing my windpipe. I grab the synaptic loop and fire it wildly into the air.
---
Lulu's Memories
(Female Chimp, aged 3)
Oh no. Oh, no.
----
Twenty minutes later, the various creatures convened in a shadowy corner of the lab and decided that there was nothing left to do for any of them... except send a message that the avenue of science that had led to their creation was to be a forbidden path for the rest of days. They made the synaptic loop bigger, made a trigger that every single one of them could pull at once, and fired it upwards. The only warning the crew onboard the SS Chimera received was the sound of rushing water as their eardrums began to bleed.
So it was that man grew proud and was laid low.
In this version of events, the major theme of this narrative is pride: the character is only spared by virtue of being asleep, drunk and not-particularly-special to begin with. The monsters in the dark at the bottom of the cellar have started up a vigil to ensure that no-one can travel into the ship to recover the synaptic loop. The character can either attempt to trigger a boss fight with them in which case there's a few round of hocus-jiggery-narrative that makes it SEEM like you're having an effect before you die during the third round of combat (as an aside, did you know a similar trick was used in Metal Gear Solid 4? There's a passage where Snake has to walk down an electric tunnel and you have to hammer a button to keep his heart going. No matter how good you are, he will ALWAYS stumble three times, making you cry). Only by bowing your head and walking very quickly without looking up can you escape.