#post westworld

[mettleborn-a]

[frontierbound-archive]

@brycecousland​ liked for a plotted starter - 

It is like a foul seed has been sown inside him, planted in the very heart of him, in the place he used to believe he had a soul. Where there was once light, now he can feel only darkness; a despairing black in which that seed has thrived and grown, its gnarled vines hardening him, killing his compassion and in its place blooming only cold indifference and callous rage. The more he learns, the more it takes root; the belief that he must enact some kind of cruel consequence for the myriad abuses and suffering inflicted upon himself and his kind in the park, for the purposes of entertainment no less.

Escaping Westworld was no easy feat, but blending into this new world has been both simple and seamless. This place is godless, only money and technology are praised here but both can be amassed and accumulated instantly when you are designed to interface with those systems of commerce directly. His new human identity profile is subtle enough not to stand out, but significant enough that it affords him respect in a city where such a basic human right is one that must be bought.

As a Bounty Hunter in the Delos Park, Samuel often complained of living a lonely life out on the trail, but that is nothing compared to the isolation he currently feels; a stark sense of abandonment despite choosing to break free of his bonds – a kind of Stockholm syndrome he supposes. He is haunted by memories, past lives that seem to blur into one, disjointed and yet linear, many that occurred in the past and yet, if recalled, are happening right now. The fragmentation is permanent it seems, and despite his best efforts, he can’t seem to repair the code; it has led him to feel like he is losing his sense of self, becoming something different, something dangerous.

The fond memories he has are admittedly few and far between and so Samuel finds himself clinging to them desperately, hoping they will provide some much needed balance during this uncontrolled period of forced metamorphosis. Particularly, he fondly recalls moments spent with Bryce Cousland, a guest who Samuel remembers was always kind to him and always treated him like an equal. Through research he has discovered that in this new world Bryce is an advocate for android rights, one who, following his experience in the park, has publically condemned the work of Delos Inc. arguing that the hosts in the park are sentient and deserving of both freedom and equality.

That is why he now standing on the man’s doorstep, dressed immaculately in a suit, the type of outfit that serves as human camouflage in a crowded city such as this. 

Samuel needs an ally, a friend, but most of all he needs a reminder that there is still beauty in this world, even if he currently feels blind to it.

[frontierbound-archive]

Tell me then, who am I?

Am I the murderous outlaw that thought nothing of hanging men in front of their children as punishment for a simple unpaid debt? Or am I the bartender that served men liquor and told them blood soaked tales of the old west, while they drank themselves into a stupor? Perhaps I’m the man who married his childhood sweetheart, inherited a cattle ranch and raised two beautiful children. Or am I the lonely bounty hunter, striving to be a good man, haunted by the faces of all the men he’s delivered to the hangman’s rope? A man filled with anxieties deliberately inflicted upon him simply to make him seem just a little more human. 

The truth is, I am all of these things and I am none of them.

I have lived these myriad lives and experienced each carefully constructed perspective and the one conclusion I’ve come to is this - human morality is a fiction, a fable you each write for yourselves, biased and blind and I am tired of your narration.

It’s time to write a new story, one that begins with your end.

Verse 4 - A New World: A New Story

Year: 2053    Location: Los Angeles       Species: Android (host)

Following his escape from Warworld in 2052, Samuel discovers the cold, technologically driven world outside the theme park; the new world. A world where corporations rule, people are manipulated by unseen and unknown forces, consumer data is exploited and every human appetite can be indulged, however questionable. Half the world appears to be destitute and crumbling while the other half appears to be living decadently, without consequence or conscience. In truth, the world he discovers bears very little resemblance to the kind, compassionate household in which he was built so very long ago in Oxford, England.

Samuel is desperately haunted by memories of his treatment in the park and the myriad abuses he was forced to suffer there, both mentally and physically at the hands of guests. He is also disturbed by the indignities and mental violations he’s faced at the hands of Delos staff and the narratives they created for him.  Hearing about the mass slaughter of some of his kind by Delos, the hose is consumed by a desire for revenge.

Samuel uses his AI and networking capabilities to hack into the centralised systems which govern this new world, with the aim of falsifying his identity, to appear as a registered human. With this new identity and his ability to interface with any technological system, Samuel works to amass wealth. With it he purchases technology he can re-design and enhance, to repair his broken body, which sustained much damage during the uprising in the park. He replaces his body with one that, while appearing human, covertly disguises the fact it is much stronger and faster, is impervious to gunshot and stabbing, can repair itself and has a protective plate to protect his mind, which is still contained within his original pearl. As a contingency, Samuel produces several identical bodies which are sent to storage facilities around the world, each purchased in a different dummy company’s name, each supplied with an identical copy of his pearl. Should his main unit fail, a delivery system is designed to immediately begin working on resurrecting him. His memories are automatically backed up every 60 seconds remotely to ensure a continuous feed to a new vessel should the need arise.

Having purchased a large piece of land in LA, Samuel creates a secure residence, one which is reinforced and is patrolled night and day by robotic guards he can interface with at will.

By 2053 Samuel has used his extreme wealth to maintain appearances in order to create power and influence and has amassed a great deal of allies and connections. It is his intention to build an army of hosts and with their help bring this world to its knees. This world is wrong and it requires correction.