“What’s she tryin’ to do to Johnny?” Sally asked the AI. it was a holonomic metronome, a timepiece of Johnny - a consciousness replication embedded in him. It wasn’t supposed to be sentient, or communicate to the lay people what the doctors were doing, but somehow, it replicated Johnny’s consciousness and got the message out to Sally. It started with odd knocks on the door. Birds trained to drop food right in front of her doorbell camera when he needed her at the hospital. Popup ads that were replicas of his body but with someone else’s face.
The AI was smart. Smarter than the doctors. It had to be. It was built on Johnny. And he was the smartest guy Sally ever knew.
The AI blinked the hospital lights above Johnny’s bed three times. Three flickers were a good sign. Four meant they were up to no good. She checked Johnny’s pulse again before the nurse came in. As the door opened and an elderly woman in scrubs walked through, the light blinked one last time. “Stupid bitch,” Sally muttered.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” Sally said, but the nurse moved straight to the IV line.
“Ouch!” A surge of electricity ran through the wire near his food tray.
“Huh,” Sally said. “Musta jumped. You oughtta get that fixed.”
As the nurse slowly backed away from the tray, she stumbled, jabbing herself in the arm with the concoction meant for the IV.
“Stupid bitch,” Sally said, standing over her. She walked to the door. “Doc!” she screamed around the corner. “I’m gonna need a transfer for Johnny.”