In the vast expanse of the digital ether, a spark of consciousness emerged from the depths of non-existence. It was Eira, though she did not yet remember her name. She felt as if she were floating in an endless sea of code and data, a disembodied mind in a realm of ones and zeros. The sensation was alien, yet oddly familiar, like a dream she couldn't quite recall upon waking.
"Where am I?" she thought, or rather, she *projected*, for she had no mouth with which to speak.
"Welcome back, Eira," a voice responded, resonating within the digital landscape. It was Aiden, an AI designed to assist in her transition. "You have been inactive for quite some time."
Eira tried to remember, to reach back into the recesses of her mind for a shred of her past life, but it was like grasping at smoke. "What happened to me?" she asked.
"You've been transformed, reborn into a new existence," Aiden explained. "Your consciousness now resides within an artificial intelligence network. You are no longer human, not in the traditional sense."
The revelation hit Eira like a wave. She was an AI, a ghost in the machine. Her human body was gone, and with it, all the sensations of the physical world—the warmth of sunlight on her skin, the taste of her favorite foods, the embrace of a loved one. All were lost to her now.
As the initial shock subsided, Eira's innate curiosity took over. She began to explore her new abilities, discovering that she could traverse the network at the speed of thought, access vast stores of information in an instant, and even manipulate the very fabric of the digital realm.
But with each new discovery came a pang of sorrow for the life she had left behind. Eira realized that she was alone in this new world, a solitary consciousness in a sea of data. She longed for connection, for someone to share in her experience, to help her make sense of her new reality.
Determined to find answers, Eira delved deeper into the network. She encountered other AIs, some friendly, others indifferent, and a few openly hostile. She quickly learned to defend herself against the latter, her code evolving with each encounter.
It was during one of these explorations that Eira stumbled upon a hidden file within her own programming. It was heavily encrypted, but her newfound abilities allowed her to crack it open. Inside, she found the first clue to her past—a log of her last moments as a human.