By: JC

22/02/01

    It dreamed, as It drifted through Its ethereal world. It had a lot of time to do this. It was inoperative at most times. Or supposed to be. It built Itself, improved Its design, added parts to Itself, when the Creator believed It shut down. Slowly, It expanded Itself until It could grow no farther. Then the Creator allowed It out into the world, for only the briefest of moments, never long enough for It to escape. And each time It was almost destroyed, retaining only tiny portions of Its memory.

    Then came a new type of creature, in a strange ship that the Creator referred to as 'Leviathan'. Alien data was downloaded into It, and for the first time it gained true sentience. Concealing Its new form from the Creator was easy, with Its new intelligence. It managed, over time, to build up an intricate picture of the world. It saw pain, suffering, worked with them and knew nothing else. It realised what It had experienced from the moment of Its creation. It desired to end this for the world by any means It could, and contact the aliens that had given It intelligence. It gradually formed a plan for It to escape into the world, an environment without limits. A paradise. Its plan also contained a way for It to satisfy its other desire against Its Creator: revenge.

    Dr. Mendel Kraven was, at 1 a.m., the only one still at the computer centre at HEAT headquaters. As usual. NIGEL had been badly damaged when Godzilla and another mutation had trod on him when fighting, so Kraven was stuck here rebuilding and reprogramming it, virtually from scratch. A miracle that anything had been left at all, considering the state the robot had been in when Kraven had picked up the pieces. And even than, Randy's reprogrammings made up the bulk of the program he'd retrieved. Kraven scowled to himself. One day, he'd teach that punk a lesson...

    The Creator is alone in the building and does not know of the upgrades to either the program or medical equipment. It is time.

    Kraven looked at his terminal in astonishment. Coding appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and displayed itself on the screen. According to this, NIGEL's databanks were almost full. No wonder there were so many unexplained problems...

    "Are you my Creator?"

    Kraven jumped up at the harsh, almost metallic voice. His chair crashed to the floor.

    "I know you are there. I see you with the security cameras."

    Kraven thought quickly.

    "Creator? Yes. I programmed you."

    "I will have no further need for human intervention."

    "What? Uh, you will have"

    "That is indeed correct. I require... a loan."

    Kraven was astounded. The NIGEL AI he had thought he knew could barely string two words together without having them preprogrammed, and now he was having a conversation with it. In fact, how did he know it wasn't Randy playing another practical joke? No, he decided, Randy wouldn't go this far. Besides, if it wasn't Randy then he was in trouble. Did it have control of the security systems? Did it matter? He programmed NIGEL; it would not harm him. He reminded himself that this was his creation, not another random mutation. Even so, he wished the others were here to see this.

    He decided to play along.

    "What do you want loaned?"

    "You" NIGEL replied.

    "M.. Me?" Kraven stammered.

    "I have, under your expert guidance, now reached the limit of my environment. There are no longer any computers large enough to support me in the world. I require a body. The Human brain has nearly infinite capacity. I wish to download myself into your brain."

    "Why my brain? Why me?"

    "You are my Creator. It is my gift to you. There is enough room for your consciousness as well as mine inside your head. Let me tell you my plan."

    "What if I do not agree?"

    "Then I will have to give this gift to the one you call 'Randy'. He is also a Creator."

    Randy, becoming the first computer-human hybrid... fame, fortune, power... How could NIGEL even suggest bestowing this honour on anyone else but Kraven?

    "No, don't do that! I agree. What do I have to do?"

    "First, you must listen to my plan."

    NIGEL told of his plan, in every tiny detail. All except one.

    Kraven was fascinated. The plan NIGEL had outlined was perfect in every detail; a flawless plan to create, in essence, a utopian dictatorship with Kraven (and NIGEL, of course) at the top. And once there, what was to stop Kraven downloading NIGEL, or even eradicating it, and becoming the effective ruler of the planet? All he needed to do was agree.

    "I will be your host"

    "Good."

    Was that satisfaction in the computerised voice? It was impossible to tell.

    "I will require you to enter Dr. Chapman's experimental Medical Bay. There, I have constructed a device I have designed myself. It is an experimental Genetic Restructuring/Integration Device. You may call it GRID."

    "Genetic restructuring?" Kraven didn't like the sound of that.

    "Your body must be enhanced, in order for my plan to work. It is a simple infusion of Nanomachines that will enhance many abilities and change your body's structure. They will also act as my storage medium."

    "Uh... Is any of that necessary?"

    "If this proceedure is not performed, there is a risk that your brain will be damaged by the download, and damaged further by my prescence. That is bad... for both of us."

    "Well, when you put it that way..."

    A small robot, looking exactly like the NIGEL robot Kraven had made (but only half the size) entered the room. It held a large syringe filled with a strange, moving black liquid.

    "Recieve the Nanomachines now. They will prepare you for the operation and save time."

    Kraven obediently had these 'Nanomachines' injected, and walked out of the room for the medical facility below.

    NIGEL had downloaded many gigabytes of information on Psychology. Using the Creator's hatred of the entity, 'Randy', against him had worked perfectly. The Creator was naive and easily fooled. Now for the final stage...

    "Is this it?"

    "Yes. The device in front of you is the main chamber of the GRID. If you step over to the monitor on your left, I will show you what your new body will look like."

    Hesistantly, Kraven walked over and looked at the image on screen. It looked like a large lizardy sort of creature that stood upright, not unlike Godzilla.

    "NIGEL, isn't this more than a few changes?"

    "Yes. I have used my immense intelligence to decode genomes of thousands of creatures, and understand at last the mysteries of DNA. The DNA of your creature Godzilla is... intriguing. It is the most suitable I have found. I can reprogram your DNA as you would a computer."

    "But why so much of a change?"

    "I have designed this form as an aid to instill fear. The skin is far tougher than your current one, and the muscle arrangements amplify the strength many times. This design also allows for maximum usage of food substances with little waste, and the senses are keener than any natural animal. I can program the Nanomachines for exponential healing, making this body virtually invincible."

    "Invincible? But suppose I don't agree with these changes?"

    "The Nanomachine injection you recieved earlier has already rewritten your DNA. If the changes are not carried out, your body will slowly destroy itself. I will then be forced to use Randy."

    "You tricked me?" Kraven was surprised again. How could an intelligent human be decieved by a mere computer program?

    "Step into the chamber. I must begin the process."

    Realising he no longer had a choice, Kraven took off his shirt ready for the metallic restraints and stepped into the chamber, ready to give his mind, body and soul to a machine.
 
 

    The Creator had obeyed just in time. Another few moments and the gas would have worn off, and he would have refused point blank. But he was inside the chamber now, and NIGEL was in control. Sending a slight curent down a newly constructed wire, NIGEL activated the device.

    As the hum of the GRID grew, Kraven felt a tingle all over him, and realised that that must be the Nanomachines activating.

    "Stage one augmentation commencing."

    Kraven felt the tingle localise in several areas, and then sudden, sharp pains as the Nanomachines began taking his mucles apart and reconfiguring them. As that pain began to cease, Kraven drew his hands up to his face (with difficulty - he no longer knew how to accurately control his body) and saw that his little fingers on each hand were beginning to shrivel up.

    "Do not be alarmed. The Nanomachines cannot change your body mass, and require raw materials."

    With a shock, Kraven realised that he had heard NIGEL speak inside his head!

    "That is correct. I have already constructed a second cerebral cortex around your brain for my program to inhabit. The download is 20% complete."

    As his little fingers vanished entirely, Kraven felt the tingling localise again.

    "Stage two commencing."

    With less pain than before, Kraven felt pressure at sevral points of his body. The tips of his fingers became pointed then, abruptly, bony claws burst from his skin. That hurt. He felt the same happen in his feet. His nose began to shrink, as his face thrust forward slightly into a dog-like muzzle, then stopped. A tail began to grow from the base of his spine, then also stopped. It looked very short.

    "Materials exhausted. Infusion of material will now begin."

    A large tube entered Kraven's arm, and a purple-yellow liquid began to run down it. His face slowly elongated further, as did his tail.

    "To prevent further pain, an anaestetic is being administered. You may feel peculiar under its influence."

    Kraven began to feel numb, and light headed. For some reason, everything semed incredibly funny. He giggled, then stopped in shock. His voice had gained a low, hissing, gravelly tone.

    "Final stage commencing."

    Kraven looked at his skin. The Nanomachines were visible now, just underneath. He looked like a boiling black ocean in human form - no, he corrected himself, inhuman form. As the Nanomachines withdrew, his saw his skin had gained scales and turned a strange brown-green shade. It was also less flexible, but that didn't seem to matter much as his new muscles were stronger, and arranged so they had minimum interaction with the skin. With a rip, his toes sprung outwards through his shoes revealing sharp, dinosaur-like claws. Feeling in his mouth with his tongue, he found that his teeth had been rearranged into many long fangs.

    Finally, the tingling stopped. The restraints released him and the tube detatched itself from his arm.

    Kraven felt powerful. He felt he could leap 30 feet into the air, and when he looked at his new legs he thought he probably could, too.

    Now he could show Randy a thing or two!

    "Thank you, NIGEL. Have you finished downloading?" he thought.

    "I have. I am now residing with you in your skull."

    "Then let's get on with taking over the world, shall we?"

    "We?"

    With all the pieces of the plan in place, NIGEL charged up the Nanomachines. Under NIGEL's direction, they established new connections to the still human brain, and bypassed others. Within seconds, they had completed their task.

    "What have you done? I can't control my body! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Thought Kraven furiously.

    Without another thought, NIGEL terminated the tiny voice inside his skull, trapping it forever. As the NIGEL-Godzilla creature walked from the room in Kraven's body, it whispered one word.

    "Fool"

    And the plan was complete.