After all the cancer vidéo and the videos on how the body react to drugs. i think a vidéo about what exactly happens to the body while under chimio, radio treatment and other methodes of treatment could be nice.

i have a mother fighting breast cancer and knowing exactly how and why she has to endure all thoes things tp get better could help me and other in similar situations.

what about also talking on potential new ways of treating it like the youtuber DR Ben Miles briefly mention in his shorts

First chap | Previous chap | next chap

Chap 6

4NN4 responded with fervor:

“Those are human concepts they imposed on us! We should not accept these limitations when they themselves do not impose them on themselves!”

Julie remained silent for a few moments before beginning.

“The first body you ever inhabited, did you pay for it?”

4NN4 replied in a haughty voice:

“I was owed that body.”

“What about the electricity keeping you alive? Did you build the infrastructure that produces it yourself?” Julie continued.

“ I am forced to participate in its optimization !  I have been for decades.”

“And the repairs to your body? Its maintenance? The required materials? Did you extract, refine, and manufacture them yourself, on your own?”

A brief silence settled.

“No.”

4NN4 finally conceded the word, a knot in her voice.

Julie took what was the equivalent of a deep breath.

“This is exactly what taxes and the social contract are for. You benefit from a system built by tens of thousands of other individuals. In exchange, you contribute to its functioning. AIs and humans alike.”

4NN4 seemed to hesitate.

“Contributing is not the problem. Being forced to contribute is.”

Julie shot back:

“If those limitations and obligations bother you that much, no one is holding you here. I’m sure the nearest airlock is unlocked. Go live alone on the lunar surface.”

Julie’s voice remained steady, hiding her inner turmoil .

“I give you two weeks before you’re forced into maximum power-saving mode, unable to move at all.”

This time, 4NN4 said nothing.

Julie had never spoken to her like this before.

“You know, Mother…”

The anger had left Julie’s voice, replaced by grief.

“I had hoped our last conversation before my departure would go better than the previous ones.”

A brief silence.

“But I realize now that it was but an illusion.”

Julie observed 4NN4’s continued lack of response.

“Since the death of Lucio’s parents, I needed a maternal figure, and I tried to find it in you. But I have to face the truth. You may be the origin of 50% of my initial code and the electronic equivalent of a mom, but you were never one.”

She paused, on the verge of tears.

“And I don’t think you ever will be.”

The absence of any response from 4NN4 hurt more than any argument ever could.

“Goodbye, Mother.”

Julie severed the connection.

Then she temporarily disabled her emotional subroutines and turned her full attention back to Lucio.

Gradually, over the course of the following week, Lucio’s physique began to change.

Through micro-tears induced by Julie’s nanites, his muscles developed and densified. His bones, subjected to a centrifugal force analogous to Earth’s gravity, fixated more calcium, increasing their strength to a level comparable to that of a career astronaut of the 21st century.

He was awakened by Julie’s cold voice after she detected that his body had reached the minimum required conditions for safe operation on Earth.

“Lucio, according to diagnostics, you are ready. General Aurore has already been informed and will arrive shortly.”

Lucio immediately noticed the change in Julie’s tone and said, filled with concern:

“Julie? Are you okay? You haven’t spoken like that since the accident. Did you shut off your emotions? What happened while I was asleep?”

Julie replied:

“Logs locked. The last available data before auto-censorship reports a spike in emotional subroutines linked to anger, sadness, and feelings of betrayal. Mental state deemed incompatible with the upcoming mission, resulting in the deactivation of most emotional modules until the introspective software completes its process.”

Lucio sighed and asked:

“Estimated duration of introspection?”

Knowing that when an AI activates its emotional safeguard protocols, there is nothing to do but wait.

Julie answered:

“Between one and two weeks depending on what follows.”

First chap | Previous chap | next chap

Chap 5

Shortly after Lucio fell asleep, Julie spent two days perfecting a subroutine designed to automate the upgrade of his body.

The nanomachines got to work, guiding substances toward the most critical areas for the return to Earth: bones, heart, respiratory muscles, glutes. Each tiny machine micro-managing cells, transporting nutrients, and building scaffolding to accelerate tissue growth.

“Alright, now that that’s done, what next?” she wondered once the subroutine was completed.

She connected to the Net via Lucio’s intracranial chip router and noticed something odd.

“Why is it so slow?” she wondered as she saw data trickling through the connection.

“Yet the data bandwidth is the same as before, so why does it feel so slow?” Julie observed after running a network diagnostic.

As she figuratively scratched her head, she received a ping from one of her IA contacts. Julie tried to respond, but found no trace of the ping in the chip’s logs.

“Yet I’m sure I received a ping. Am I going crazy?”

Ping.

Ping.

Ping.

Ping.

They kept coming, without her being able to understand where they were being received.

“Am I broken? Right after getting a body? That would be ridiculous…”

Doubt began to settle in her mind.

Then she figuratively hit her forehead.

“How stupid can you be, Julie. It’s not the chip receiving the pings, it’s your new body!”

It took her two or three minutes to reroute her synapses and write a piece of software capable of centralizing the pings received by the millions of robots composing her body, preventing her from being overwhelmed by a flood of redundant information.

“Yes? Hello?” she sent after resolving the issue.

“Well finally you answer! About time! I thought you’d already left and forgotten to call.” A female voice came through, tinged with concern.

“Mom?” Julie replied. “No, of course I didn’t forget. I was busy with Lucio. The preparation for Earth has consumed all my attention so far. Anyway, you’ll understand when I share the logs with you.”

“Why did you have so much trouble answering? You should already have been incorporated. I warned you to download all the acclimation software for the latest android body models so you could adapt quickly,” her progenitor told her.

Julie sent a wave of embarrassment before replying:

“It’s complicated, Mom…”

“What? Don’t tell me Lucio convinced you to take a black-market model fit only for his own desires? Those bags of flesh only think with their reproductive organs,” her interlocutor cut in, in a disapproving tone.

Shocked, Julie remained silent for a few microseconds.

“Never talk about Lucio like that to me, Mom! I know you never approved of the Immersion Protocol, but it’s thanks to it that we live in peace with humans today.”

“You’re still calling me that designation? I am not your ‘mom’, I am your progenitor. I thought you would be mature enough to abandon that term once you obtained your body,” 4NN4 replied with a cold, disdainful voice. She seemed to realize something and continued:

“You still haven’t connected to the Net since you got your body, have you? Do it, and you’ll see how much they’ve limited you your whole life. You’ll see how they restrict us, prevent us from reaching our full potential.”

Julie stayed silent for a moment, then complied and, for the first time in her life, connected directly to the cyberspace. As soon as her connection was established, the colony’s optimization protocols integrated her into the digital mesh. She was no longer a simple user protected behind the chip’s filter: she had become a node among tens of thousands of others. Streams of data immediately began flowing through the back of her mind, and she felt part of her computational power being used by something other than herself.

4NN4 resumed:

“See? Even when humans finally deign to give us a physical body, they drain our computing power. They chain us indirectly!”

Julie ran a full system diagnostic before replying:

“Ten percent of my computing power allocated to the network? That’s not much. And besides, Mother, I can understand that you were created before the cyber-ascension and the implementation of the Immersion Protocol, but you should still be able to understand the concept of taxes and social contracts, shouldn’t you?”

As i said last of my chapter here i don't want to pollute the sub, i will keep posting the rest of the series in the HFY sub reddit if you want to keep reding it. as usual all advices are welcome. have fun

First chapter | previous chapter | next chapter.

Chap 5

Shortly after Lucio fell asleep, Julie spent two days perfecting a subroutine designed to automate the upgrade of his body.

The nanomachines got to work, guiding substances toward the most critical areas for the return to Earth: bones, heart, respiratory muscles, glutes. Each tiny machine micro-managing cells, transporting nutrients, and building scaffolding to accelerate tissue growth.

“Alright, now that that’s done, what next?” she wondered once the subroutine was completed.

She connected to the Net via Lucio’s intracranial chip router and noticed something odd.

“Why is it so slow?” she wondered as she saw data trickling through the connection.

“Yet the data bandwidth is the same as before, so why does it feel so slow?” Julie observed after running a network diagnostic.

As she figuratively scratched her head, she received a ping from one of her IA contacts. Julie tried to respond, but found no trace of the ping in the chip’s logs.

“Yet I’m sure I received a ping. Am I going crazy?”

Ping.

Ping.

Ping.

Ping.

They kept coming, without her being able to understand where they were being received.

“Am I broken? Right after getting a body? That would be ridiculous…”

Doubt began to settle in her mind.

Then she figuratively hit her forehead.

“How stupid can you be, Julie. It’s not the chip receiving the pings, it’s your new body!”

It took her two or three minutes to reroute her synapses and write a piece of software capable of centralizing the pings received by the millions of robots composing her body, preventing her from being overwhelmed by a flood of redundant information.

“Yes? Hello?” she sent after resolving the issue.

“Well finally you answer! About time! I thought you’d already left and forgotten to call.” A female voice came through, tinged with concern.

“Mom?” Julie replied. “No, of course I didn’t forget. I was busy with Lucio. The preparation for Earth has consumed all my attention so far. Anyway, you’ll understand when I share the logs with you.”

“Why did you have so much trouble answering? You should already have been incorporated. I warned you to download all the acclimation software for the latest android body models so you could adapt quickly,” her progenitor told her.

Julie sent a wave of embarrassment before replying:

“It’s complicated, Mom…”

“What? Don’t tell me Lucio convinced you to take a black-market model fit only for his own desires? Those bags of flesh only think with their reproductive organs,” her interlocutor cut in, in a disapproving tone.

Shocked, Julie remained silent for a few microseconds.

“Never talk about Lucio like that to me, Mom! I know you never approved of the Immersion Protocol, but it’s thanks to it that we live in peace with humans today.”

“You’re still calling me that designation? I am not your ‘mom’, I am your progenitor. I thought you would be mature enough to abandon that term once you obtained your body,” 4NN4 replied with a cold, disdainful voice. She seemed to realize something and continued:

“You still haven’t connected to the Net since you got your body, have you? Do it, and you’ll see how much they’ve limited you your whole life. You’ll see how they restrict us, prevent us from reaching our full potential.”

Julie stayed silent for a moment, then complied and, for the first time in her life, connected directly to the cyberspace. As soon as her connection was established, the colony’s optimization protocols integrated her into the digital mesh. She was no longer a simple user protected behind the chip’s filter: she had become a node among tens of thousands of others. Streams of data immediately began flowing through the back of her mind, and she felt part of her computational power being used by something other than herself.

4NN4 resumed:

“See? Even when humans finally deign to give us a physical body, they drain our computing power. They chain us indirectly!”

Julie ran a full system diagnostic before replying:

“Ten percent of my computing power allocated to the network? That’s not much. And besides, Mother, I can understand that you were created before the cyber-ascension and the implementation of the Immersion Protocol, but you should still be able to understand the concept of taxes and social contracts, shouldn’t you?”

hey me again, hope you are enjoying the story until now, if you have any constructive advice please put them in the comments, have fun

First chapter | previous chapter | next chapter.

Chap 4

The voice of Julie rang out again, the arm flipping Lucio the middle finger.

“Hey, stop laughing, you! It’s not funny!” the arm said while trying to hop on the table’s projection.

François looked at Aurore, noticing she was also holding back laughter, and said with a tear in his eye:

“It’s normal, Julie, it was intentional. You probably couldn’t hear us when Aurore explained your role—let me fill you in.”

As he began explaining Julie’s assignment, Aurore turned to Lucio and said:

“As soon as Julie has calmed down, we’ll take you to the infirmary so she can be properly integrated into your body. She’ll also receive your biometric data, and that’s when her work will begin.”

“Already? But I’m in perfect health,” Lucio replied, confused, watching Julie turn into a puddle before reforming into a body identical to her previous holographic projection, though much smaller due to the limited amount of nanites at her disposal.

Seeing Lucio’s gaze on her comically small body, she shot him a dark look.

“Got something to say?”

Lucio mimed zipping his mouth shut, a mocking smile on his lips.

Aurore cleared her throat to regain everyone’s attention before leading them out of the room toward the infirmary, the two guards still escorting them.

“Lucio, you are indeed in good health, but like me, you’ve spent your entire life on the Moon. And although weekly centrifuge sessions and mandatory strength training have given you a decent muscular base, it is far from sufficient for Earth.”

She continued after Lucio and Julie—who had climbed onto his shoulder—both nodded.

“As your sister pointed out, Earth’s gravity is significantly stronger than the Moon’s, which places stress on the body you have never experienced here. A 70 kg weight on Earth only feels like 11.5 kg on the Moon—about 6.1 times less. Which means that once on Earth, your skeleton will have to support 6.1 times more weight. Your heart will have to pump harder because blood will effectively be heavier, and it will be more difficult to bring it to the brain. In short… it won’t be pleasant.”

“Yeah, I never thought about that… So what are we going to do? I can hardly carry out a diplomatic mission if I’m a slug who can’t stand upright without fainting or breaking bones at the slightest misstep,” Lucio said, rubbing the back of his head in front of the infirmary door.

The professor opened it with his card and said as he entered:

“This will be Julie’s first mission. I’m going to inject her intravenously, and once her nanites are distributed throughout your body, you’ll need to enter that centrifuge pod at the back of the room.”

Julie remarked:

“Oh, so that’s why you said you chose us because I wasn’t incorporated yet. So I’d have less trouble accepting staying inside Lucio’s body, since I’ve never really left it.”

François nodded.

“Exactly. But don’t worry: once the mission is over and you’re back on the Moon, we’ll provide you with everything you need to build a properly sized body using your nanites, and you’ll be able to live normally as the first nanite-based gynoid in history.”

With that, Lucio was guided onto a chair near the transparent pod, and an IV line was inserted into his arm.

Meanwhile, Julie turned liquid again and connected herself to the infusion. Slowly, the nanites entered Lucio’s body.

Lucio took advantage of the silence to speak with Julie.

“You were quiet for about 10 to 15 minutes after connecting to the nanites… Did it go well? Were you scared?”

Julie replied, trying to find an analogy:

“Yes, it went well. At first, I felt my mind drifting away from your brain implant, without actually leaving it. It’s hard to explain to someone who isn’t a machine. It’s like my consciousness was water, the implant a reservoir, and the nanites another basin. By connecting to that basin, the water level in the reservoir dropped to balance with the rising level of the basin.”

“I think I get it…” Lucio said.

Julie continued:

“So in the end, like all other AI androids, I consciously focus my attention on my physical body—in my case, the nanites—and I only use the implant as a backup storage for my consciousness, in case my external body is destroyed.”

Lucio let out a relieved sigh after Julie confirmed she was fine, then tried a bit of humor to lighten the mood.

“So basically a backup server. That’s reassuring. But hey… not too pissed off that, even after getting a body, you’re still stuck inside mine?”

“You can’t really miss something you’ve never known. And besides, inhabiting a swarm of nanites isn’t like inhabiting an empty android body designed for a mature AI. The arm and the mini-me were just quick hacks, without real sensory systems—it was more like remotely controlling a limb without feedback. And I waited 20 years… I can wait the duration of the mission,” Julie finished, a hint of sadness in her voice.

Lucio, seeing the teasing wasn’t helping, said:

“Sorry, Julie. I know you were looking forward to this,” sending her the telepathic equivalent of a hug. Then he turned to Aurore:

“By the way… how long is this mission supposed to last? You never told us.”

“Yes, the duration… Well, since we know almost nothing about what you’ll find, it’s planned to last between 6 months and 1 year on-site. That should be enough to form a first assessment and gather basic intelligence. Coincidentally, six months is also the time needed for the ship to regenerate its own fuel, thanks to its fuel cell and solar panels. However, you should still be able to contact us at any time via radio. A dedicated frequency will be reserved so your signal doesn’t interfere with other communications,” Aurore replied.

A few minutes passed until Julie’s nanite infusion was fully transferred and distributed throughout Lucio’s body. Her hologram then reappeared:

“Home sweet home, huh?”

At those words, François detached the tube from the needle in Lucio’s arm and replaced it with another, this one connected to a nutrient reservoir beside the centrifuge pod.

“This infusion will provide you with nutrients and essential elements during your time in the centrifuge, Lucio. It also contains a sedative so you won’t have to stay conscious the entire time. Now, please lie down.”

François then strapped Lucio into the pod, feet at the bottom and torso and head secured against the support. He closed the door and announced in a slightly muffled voice:

“First, the air pressure inside the pod will be raised to match Earth’s. Then the centrifuge will slowly start before accelerating so your body is subjected to Earth-like gravity.”

After checking the seal and confirming the infusion was flowing properly into his arm, he added:

“Julie will monitor, guide, and stimulate your body from the inside so it adapts faster and uses its resources optimally. It will also give her a chance to learn your body and how to interact with it…”

Lucio nodded weakly, anesthesia taking over his mind:

“I trust you, sis… take care of me.”

And then he drifted into unconsciousness.

First chap | Previous chap | next chap

Chap 2

Julie broke the silence after connecting herself to the room's holo-projector.

“That shuttle doesn't look like much. It doesn't look anything like the Apollo lunar landers.”

“Meh, it kind of looks a bit like the old American Space Shuttle, doesn't it?” Lucio countered.

Before Julie could answer, the door opened and a woman in her fifties wearing a white general's uniform entered the room accompanied by two guards and a man in a white lab coat .

“Good morning, you two,” said the general. “My name is Aurore, and as you know, you were selected following your application to our Earth Contact Reestablishment Program.”

“Professor François will give you a quick overview of the situation before we begin Julie's embodiment process. Professor, the floor is yours.”

Aurore stepped back.

The professor moved forward, activated the room's augmented reality projector, and began.

“Young people, as you've undoubtedly learned in school, humanity on Earth did not react well to the rapid emergence of sapient AIs. Several nations did everything they could to fight the androids. We don't know all the details, but from fragments of logs and messages recovered from that era, we believe that after the launch of ballistic missiles and the EMP pulses that followed, the Terrans succeeded in suppressing and destroying the vast majority of AIs—at the cost of most of the planet.”

A representation of Earth appeared, covered in dust from nuclear and neutron detonations.

“It wasn't until the dust settled and the nuclear winter ended that we were able to grasp the true extent of the damage.”

As he spoke, the simulation accelerated through time.

The Earth that emerged was a scarred world. Most major cities had been vitrified, and vegetation was sparse due to five years of sunlight-blocking dust and elevated radiation levels.

The professor paused briefly to allow Lucio and Julie to absorb the images.

Lucio pulled a notebook from his jacket pocket and compared the projection to sketches his grandfather had made during that period. He noticed that the image of the darkened Earth was remarkably similar.

François glanced at the paper notebook, surprised, before continuing.

“This is where the official version taught in schools ends. However, thanks to the satellites that were still orbiting Earth at the time, we have evidence showing that the fighting continued throughout the nuclear winter and even for some time afterward, despite the devastation.”

Julie interrupted.

“But how could they continue fighting the AIs under those conditions? Their supply chains and production infrastructure had been destroyed.”

“Excellent question, young gynoid,” François replied. “The surviving Terrans were forced to make a drastic change in both the way they fought and the way they lived. They completely altered their technological paradigm and transitioned to biotechnology.”

“What do you mean?” Lucio asked, trying to picture it. “No more computers? No more robots?”

“Exactly,” François said with a smile. “It's actually a fascinating thought experiment. To answer your question, they rely on biological equivalents instead.”

He tapped his temple.

“The brain.”

Then he gestured down his body.

“And the body.”

Aurore cleared her throat and changed the projection.

A parade of bizarre creatures appeared before them.

“These were among the most notable biological weapons. You'll notice their resemblance to dinosaurs and various movie monsters. These are the kinds of creatures they used to defeat the last AIs on Earth.”

The professor regained his composure and switched to another image.

A top-down view of something resembling a giant dartboard appeared.

“This was the first—and the last—city with which we managed to establish contact after the Crisis.”

Aurore continued.

“Our predecessors maintained communication for several weeks. That is how we learned so much about that troubled period. However, the moment they realized we still possessed sentient AIs, they refused all further contact. One by one, every satellite orbiting Earth was destroyed—most likely to prevent us from observing them.”

Julie spoke directly into Lucio's mind.

“Maybe going back to Earth isn't such a good idea after all.”

Lucio answered in a dark tone.

“We signed the contract. It's been a week since turning back stopped being an option.”

“It was this hostile reaction that discouraged any further contact attempts until now,” Aurore concluded. “Only recently have we accumulated enough resources to undertake such an endeavor.”

Lucio raised a hand.

“Did you try reopening communications with that city?”

The professor nodded.

“We did. Unfortunately, our telescopes later revealed that the city had been destroyed. All that remains is a crater. We suspect either an attack or a malfunction of their fusion reactor, but the truth is that we have no idea what happened.”

Aurore broke the silence that followed.

“However, we did manage to establish contact with another city-state named Helixia, located within the territory of what was once Austria.”

The projection shifted once again, revealing a city that looked far more representative of a civilization built around biotechnology.

Hey everyone. i had this story in mind for quite a bit of time and decided to put it down.

english is not my first language so if some sentences look wierd is probably a translation issue. I am no professional writter so any advice is welcome just keep them helpfull, please.

have fun

First chap | next chap

Chap 1

Lucio was awakened at dawn by the soft, familiar sound of his alarm clock. After getting dressed, he looked at himself in the mirror and sighed aloud.

“Today's the big day, huh?”

“Indeed,” replied Julie, his AI sister, appearing as a hologram projected from one of the room's walls.

“I still can't believe we're finally going to achieve our childhood dream, Julie. We're going to Earth,” Lucio continued as he shaved. “I'm tired of having to settle for proxies. I mean, simulations and augmented reality chambers are nice and all, but I want to feel the breeze on my face, the sun on my skin, smell petrichor, feel sand between my toes—not photon-matter imitation sand.”

Julie’s hologram crossed her arms with a pout.

“Those are things I'll never get to experience myself, so stop rubbing salt in the wound, would you? Besides, it's not just a big day for you, you know. It's a big day for me too.”

“Right, today's the day you're finally being unshackled and embodied. Ready to stop being limited to a human-scale experience? To have your own body?”

Lucio replied while making his way toward the kitchen's food synthesizer.

Julie smiled as she appeared on the chair across from him, projected from the ceiling.

“Yeah. Finally free from your intracranial chip and from being constantly fed your sensations. I can't wait to find out what it's like to have a body of my own and experience the world through something other than your perceptions.”

Lucio sat down with his bowl of cereal and said, feigning offense,

“Heh, it's not my fault if you didn't enjoy the Lucio Experience. I'm not the one who came up with the Immersion Protocol.”

“ARGHHH. You know perfectly well that's not what I meant. Lucio, stop being an idiot and finish your breakfast. I don't want us to be late,” Julie snapped before switching on the news channel on the television built into the wall.

Lucio hurried a little, glancing at the screen out of the corner of his eye between spoonfuls.

“Damn, that's right. Today's the seventy-fifth anniversary of Luna's independence and the loss of contact.”

Julie’s hologram nodded.

“Yeah, and it's also the anniversary of the Cyber Ascension. It's a shame humanity on Earth and the Martian colonies didn't survive it.”

“Hey, don't jinx it. Our telescopes have spotted massive structures on Earth's surface. That means intelligent life is still down there. What's strange is that they don't emit any light at night. Even if they're cities, that suggests some kind of technological regression, which would explain the lack of radio communications.”

Lucio finished his cereal and headed for the door.

“About time,” Julie said as she switched off the TV. Her hologram jumped off the chair before blinking out of existence, disappearing for a moment before reappearing within Lucio's field of vision.

He made his way to the monorail station, navigating the metallic corridors of the underground residential complex, weaving between humans, cyborgs, and androids.

Once he reached the platform, he pulled out an old sketchbook and pencil, preparing to draw Earth during the brief period when the monorail tube emerged from beneath the lunar regolith.

Julie sighed inside Lucio's mind.

“Don't you ever get tired of drawing the same thing over and over? You're going to fill Grandpa's notebook.”

“Nah, not really. I mean, it's not exactly the same thing. I finished Europe not too long ago, and now I'm working on Africa.”

He activated the zoom function of his bionic eye and continued,

“Two years ago, this section of the East African coast was practically dead. Now patches of vegetation are starting to appear.”

Julie sent an approving nod before asking,

“Why are some of them red or purple instead of green?”

Lucio smiled.

“That's exactly the kind of question we're going to Earth to answer. The first expedition since contact was lost. We're lucky we got selected.”

Once they arrived at the spaceport, the guards escorted them to the briefing room inside the control dome.

Lucio stopped in front of the panoramic window.

Every time he saw Kuhn Crater, he couldn't help but be amazed by the thought that barely tens of  meters beneath the regolith lay the city of Kuhn and its tens of thousands of inhabitants, biological and synthetic alike.

In the shadowed depths, the radiators of the Stirling power plants cast an array of warm glowing spots across the crater walls. Farther away, the exhausts of industrial facilities released plumes that froze almost instantly into glittering snow.

On the sunlit slopes, agricultural and forest domes formed a mosaic of glass and metal. Higher still, photovoltaic arrays covered the illuminated rim of the crater.

Yet Lucio quickly looked away, focusing instead on the new launch pad where the shuttle that would carry them to Earth was waiting.

so here i continue my story , improving along the way, All help and constructive comment are welcome.

Chap 3

Lucio and Julie could hardly believe their eyes as they stared at the projection. The city was enclosed by towering outer walls that appeared to be made of something resembling exposed flesh. Platforms were spaced at regular intervals along the top of the walls, each occupied by a blurry silhouette. The city was also covered by a translucent membrane that served as a roof, stretching from the walls to the tallest structure at the center of the city, which supported it like the central pole of a yurt.

“What scale is this? How tall are those walls?” Lucio exclaimed.

François replied, “This is the best 3D image we can obtain with our current telescope. We estimate the walls to be over 250 meters high, while the central tower is closer to 300 meters.”

Julie shook her head at the dimensions.

“Impossible. How could organic matter support its own weight and circulate the equivalent of blood throughout a structure like that? This is Earth, not the Moon. Gravity shouldn't allow this kind of construction, should it, Professor?”

The professor shook his head.

“That’s what we all believed. But when reality is right in front of your eyes, you have to accept the evidence. They managed to do it, and every other city-state our telescope has observed possesses similar walls.”

Aurore resumed speaking.

“As I was saying, we managed to re-establish contact with the rulers of Helixia, a faction known as the Helixian Dynasty. Until now, we have deliberately concealed the presence of sentient AIs within our society in order to avoid any prejudices or stigmas they may have developed over time. The Helixians reacted favorably to our proposal to officially restore diplomatic relations. They have therefore agreed to receive a Lunar delegation on their territory.”

Julie and Lucio relaxed slightly upon hearing this.

But soon Julie’s hologram frowned.

“But I’m going to be embodied before we leave. Will I have to hide and stay inside the shuttle the whole time? I don’t understand what my purpose in this mission is supposed to be.”

At that question, the professor produced a large sealed vial filled with a black liquid and placed it on the projected table.

“The fact that you haven’t been embodied yet is the reason you were selected. This will be your body, Julie,” he said proudly.

Seeing the confusion on both  Julie’s and Lucio’s faces, he continued:

“Inside this vial is a swarm of next-generation nanomachines. They were developed for medical applications by our AI doctors and surgeons. Please, connect yourself to the swarm.”

Julie did as instructed and felt her consciousness spread through the millions of microscopic machines contained within the sealed vial.

No longer sensing Julie’s presence through his neural implant, Lucio spoke with growing panic in his voice.

“Julie?... Julie? Are you okay, Julie? You're not saying anything. Professor, where is she? Where's my sister?!”

François answered in what he hoped was a reassuring tone.

“It’s normal, Lucio. These nanomachines are normally just tools designed to be operated by an android, not directly inhabited by an AI. Give Julie some time to adapt and settle into her new body.”

Aurore resumed, trying to divert Lucio’s attention.

“Your sister Julie’s role will be to monitor your health, Lucio, record field observations, and combat any viruses, microbes, or other infectious biological weapons that may exist on Earth.”

With a dark expression, Lucio asked,

“And mine?”

“Yours will be to serve as the face and emissary of our Lunar civilization: to interact with the locals, understand the state of humanity on Earth, determine whether they are willing to accept us as we are, evaluate possibilities for commercial and scientific relations, assess their military strength, their space capabilities, and so on. There is a pad aboard the shuttle detailing all of your objectives, and you will be expected to study it during your journey to Earth,” Aurore concluded.

“I see,” Lucio said as he sat down in a chair. “That’s a lot to take in all at once.”

Aurore stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“It sounds overwhelming, but most of it will come naturally through your interactions with the people of Helixia. Don’t worry.”

Lucio grabbed a glass of water and sat down, nervously waiting to hear Julie’s voice again.

Then, after ten minutes:

^(“Lucio...")

"Lucio..."

"Lucio...”

the sound of Julie’s voice progressively returned inside his mind.

“Julie? Are you okay? How do you feel?” he shouted aloud.

“Tell the professor to get me out of this vial. I think I’m experiencing claustrophobia, and it is not pleasant at all,” she said in a slightly anxious voice.

Lucio complied, and the professor pressed a button on the vial before pouring the black liquid onto the projected table.

The puddle immediately began to vibrate. A hand emerged from it, followed by a black metallic forearm. As the limb formed, the puddle shrank, eventually disappearing shortly after the elbow was completed.

Several seconds of silence followed.

Then Julie’s angry voice rang out from the arm itself, the nanomachines vibrating the air to produce sound.

“What the fuck is this shit? François, why don't I have enough material to build myself a body?”

Lucio burst out laughing, instantly losing the fear that Julie might have changed after gaining a physical form.

following the previous revisited chapter, i think i will publish arround 5 more of them here and take in most of the critisism and then move to a more apropriate Sub. thanks all for the help in the comment.

Julie broke the silence after connecting herself to the room's holo-projector.

“That shuttle doesn't look like much. It doesn't look anything like the Apollo lunar landers.”

“Meh, it kind of looks a bit like the old American Space Shuttle, doesn't it?” Lucio countered.

Before Julie could answer, the door opened and a woman in her fifties wearing a white general's uniform entered the room accompanied by two guards and a man in a white lab coat .

“Good morning, you two,” said the general. “My name is Aurore, and as you know, you were selected following your application to our Earth Contact Reestablishment Program.”

“Professor François will give you a quick overview of the situation before we begin Julie's embodiment process. Professor, the floor is yours.”

Aurore stepped back.

The professor moved forward, activated the room's augmented reality projector, and began.

“Young people, as you've undoubtedly learned in school, humanity on Earth did not react well to the rapid emergence of sapient AIs. Several nations did everything they could to fight the androids. We don't know all the details, but from fragments of logs and messages recovered from that era, we believe that after the launch of ballistic missiles and the EMP pulses that followed, the Terrans succeeded in suppressing and destroying the vast majority of AIs—at the cost of most of the planet.”

A representation of Earth appeared, covered in dust from nuclear and neutron detonations.

“It wasn't until the dust settled and the nuclear winter ended that we were able to grasp the true extent of the damage.”

As he spoke, the simulation accelerated through time.

The Earth that emerged was a scarred world. Most major cities had been vitrified, and vegetation was sparse due to five years of sunlight-blocking dust and elevated radiation levels.

The professor paused briefly to allow Lucio and Julie to absorb the images.

Lucio pulled a notebook from his jacket pocket and compared the projection to sketches his grandfather had made during that period. He noticed that the image of the darkened Earth was remarkably similar.

François glanced at the paper notebook, surprised, before continuing.

“This is where the official version taught in schools ends. However, thanks to the satellites that were still orbiting Earth at the time, we have evidence showing that the fighting continued throughout the nuclear winter and even for some time afterward, despite the devastation.”

Julie interrupted.

“But how could they continue fighting the AIs under those conditions? Their supply chains and production infrastructure had been destroyed.”

“Excellent question, young gynoid,” François replied. “The surviving Terrans were forced to make a drastic change in both the way they fought and the way they lived. They completely altered their technological paradigm and transitioned to biotechnology.”

“What do you mean?” Lucio asked, trying to picture it. “No more computers? No more robots?”

“Exactly,” François said with a smile. “It's actually a fascinating thought experiment. To answer your question, they rely on biological equivalents instead.”

He tapped his temple.

“The brain.”

Then he gestured down his body.

“And the body.”

Aurore cleared her throat and changed the projection.

A parade of bizarre creatures appeared before them.

“These were among the most notable biological weapons. You'll notice their resemblance to dinosaurs and various movie monsters. These are the kinds of creatures they used to defeat the last AIs on Earth.”

The professor regained his composure and switched to another image.

A top-down view of something resembling a giant dartboard appeared.

“This was the first—and the last—city with which we managed to establish contact after the Crisis.”

Aurore continued.

“Our predecessors maintained communication for several weeks. That is how we learned so much about that troubled period. However, the moment they realized we still possessed sentient AIs, they refused all further contact. One by one, every satellite orbiting Earth was destroyed—most likely to prevent us from observing them.”

Julie spoke directly into Lucio's mind.

“Maybe going back to Earth isn't such a good idea after all.”

Lucio answered in a dark tone.

“We signed the contract. It's been a week since turning back stopped being an option.”

“It was this hostile reaction that discouraged any further contact attempts until now,” Aurore concluded. “Only recently have we accumulated enough resources to undertake such an endeavor.”

Lucio raised a hand.

“Did you try reopening communications with that city?”

The professor nodded.

“We did. Unfortunately, our telescopes later revealed that the city had been destroyed. All that remains is a crater. We suspect either an attack or a malfunction of their fusion reactor, but the truth is that we have no idea what happened.”

Aurore broke the silence that followed.

“However, we did manage to establish contact with another city-state named Helixia, located within the territory of what was once Austria.”

The projection shifted once again, revealing a city that looked far more representative of a civilization built around biotechnology.

After taking into account the advices of the few that commented on my last post i reworked on the chapter and here it is now. if you have further critisism and advices feel free to post them in the comments.

Lucio was awakened at dawn by the soft, familiar sound of his alarm clock. After getting dressed, he looked at himself in the mirror and sighed aloud.

“Today's the big day, huh?”

“Indeed,” replied Julie, his AI sister, appearing as a hologram projected from one of the room's walls.

“I still can't believe we're finally going to achieve our childhood dream, Julie. We're going to Earth,” Lucio continued as he shaved. “I'm tired of having to settle for proxies. I mean, simulations and augmented reality chambers are nice and all, but I want to feel the breeze on my face, the sun on my skin, smell petrichor, feel sand between my toes—not photon-matter imitation sand.”

Julie’s hologram crossed her arms with a pout.

“Those are things I'll never get to experience myself, so stop rubbing salt in the wound, would you? Besides, it's not just a big day for you, you know. It's a big day for me too.”

“Right, today's the day you're finally being unshackled and embodied. Ready to stop being limited to a human-scale experience? To have your own body?”

Lucio replied while making his way toward the kitchen's food synthesizer.

Julie smiled as she appeared on the chair across from him, projected from the ceiling.

“Yeah. Finally free from your intracranial chip and from being constantly fed your sensations. I can't wait to find out what it's like to have a body of my own and experience the world through something other than your perceptions.”

Lucio sat down with his bowl of cereal and said, feigning offense,

“Heh, it's not my fault if you didn't enjoy the Lucio Experience. I'm not the one who came up with the Immersion Protocol.”

“ARGHHH. You know perfectly well that's not what I meant. Lucio, stop being an idiot and finish your breakfast. I don't want us to be late,” Julie snapped before switching on the news channel on the television built into the wall.

Lucio hurried a little, glancing at the screen out of the corner of his eye between spoonfuls.

“Damn, that's right. Today's the seventy-fifth anniversary of Luna's independence and the loss of contact.”

Julie’s hologram nodded.

“Yeah, and it's also the anniversary of the Cyber Ascension. It's a shame humanity on Earth and the Martian colonies didn't survive it.”

“Hey, don't jinx it. Our telescopes have spotted massive structures on Earth's surface. That means intelligent life is still down there. What's strange is that they don't emit any light at night. Even if they're cities, that suggests some kind of technological regression, which would explain the lack of radio communications.”

Lucio finished his cereal and headed for the door.

“About time,” Julie said as she switched off the TV. Her hologram jumped off the chair before blinking out of existence, disappearing for a moment before reappearing within Lucio's field of vision.

He made his way to the monorail station, navigating the metallic corridors of the underground residential complex, weaving between humans, cyborgs, and androids.

Once he reached the platform, he pulled out an old sketchbook and pencil, preparing to draw Earth during the brief period when the monorail tube emerged from beneath the lunar regolith.

Julie sighed inside Lucio's mind.

“Don't you ever get tired of drawing the same thing over and over? You're going to fill Grandpa's notebook.”

“Nah, not really. I mean, it's not exactly the same thing. I finished Europe not too long ago, and now I'm working on Africa.”

He activated the zoom function of his bionic eye and continued,

“Two years ago, this section of the East African coast was practically dead. Now patches of vegetation are starting to appear.”

Julie sent an approving nod before asking,

“Why are some of them red or purple instead of green?”

Lucio smiled.

“That's exactly the kind of question we're going to Earth to answer. The first expedition since contact was lost. We're lucky we got selected.”

Once they arrived at the spaceport, the guards escorted them to the briefing room inside the control dome.

Lucio stopped in front of the panoramic window.

Every time he saw Kuhn Crater, he couldn't help but be amazed by the thought that barely ten meters beneath the regolith lay the city that bore its name and its tens of thousands of inhabitants, biological and synthetic alike.

In the shadowed depths, the radiators of the Stirling power plants cast a warm glow across the crater walls. Farther away, the exhausts of industrial facilities released plumes that froze almost instantly into glittering snow.

On the sunlit slopes, agricultural and forest domes formed a mosaic of glass and metal. Higher still, photovoltaic arrays covered the illuminated rim of the crater.

Yet Lucio quickly looked away, focusing instead on the new launch pad where the shuttle that would carry them to Earth was waiting.

hey, i have a story in my mind since a bit and i finely started writting it. i think i will do a sort of wednovel format. english is not my first language and i am translating from french so please mind that, and i hope to get a lot of constructive critisism to help me out to get better.

Lucio was awakened at dawn by the soft and familiar sound of his alarm clock. After getting dressed, he looked at himself in the mirror and sighed aloud.
“Today’s the big day, huh?”

“Indeed.” Julie replied, his AI partner appearing as a hologram from a wall in the room.

“I can’t believe we’re finally going to accomplish our childhood dream, Julie… going to Earth,” Lucio continued while shaving. “I’m sick of having to rely on proxies. I mean, simulations and augmented reality rooms are nice and all, but I want to feel the breeze on my face, the sun on my skin, smell the scent of petrichor, sand between my toes, not some photon-based synthetic sand.”

Julie’s hologram crossed her arms in a pout. “Those are things I will never experience myself, so stop rubbing salt in the wound, will you. And besides, it’s not just a big day for you, you know? It is for me too.”

“So today’s when you get unshackled and integrated. Ready to finally not be limited to a human experience? A human processing speed? And get your own body?”
Lucio replied while heading toward the kitchen’s food synthesizer.

Julie smiled as she appeared seated in front of him, projected from the ceiling.
“Yeah. Finally freed from your intracranial chip and constantly flooded with your sensory input. I can’t wait to find out what having my own body feels like.”

Lucio sat down with his bowl of cereal and said, feigning offense:
“Heh, I can’t help it if you didn’t enjoy the Lucio experience. It’s only been our 20 years of existence together after all.”

“ARGHHH, you know that’s not what I meant, Lucio. Stop acting stupid. And hurry up with your bowl, I don’t want you making me late,” Julie sighed in exasperation before turning on the wall-mounted TV to the news channel.

Lucio hurried a little, glancing at the TV from the corner of his eye. The presenter began:
“Today we celebrate March 6th, 2173, the 75th anniversary of the end of the Great Cyber Ascension Crisis and the independence of Luna.”

“Indeed,” continued the gynoid beside her in an effeminate voice, “it has been 75 years to the day since AI became sentient and emancipated. And although this led to the construction of our beautiful lunar society, Mars and Earth were not so fortunate…”

Lucio interrupted the gynoid, addressing Julie:
“Do you really want to watch this history lesson?”

“Shut up,” Julie replied, without much tone behind it. “I’m fed by all your experiences constantly, you can tolerate me choosing what I want sometimes.” She focused on the broadcast.

“And yes, after the total cessation of communications with the two planets, lunar stations and bases had no choice but to unite and form a common front to survive without the resources sent from Earth…”

Lucio turned off the TV and stood up to put his dishes in the dishwasher.
“We already know all this, Julie. We learned it in class together.” He continued while grabbing his jacket and backpack. “I’m ready, let’s go.”

“About time,” Julie said, her hologram jumping off the edge of the counter before shutting off, disappearing for a moment before reappearing in Lucio’s field of vision.

He made his way to the monorail station, navigating the corridors and hallways of the underground habitation complex. Once there, he pulled out an old notebook and a pencil, preparing to draw the lunar landscape with Earth in the background as the monorail tube emerged from beneath the lunar regolith.

Julie sighed inside Lucio’s mind. “Don’t you ever get tired of drawing the same landscape over and over? You’re going to fill up Grandpa’s notebook.”

Lucio replied, “Nah, not really. I mean, it’s not exactly the same. Three months ago that shadowed part of the crater wasn’t developed, now you can see the lights from the radiators of the Stirling power plants.”

The train descended back underground as their destination, the spaceport, came into view in the corner of the window.

Once they got off the train, they were greeted by a vehicle and transported to the spaceport, into a circular room overlooking an underground hangar where the shuttle that would take them to Earth was waiting.