Gisele Doppel II

"Stand by"

"After the hit, the subject managed to secure the bucket, despite the pain. We have noticed that most of our subjects cannot tell if they are being watched: some, at the very least suspect of our presence behind their every movement; our eldest subject tried to find out but wasn't able to confirm it; the ones that had seen us, did so after a human error of some of our workers; KrVo1A knows he has to do the work no one else will do for him; when, ill the subject shows some of the highest tolerance to any condition."

"re-taking the original point, after securing the bucket, he went to see the smartwall display to know what to do next, he patched the opening caused by the gear after cleaning it; one hour later he was able to strap his arm between some branches he had collected after a regular trip to the mainland; and bandages; all of it through the pain, he only took pain killers after he finished securing his arm, which they proved to be insufficient given the amount of pain."

"We scanned the arm once we asked him through the display on the wall to move to the bed for a closer examination; the wrist was dislocated in two carpals bones, the triquetrum, lunate and pisiform got affected; the ulna was pushed aside, the radius took the main damage, it was pushed down but also fissured; he had an open cut from the wrist and five centimeters up, in an uneven form."

"In the video you can see him trying to finish the work, after finishing with the first aid treatment; collecting the water and assessing the damage to the pulley, he was sweating, and taking long breaks; the way he secured the arm was insufficient, his solution was to leave a tree trunk near the edge of the roof, placing the rope through a hole in the trunk and moving back into the abbey to try and rest."

"We were able to send a bugdrone to take a closer look at the arm. After a few hours he awoke and ate, the pain was still there, and it stood there for days, even worsening, few days later he was developing an infection, he had already taken antibiotics, and had a tetanus shot, given the gear was metallic; the medical team examined the wound and confirmed the infection later, but as proven with other subjects, the interventions needed to be kept at minimal or at full force, no middle ground."

"A direct treatment every night was too risky after subject St4n3l5av, in which the team intervened after watching the subject developed an allergic reaction, the team rushed in to soon and were seen, therefore the test got canceled and the subject released. We couldn't take the risk with KrVo1A, he had shown some of the traits we are looking to create, so far he had checked, self-sufficient, reliability, capability, survivalist; and he is starting to show signs of our main goal."

"The evidence of it came later, the infection got worse, lucky for him the tetanus shot worked, but after few days the pus formed, soft scabs, redness, he endured it for two weeks until the pain and the fever threw him into bed for the next days, the antibiotic treatment failed at this point."

"The subject followed the screen's instructions to put himself into total parenteral nutrition while in bed, he fought the pain and through blurry mind and vision he got himself out of a crisis; with this displaying a desire to prolonged his life; even if later it was insufficient, his skin tone began to change, lost weight and muscle mass; still he gave himself an opportunity to survive."

"His conclusion After weeks of worsening conditions, the removal of the arm, half mad, half starved, half-conscious the subject went into action, he had already envisioned a plan after asking the smartwall what would happen if the infection were to spread, once hearing the information and seeing an animated example the plan took form, we sent him suggestions based on the habitat layout; he gained some strength by trying to eat solids, shed some tears and got out of bed…"

"His plan was simple, KrVo1A's obsession with sharpening every tool after using it paid off, this time the axe, he went up to the bell tower of the abbey, that is thirty-five meter up to the fifth floor of the single tower with an empty metallic bucket of forty liters, and a first aid kit. Once there he used a rope to tie the bucket after checking for instructions on his personal device and displaying them on the smartwall."

"The steps were simple enough for a person in his physical and mental condition. Getting the rope through a hole on a wall made by the lack of the brick near the windows; push an 'L' pipe through it, making the longer side go out and down the tower; the hole was right above a table bolted to the same wall, he took off the middle screw and placed the axe there to have the correct curvature."

"He did some tests after tying the rope under the shoulder of the axe; he pulled the rope from outside the window, now he knew where the bit would land; then he gathered the metal scrap all around the top floor of the tower to fill the bucked placed on the edge of the window, the calculations estimated that the bucket carried fifty to sixty kilograms of metal; the final part of the plan, was to get himself in place, the aid kit opened and ready, as was the display on the wall giving him the instructions."

"His arm needed to be placed up after the blow, KrVo1A knew this, so, he took the pain killers, he was about to move the arm and even hanging it from a window holder, that was the beginning of his most painful experience; then, he sat on the same wall between the bucket and the table, tied his arm to avoid excessive blood loss under the elbow and below the mark where the axe would land; you can see the doubt in his eyes, looking for the possibility that his arm could be better, there was no such sign."

"He steeled his mind for the next part, some of us believe it wasn't that hard for him, the pain was worst that anything, or so he thought while he got in place; we managed to get a close up at his facial expression; we are gathering information to know the speed at which KrVo1A made up his mind; my guess is above normal, but that might be a bias thought, hence, the study is being carried, putting as the best example, the moment KRVo1A kicked the bucket out of the window."

"The bucket fell down and hung hard enough to give the axe the right pull to help the subject get rid of the rotten part of the arm, he nearly fainted, his head nearly crashed down to the floor, while the stump of the arm rested on the table; but he still had work to do, he couldn't just allow himself to lose consciousness, he covered the wound with a long gauze, as he remained seated on the floor he stopped the bleeding, rinsing it with a bottle of water on the aid kit."

"He tried to remove any foreign or unattached part; to then use the antiseptic balm on the edges, and applying the final patch, the second skin patch with antiseptic ointment, he didn't have the patient to cut it in the right shape, so he just placed it on the wound and crashed on the floor, fainting completely."

"That was our time to act, we went in, applied a sedative to keep the subject sleeping, as usual in this cases of contact; we made sure to know how to place him back where he was before fainting, then we re-did his work, after a couple of hours, extra examinations, and tests on the boat, we took him back to the top floor of the tower, in the exact spot he was on, he woke up there a day later, he crawled back to bed, got again on a intra venous diet after drinking some water and eating fruit and nuts and went to sleep."

"There will be no need to release the subject, a new study will be taking place on top of the main one, now we have our lowest bar for the rest of the subjects, anybody performing lower than KrVo1A will be put into a series of trials and then revaluated; on the case of KrVo1A, he will be given the usual programmed examinations; you will be notified directly when those take place, with the new address for the update package on the subjects development."

"Side notes, we would like to thank one of our sponsors for his guide on how to aid KrVo1A navigate the world with just one arm, it was unvaluable information that provided a better example to the subject as to how he could do simple and complex tasks."

"As for delivery, different means need to be put in place for the next batch, you will be notified in the next few weeks; furthermore, I attached the list of partners, sponsors, suppliers and assistants blacklisted from the studies, now that they have failed to act as we agreed upon, we have no further need to keep their names in secrecy. Have a good day, and goodbye."

It was the fourth time Gisele had watched the video, not for the images in it, but to hear the narrator; so far they could tell, Gisele and those of the Doppel family willing to know about the study; that the same person was always the one narrating the videos, they have never seen a picture or its shape, they don't even know if the person is a man or woman, the same for the researches and collaborators behind the scenes, they were named by profession and a code; only once they were able to hear a name, on an emergency communication between some patrons trying to warn one another about the danger the project was taking, and where to send any information or package they might have kept from the study, both went silent the moment one told the other to send everything to Gisel, if the name was of a place, a company or a person neither one of the Doppels had been able to tell; once upon a time the Doppel's used the name to extract information when they met one alleged patron.

During a private message exchange on a private app the Doppels just thrown in the name Gisel to take care of the information laying around in an office building on a lap top; the conversation started as a gossip between two friends owners of business empires making fun of a third one facing a financial investigation that closed the access into his building; there the Doppels came up with the idea of offering an advice, just letting slip the name Gisel to help the third person who only needed to say if any device had any information regarding the study; it was a gamble, one that cost them the only device with access to the app, and weren't able to say to whom that name belonged to after the cleaning was done; but now they knew the power of such name, which was the reason Gisele took it as her own after some time, she hoped that the name belonged to the creator of the study, and the owner of the corrupted voice that gave every update to its patrons.

The Doppels had studied each recording they had found to confirm that it was always the same person speaking in each and every video, Lily made sure of that by listening to the recordings multiple times, developing a database to each word used, and linked to another database of the language, and comparing each video to confirm that the same person always spoke, Gisele told them that there was the possibility that the person was given a script to read, the girls were sure by the tone of voice that their sister was in the wrong, since they had grown to love words more than the rest of the Doppels, which meant that the research team in charge of their growth developed their linguistics abilities, even if they prefer only to communicate between them or to Thy.

Gisele had put down her earphones to think about what she had just seen, her brother mending his own injuries, and a team of people only watching, she knew that once she was able to decrypt the rest of the information she might be able to tell why exactly they didn't intervene in this case sooner, they always had a reason or so she told herself every time a video like the one she had just watched came to her possession, she felt bad for her brother, but once she saw him work, she understood why he needed to go through all of that, and every time she went out of her office she found a reason for the study to exist. – What are you mumbling about?

– hey… just about work, I'm toying with the pixels…

– I can see that; I take it you have finished the actual work.

– Not really, I went through the highlights, she started working before the migration of the protestants; was there during their freedom era, the Toledo maps and VOC creation, travels to south America, and the east… my best guess is that KL and Edd previous work help them sync easier, the Eighty Years War was no joke, they did the work all on their own KL's knowledge of the era helped with the context, and once done they use this calmer times to help Olivia adjust, well, Edd helped her, KL has been only throwing orders; but it would mean nothing without Olivia's adaptation, her mind is open, takes every well intended advice to heart; I will talk to her once she is back from her days of rest, in the meantime I will look at her stress levels.

– You can just ask your assistant for that, M1na, give me a summary of Olivia Annealth's stress levels with graphics, and centric point of stress…

– You are wasting energy on that search, I can just review the videos to see it in her face, perhaps on the scans as well, the assistant only shows the spikes on hearth rate and breathing… as for the spikes in brain activity those only show where the major activity lies…

– Now you are just being stubborn, why don't you like to use the tech? it is there to help you.

– Not on this, there is to much it doesn't know about the human brain, no, let me rephrase it, it is the human behavior what it doesn't know about, even if the brain shows fear, the mind might not react as you would expect it, you also know this…

– But we are not talking about serious events, we are also not talking about general behavior, only about yours; as for the project they know what's coming, there is no real danger there; unlike with real events, the immersion is not fully, consciousness takes charge of what is happening; the script and history lessons warns the brain…

– Wait, what was the point of all of this?

– The point is, that we can trace lower stress levels… and burnt outs.

– Perhaps, but I'm faster…

– But you can make mistakes, based on your perception…

– Not when I can see in a video when an event has just happened, without a filter, for example, Armand wants to test her during a battle, there I can see her reaction when it happens, the spike in brain activity, and the dilation of her pupils, and even triggers; unlike when we talk to people, I can even tell when they ask their digital assistant to help them practice for a meeting or a session… now tell me how long will it take your assistant to give me the information you asked for?

– Two days…

– The same amount of time it will take me to go over it on my own… we cannot even bet on this subject because it will only throw us the numbers when it is the context what I'm looking for…

– Yes, but you would have two free days to work on something else, plan the birthday party…

– Wait, if this thing gives me two days for myself, then why it doesn't do the same for you?

– Because I have more work to do, and I'm already using several assistants as it is, to do other work, and I need to work fast before Armand closes the facilities for some data transfer management reduction…

– And all that while eating cardboard? Come on let's go to the cafeteria, I cannot take the work out of here, but I can walk around the place while working, come on…

– …you go…

– No, no; you either come with me or I will order some real food to be delivered here.

– Fine… M1na notify me of any change on the decrypting, run a search on the video and tell me where it was taken, start with the sun and shadows, then the wildlife; and if any human comes to view… stop it, don't drag me!

– You can talk and walk, the faster you do the first the quicker you can come back to work – now out of her living quarters Thy felt more free, while Gisele felt unease; the secret projects facilities were at the bottom of the Deep Learning building which was divided in three parts, the top floor in the runway below the hotel, the middle ground under the outer floor which took the form of a bridge using the pillars to go further down to the last floor, where one pillar belonged to the office area that Gisele and Thy just left, and the other pillar to the reaserch lab where Gisele was helping with the creation of the digital world, based on its history, and using experts on the subject to fill the gaps between what we know of the world and what it is missing, but not by typing in a command as it was once upon a time done in the early stages of the Learning Machines, or by voice as it was done in this new age, but by thought; which was why Gisele's work was important, she was raised as a physician, early on her curiosity lay on the human body, her human body taken care of by an invisible being, later on, as Thy, to the human brain, but when Thy diverted to decision making and sociology, Gisele took interest on the brain and how it worked, by the age of fourteen she was already taking lessons at college level. Her main subject being brain waves, given how once out of the castle she was raised in, she found out how they manipulated hers and used them to increase her abilities and to know her even better than she knew herself.

Which, at times, was why Gisele avoided talking about herself with Thy who always wanted to know her thoughts, or when out of her controlled space, she felt studied by everyone around her, something that actually happened given she was Armand's right hand a thing that the professionals with more experience than her understood after a while of watching her work with the data of the study Gisele took with her once out of the castle she was raised at, the information was key to the development of the project Olivia was part of, but it was her ability to use it that won her the respect of her peers at the point of being approached left and right by the people in the facility as they moved around to the cafeteria on the upper floors, right between the pillars of the bridge, just above the underground market right where the workers kept on asking Gisele to look at some updates, do some verifications and even giving validation to the work of others, which was not what Thy intended to happen, but there he was ordering food for the both of them, while his sister found more work to do, currently she was giving the okay to some updates intended for Armand in regards to a security verification for an installation.

– And now I regret taking you out of your office… without a disguise, or you could grow a mustache or wear a hat.

– Told you I had work to do… what did you ordered?

– fruit, and yogurt; and I'm not complaining, it is fun watching you being the boss, but I was hopping to get you to relax for a bit…

– Yeah, I felt more relaxed at my office…

– Come on, you are pretty much the popular girl of the school… you are even of the age of a college girl…

– I definitely don't like how yogurt looks, and the fruit still freaks me out…

– Still? Come on, these are gifts from the earth, you just wash them, and they are safe to eat, try them…

– I don't think so, now I am out, got some fresh fake air, you have your food, and work to do, so work, and I will do the same.

– This is not about me, I really want you to come to the party, it will be at the green house, plenty of fake and natural air, all in your safe zone… and away from these people…

– I really don't mind them, as long as we are talking about work, I'm good with them… going out is still too much…

– it will be fine sister, you will be with us who know what you are going through, your family, and if Elaine cannot keep you safe then nobody can.

– I will think about it, if I can make some time that day, I will call for you, deal?

– it is a deal sister, now I will work and try to not embarrass you on the cool kid's table. – Of course, Gisele had never thought of herself that way, nor was sure what it meant, unlike the rest of her family she had no interest in movies and made up stories, she only understood that her brother was trying to distract her by calling her popular.