Automatic Training (Commission)

Written as a Patron reward for @UberUser.

“All systems in normal range?” Charlie asked, as she leaned back into the chair. “Ready for the first test?” 

“All systems normal,” Levi repeated, bent over at his desk. “Running one last set of proxies before we do the real thing. We’re mucking around with your memory centers here, I’m not going to do a bad job.” 

“We’ve been over this a hundred times. Do the test, before someone at the office learns how much money we’ve spent on this without getting practical results.” Charlie held onto the straps. She wanted to turn and glare at Levi for being too much of a worry-wart, but her head had to stay perfectly still for the scanning process to work. 

“Charlie, these are your subconscious, integrated memories we’re talking about,” Levi said, tapping a few things on his keyboard. “NEAT isn’t just going to give you memories, it’s going to drill them into your hindbrain. Once we’ve got this uploaded, you’ll have the skills like you’ve practiced them for decades.” 

“Unconscious competence, I know. This was my project before you joined in, I’ve been working on it longer than you.” She sighed, tapping her fingers on the armrests. “The Neural Enhancement & Augmentation Technology is going to revolutionize things, sure, but first we have to test it.” 

“Hey, pardon me for being cautious when we’re treating your brain like a tape cassette,” Levi said. “Fine. I can’t see anything out of normal range.” 

“Then run the program.” Charlie sighed, waiting for Levi to stop mothering her so much. It was going to be fine. They’d done all the right steps, testing things on animals before moving up to human trials. Copying brain activity had gone smoothly. Now it was just a matter of importing that activity into a new brain. 

“Okay, running. You might feel a slight pinch,” Levi warned. 

Charlie didn’t feel anything at all. “Are you sure you started it? I don’t-” 

She woke up a few minutes later. Levi was standing over her, pointing a flashlight into her eyes. 

“Are you awake? Tell me, how many fingers am I holding-” 

“Get that light out of my face!” Charlie demanded, pushing his hand aside. 

She’d been unstrapped from the seat, and she sat up immediately. Her head was a little fuzzy, but becoming clearer by the moment. 

Levi looked at her seriously. “How do you feel?” 

She thought about it for a moment. Memories, instincts really, made her fingers twitch. She spoke with confidence. “I know Tai Chi.” 

“Show me.” Levi stepped back, helping her out of the chair. 

Charlie extended her arms, and without a second’s thought, began moving through graceful, practiced patterns of meditative movement. It wasn’t a matter of recalling how to do it, she simply knew, in the way a master knew after years of practice. 

“I…” Levi said, staring at her.

“I know,” Charlie replied, grinning. “It’s incredible.” 

“No, I mean…” He gestured down at her pants. 

Charlie frowned, gaze tracking where he pointed. Her pants were wet, and a puddle was quickly forming on the floor beneath her. That was… wrong.  

“You didn’t feel that?” Levi asked. He sounded concerned, but she wasn’t sure why. 

“Not… not until you said something,” Charlie said. “I don’t know why it happened.” She tried to think back. Mechanically, she knew what was supposed to happen: When there was any urge to go, she’d hold it until she could go to the toilet and release. 

When she tried to remember what that felt like, though, she came up with nothing. She knew the what and the why, but the how was beyond her. 

Levi rubbed at the back of his neck, walking to his desk to check the computer display. “Well… Crap. I think we made a mistake.” 

Oh no. Charlie hurried over, looking at the screen, leaving damp footprints in her wake. “What is it? Tell me it’s not something with my motor functions. We checked that a thousand times.” 

“It’s not that.” Levi pointed at a flashing image of Charlie’s brain activity, taken before she’d gotten out of the chair. “See here? I think my tape cassette metaphor might have been a little too accurate. We didn’t create new memories for you, we wiped over old memories, and if I had to guess, the first thing to go was the first skill you ever implicitly learned.” 

Charlie frowned, then turned pink when she realized her knees were bending slightly as she pushed a mess out into her panties. “I… it wiped my potty training?” 

Levi sighed, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. “Just… call the office head, and tell them we’ve hit some delays. I’m going to the store.” 

Charlie stood gingerly and reached for the phone, reminding herself that she’d known the risks when she sat in the chair. “What are you getting?” 

Scooping up his keys, Levi explained, “I’m buying you some diapers, and maybe a training potty. Until the machine’s safe to use, we might have to handle your troubles the old-fashioned way.”