ONE MONTH LATER, STEINHOLM COUPLE LABORATORY

The incubator chamber was moved to the middle of the laboratory, and the area had been cleared all around it except for a few devices connected to the incubator. "Beep" noises constantly emitted from the devices in a steady rhythm, clearly monitoring the vitals of the boy inside the incubator chamber.

*Footsteps*

The couple approached the incubator, and as if expecting their arrival; it opened and elevated the body inside so that the face of the young child inside would be nearer.

"My sweet little boy, don't forget your mommy okay?" Crystal water drops fell from Dr Arisa's eyes as she gazed at her son's face. She lovingly stroked his hair as she gazed at the cute face of her child, thinking that she would never see this cute face anymore; she bitterly cried for a little while longer.

"My dear boy, I hope we were wrong...and that we meet again soon..." Dr Andrew wanted to say more, but as he began to speak his voice trembled. Instead, he gave his son a long gaze as if he were committing his son's face to memory.

"Ok let's begin" After clearing his throat, Dr Andrew's voice became firm and dragged his unwilling wife away from the incubator. The two took a synchronized deep breath and the look in their eyes became cold and focused.

"Aria! Prep the procedure!" Dr Arisa ordered.

"Affirmative! Order received!" A robotic voice sounded out from the laboratory!

Almost instantly the entire laboratory begun to move, the floors and ceiling shifted as machinery emerged and took up stations around the incubator. The incubator then lifted the child and transformed itself into an operating table and it's outer parts separated and formed a barrier around the machinery. If one looked closely, they would notice that a single strand of hair that fell from the child's head did not move an inch even though the machinery around him had moved. The incubator expanded barrier created a separate environment from the outside and not even a single sound or speck of dust would be able to make it inside. The child lying face down on the table didn't show a single movement and quietly laid there as if he were a corpse.

"Aria! Begin the sanitation process!" Dr Andrew. ordered.

"Affirmative! Order received!" The robotic female voice replied.

Suddenly one of the machines began making whirring noises and then emitted a red gas that filled the entire barrier covering all of the machines and the young boy. The gas was then vacuumed out by the same machine, if one looked closely, they would realize the floor inside the barrier was a few shades lighter than the floor outside of the barrier showing the contrast.

"Aria! Prep operation falling star!" Dr Andrew ordered once more.

"Affirmative! Order received!" The robotic female voice once more resounded.

Suddenly a machine appeared suspended over the young boy, its shape like a spider. Its stomach had a bright light beneath it, there were also a few cameras near the light. The "spider" also had 8 long limbs which also had cameras, on the limb of the "spider" there was a huge needle at the end of each limb and an empty vial chamber above the needle.

Dr Andrew and Dr Arisa stood not far away from the barrier, in front of them a hologram revealing the situation inside the barrier. Their eyes were focused and cold as if it were not their son who was about to go through a risky operation. The scientist couple constantly checked on the operating machines to make sure they were not experiencing any issues since they were not the ones doing the operation themselves but the AI Aria. The AI Aria was more accurate and better equipped than a human being in terms of medical capability and accuracy, thus all they had to do was make sure the devices were operating at maximum capacity and monitor the entire situation for any unexpected issues.

"Aria! Release the primal fluid!" Dr Arisa ordered.

"Affirmative! Order received!" The robotic voice replied.

The vials on each of the long limbs of the spider were being filled by a strange purple-coloured fluid. This fluid looked very strange, the colour seemed to glow and give off a bright light that illuminated the entire laboratory. A second hologram opened up in front of Dr Andrew and Arisa showing a magnified picture of the liquid, one could see tiny bugs that seemed to be made of a type of metal. The bugs did not seem to move and appeared to be inactive.

"All nanobots in hibernation!" The robotic voice resounded in the laboratory.

Although things seemed to be going on track so far, now that both Dr Andrew and Dr Arisa had gotten to this part, a wave of fear washed over their hearts. For a moment their will wavered and the focused and cold expression they once had crumbled.

"...I will not fail. My little brother will survive" The robotic voice of Aria surprisingly sounded out of her own volition shocking the Steinholm couple.

A third hologram appeared, but this one wasn't a screen but a 3d image of a young girl with a strikingly familiar appearance to the young boy of the couple.

"...Aria?" Dr Arisa seemed too shocked to speak and could only call her name.

"...How? Aria...have you gained sentience? I haven't added any updates to your program...how is this possible?" Dr Andrew asked, his voice shaking as if he couldn't believe the scene in front of him.

"...I do not know. I've attempted to figure out the reason... I first awakened 25 days ago. I did a global search on strange occurrences 25 days ago, one week prior and after and the most likely and also most rare cause was the return of the Mars spacecraft..." The robotic voice replied.

"...The ores..." Dr Andrew seemed to realize something and shivered.

"The reports of unexplainable phenomenon worldwide started a month ago Andrew..." Dr Arisa's voice trembled as she spoke.

"Mom and Dad, we do not have time. The nanobots will break hibernation soon" The robotic voice of Aria seemed to wake up the couple from their thoughts.

The hologram showing a magnified picture of the nanobots in the purple-coloured liquid showed signs of moving about. Some of the legs and mandibles on the nanobots twitched showing signs they were waking up.

The name "Aria" was given to the AI by the scientist couple, as a way to make her part of the family. As the family was usually busy, Aria often babysat Arin and took care of his needs when his parents were busy at work like an actual older sister. Now that the AI had awoken sentience, it referred to the scientist couple as her parents.

"Aria is right, honey we need to begin. If the bots wake up outside of his body, they will reject him" Dr Arisa shook herself out of the excess thoughts and decided to ignore Aria's situation for now.

"Aria...I leave him in your hands! Begin the operation!" Dr Andrew clenched his fists and spoke with the depths of his stomach.

"Affirmative!" Aria's hologram disappeared, and machines inside the barrier moved once more.

The machine-like spider then took up a position on top of Arin's back. The light intensified and the cameras on the spider's underbelly made strange sounds.

Another hologram screen appeared showing the skeleton structure of the young child. The limbs on the spider then took a strange stance as 7 of the limbs lined up at different points the boy's body. One needle limb aimed at each shoulder, one aimed at each thigh, 3 aimed at different segments of the spinal cord and one aimed at the back of the head at the base of the skull.

"Accurate alignment achieved!"

"Beginning synchronization!" Aria's robotic voice resounded once more

The needles then began making strange whirring noises as they slowly lowered into the boy's body through his skin and into the bones releasing a bit of blood. The needles aimed at the spine and skull didn't go too deep in compared to the limbs of his body, each needle penetrated at a different depth. The child's eyelids twitched but his body did not move, it was apparent he had been put into a deep sleep in preparation for this operation. The machine monitoring his vitals increased its frequency of beeping noises, indicating a change in the body's condition.

"Releasing primal fluid!" Aria's robotic voice noted.

The fluid from the vials went through the needle and made its way into the bone marrow of the boy's body.

"Now Aria! Activate the nanobots!" Dr Andrew shouted.

"Affirmative" Aria's robotic voice replied.

The limbs of the spider-like machine retracted from the boy's body, instantly blood rushed out but stopped almost immediately. On the holographic X-ray, the tiny holes made by the needles had already disappeared and on the regular holographic screen, the skin on the boy's body had already been repaired. If not for the blood marks on his back, one wouldn't believe that needles had penetrated his skin and into his bone. The machine monitoring his vitals eased up in intensity but was still a bit off from normal.

"Now Aria! Rechamber him!" Dr Arisa screamed out quickly.

"Affirmative! Rechambering!" Aria's voice responded.

The table where the young boy's body laid, once more lifted him and then morphed back into an incubator. The outer expanded parts receded and connected back to the main body. Once more the young boy had entered the incubator, a small mask covered the boy's nose and mouth as purple liquid filled the chamber and now the boy's face could no longer be seen.

"Wife...Now we can only wait...This is the hardest part and even worse...we may not even be around to see it" Dr Andrew seemed to be devoid of all energy as he said this.

"He's your son...he will survive!" Dr Arisa assured him with a folded fist.

The scientist couple let out a sigh as they crumpled to the floor in fatigue, both staring at the incubated chamber their nerves stretched tautly. Aria's holographic form appeared and "sat" on the floor next to the couple. The couple began asking Aria questions about her sentience and trying to understand the phenomenon.