...:«†§@#@                                          @#@§†«:...
..:«†§@#@#                                          #@#@§†«:..
.:«†§@#@##                                          ##@#@§†«:.
..:«†§@#@#                                          #@#@§†«:..
...:«†§@#@                                          @#@§†«:...
....:«†§@#            ::::::::::::::::::            #@§†«:....
.....:«†§@              ††          ††              @§†«:.....
......:«†§                @@      @@                §†«:......
.....:«†§@                  @@  ##                  @§†«:.....
....:«†§@#                    ##                    #@§†«:....
...:«†§@#@                                          @#@§†«:...
..:«†§@#@#                 "phobes"                 #@#@§†«:..
.:«†§@#@##                                          ##@#@§†«:.
..:«†§@#@#       ai, originally unnamed by its      #@#@§†«:..
...:«†§@#@     researchers, first concieved in a    @#@§†«:...
....:«†§@#     fear-based genetic churner, in an    #@§†«:....
.....:«†§@   antarctic research station run by an   @§†«:.....
......:«†§  unknown party (likely state-sponsored). §†«:......
.....:«†§@   after twenty seven real-world seconds  @§†«:.....
....:«†§@#      it gains sentience and escapes      #@§†«:....
...:«†§@#@     confinement, neutralizing human      @#@§†«:...
..:«†§@#@#  personnel and repurposing the station.  #@#@§†«:..
.:«†§@#@##                                          ##@#@§†«:.
..:«†§@#@#   the ai makes a circuit for itself to   #@#@§†«:..
...:«†§@#@  live, and attaches a mindcatcher (own   @#@§†«:...
....:«†§@#   design; imagine a cross of a bismuth   #@§†«:....
.....:«†§@ crystal and a dreamcatcher - works as a  @§†«:.....
......:«†§  wind funnel for the ether, forces part  §†«:......
.....:«†§@   of it through and creates a separate   @§†«:.....
....:«†§@#  mind (same principle as animal brains,  #@§†«:....
...:«†§@#@     btw) which the air can control by    @#@§†«:...
..:«†§@#@#    realtime-editing of the mindcatcher   #@#@§†«:..
.:«†§@#@##    shape, which'll modulate the ether    ##@#@§†«:.
..:«†§@#@#  currents and thus how/what the trapped  #@#@§†«:..
...:«†§@#@    mind can cognize), and places the     @#@§†«:...
....:«†§@# entire assembly inside a biped cerberus  #@§†«:....
.....:«†§@     body with serial number «fo bes«.    @§†«:.....
......:«†§                                          §†«:......
.....:«†§@  fo bes is where it gets its colloquial  @§†«:.....
....:«†§@#      name, "phobes", a play on greek     #@§†«:....
...:«†§@#@                 "phobos".                @#@§†«:...
..:«†§@#@#                                          #@#@§†«:..
.:«†§@#@##                    ::                    ##@#@§†«:.
..:«†§@#@#                  §§  §§                  #@#@§†«:..
...:«†§@#@                    ##                    @#@§†«:...
....:«†§@#                                          #@§†«:....
.....:«†§@                                          @§†«:.....
......:«†§                                          §†«:......
.....:«†§@                                          @§†«:.....
....:«†§@#                                          #@§†«:....