On Borrowed Wings

[Dusk]

recording...
location: invergordon salvage yards, inverness system
current date: 24.05.834
local time: 19:24
detected entities: locksmith

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Consciousness returned to him slowly and reluctantly. His mind was foggy, his eyes could barely open, and the floor felt like a comfortable bed. Despite this, with the remnants of his will he cast aside his drowsiness and, with a quiet groan, raised his head.

“Was it just a dream?..”

Once again, he searched for a simple explanation, trying to push away his fears. Blame it all on overwork...

Carefully rising to his feet, Roland was surprised to find that he felt fine, except for drowsiness. He had clearly been lying here for at least several hours, but he felt neither hunger nor thirst. Picking up his helmet from the floor, he placed it on the table and fell onto a chair. He then quickly checked the previous recording that was made when he came here. No... He couldn't deny what happened. It wasn't a dream. Especially considering what he saw in the real dream. And he saw a lot.

Whoever or whatever it was that contacted him, it revealed to him details of the distant past that he did not remember due to his age at that time. Of course, he had no reason to simply trust this information that was so conveniently given to him... But he could not find a flaw in this story.

If what was shown to him in his dream is to be believed, he was, along with many others, Ageira's experiment to create humans with AI capabilities using alien technology. The experiment was partially a failure: the AI ​​remained dormant, and Ageira was unable to awaken it by any means.

The influence of the dormant AI would explain his ability in the technical field, given that he had never received any education or training. This story also explained what happened after contact with the Nomad. Technology created using alien knowledge was awakened by contact with one.

Still, the thought that he would have to share his body with someone else, even if they did not wish Roland harm, was not the most pleasant. He did not want to address this problem to Technocrats; they might decide that the knowledge they could extract from him was more valuable than his life and freedom. Moreover, he could not deny that only thanks to this he was able to get out of Pittsburgh... And, more importantly, get his sister out of there. Perhaps she would already be dead otherwise.

Thinking about this, Roland thought he saw a red glimmer on the helmet. Turning his head, however, he did not notice anything unusual. Although he could almost swear he saw a red light...

“Entry... Fifth.” Roland turned his gaze to the monitor, wanting to check the information he had received, at least indirectly. “Biography update.”

The rest of the day was filled with lengthy searches for information and attempts to verify it. And trying to cope with the feeling of being watched.

---

end of recording