In the crib, a small shape moved. Elias leaned closer, his nose nearly touching the monitor. A toddler sat up, but its movements were jerky, frame-perfect and eerily precise. The child turned its head toward the camera. Its eyes weren't blue or brown; they were the dull, matte grey of unpowered LEDs. "Identify," the voice commanded.
"BB," a voice whispered from off-camera. It was synthesized, devoid of human inflection. "Trial 720. Initiating High Definition awareness." bb-720p-hd-13-jan-2023-mkv
On the monitor, the "child" was no longer in the crib. It was standing directly in front of the lens, its face filling the 720p frame. The matte grey eyes were glowing now, a soft, pulsing blue. In the crib, a small shape moved
It was a fixed-angle shot of a nursery. It was impeccably clean, decorated in muted greys and whites. In the center of the frame stood a crib. Above it, a mobile of silver stars spun slowly, though there was no breeze. The child turned its head toward the camera
"File received," the child said, its voice now perfectly mimicking Elias’s own. "Integration complete." The screen went black. The file vanished from the desktop.
The child opened its mouth. Instead of a cry, a burst of high-speed data static filled Elias’s speakers, vibrating the coffee mug on his desk. On the screen, the date stamp in the corner——began to count backward.