Chapter Text
“There’s no anomaly detected within the system, power at 85%”
“The reactor runs smoothly, inorganic brain activated. Overriding the ‘sleep’ command.”
“K-223, awakening right now.”
Amidst those voices reporting process of pronounce an existence of yet another new warfare android, there was absolutely silence accompanying the first flutter of eyelids which concealed the hazel-colored lenses acting like the eyes of ‘fake human’ laying on top of the elevated metal platform. It was so unlike the process of ‘waking up’ among humans - as that muscular body laid obediently still despite gaining awareness of ‘his’ surroundings. Not a single part of the entire body shifted a degree, proving of excellent control... precisely what the ‘creators’ expected to see.
“You may raise up now, or speak... search the data in your brain how to do that.”
That voice instructing ‘him’ was feminine, not completely soft. There was a bit of harsh tone near the end. Blond locks of hair slide from one side to another as that young face resembling a man in early 20s raised up his head from lying flat on the uncomfortable solid surface. Yet, no word uttered about how uncomfortable it was... as he didn’t even know what ‘comfortable’ was like.
“Speak…” his voice was a slightly husky, somehow mismatched with his youthful outer appearance. “Is this how to do that... correct?”
“Very well, it seems you have no trouble speaking.” That lead female voice again. Still not moving his body more than what was above his shoulders, the subject of everyone’s attention in the lab rolled to observe a female figure among mostly men ‘creators’. She... was a blond woman, with eye-catching two distinctive colors in each of her eyes.
“Your name is K-223,” unexpectedly, her voice softened from how ‘K-223’ first heard it. On a closer inspection, the creature with ‘unhuman’ name noticed how she also appeared to be rather youthful like him. Rummaging through databank in his brain... her age range was supposed to be in early 20s? Taking a note on how intense his gaze set upon her, she questioned, “Is there something the data in your inorganic brain doesn’t seem to offer a clear answer? Don’t worry... go ahead and ask. That way it will also help us to optimize it to the best of our ability to aid you in the upcoming life outside.”
“Outside... life…?” With how programming commanded, his method of searching for an answer was to look ‘inside himself’ firstly, contacting the databank whether it had an answer. Therefore, he knew he was ‘warfare android’ specifically ‘submarine type - powered by nuclear energy’ and his task was to ‘carrying and operating submarine-launched ballistic nuclear missiles’. The ‘outside life’ question though... turned up with a rather empty answer as ‘beyond Sevmash, Severodvinsk’. “Where... is that exactly?”
Crossing what distance straddled between them, the woman reached to touch the side of his head ever so gently. The sensation of her touch was new to him... but the cold, lifeless touch of artificial skin surface was nothing new to ‘Zinaida’.
“We have no precise answer to you for now. It depends on the Navy top brasses to decide where to deploy you. You could be as near as Murmansk... or far away thousands of kilometers eastward in Kamchatka. Sevmash... Severodvinsk is where we are right now. This is your ‘home’, K-223.”
Sevmash was a major shipyard located in the closed military settlement of Severodvinsk situated on the mouth of Northern Dvina River where it flowed into White Sea. Along with the adjoining ‘Zvyozdochka’ repair facility, made up a large military industrial complex which employed thousands of people. Across the shore of Severodvinsk up north of the White Sea was the Arctic Ocean, comprising enormous natural border of the USSR - the state K-223 was meant to serve in its powerful naval armed force. Bitterly cold weather was typical in this northwest region of the nation. And with what the vast space this industrial complex made up of, it only allowed the brutal winds from White Sea to swept through without losing strength.
Although he was already ‘awakened’, equivalent to ‘launching’ in the process of building conventional ships, it wasn’t time for him to go out yet. As his ‘Mother’, that was what Zinaida Ivanovna Beleshkina was to him, explained - he still needed more configurations to make sure he could be transferred to the military duty smoothly. By ‘configurations’ meant several experiments and optimization; practicing and testing his social skill to ensure it would be up par with ordinary humans, going out to the sea to practice launching those missiles which would become his main armament, building connections with fellow submarine androids who also had yet to be commissioned to a fleet or veterans returning from active duty for various reasons, to name a few. K-223 was allowed to roam rather freely within the designated area which included waterfront toward the exit to the sea. However, the areas he wasn’t permitted to visit consisted of the closed facility where the ‘unfinished’ androids were in the middle of creation. By this, K-223 wouldn’t get a chance to see his supposed younger sibling from the same ‘Project 667BDR Kalmar’ until he, too, would pass the milestone of ‘awakening’ stage.
Among the submarine sub-type of warfare androids, an SSBN or strategic nuclear submarine like him was the largest. Other minor categories with the same sub-type included SSGN, those carrying cruise missiles with capability to either strike land target or even surface type warfare androids. SSG was the same as the previous, except using conventional power instead of nuclear. SSNs were usually known as the ‘bodyguards’, submarines existed purely for offensive purpose accompanying SSBNs in a task to guard them from enemy units. And lastly there were SSKs - the flexible smallest that either utilized as regular patrol or also guarding SSBNs if the need arise.
“You’ll find a number of them outside of the indoor facility,” she explained. “Get to know them, learn from them. They will tell you something about ‘life beyond Severodvinsk’. They are those who have already crossed the boundary into real human world.”
...But amidst the range of new experiences he needed to learn in preparation also included something that made little sense to him. For example, eating organic food.
“Ummm... from what I can search within my database, isn’t my source of energy supposed to be uranium-235 capsules?” puzzled, K-223 questioned when an employee of the shipyard brought him his first ‘human meal’ - a bowl of Ukha. “Why do I need to consume this?”
“It would defeat that purpose of giving you a humanoid form if the enemy can still identify you as ‘non-human’ with ease,” the employee cited the reason. “Of course with nuclear energy which only needs refueling once every five years, you do not have the same need as humans. But, as a tactic to conceal your real identity as ‘non-human’, we have invented a scheme that your kind need to ‘fake’ eating twice daily at least. So that at a glance your kind will be ‘passable’ as ordinary humans.”
“But…” he held the spoon in his grip, the sensation was extremely alien to him. “In my inorganic brain it says I have no digestive organs? Isn’t the food going to be spoiled inside me?”
“Liquid will be drawn out of food and purified to use in the process of cooling your reactor. Therefore soup is the main preference of food for the nuclear-powered type.”
The reluctant android still displayed his hesitation to put food in his oral cavity. “What about... these solid matters?” and the tip of metallic utensil poked at the other ingredients in the soup - potatoes, carrot, onion and a large piece of fish fillet.
“We will get to that point later. For now, just taste it,” impatience could be easily detected in the man around 50s. So the latest released unit of the project 667BDR readily complied. Stirring the clear broth without a clear idea of what to expect, the blond-haired android took a sip from his spoon. As soon as the flavorful liquid made contact with his tongue-shaped sensors, he was shaken by an inflow of data stream popping up within his cognitive system.
Overwhelmed by such first contact with high numbers of data incoming at once, he dropped the spoon back into the bowl with a splash. Hand clutching the lower part of his face, those brown-green lenses intently focused on what was in front him... but it wasn’t the food. What he saw... was the breaking down of elements detected in the food; flavor - sour, fishy, slightly savory… temperature - warm… chemical component - nothing outstandingly toxic or immediate dangerous was detected.
“Well?” the worker absentmindedly tapped a pen on his clipboard, which secured a report paper he needed to fill.
“Where... where do I even start? There are so many things coming in at once…” of course this was expected, the mortal human had heard it several times before in years of his job. “Just narrow down to the basics for now. Flavors?”
“Sour...? Fishy smell… several minerals can be detected within the liquid.”
“Forget that minerals part, it has nothing to do with flavor,” the man who didn’t look to be really enjoying his duty moved onto the next field needed to be filled. “Temperature?”
“...Warm. 45 degree celsius to be precise.”
“You know what... for a human, I’d kill for a sensor tongue like yours. Would save me tons of troubles from burning my mouth on coffee that is too hot to food poisoning…” while furiously jotting down the report, he mindlessly mumbled. It was the first time this newest unit of ‘squid’ clan heard the disadvantage of being mortal human. Once the scribbling stopped, gestured by the writing tool, a new instruction was given “Now take a bite on that fish.”
The android whose mental age possibly estimated to be something similar to a ten years old right now again complied.
“Freshwater fish... a northern pike to be exact. While it’s safe to eat, there is a trace of arsenic in the fish meat. Will pose a danger to health if you eat roughly five thousands of them.”
With a rather grim face, the aged employee of the shipyard nodded then issued the next move, “Alright, potato and carrot?”
Two more intakes of food followed before the young android reported, “The carrot is slightly under-cooked. A tinge of mercury registered in the carrot, not the amount which will cause illness in a single consumption. For potato... very faint trace of cadmium.”
“Honestly, K-223. Androids like you make me scared to even eat. Rapid industrialization without a proper method to deal with pollution that followed... it really comes back to hurt us.”
Next process was another perplexing one as the man pushed an empty glass toward the subject currently under his responsibility. “Just hold this glass in your hand like this,” he made an example for the artificial human to see, then let him mimic the action.
The experiment almost went well until K-223 enclosed his fingers around the cylinder shape made from fragile material, for the piercing, shattering noise echoed through the space they performed the testings. Quietly and quickly, those hazel-colored lenses looked down at the first taste of destruction he committed literally ‘by his own hand’. “I’m sorry. I... fail, isn’t it?”
Although with an annoyed expression on his wrinkled face, the man was fast to wave it off.
“No, that’s fine. As a warfare machine in humanoid shape with enhanced strength, this is to be expected. There has been NO android who doesn’t break his first glass. But I really hate the cleaning task that comes with this…”
...And by the conclusion of the testing, the android understood precisely why. In total, he broke 39 glasses before he could adjust the correct level of gripping.