Mythos Of Narcissus: Reborn As An NPC In A Horror VRMMO

Narcissus's here.

As the day waned, I, Narcissus, remained knee-deep in arcane technology and synthetic biology, alongside my three confidantes—Kuzunoha, Verina, and head of consul Lupina.

Our task? To perfect our latest creation: the Organic Calculator.

"Your cooking is always a delight, Narcissus," Kuzunoha said as she elegantly dined on the food I made like a nobility. "You will make a great wife, and I'm more than happy to be the husband in the relationship~"

Thank you, but I have no plan to take the role of a wife.

"What is the implication of that comment, Kuzunoha?" Verina shot the fox a glare with her courageous deadpan. She was also feasting with us on the dining table, all while spoon feeding her semi-canine mono-bodypart friend, Lupina, who could only open her mouth when there was nothing to chew in it.

It was an enigma on where that food went, and how she even had the urge to be hungry, and sustenance, like, what?"

"Someone is jelly!" Lupina exclaimed. "Though, I don't know the reason why. You have been flirting with Narcissus more than Kuzunoha ever did."

"I flirted to progress my relationship." Verina then pointed at Kuzunoha with her spoon. "That fox sounded as if she wanted to force Narcissus to elope with her."

Kuzunoha smiled after she swallowed what was in her mouth. "Sometimes, being blunt about your intentions will result in much more miraculous progress."

Ah yes, said the person who was never blunt with her intention.

Anywho, back to the grand development of this bastion first ever step into the uncharted territory of the Neuromorphic Computation Technology!

The prototype had shown promise, but it was about as precise as a drunken bandit on roller skates.

If we were going to truly push forward, this early version needed work, and I had about six hours until the Dusk Ordeal would descend upon us.

"And then we are back at the workshop!" Lupina exclaimed, carrying the same excitement that she showcased when she found out that she somehow could eat food like a normal person. "I can't wait to only observe and do absolutely nothing!"

"Fortunately enough, the project is progressing faster because of that," Verina laughed an eerie deadpan cackle afterward.

The Organic Calculator was still missing something, some steadying factor to give it a push beyond the basic pattern recognition it had shown.

While it could 'remember' patterns for a while and react with a bit of 'instinct', the thing still fell flat on exact arithmetic, the kind we needed for more complex tasks. Discover more stories at empire

I leaned back, thinking. It was time to try out some new Calamity Alloys and maybe add a few hybrid circuits, just to see if we could boost the stability and accuracy without relying on Kuzunoha's sorcery alone.

As such, it was time to refine the Organic Calculator's Capabilities

I nodded to Verina, motioning toward our dwindling stockpile of Calamity Objects. We had to get the right mix of materials this time. From what I'd read in some ancient Carcosan scripture and totally-not-made-up and self-published-but-only-on-the-head— certain alloys would improve with just the right touch of addition and subtraction from the available materials.

"How about we try the ink from the Ink-Born Muse with the core of the Sandstalker?" I suggested, tapping the table. "It has memory-retaining properties we need but can't handle larger currents. Mixing it with a stabilizing agent could add enough balance."

Kuzunoha's smirk said she already knew where I was going with this. "So, the Shardfiend material you've got stored? The crystalline substance could give you that touch of arithmetic accuracy you're pining for."

"Yes," I exclaimed. "A perfect marriage of chaotic unpredictability with crystalline precision." A little excitement pulsed through me at the thought. "I might need to redo my calculation, but it is better than brute forcing an old- schematic into a new iteration of the plan."

Carefully, I layered in the Shardfiend crystal dust to form tiny, precise circuits within the Organic Calculator's core, while the flexible Ink-Born alloy pathways created a labyrinth of memory-holding 'neurons'.

With each pass, I imagined how this new combination would enable a broader range of calculations, complex enough to interpret and respond to multi-layered tasks. If this worked, after all, we'd have something truly revolutionary on our hands!

And then, after some minor tinkering with the position and the ratio of the materials for the used synthetic-form of the Calamity Alloys, we managed to improve the processing capability by at least 62%.

"Quite the drastic improvement, just by altering some stuff around," Verina commented.

"I think you have undermined the amount of 'altering some stuff around' that we performed in rapid succession," I added a clarification.

The next step was improving memory retention.

Because this thing was dumber than a baby gold-fish.

"Your word of insult will break the Organic Calculator's heart, Narcy," Verina said as she covered the neuromorphic device as if she was shielding it from my words. "It might develop feelings down the line, and it will get hurt if it remembered this event."

"Calling the Organic Calculator 'dumber than a fish' is mean, my fair Narcissus," Lupina followed, carrying the unusual sarcastic smirk that she had recently adapted from being exposed to the kilnalan and the animaphage for a long time.

"It is better if we are able to finish this project without any grudges built amongst the participants," Kuzunoha said under the shade of her ornate umbrella, even though we're indoor and there was nothing that needed to be shielded. "You might have not notice it, Narcissus, but an awful words voiced by such a gorgeous and beautiful individual like you would hurt more than it was said by that of a commoner~"

Yup, at this point, I believed that the unsung second criteria to be my confidante was to have the urge to tease me at any given moment necessary.

Anyway, speaking of the dumb-like-goldfish memory of our precious Organic Calculator.

The Blood-Bonded Gel layer in our prototype was decent, but it was as unreliable as a mule with a sprained leg when it came to handling complex thoughts and calculations.

I needed something more refined, something adaptive.

"I'm thinking we add a second layer—a gel that can adjust and amplify patterns that are used more frequently," I explained.

Verina raised an eyebrow. "Double the gel? Won't that turn it into a blob?"

"Not if we use diluted marrow from the Skybound Marrow," Kuzunoha interjected. "It's thin enough to act as a reinforcing layer but will hold memory traces longer. We can even try a different type of synthetic if there is a potential in the concept."

We then coated each node with a microscopic layer, allowing pathways to be enhanced for tasks the Organic Calculator encountered frequently.

This should reduce the rate of memory drift and stabilize the device's short-term memory functions. Or so we thought.

Of course, it won't be anything without a slight 'funk' of 'inconveniences.

Thankfully, after a few more adjustments, we had improved the calculator's ability to handle more intricate, layered inputs.

"So, our next goal is to make this calculator, to calculate," Lupina reiterated the current progress of our project. "How? It can't even talk!"

"I don't want to hear that from someone who can eat and digest food even without 80% of her body," Verina replied.

Adding Shardfiend crystal wasn't just for stability; its high precision made it suitable for arithmetic functions, something we'd neglected thus far, ironically.

With my tools in my impossibly dexterous hands, I carefully etched tiny circuits into the crystals, creating a basic 'arithmetic core' using language logic that should be introduced within the Organic Calculator.

"Fascinating," Kuzunoha murmured, running a finger along the desk. "You're trying to make it… compute."

"That's the idea," I replied, grinning. "This time, it's not just learning—it's calculating."

After a good half-an hour of etching and introducing the mathematical language into the core, the effect was almost immediate.

With these added circuits, the Organic Calculator displayed a stronger grasp of calculations, its newfound 'brain' equipped to handle both the delicate patterns of memory and the harsh rigidity of arithmetic.

The device now processed signals with greater precision, allowing us to tap into a range of computations without the risk of data distortion.

Lupina sighed in relief, "Phew, that was intense."

You didn't even do anything.

With the hardware sorted, it was time to establish training protocols.

This device could be the bastion's saving grace if we were to develop it further, so I wanted to ensure it would learn consistently and reliably.

It was time to set the Pattern Libraries and Training Algorithms.

First, we needed to provide it with a foundational training set. It wasn't enough to just throw in random data—we needed a collection of voltage patterns that it could 'recognize' and build upon over time.

Kuzunoha helped create these patterns, binding simple, repetitive shapes and sequences into the Organic Calculator's pathways. A square. A triangle. Then, more advanced shapes. Over time, we expanded this pattern library, providing it with a strong foundation to build upon as we trained it.

Eventually, we would combine the mathematical logic of the circuits with these understanding of shapes—that would be the point where we could expand the 'brain' of the Organic Calculator to perform numerous tasks that needed cognitive function.

"Fascinating," Verina muttered. "I find that these intricate, elaborate processes of creating a mimicry of intelligence to be similar with ohrtending, just that there are more stages before we can get the result."

"So, can I be called an 'Ohrtender' now? I questioned with my chin raised over a smug.

"Worktender will be the most apt," Verina playfully replied.

We established a set of routine calibration protocols. Every few hours, we'd recalibrate the device to prevent data drift. Data that fades or twists becomes dangerous over time, but with this schedule, the Organic Calculator would have the upkeep it needed to remain stable.

"Hehehe, things are starting to truly come together."

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