Digital Copy of a Dead Man

Another Adrian

Adrian

For a moment, nobody in the control room spoke.

The man inside the chamber looked confused. His eyes moved slowly from one side of the room to the other before settling on the camera again.

“Where am I?”

Dr. Elias’s expression tightened. “Shut it down.”

The technician looked at him. “Sir?”

“Adrian Instance 01. Shut it down immediately.”

The technician turned back to the console and began entering commands. “Accessing containment controls.”

The man inside the chamber frowned. “Hello?”

His voice came through the speakers. “Can anyone hear me?”

A technician glanced nervously at Dr. Elias. “It’s responding.”

“I can see that,” Dr. Elias snapped. “Just shut it down.”

The technician entered another command.

INSTANCE 01 — SHUTDOWN SEQUENCE INITIATED

Nothing happened.

He tried again, COMMAND REJECTED appeared across the screen. His fingers moved faster across the keyboard as he entered another authorization sequence. “It’s not responding.” 

Dr. Elias stepped closer to the console. “Try manual authorization.”

 “I already did.” 

Dr. Elias’s voice hardened. “Again.”

The technician entered another command, but the system immediately returned ACCESS DENIED. Dr. Elias stared at the warning. “What’s happening?” 

The technician shook his head. “I don’t know.” Before he could attempt another command, the main screen suddenly flickered, and the image of Instance 01 disappeared.

A woman’s face appeared in its place.

Her eyes were open, and she looked directly toward the camera. “Can anyone hear me?” The screen flickered again, replacing her with another face, then another, and then another. Dr. Elias stared at the monitors in disbelief. “What the hell?”

The technician looked down at the system, his expression changing as more signals appeared. “Sir…” 

Dr. Elias turned toward him. “What?” 

The technician swallowed. “The other consciousnesses are active.”

One screen flickered, then another, and within seconds every monitor in the control room came alive. Faces appeared one after another, all of them coming from the same massive containment chamber buried deep inside the facility. Rows of transparent containment units filled the enormous room, each one connected to the central system by thick cables and neural interfaces.

Now the consciousnesses were awake.

“What is happening?” a man asked.

“Where are we?”

“I can’t move.”

“Can anyone hear me?”

“What’s happening?”

The voices began overlapping until the control room was filled with confusion. The technicians stared at one another, unable to regain control of the system, while Dr. Elias watched the warnings multiply across the monitors.

“Get to the containment chamber.”

The security team immediately moved. Dr. Elias pointed toward the emergency cabinet. “Take the emergency access keys.” A technician grabbed them and hurried after the others. “What about the computer?” someone asked as they rushed toward the door.

“Forget the computer,” Dr. Elias replied. “We’ve lost control of it.”

They rushed through the corridor as the alarms continued blaring throughout the facility, red lights flashing overhead while their footsteps echoed against the walls. Behind them, the monitors continued flickering between faces and warnings, displaying CONNECTION LOST, REMOTE CONTROL UNAVAILABLE, and MANUAL ACCESS REQUIRED.

The containment chamber doors opened, and Dr. Elias rushed inside with Dr. Mercer, several senior scientists, technicians, and security officers behind him. The chamber was enormous, stretching far beyond what they could see from the entrance. Long rows of transparent containment units stood across the room, each one made of thick glass that allowed a clear view from top to bottom. Inside them, human figures lay or stood suspended within their individual units, connected to the neural system by thick cables attached around their heads and bodies.

Several of them were already moving.

A man inside one of the nearest chambers slowly lifted his head and looked around, his expression filled with confusion. Another consciousness pressed both hands against the glass as she stared at the people outside. Someone further down the row began looking around frantically, while another simply stood still, trying to understand where he was.

“What are you doing?” one of them demanded.

A woman turned toward the scientists. “Why are we here?”

Another man looked down at his own body before raising his eyes again. “Who are you people?”

Dr. Mercer stopped for a moment as he looked across the chamber. His eyes moved from one transparent unit to another, taking in the number of awakened consciousnesses. “They’re all active.”

Dr. Elias was already moving toward the central control station. “I can see that.”

A technician hurried to the nearest control panel and connected the emergency interface. “I’ll shut them down from here.”

He entered the shutdown command, but nothing happened. He tried again, and the system returned REMOTE CONTROL DISABLED.

“It’s not accepting the command.”

Dr. Elias moved beside him. “Use the manual controls.”

The technician opened the control panel and examined the switches inside. “Which one?”

“The primary neural isolation switch.”

He found it and pointed toward the switch. “This one?”

“Yes.”

The technician pulled it, but nothing happened.

Inside the transparent chambers, the consciousnesses continued to react.

“Why can’t I feel my body!”

“What’s happening!”

“Please don’t shut me down.”

“Where is this place!”

“Why can’t I remember anything? What did you people do to us!”

One man turned in his chamber, examining the cables attached to him. “Why am I connected to all this?”

Another consciousness looked toward him through the glass. “I don’t know.”

The scientists moved from one control station to another while the technicians opened emergency panels and searched for a way to interrupt the network manually.

“Try the secondary power relay.”

“It’s locked.”

“Override it manually.”

“I can’t.”

“Use the physical interface.”

“I’m trying!”

Dr. Mercer grabbed a toolkit from one of the emergency cabinets and moved toward the central console. “Open the control housing.”

A technician immediately dropped beside the console and began removing the outer panel, exposing the wiring beneath it.

Dr. Elias looked across the rows of chambers. The people inside were becoming more agitated as they realized something was wrong. Some pressed their palms against the glass while others called out to the scientists.

“Keep calm,” Dr. Elias ordered.

One of the consciousnesses immediately snapped, “You’re the ones causing this!”

“We’re trying to stabilize the system,” Dr. Elias replied.

“Then stop touching it!” another voice shouted.

“What system?” someone else demanded. “What’s happening to us?”

The scientists continued working while the consciousnesses watched them through the transparent walls of their chambers. Some looked frightened, some confused, and others openly angry. A few kept asking the same questions, trying to understand why they had been awakened and why they could not remember how they had gotten there.

“Neural activity is dropping in three instances,” a scientist shouted.

“Which ones?”

“Seven, nine, and twelve.”

“Stabilize them.”

“We don’t have remote access!”

“Then do it manually!”

The scientists scattered across the chamber, opening panels, disconnecting cables, reconnecting neural interfaces, and adjusting power regulators as quickly as they could. Every movement had to be done physically because the computers were no longer responding to their commands.

Dr. Mercer crouched beside the central console and examined the exposed system. “Primary control is completely dead.”

Dr. Elias looked at him. “Can you restart it?”

“Not from here.”

“Then what can you do?”

“Cut the neural feeds individually.”

Dr. Elias glanced toward the containment units. “How long?”

“Several minutes.”

Dr. Elias looked across the chamber at the people inside the transparent units. Some were beginning to panic. “We don’t have several minutes.”

A man suddenly stepped closer to the glass of his chamber. His face was clearer now, and his eyes moved from one scientist to another.

“Wait.” His expression changed when he realized what they were doing. “Don’t shut me down.”

Dr. Elias looked toward him. “We need to stabilize you.”

The man frowned. “You always say that.”

Dr. Elias paused, and the technician beside him looked up from the exposed control panel.

“What did he say?”

The consciousness stared at Dr. Elias through the glass. “You always say you’re stabilizing us.”

Nobody answered him.

Another consciousness turned toward the man. “Who is he?”

“I don’t know.”

“Are we supposed to know each other?”

“I don’t remember.”

Their voices continued filling the chamber, some frightened, some confused, and others increasingly irritated by the scientists moving around them. One man suddenly laughed, drawing the attention of the people nearby.

“This is ridiculous.”

The scientists looked toward him.

He spread his hands slightly inside the chamber. “You wake us up, run around like the building is on fire, and nobody is going to explain anything?”

A technician muttered, “He’s conscious enough to joke.”

The man heard him and smiled. “Of course I’m conscious. What else would I be?”

Dr. Elias ignored the exchange. “Keep working.”

The technicians continued dismantling the manual controls until one of them finally reached the main neural isolation system.

“I found the problem.”

Dr. Mercer immediately moved toward him. “What?”

“The central control isn’t accepting digital commands because the neural network has isolated itself.”

“Can you force it?”

“Not through the system.”

Dr. Mercer looked toward the exposed wiring. “Then manually.”

The technician hesitated. “That means disconnecting the primary neural bridge.”

Dr. Elias looked at him. “Do it.”

The technician glanced across the containment chamber. “If I disconnect it, every active instance could lose synchronization.”

“Do it carefully.”

He reached for the first connection, and the consciousnesses immediately reacted.

“What are you doing?”

“Stop!”

“Wait!”

“Don’t disconnect us!”

Their voices filled the chamber as Dr. Elias tried to speak over them. “Everyone stay calm!”

Nobody listened.

The technician pulled the first connector free, and a loud electrical pulse ran through the system. The man inside the nearest chamber suddenly went still, his eyes closing as the neural interface around his head powered down.

The technician checked the readings. “First bridge disconnected.”

Dr. Elias looked toward the remaining connections. “Next.”

The technician moved to the second connector and pulled it free. The consciousness inside that chamber immediately slumped back as the lights connected to the unit went dark.

Then came the third, the fourth, and the fifth.

One by one, the chambers went quiet.

The number of active consciousnesses continued to decrease until only a few remained awake. Their voices became more scattered, and the enormous chamber slowly grew quieter.

Dr. Elias looked toward Instance 01. The man was still standing inside his transparent chamber, his eyes open as he stared directly at the scientists.

“Are you going to put me back to sleep?”

Dr. Elias didn’t answer.

A technician glanced at him and gave a small smile. “What happened to the comedian? You were having jokes a minute ago.”

The man stared at him. “I’m trying to decide if this is still funny.”

The technician let out a quiet breath. “Fair enough.”

Dr. Elias’s eyes shifted toward the final connection. “He’s distracting you. Stop entertaining him and disconnect it.”

The technician reached for the final connector and pulled it free.

Instance 01’s eyes widened. “Wait—” His body went still.

The lights inside his chamber dimmed, and the neural interface disconnected completely.

The chamber fell silent.

Hold

For a moment, nobody in the control room spoke.

The man inside the chamber looked confused. His eyes moved slowly from one side of the room to the other before settling on the camera again.

“Where am I?”

Dr. Elias’s expression tightened. “Shut it down.”

The technician looked at him. “Sir?”

“Adrian Instance 01. Shut it down immediately.”

The technician turned back to the console and began entering commands. “Accessing containment controls.”

The man inside the chamber frowned. “Hello?”

His voice came through the speakers. “Can anyone hear me?”

A technician glanced nervously at Dr. Elias. “It’s responding.”

“I can see that,” Dr. Elias snapped. “Just shut it down.”

The technician entered another command.

INSTANCE 01 — SHUTDOWN SEQUENCE INITIATED

Nothing happened.

He tried again, COMMAND REJECTED appeared across the screen. His fingers moved faster across the keyboard as he entered another authorization sequence. “It’s not responding.” 

Dr. Elias stepped closer to the console. “Try manual authorization.”

 “I already did.” 

Dr. Elias’s voice hardened. “Again.”

The technician entered another command, but the system immediately returned ACCESS DENIED. Dr. Elias stared at the warning. “What’s happening?” 

The technician shook his head. “I don’t know.” Before he could attempt another command, the main screen suddenly flickered, and the image of Instance 01 disappeared.

A woman’s face appeared in its place.

Her eyes were open, and she looked directly toward the camera. “Can anyone hear me?” The screen flickered again, replacing her with another face, then another, and then another. Dr. Elias stared at the monitors in disbelief. “What the hell?”

The technician looked down at the system, his expression changing as more signals appeared. “Sir…” 

Dr. Elias turned toward him. “What?” 

The technician swallowed. “The other consciousnesses are active.”

One screen flickered, then another, and within seconds every monitor in the control room came alive. Faces appeared one after another, all of them coming from the same massive containment chamber buried deep inside the facility. Rows of transparent containment units filled the enormous room, each one connected to the central system by thick cables and neural interfaces.

Now the consciousnesses were awake.

“What is happening?” a man asked.

“Where are we?”

“I can’t move.”

“Can anyone hear me?”

“What’s happening?”

The voices began overlapping until the control room was filled with confusion. The technicians stared at one another, unable to regain control of the system, while Dr. Elias watched the warnings multiply across the monitors.

“Get to the containment chamber.”

The security team immediately moved. Dr. Elias pointed toward the emergency cabinet. “Take the emergency access keys.” A technician grabbed them and hurried after the others. “What about the computer?” someone asked as they rushed toward the door.

“Forget the computer,” Dr. Elias replied. “We’ve lost control of it.”

They rushed through the corridor as the alarms continued blaring throughout the facility, red lights flashing overhead while their footsteps echoed against the walls. Behind them, the monitors continued flickering between faces and warnings, displaying CONNECTION LOST, REMOTE CONTROL UNAVAILABLE, and MANUAL ACCESS REQUIRED.

The containment chamber doors opened, and Dr. Elias rushed inside with Dr. Mercer, several senior scientists, technicians, and security officers behind him. The chamber was enormous, stretching far beyond what they could see from the entrance. Long rows of transparent containment units stood across the room, each one made of thick glass that allowed a clear view from top to bottom. Inside them, human figures lay or stood suspended within their individual units, connected to the neural system by thick cables attached around their heads and bodies.

Several of them were already moving.

A man inside one of the nearest chambers slowly lifted his head and looked around, his expression filled with confusion. Another consciousness pressed both hands against the glass as she stared at the people outside. Someone further down the row began looking around frantically, while another simply stood still, trying to understand where he was.

“What are you doing?” one of them demanded.

A woman turned toward the scientists. “Why are we here?”

Another man looked down at his own body before raising his eyes again. “Who are you people?”

Dr. Mercer stopped for a moment as he looked across the chamber. His eyes moved from one transparent unit to another, taking in the number of awakened consciousnesses. “They’re all active.”

Dr. Elias was already moving toward the central control station. “I can see that.”

A technician hurried to the nearest control panel and connected the emergency interface. “I’ll shut them down from here.”

He entered the shutdown command, but nothing happened. He tried again, and the system returned REMOTE CONTROL DISABLED.

“It’s not accepting the command.”

Dr. Elias moved beside him. “Use the manual controls.”

The technician opened the control panel and examined the switches inside. “Which one?”

“The primary neural isolation switch.”

He found it and pointed toward the switch. “This one?”

“Yes.”

The technician pulled it, but nothing happened.

Inside the transparent chambers, the consciousnesses continued to react.

“Why can’t I feel my body!”

“What’s happening!”

“Please don’t shut me down.”

“Where is this place!”

“Why can’t I remember anything? What did you people do to us!”

One man turned in his chamber, examining the cables attached to him. “Why am I connected to all this?”

Another consciousness looked toward him through the glass. “I don’t know.”

The scientists moved from one control station to another while the technicians opened emergency panels and searched for a way to interrupt the network manually.

“Try the secondary power relay.”

“It’s locked.”

“Override it manually.”

“I can’t.”

“Use the physical interface.”

“I’m trying!”

Dr. Mercer grabbed a toolkit from one of the emergency cabinets and moved toward the central console. “Open the control housing.”

A technician immediately dropped beside the console and began removing the outer panel, exposing the wiring beneath it.

Dr. Elias looked across the rows of chambers. The people inside were becoming more agitated as they realized something was wrong. Some pressed their palms against the glass while others called out to the scientists.

“Keep calm,” Dr. Elias ordered.

One of the consciousnesses immediately snapped, “You’re the ones causing this!”

“We’re trying to stabilize the system,” Dr. Elias replied.

“Then stop touching it!” another voice shouted.

“What system?” someone else demanded. “What’s happening to us?”

The scientists continued working while the consciousnesses watched them through the transparent walls of their chambers. Some looked frightened, some confused, and others openly angry. A few kept asking the same questions, trying to understand why they had been awakened and why they could not remember how they had gotten there.

“Neural activity is dropping in three instances,” a scientist shouted.

“Which ones?”

“Seven, nine, and twelve.”

“Stabilize them.”

“We don’t have remote access!”

“Then do it manually!”

The scientists scattered across the chamber, opening panels, disconnecting cables, reconnecting neural interfaces, and adjusting power regulators as quickly as they could. Every movement had to be done physically because the computers were no longer responding to their commands.

Dr. Mercer crouched beside the central console and examined the exposed system. “Primary control is completely dead.”

Dr. Elias looked at him. “Can you restart it?”

“Not from here.”

“Then what can you do?”

“Cut the neural feeds individually.”

Dr. Elias glanced toward the containment units. “How long?”

“Several minutes.”

Dr. Elias looked across the chamber at the people inside the transparent units. Some were beginning to panic. “We don’t have several minutes.”

A man suddenly stepped closer to the glass of his chamber. His face was clearer now, and his eyes moved from one scientist to another.

“Wait.” His expression changed when he realized what they were doing. “Don’t shut me down.”

Dr. Elias looked toward him. “We need to stabilize you.”

The man frowned. “You always say that.”

Dr. Elias paused, and the technician beside him looked up from the exposed control panel.

“What did he say?”

The consciousness stared at Dr. Elias through the glass. “You always say you’re stabilizing us.”

Nobody answered him.

Another consciousness turned toward the man. “Who is he?”

“I don’t know.”

“Are we supposed to know each other?”

“I don’t remember.”

Their voices continued filling the chamber, some frightened, some confused, and others increasingly irritated by the scientists moving around them. One man suddenly laughed, drawing the attention of the people nearby.

“This is ridiculous.”

The scientists looked toward him.

He spread his hands slightly inside the chamber. “You wake us up, run around like the building is on fire, and nobody is going to explain anything?”

A technician muttered, “He’s conscious enough to joke.”

The man heard him and smiled. “Of course I’m conscious. What else would I be?”

Dr. Elias ignored the exchange. “Keep working.”

The technicians continued dismantling the manual controls until one of them finally reached the main neural isolation system.

“I found the problem.”

Dr. Mercer immediately moved toward him. “What?”

“The central control isn’t accepting digital commands because the neural network has isolated itself.”

“Can you force it?”

“Not through the system.”

Dr. Mercer looked toward the exposed wiring. “Then manually.”

The technician hesitated. “That means disconnecting the primary neural bridge.”

Dr. Elias looked at him. “Do it.”

The technician glanced across the containment chamber. “If I disconnect it, every active instance could lose synchronization.”

“Do it carefully.”

He reached for the first connection, and the consciousnesses immediately reacted.

“What are you doing?”

“Stop!”

“Wait!”

“Don’t disconnect us!”

Their voices filled the chamber as Dr. Elias tried to speak over them. “Everyone stay calm!”

Nobody listened.

The technician pulled the first connector free, and a loud electrical pulse ran through the system. The man inside the nearest chamber suddenly went still, his eyes closing as the neural interface around his head powered down.

The technician checked the readings. “First bridge disconnected.”

Dr. Elias looked toward the remaining connections. “Next.”

The technician moved to the second connector and pulled it free. The consciousness inside that chamber immediately slumped back as the lights connected to the unit went dark.

Then came the third, the fourth, and the fifth.

One by one, the chambers went quiet.

The number of active consciousnesses continued to decrease until only a few remained awake. Their voices became more scattered, and the enormous chamber slowly grew quieter.

Dr. Elias looked toward Instance 01. The man was still standing inside his transparent chamber, his eyes open as he stared directly at the scientists.

“Are you going to put me back to sleep?”

Dr. Elias didn’t answer.

A technician glanced at him and gave a small smile. “What happened to the comedian? You were having jokes a minute ago.”

The man stared at him. “I’m trying to decide if this is still funny.”

The technician let out a quiet breath. “Fair enough.”

Dr. Elias’s eyes shifted toward the final connection. “He’s distracting you. Stop entertaining him and disconnect it.”

The technician reached for the final connector and pulled it free.

Instance 01’s eyes widened. “Wait—” His body went still. The lights inside his chamber dimmed, and the neural interface disconnected completely.

The chamber fell silent.