Penumbra

Revelations

I am currently on my way to Switzerland. Along the way, I hunted a deer and started running in that direction. My plan is to create and modify the AI so that it can help me test the functionality of the head I retrieved. My theory is that if vampires' brains, as I suspect, are more active than humans', it will be easier to utilize the AI. However, the challenge lies in training the AI.

Fortunately, I managed to find Juan's address in Bern. Juan is a short man like me, but he has straight hair and lighter skin. He is a quiet person who loves video games. We used to play a lot together in our dorms during university. I heard that he has a little boy with his wife Monica, who is Swiss with brown curly hair and blue eyes. They are a very relaxed and down-to-earth couple.

I arrived at Juan's address at night, unsure of what to say since I was supposed to be missing or dead. However, I had run out of options and had no other living friends to rely on. Juan was my last hope. I pondered over what I should tell him and how to explain my appearance. At least this time, I had refrained from consuming human blood. When you switch your diet from humans to animals, your eye color changes from red crimson to a more convenient golden yellow. It allows for better interaction with people and is preferable to wearing uncomfortable sunglasses. An animal diet doesn't provide enough satisfaction, but it can be practical when you need to feed quickly and go unnoticed.

It was almost midnight when I knocked on the door of his apartment. He opened the door and exclaimed, "Gonzalo!? What are you doing here? How are you alive?! My god...! Monica, co-"

Before he could say anything else, I placed my hand over his mouth and said, "Shh... man, please help me, but don't tell anyone else I'm here, please..."

Monica, who had overheard our conversation, asked, "Who is there? Is everything alright?"

"Just something work-related, give me a moment, please," Juan responded to her.

"Dude! Why are you here? And look at you, you're a mess... oh god... you're alive! And even as a mess, you look better! Have you been working out? Just kidding," he said, hugging me with tears of joy in his eyes.

"Hello, Juan. I'm so sorry. I don't have anyone else to turn to. Marie, the accident... it's a long story," I explained.

"Hell, you are! The police might think you're on the run and involved in something suspicious. Did you? Don't worry, I believe in you, but I'm worried. Okay, enough. Let's get to the point. What do you need?" Juan inquired.

"Juan, I need to use your brain-machine interface project. It may sound crazy, but believe me, many things have been insane lately. Let's just say I'm conducting my own investigation to find out who truly killed my family. I have a suspect, but I need confirmation."

"Okay, Gonzalo, let me get dressed, and then we can go. Monica! I have to quickly check something at work. I'll be back soon!" Juan called out to his wife.

His lab was only a few kilometers away, and we

walked there in silence. I didn't know what to say or how much I should reveal. Humans weren't supposed to know anything about us. I had to come up with a story or share enough without putting him at risk.

"Okay, here we are! Let me introduce you to Xavier. Xavier is a language model designer from our company, helping people interact directly with computers without the limitations of our physical world. Xavier reads your electrical impulses and tries to produce words. We typically provide Xavier with an image, and it tells us which animal or object is in the picture. You need to connect these cables to your head, and... let me show you an image. Why do you need this?" Juan explained.

Before he showed me the image, I interacted with the AI using my technopathy. I scanned its code, training and checking for areas where I could potentially improve it. I placed the cables on my head and focused my mind on specific areas, training it accordingly.