...:~=*$§@                                          @§$*=~:...
..:~=*$§@@                                          @@§$*=~:..
.:~=*$§@@#                                          #@@§$*=~:.
..:~=*$§@@                                          @@§$*=~:..
...:~=*$§@                                          @§$*=~:...
....:~=*$§            ::::::::::::::::::            §$*=~:....
.....:~=*$              ==          ==              $*=~:.....
......:~=*                $$      $$                *=~:......
.......:~=                  @@  §§                  =~:.......
........:~                    ##                    ~:........
.......:~=                                          =~:.......
......:~=*                 "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".                $*=~:.....
....:~=*$§                                          §$*=~:....
...:~=*$§@                    ::                    @§$*=~:...
..:~=*$§@@                  **  **                  @@§$*=~:..
.:~=*$§@@#                    ##                    #@@§$*=~:.
..:~=*$§@@                                          @@§$*=~:..
...:~=*$§@                                          @§$*=~:...
....:~=*$§                                          §$*=~:....
.....:~=*$                                          $*=~:.....
......:~=*                                          *=~:......