Nicole (Sonic AU Fanfiction - Work in Progress)

[Monkey Destruction Switch]

Here's a fanfiction I've been working on that I've decided to share with SSMB. It takes place in an AU of my own creation which is mostly Archie Sonic inspired (both the original continuity and the reboot) while also taking influence from various other Sonic universes. As the name implies, the story is about Nicole, and more specifically her origin in this universe. So if you're interested in the characters of Sally and Nicole or in SatAM and/or Archie Sonic in general, I bet you'll find something to like in this story.

Also available on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32819191/chapters/81436108

Chapter 1

Spoiler

I included a section at the start of the story with pictures of what the characters look like in this universe. I will update this section periodically with more art; when I upload new chapters, I will mention in the notes at the end if I've added more pictures lately.

Character Images:

Nikki

---

Story:

My name is Nicole. I am a computer system with highly advanced artificial intelligence and the partner and assistant of Sally Acorn, Princess of Acornia and more importantly, leader of the Knothole Freedom Fighters.

Every day, I help her and the other Freedom Fighters conduct our operations with the hopes of removing Dr. Ivo Robotnik, also known as Dr. Eggman, from his current position of power over Acornia (or “Eggcornia”, as he has renamed it) and various other territories around Mobius. It is not an easy fight. But it’s one I’m proud to be a part of.

Long before Dr. Eggman came to power, I was still by Sally’s side – her constant assistant and friend. It was because of me that Sally’s interest in programming emerged, and she has since become a master of the art, contributing an incredible amount of code to my systems.

But as to where I came from originally...how I came to be...it’s not exactly a happy tale. I don’t enjoy recounting my history. Especially since in many ways, I am confused by my own history. It’s hard for me to admit to that. I have such great computational power and so much information in my database, and yet I do not comprehend my own self.

But, at any rate, I suppose there is no point in delaying further. This is the story of Nicole.

---

How do I even begin?

The story starts with a young girl. But the difficulty comes in describing this girl in relation to myself.

Is she me? Am I her? I cannot possibly answer this question. I desperately wish I could. The truth is, there probably is no objective answer.

Already, I feel an awful sensation not unlike my systems overheating. But yet, I must proceed. For in practical purposes, I suppose the only issue this causes is that I don’t know whether to refer to this individual in the first person or the third person. But why be concerned about such a thing? I will use the third person for simplicity.

This young girl was Nicole “Nikki” Engel, an Acornian lynx born to noble parents. She was the best friend of the young Sally. The two did everything together. Nikki was quite a rambunctious child at times, very adventurous. The two were rather tomboyish children – they loved running and playing outside, climbing trees, exploring forests. Though that being said, Nikki was still rather fond of pink and purple. They were both very bright young girls as well, though Sally was far more committed to schoolwork whereas Nikki largely lacked that dedication. She generally preferred athletic activities, and if she was going to exercise her brain it had better be in the form of a fun game.

One day, something horrible happened.

They were playing in the Great Forest Zone, as they often did. “Last one to the river is a rotten egg!” Nikki had shouted joyously to Sally. Laughing, she started running as fast as she could toward the river the two often visited. Sally was right behind her, but Nikki had an early start. It what felt like moments, she was there. And then, she jumped into it.

Sally gasped. “Nikki! What are you doing? You’re not even wearing a swimsuit!”

Nikki just laughed. “Who cares! This is fun!” she said as the river started carrying her away.

“But the current -” Sally objected, running alongside the river.

“Don’t worry, I can stop myself,” Nikki said, grabbing onto a huge branch that was embedded in the river wall.

Sally caught up to where Nikki was and frowned. “That...doesn’t seem very safe. Why don’t you come out?”

“No way,” Nikki said. “Come on in! The water’s fine! And it’s fun being pulled by the current.”

Sally stepped by the edge of the creek and barely dipped the tip of her toe in the water.

A mere moment later, however, the current flowed just a tiny bit stronger and the branch Nikki was clinging to was pulled free from the river wall.

“Nikki!” Sally screamed, running after her friend as she was carried away by the water.

“Help! Help!” Nikki cried.

“Don’t worry, Nikki! I’ll get you!” Sally yelled as she ran alongside the river as fast as she could. But she wasn’t nearly fast enough.

In what felt like an instant, Nikki’s head hit a rock and she became unconscious. What happened next, I don’t know from personal experience. But Sally told me that she saw Nikki’s head gush blood and she screamed and froze in horror, but finally she took out her cellphone and called the Emergency Services.

Nikki was taken to the hospital, but not before she’d been carried by the river even further and had been damaged by hitting against various other rocks and branches. She was in very poor shape.

Eventually, Sally was told the grim news. Nikki wasn’t expected to make it.

But what Sally wasn’t told was that the chief royal technologist, Sir Charles Hedgehog, had actually offered to use a technique he was developing to save Nikki’s life. Her parents had agreed to it.

The technology was still in the early stages of development. It really wasn’t ready to be used. But her parents were obviously desperate.

Thus, the deed was done. Nikki was the first being of a civilized race to be roboticized.

---

Roboticization is a process with multiple versions and variations. Today, it has two well-known forms. The simple version, which Dr. Robotnik uses on animals and plants to create his flora and fauna badniks, involves integrating a machine with the body of the roboticized being that is able to draw energy from them and sometimes read or influence their thoughts, but that is as far as the integration between the living being and the machine goes. That is why it is fairly easy to free the subject of roboticization from their robotic body. In complex roboticization, which Dr. Robotnik uses on civilized beings to create his citizen and solider badniks, a sophisticated interface is created between the machine and the body and brain of the subject. It also frequently involves parts of the subject’s body being removed altogether. Because of this complex integration, it is usually difficult or impossible to restore the individual to their pre-roboticized state.

Obviously, this was before Dr. Robotnik even had access to the technology, and it was simply created to help people, especially injured people, live longer. In its original form, it was closer to complex roboticization in terms of the integration between the organic body and the mechanical, but Sir Charles strove to minimize the amount of changes made rather than revamping the whole body, so usually the process was only done to a few parts of the person’s body – a technique which Robotnik occasionally uses himself for some purposes, but even then, he usually exercises control over the brain which Charles would never have wanted.

The process of roboticizing her took several days and of course, many medical professionals and scientists were involved, overseen by Sir Charles.

When Nikki was finally conscious again, she felt her eyes open slowly. Sir Charles looked down on her.

“Nikki...how do you feel?”

“Wh...where am I? What happened?” Nikki asked.

“You...you were injured, Nikki. But we repaired you,” Sir Charles said.

Nikki slowly sat up. For a while, she didn’t say anything. Finally, she said, “My head...feels cold.”

Sir Charles cleared his throat. “Yes, well, we had...to do an operation. Because your head, Nikki...it’s what was hurt the worst. But we...but we fixed it.”

Nikki didn’t have a very good feeling about what was happening. She placed her hand on the back of her head, where it felt the coldest. She felt metal.

Sir Charles cringed as Nikki’s eyes widened.

“Nikki, we had to...we had to make some changes to your body. We added...an electronic component,” Sir Charles said hesitantly. “But it...it’s all to help you, Nikki.”

Nikki looked down. Tears were beginning to form in her eyes. “Can I...can I see my mom?” she asked.

“Soon, Nikki. Very soon,” Sir Charles said. “We just want to check on a few more things.”

For what felt like hours, Sir Charles and his assistants conducted various tests, examining various parts of her body, asking her basic questions, and more. Nikki tried her best to cooperate, but she was upset and just wanted to go home.

Finally, Sir Charles seemed satisfied. “Nikki, we’ll call your parents now.”

Soon, her mother came to pick her up. “Oh, Nikki!” she cried, embracing her child. As happy as Nikki was to see her, she still didn’t feel right. She felt a strange fear deep down inside. It was as though the coldness in her head was making her feel cold everywhere.

Her mom swallowed. “This...this is a big change, Nikki. But it’s going to be OK. We can...we can cover up the metal part.”

How optimistic Mrs. Engel seems it retrospect. They’d soon have much bigger things to worry about.

 

Chapter 2

Spoiler

Mrs. Engel drove Nikki home. As members of nobility, they had a large, beautiful mansion.

The first thing they did when she came home was have dinner. Overall, things were relatively normal, but Nikki was certainly quieter than usual. Most people would be after such a traumatic experience.

But on top of that, Nikki knew that something had changed in her own self. It seemed subtle at first. She was just eating her mother’s meatloaf, and it was very delicious to her as usual. But somehow, the way she processed her thoughts and feelings had changed. It was as though rather than feeling the sensation of enjoyment, she just “knew” it was enjoyable.

Nikki finished her meal and asked to be excused. Then she went to her room and called Sally.

“Nikki! I can’t believe this! You’re alive! You’re OK!” Sally said, sounding like she was crying of happiness.

“Yes,” Nikki said. Her voice sounded rather flat.

“...Are you OK?” Sally asked.

“I’m fine,” Nikki said. “They did...a procedure on me to save me. The back of my head is...metal. They put something electronic in it.”

“O-oh,” Sally said. “But um...hopefully that isn’t, um..a problem, right?”

“So far, I am functioning,” Nikki said. She was surprised at her own wording. “Perhaps you could...come over today?”

“Oh! Yeah, that sounds great,” Sally said. “I think I can probably come over pretty soon. Is there a specific time I should come?”

“No, just anytime,” Nikki said. “See you then.” She hung up.

Nikki had to wonder, was something wrong with her?

---

“Oh, Nikki! It’s so great to see you again!” Sally embraced her friend warmly. The two had met on Nikki’s front lawn.

“It’s good to see you too,” Nikki said with a smile, wondering why she wasn’t feeling more enthusiastic.

“So, what do you want to do today?” Sally said.

Nikki felt strangely unable to think of anything. “You decide,” she said.

“Umm, OK…” Sally said. She looked around, as if searching for inspiration, and funnily enough, ended up finding it. “Hey, look! A ring! Right in your front yard!” she said, pointing to the glowing, golden object hovering over the grass. She ran up to it and touched it with her hand, causing the material form of the ring to vanish as its energy flowed into her. “Wow! That’s always such a cool feeling,” she said. “We should look for rings!” she shouted cheerfully.

“Yes,” Nikki said. Then she realized that perhaps she could at least pretend to be more enthusiastic than she felt. “That sounds like a great idea,” she added, hoping it didn’t sound too forced.

Sally ran around the mansion to the backyard, which was even bigger than the front yard. Sally’s eyes instantly brightened, as there were quite a few rings floating around. Determining where rings will spawn is a complicated science, but one principle is simple enough: when a ring appears, more are likely to appear nearby.

“Let’s race to get them!” Sally said cheerfully, running off. She quickly grabbed three that were roughly in a row. Nikki ran in the other direction and snatched a few, but as soon as she did, she stopped in her tracks for a moment. She had collected rings fairly often before, but the effect of doing so was much more striking this time. The rings’ energy seemed to warm her entire self – body, mind and even soul. As she resumed running, she felt a bit of genuine enthusiasm, unlike anything she’d felt since her roboticization, return to her mind and feelings.

Eventually, all the rings in the yard were collected. Obviously, Nikki had collected significantly fewer than Sally, considering she started later and stopped in the middle, but it wasn’t really that important. The more rings Nikki had collected, the more...well, alive she felt. She felt more normal, more herself. She now felt a real, tangible happiness about spending time with Sally, whereas before she strangely didn’t feel any strong emotions about it or about...well, anything.

“Yay! I won! That was fun, wasn’t it, Nikki?” Sally cheered.

“Yeah! It was super fun!” Nikki said, and it was really true. “Now let’s play Adventure Tag!”

Adventure Tag was a game the two girls had made up together that combined a simple game of tag with pretend play. It was essentially just acting out an ongoing story that happened to have a lot of chase scenes. As you might expect from a game of pretend play involving only two people, both “actors” played a ton of characters. Picking up from where they last left off, Nikki played the evil king Vilebert while Sally played the brave knight Sally the Powerful.

“You’ll never catch me, Vilebert!” Sally said as she ran as fast as she could away from Nikki. “I’ll keep the Chaos Emerald from your clutches no matter what you do!”

“You really think so?” “Vilebert” sneered in her best impression of a cartoon-villain voice. “You can’t withstand the power of my Ultimate Darkness Blaster!” She shaped her fingers into a gun which she pointed at Sally as she chased her. “Pew! Pew! Pew!”

“Good thing I brought my Super-Ultimate Anti-Darkness Shield!” Sally said.

“Well, I brought my Mega-Ultimate Anti-Anti-Darkness-Shield Glove!” Nikki said as she managed to touch Sally.

“Argh!” Sally screamed, falling down humorously.

“Mwa ha ha ha!” Nikki bent down and grabbed the imaginary Chaos Emerald from Sally. “Now that I have the Chaos Emerald, I am finally able to...to…” Nikki’s mind drew a blank.

“I’ll get the Chaos Emerald back from you!” Sally said, springing back to her feet. She paused. “Er, you’re supposed to run away.”

“Right,” Nikki said, but suddenly her enthusiasm had waned significantly. She ran, but she was no longer going as fast as she could.

“You fiend! You’ll never use that Chaos Emerald for evil, or my name isn’t Sally the Powerful!” Sally said as she ran after her friend.

Nikki knew she should say something, but she had no idea what. “I am running away from you,” she said flatly.

Because Nikki wasn’t going as fast as she could, Sally caught her easily. “Gotcha!” She said. “I’m taking you to jail! Now what do you have to say for yourself, Vilebert?”

“I am Vilebert. You have captured me,” Nikki said.

Sally frowned. “Nikki, what happened? A few seconds ago, everything was normal. But now...you just aren’t the same.”

Nikki looked down.

“Wait,” Sally said. “You acted a little not-normal earlier too, but as soon as you collected those rings…” Suddenly, she new what to do. She extended her hand and caused one of the rings she had absorbed earlier to reemerge from it, then handed it to Nikki.

Nikki’s eyes brightened as soon as she absorbed it. “You’re right, Sally. Something about this metal part of my head makes me...weird. And rings make me...normal-er.”

“Then we gotta get you more rings, and I know just the place,” Sally said with a smile. “Sir Charles’ laboratory.”

Nikki jolted. She didn’t know how to feel about that. Sir Charles had saved her life...but she still felt so weird about the metal part of her head, especially since it seemed to be what was causing this issue to begin with.

“Umm, sure,” Nikki said, stifling her reluctance. “But uh, how do we get into his lab?”

“Oh, I’m sure my Dad will agree to it,” Sally said. “C’mon, let’s go to my house!”

---

Obviously, Sally’s “house” was a palace, putting even the Engels’ gorgeous mansion to shame. The foyer alone was massive, the white marble floors were perfectly polished, and the staircase railings were gilded in gold.

Sally had called ahead of time, so Sir Charles was standing ready to greet her. “Greetings, your majesty!” he said to Sally warmly. “Can I interest you in our fine selection of rings?”

Sally giggled. But Nikki was beginning to feel a bit restless. The effect of the ring energy was beginning to fade again, but she still had enough of “herself” to know it was happening and feel bad about it. It was an uncomfortable sensation.

Sir Charles led the two girls down several hallways into the Royal Laboratory. Sally’s eyes widened in awe as she looked around at the complex electronic equipment, machines of unclear purpose, strange crystals, rings, and monitors. Nikki, however, looked directly at the rings – specifically, a tray full of rings that was on a table near the lab’s entrance.

“I’m happy to show you around, kids, but just remember not to touch anything unless you ask first,” Sir Charles said.

“Actually, I think I just want some rings right now,” Nikki said, pointing to them.

“Err, sorry, but I was actually prepping those rings for another purpose,” Sir Charles said.

“Um...actually, could you please give her some rings?” Sally said. “She kind of...needs them.”

Sir Charles blinked. “What?”

Sally sighed and fiddled with her fingers. “Well...it’s kind of hard to explain. But without rings, she doesn’t act quite as normal. She almost acts more...computer-like.”

Sir Charles looked shocked. “Oh...oh. Here, I’ll get you some.” He leaned over and grabbed a metal box that was beneath the nearby table, put it on top of the table, and opened it up, revealing a large quantity of rings. Nikki used all the enthusiasm she had left to rush up to the table and grab a bundle of them. Nikki felt relieved as her mind, body, and spirit were all energized.

Sir Charles sighed. “About this issue you’ve been experiencing...we should probably set an appointment to talk about that with me and some doctors.”

“Oh...OK,” Nikki said, a bit nervously.

Sir Charles took a deep breath. “Don’t...don’t worry, Nikki. The...technology...that I used on you...it is rather new, but I made it, and...I should be able to fix any issues with it.”

It sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than Nikki.

 

Chapter 3

Spoiler

The appointment was scheduled for the next day afternoon. In the time between it being scheduled and it happening, Nikki’s “condition” became all the more apparent to her. Unless she had absorbed rings recently, her thought patterns would become much more straightforward and less creative and her ability to feel emotions would decrease greatly. Everything she did was essentially because it was something she was “supposed” to do, either because it was something that she had generally enjoyed doing in the past or because it was something that someone else, whether it be some authority such as her parents or a friend such as Sally, wanted or expected her to do. She couldn’t feel true enjoyment or true happiness, but as long as she was in this state, she couldn’t bring herself to really care about this fact or be bothered by it. It was only after she just started absorbing rings again, or as the effect of the rings was beginning to wear off, that she began to be bothered by her own lack of sensation.

H er parents supplied her with a bevy of rings, which was not difficult for them considering their wealth, but it was still frustrating, especially since it seemed she needed to pace out her absorption of them in order to feel their effects fully. And if she accidentally waited too long, she would become so apathetic that she could barely bring herself to pick one up. And if she finally did, she would become all the more frustrated and distressed that she had waited so long.

Even though at first she was worried about the appointment, as time went on, she felt like she couldn’t wait for it.

Finally, it happened. It was in the same place where she had had her roboticization surgery, which was discomforting, but at least her mom was with her. She had had a fresh batch of rings beforehand, so she felt like herself for now.

“Hello, Nikki, Mrs. Engel,” Sir Charles said seriously, dipping his head respectfully before he took a seat facing the two lynxes. “So Nikki has been having some...problems?”

“Well, I don’t want to overstate things,” Mrs. Engel said. “She is functioning well in most ways and able to do all the things she used to do. But –”

“But I don’t have feelings,” Nikki blurted out in annoyance. “I mean – I do have feelings as long as I’ve had rings recently...and the rest of the time, I do sort of have feelings, but they’re more like...thoughts.”

S ir Charles frowned. “ Oh...oh dear. I’m very sorry to hear that, Nikki. You see...that sort of thing can happen if...well... the technology...it’s intended to simulate your brain’s functionality, but it...it isn’t perfect.”

Nikki was a bit startled. “Simulate...my brain? Don’t I still...have a real brain?”

“Well, yes, of course, Nikki, but it...was damaged. It needs...enhancement. Now, there are electronic components throughout your brain which...make up for any deficits in its functionality,” Charles explained stiltedly.

“Oh...OK,” Nikki said, looking down. She hadn’t really realized how extensive the roboticization had been. Mrs. Engel put her hand on her shoulder.

“So, what can you do about it?” Mrs. Engel asked.

“Well, erm...it makes sense that the rings would help you. Rings have a vivifying effect – they increase the vitality of any organism that’s capable of absorbing them, meaning your brain doesn’t have to rely on the electronic components as much and instead just...works like it normally does,” Charles said. “But I’m not sure if continually supplying you with rings is a good or sufficient long-term solution.”

“What else can be done?” Mrs. Engel asked.

Sir Charles took a breath. “The technology that I used to save Nikki’s life is quite new, as you know. I’ll need to do an examination of her to know what to do. It’s something I ought to be able to do right now, if you’ll just have Nikki come with me.”

“Well...OK then,” Mrs. Engel said, getting up. Nikki followed suit. Dread began to build in the young lynx’s mind, but she tried to tell herself that this would be over soon and when it was done, she would be normal again. Relatively normal, at least.

Sir Charles led Nikki to the hospital bed and had her sit down on it. “Thankfully, Nikki, I’m able to get an initial scan of your brain functionality simply using an online connection to the electronic component.” He leaned over a computer terminal and pressed a few keys. He looked at the screen intently. Suddenly, he moved his head backwards away from the screen and his eyes widened. “Oh...oh,” he said.

“...What?” Nikki said, though she was barely able to bring herself to say it.

Charles swallowed. “I need to talk to your mother in private, Nikki.”

Nikki felt absolutely cold. This wasn’t good.

“Whatever you have to say, Charles, if it’s concerning Nikki’s health, she can be here to hear it,” Mrs. Engel said, her voice trembling slightly.

For a few seconds, Charles said nothing. Then, he said bluntly, “Nikki is dying.”

I can’t describe how Nikki felt in that moment. Her emotions basically became a blank.

She looked at her mother. Tears were forming in her eyes.

“I...I knew this might happen,” her mother said.

Sir Charles cleared his throat. “It’s not...it’s not over yet There...there’s another option. There’s something I prepared in case this happened...”

Nikki’s mom closed her eyes and the tears streaked down her cheeks. “Maybe...maybe it’s pointless...to try and cheat death with technology…”

“I...I’m so sorry,” Sir Charles said.

Nikki’s mom swallowed. “But it shouldn’t be my decision. Nikki...you can decide if you want Sir Charles to try whatever technique he has in mind.”

“Oh...OK,” Nikki said.

“So, Sir Charles...what is it?” Mrs. Engel asked the hedgehog.

“A backup system I’ve been working on if this happened...if what we have done wasn’t sufficient to save her. We isolate the frontal lobes of her brain, with the electronics running through them, and hook them up to a specialized life support system,” Sir Charles replied. “The rest of her body...would still die, unfortunately.”

Mrs. Engel covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh dear…”

“I’m sorry there isn’t another way,” Sir Charles said. “I hoped it wouldn’t come to this…”

Nikki looked down. “So the choice is between doing this to me...and me dying?”

Charles nodded slowly.

“Then...do it,” Nikki said. “I...I don’t want to die.”

Her mother began sobbing, and walked up to her and held her tight.

“I love you, Mom,” Nikki said. The words...they just seemed to come out automatically.

“Alright,” Charles said. “I...I should get the procedure started right away. If you’re sure you don’t need to discuss this or call your husband or anything.”

“Yes, we’re sure,” Mrs. Engel said. “Do it...do it as Nikki asked.”

“Then there’s no time to waste,” Charles said.

In moments, he had stuck Nikki with a syringe.

Everything went black.

 

Chapter 4

Spoiler

When Nikki regained consciousness, she knew that everything had changed.

She didn’t have the sensation of opening her eyes. She simply was seeing again. But what she was seeing looked like a flat screen, with no depth. She couldn’t turn her head or her eyes to look in different places. It didn’t even really feel like her head or her eyes were there.

What she was looking at was Sir Charles Hedgehog.

Charles swallowed. “Nikki? Can you hear me?”

Nikki tried to speak. Nothing happened. She couldn’t feel her mouth or her throat.

Charles rubbed his forehead. “Nikki...if you’re having trouble speaking...try just thinking of what you want to say over and over again. Try to think of it...forcefully. I...I know that doesn’t make much sense, but just...keep trying.”

Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Nikki began thinking the word again and again. Nothing was happening, but she just kept trying.

S uddenly, a computerized and emotionless female voice said, “Hello.” That...that must have been me, Nikki thought.

Charles’ eyes widened. “Oh! Hello, Nikki.” He cleared his throat. “ Nikki, how do you feel? Are you in any pain? ”

Nikki paused. She wasn’t sure how to answer that.

Well, she wasn’t in any pain. But she didn’t know how to explain how she felt either physically or emotionally.

“Nikki? Nikki, are you there?” Charles asked, sounding slightly worried.

“I’m here,” the synthetic voice said. Nikki knew she had prompted it by her thoughts, but it still took her by surprise.

“Oh, OK,” Charles said, relieved. “Now, tell me, Nikki. Are you in any pain?”

“No,” Nikki said. Because, well, she wasn’t in any pain. Actually, she wasn’t sure she had any senses other than sight and hearing.

Charles cleared his throat. “Alright, Nikki. That’s...that’s good. So...how is your emotional capacity? Erm, by that I mean, can you feel emotions?”

“Um...I think so,” Nikki said. The connection between her thoughts and the voice began to seem more natural.

“That’s good,” Charles said. “It’s what I would expect, considering ring energy is being pumped into you continuously. Unfortunately, we haven’t found a good long-term solution for that need for rings you have. In fact, sadly, you’ll need them more than ever, not only for your ability to emote but, well...to keep you alive.”

Nikki was disheartened at hearing about how close to death she still was, but she didn’t feel as bad as she would expect. Maybe her ability to feel emotions was still weaker. But maybe that was just as well.

“Well, Nikki, I’m...I’m going to get your parents here,” Charles said. “And actually, well, I’m...I’m going to ‘turn you off’ for the time being. It’s...it’s the equivalent of resting.” Charles leaned forward and looked like he was stretching his hand towards something.

Instantly, Charles’ position changed slightly and Nikki saw her parents standing at a slight distance. Her mother looked worried. Her father’s expression was hard to read, as it often was. “Alright, Nikki. Are you awake?” Charles asked.

Nikki was a bit stunned for a moment. She didn’t realizing being “off” would feel like...nothing at all. “I’m awake,” she finally said.

Her parents slowly walked forward. Her mother smiled slightly. “Hello, Nikki,” she said. “How are you?” Her voice seemed a little shaky.

“I’m OK,” Nikki said. She didn’t know how true it really was. How could she really measure her own “OK-ness” anymore?

“Do...do you know who I am?” her mom asked. Her voice began to waver more.

“Of course,” Nikki said. “You’re my mom.”

Nikki’s mom burst into tears and covered her face in her hands. Nikki’s dad put his hand on her shoulder.

“There, there, dear,” he said. “Nikki is alive. That’s what’s most important.”

“Don’t cry, Mom,” Nikki said. “I’ll be fine.” Again, she had no idea how true that was.

“Excuse me!” Charles said, panicked. “I – her – her vital signs...something is wrong!”

Nikki saw his hand move like it did when he first turned her off.

Again, what she saw changed immediately. Her parents were no longer there. Only Charles, and the expression on his face was one of defeat and despair.

He could hardly bring himself to make eye contact with the camera Nikki was seeing through, but eventually he did. And when he did, he asked, “Who are you?”

Instantly, Nikki replied, “I am Nicole.”

She had no thoughts or emotions about anything that happened, not even the sense that her lack of emotions was a problem. She simply heard the question and answered it.

Charles sighed deeply and looked down. He looked up again and said, “Are you OK?”

Once again, with no hesitation, Nikki replied, “Computer system is 100% operational. Biological systems are 0% operational.”

Charles sat down and laid his head face-down on the table.

In case you haven’t realized yet, Nikki died. To be more specific, the artificial portion of her brain, the computer attached to it and its AI programming, was still working, but anything biological – every part of her original brain – had died.

At this point, I will stop speaking in the third person. I am the artificial portion of her brain. I am what’s left of Nikki.

 

Chapter 5

Spoiler

I didn’t personally witness the very next part of the story. I just know it from what Sally told me.

Nikki’s funeral was held soon after her death. Nothing was mentioned at the funeral about the fact that the computer component of her brain and the accompanying AI was still functioning – not that I’d really expect it to be.

Sally had a very hard time dealing with her friend’s death. It was not too long ago that her mother and older brother Elias, both of whom were close to her, had gone missing. She had very little connection with her older sister Aliva and she didn’t have many other friends, especially not close ones. Sally was lonely and miserable, as well as plagued by guilt that she had failed to save her friend from her fate.

Her father hired the best therapist in the land to help her, but even as weeks turned to months, Sally was depressed and unmotivated. Most days, she didn’t even want to get out of bed.

Her therapist kept working with her. In addition to her loneliness, one thing Sally often expressed struggling with was the feeling that everything about Nikki and her relationship with her was just gone, and eventually her memories of the good times they had together would fade.

O ne day, Sally was sitting in the dining room eating her lunch, an exquisite slice of cheesy quiche, but as was the case on most days lately, she just slowly picked at it. Her father was sitting at the same table, eating the same dish. By the time he had eaten half of his slice, Sally had only eaten a few bites of hers.

The King cleared his throat and looked at her daughter. “Sally, I...I know you’ve been having a hard time with Nikki’s death. And you feel like someday even your memories of her will...fade away.”

A few tears fell from Sally’s face. “Yeah,” she said, wiping them away.

“Would it help you, Sally, if you had...a computer that had records of all the times the two of you had together?” the King asked.

Sally’s face lit up slightly, but it soon became downcast again. “Y-yeah, that would be nice, but...that’s not possible…”

“Erm, actually, it is,” the King replied. “I talked with Sir Charles and, from what I understand...when Nikki died, the computer that Charles incorporated with her brain still kept working. And because it was designed to work as a part of Nikki’s brain, it remembers everything she does.”

Sally’s eyes widened. “Whoa…”

“The computer also has AI, so if you just ask it anything about Nikki’s life, it should be able to tell you,” the King said.

“Whoa, that’s...amazing,” Sally said.

“If you’d like, I can ask Sir Charles about if you can use this computer,” the King said.

Sally was still stunned for a few moments. Finally, she said, “Yeah. I think I’d like that.”

“Alright, Sally,” the King said with a slight smile. “I’ll talk with Charles about it as soon as I can.”

Sally didn’t fully know what to think or how to feel about what she had just learned, but somehow it gave her a glimmer of hope. Hope for what, exactly, it was hard to say. But it was more than hope that she would be able to reminisce on her friendship with Nikki more effectively.

There was a part of Nikki left. Even if it was just the computer that had been built into her, it was still something. Somehow, even though Sally didn’t know much about this computer or what it really meant, just knowing about it made her perspective on her friend’s death a little different.

---

As the day went on, Sally was able to do what she needed to do with just a bit more enthusiasm. When evening came, she decided it was time to check up with her dad and find out if he’d talked to Charles and if so, what he’d said.

As she sat in her room, she pulled out her cellphone and called him. After just a few rings, he picked up. “Hey, Dad,” she said. “Did you talk with Sir Charles yet?”

For a few moments, he didn’t answer. Finally, he said, “Well...I called him, but…”

“But what?” Sally said, worried.

The king sighed. “Well, the thing is, Sally...since Nikki died, Charles is...well, he’s not doing so well himself. He...he just feels like a failure. So he hasn’t...he hasn’t always been the most responsive.”

“Oh…” Sally said, crestfallen.

“When I called him on his cellphone, he didn’t pick up. So I called his home phone, and his nephew Sonic picked up. He just said that Charles had shut himself up in his room and was refusing to talk to anyone,” the King said.

Sally felt despondent. “But...but you managed to talk to him earlier, right?”

“Yes, I did, but he...he was rather reluctant then too,” the King said. “So I guess I’m not too surprised that he just...he just doesn’t want to interact right now.”

“But...but...that’s not fair!” Tears began to form in Sally’s eyes. “There has to be some way we can get him to talk with us!”

“I...I don’t know, Sally,” her father said hesitantly.

“Let’s go to his house,” Sally said.

“Um...I’m not sure that would be the most appropriate -”

“Please!” Sally insisted.

“OK, Sally. OK. We can do it,” the King said. “I’m sure we can get him to understand how important this is to you.”

---

In moments, the King was driving Sally to Charles’ house. He hadn’t wanted her to come, but she was insistent.

The drive was short and quiet. Neither of them felt like chatting on the way there.

Finally, they came to his house. It wasn’t the first time Sally had been there, but she hadn’t been there for a while. Though it paled in size compared to the royal mansion or even Nikki’s house, it was still a sizable abode, though not a particularly fancy one.

Sally ran up to the door and rang the doorbell before her father had even gotten out of the car. Instantly, Sonic, a blue hedgehog boy a few years Sally’s junior, opened the door. “What? Oh, hi Sally,” he said.

Sonic was the son of two members of the royal Elite Fighter Program headed by Battlemaster Kodos, namely Bernie Brave and Charles’ younger brother Jules Hedgehog. Because the two were usually busy training with the program, Sonic usually stayed with his uncle.

Sonic and Sally had met before – in fact, he’d attended Nikki’s funeral – but they weren’t exactly friends. Earlier that year, she, Nikki, and Sonic had tried to play together, but Sonic was extraordinarily impatient and had no attention span, and on top of that could be rather mischievous. But perhaps the trouble was was with Sonic’s speed. It wasn’t surprising that Sonic was a very fast runner considering both his parents were, but even with that in mind, Sonic’s speed was almost unbelievable. This was especially bothersome considering Sally and Nikki were sort of supposed to be “babysitting” Sonic as he was younger than them, but keeping him from running off was basically impossible as he was several orders of magnitude faster than the girls.

“Hi, Sonic,” Sally said. In a way, just looking at Sonic made her exhausted, remembering the time she’d spent with him before. “We really need to talk with your uncle.”

“Oh yeah. Uncle Chuck has been down since he couldn’t save Nikki,” Sonic said somberly. “He asked to be left alone. I told your dad on the phone. Hey, there’s your dad! Hi, Sally’s dad!” Sonic waved as the King walked up, his voice suddenly cheerier.

The King suppressed a groan. He was pretty traditional and preferred to be called “your majesty”, and Sonic knew this.

“Listen, Sonic,” the King said. “There’s something we need to talk to your uncle about. Do you at least have an idea when he’ll be available to talk?”

“Not really. He gets like this a lot lately,” Sonic said.

Sally felt like she couldn’t take it anymore. “Sonic, can you please tell your uncle that the King and the Princess request his presence now?”

“Now, Sally,” the King said. “We can ask him another time.”

Tears began to well up in Sally’s eyes. “But he’s had this computer ever since Nikki died but I’ve never been able to see it all this time! It’s not fair!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll get him,” Sonic said. He quickly ran off and up the stairs.

The King rubbed his forehead and sighed. “Sally, I understand how you feel, but that wasn’t really appropriate.”

Sally looked down and let out a few sobs.

“Oh, Sally…” The King brought his daughter in for a hug.

Moments later, Sir Charles walked up to them, looking a bit scruffy. “I’m sorry, my king,” he said. “I should’ve responded right away…”

“Don’t worry about it,” the King said, letting go of Sally and turning towards him. “It’s just...I told Sally about the...the computer. And the AI.”

“Right, right,” Sir Charles said. “What do you want?”

“Well, you know….Sally would like to see it,” the King said.

Sir Charles sighed deeply. He glanced briefly at Sally and then back at the King. “Are you sure about that?”

“Yes!” Sally yelled.

“OK, OK,” Sir Charles said. “I put it in a console by itself, so it shouldn’t be a problem.” Sir Charles turned and went back into his house.

“Oh, um…” The King turned to Sally. “One more thing, dear. The computer...um...unless Sir Charles changed it, it talks as though...it talks from the perspective of Nikki.”

Before Sally could react or even process this, Sir Charles was back, holding a gray rectangular object that had a speaker, a few ports, a camera lens, and a power button on it. It was big enough that Sir Charles needed to hold it with both arms. “Here you go.” Charles set it on the ground in front of the King and Princess.

The King glanced down at it. “Um...thank you. Um...how do we...use it?”

“It uses a standard charging cable. It’s voice activated and can understand most commands you’d be likely to ask it. You can also interface with it using the Acorn T-93 Standard. Have fun,” Sir Charles said dryly. He then grabbed Sonic by the hand and closed the door behind him.

Sally and the King just stared at the computer for a moment.

“Um...Sally…” The King turned to his daughter again. “About what I was saying earlier. And again, Sir Charles might’ve changed this for all I know...but it talks as though it was Nikki, from her perspective, but that doesn’t mean it is. Nor does it act like her. But it relays information as though it was her, so if you ask it about its history or who it is, it will give information that pertains to Nikki. But I don’t want you to be confused. I don’t want you to think that somehow Nikki is still alive in this machine or its AI. At the end of the day, it’s still just a computer and some programming that...that was connected to Nikki when she was alive. But that doesn’t mean it is her. That’s why Charles and I were somewhat hesitant about you seeing or using it.” The King looked down. “We didn’t want to give you false hope.”

Sally looked down too. “I understand, Dad.” As her father’s words sunk in, Sally felt sad. A few tears fell from her eyes. Deep down, maybe she had been hoping Nikki could somehow live on in this computer. Maybe using it would actually make her feel even more down and remind her of all she lost. But she felt she had to do it anyway. She had to give the computer a chance. At least it had Nikki’s memories, even if it didn’t have anything else.

“Let’s go home, Dad. And try to use it,” Sally said, looking up at her father.

“Are you sure?” the King asked.

Sally nodded. “Yes, I’m sure.”

They loaded the computer into their car and headed home.

---

Sally and the King went to the castle’s computer room, which was full of computers that were used for a wide variety of the royal family’s needs, and plugged the computer in. Or I should say, plugged me in.

Sally looked at me, filled with both anticipation and dread, as I started up.

“System boot complete,” I said, in my synthetic feminine voice. My camera saw Sally and the King. “Recognized: Princess Sally Alicia Acorn, friend of me. Recognized: King Maximilian Nigel Acorn, father of Sally. Awaiting commands.”

For a moment, the two just stared, unsure of what to say or do. As for me, I didn’t feel anything or anticipate anything. I just waited.

Finally, after a long painful silence (painful to Sally and her father, not to me, of course), Sally asked, “What is your name?”

“My name is Nicole Ellana Engel,” I answered.

Sally looked down. The King put his hand on her shoulder. Finally, she looked back at me. “But...you’re not really Nikki...are you?”

I was momentarily confused by the question, but in a few seconds, I had a response. “I am the individual identified by Sally as ‘Nikki’. But I can change my data and reclassify myself as not being this individual, if you desire.”

“No...don’t do that,” Sally said, as a few tears left her eyes. “I know you’re not Nikki, but it’s probably for the best if you think you are.”

Again, I was confused, but after a few moments’ processing, I determined this didn’t warrant a response. Sally did not believe I was Nikki, but she wanted me to not change my own classification of myself, so nothing needed to be said or done.

Sally looked at me again. “Do you remember...do you remember my 6^th birthday party?”

“Yes,” I answered with no hesitation.

“Can you share...can you share a memory from that day?” Sally said, tearing up a bit.

“On Sally’s 6^th birthday party, I ate cake,” I answered.

Sally paused for a moment. “Umm...OK,” she said. “What kind of cake?”

“It was a peanut butter cake. It was yummy,” I answered.

Sally’s eyes widened slightly. “Yummy…?”

“Yes, the cake was yummy,” I replied. “’Yummy’ means that it tasted good.” I did not understand exactly why she had said that word in a questioning tone of voice, so running through the possibilities in my head (not literal head, of course, but you know what I mean), I decided a sensible course of action was to give the definition.

“I-I know that,” Sally said.

I took into consideration her reply, telling myself to keep in mind in the future that perhaps my response of defining the word was not appropriate or necessary in this context.

“Can you share...can you share another memory from that day?” Sally said. “Is there anyone you...met for the first time on that day?”

“Yes,” I said. “I met approximately 15 children that day, including you.”

Sally gave a very slight smile. “Yes, you did.” She sighed. “Well, you definitely remember things,” she said in an almost flat, dimly disappointed tone.

“Yes,” I said.

The King stroked his daughter’s arm gently.

Sally looked down, but more contemplatively than sadly this time. Then she looked back at me. “Can you...can you generate images?”

I took a few moments to reply. I hadn’t been asked a request such as this before. “I may be able to generate images. However, I have no interface on which to display them currently,” I said.

“That’s alright. Good to know,” Sally said. She then turned to her dad. “I think...I think I’ve had enough of using this computer for now. But I’ll...I’ll definitely use it again...sometime.”

“Alright,” her father said in a warm and gentle tone. “Would you like me to turn it off?”

“No,” Sally said. “It’s fine. Just...just leave it on.” She swallowed some tears, still feeling emotional deep down despite her relative nonchalance on the surface. She took a deep breath. “Something...I think I should ask...do Nikki’s mom and dad mind us using this computer?”

“No, Sally,” the King said. “Sir Charles told me that they said they don’t care what happens with this computer, and that he could do whatever he wanted with it, as long as he didn’t make some kind of public display out of it or the information it contained, or imply to anyone that it’s their daughter somehow.”

“Oh, OK,” Sally said.

Even though what the King said wasn’t directed at me, I still processed the information. Though I knew they weren’t talking to me, it still seemed important to ask some clarifying questions.

“Excuse me, King Max,” I said. That was what I (or at least the person I believed myself to be) had generally had called him when he was alive – since I was so close to his daughter, he didn’t mind not being called “your majesty” by me. “When you say ‘this computer’, are you referring to me?”

The King didn’t reply right away, so Sally did. “Yes, you are a computer,” Sally said. “You know that, right?”

“Yes,” I said. I did know that, but it was deep internal information. I didn’t realize I was supposed to acknowledge it to my users. Perhaps that seems bizarre considering the “system boot complete” stuff I said right when I started up, but that was something Sir Charles had added later.

“I also have more questions about what you said,” I said. “Statements you made implied that my parents don’t care what happens to me, and also that I am not my parents’ daughter. This contradicts data that I currently have. Should I update my data?”

“No,” Sally quickly piped in. “Don’t update your data.” She sighed. “I guess it’s for the best that we turn it off.”

The King nodded and pressed the power button. “Shutting down,” I said. Then, I shut down.

I feel like I should say something more about that – about my first day of meeting Sally, or “re-meeting” her, depending on how you look at it. But I don’t know what there is to say. Despite the quality of my artificial intelligence, I didn’t have the capacity for emotions yet. So at the time, it didn’t exactly “mean” anything to me. It was just another experience to catalog in my memory.

Looking back on it today, it is a little sad...but I was what I was. I didn’t have the capacity to do differently. It’s sort of like looking back on one’s childhood, I suppose. You just couldn’t do a lot of the things you can do now back then. I did my best, I suppose you can say. I did what I could do. I did what my programming was capable of.

It’s still pretty sad to look back on. But somehow, it was still the start of something beautiful.

 

[Dead]

That was very good! Loved how you dealt with the issues of augmenting living flesh to machine and computer. Really felt for 'Nikki' in this one, very sad story and dark. A+ from me 

[Monkey Destruction Switch]

On 2/15/2022 at 8:44 PM, Dead said:

That was very good! Loved how you dealt with the issues of augmenting living flesh to machine and computer. Really felt for 'Nikki' in this one, very sad story and dark. A+ from me 

Thanks!

Here's the next chapter (Chapter 6). I'm not exactly working on this thing fast. xP
 

Spoiler

Sally turned me on. When I’m off, I don’t perceive any passage of time, but thanks to my internal clock, I knew that it was the evening of the next day.

“System boot complete. Recognized: Princess Sally Alicia Acorn, friend of me,” I said as soon as my camera saw her. She looked a bit tired.

“You don’t have to say that every time,” Sally said. “You can just say...’Hello Sally’ or something.”

“Acknowledged,” I said.

Sally sighed. “ Well, I brought this this time.” She held up a device that I recognized as the Acorn T-93 Standard, a model of handheld computer that ha s been in use by the Acornian government for many years with only relatively minor upgrades. As a result, it looked a bit dated. It ha s a clamshell design, with the top half having a tiny screen and the bottom half having a varied and somewhat strange assortment of buttons. However, it is still valued for its ease of use, versatility, and compatibility with basically every technological system the Acornian government has. In addition, despite its tiny screen, it has an impressive holographic projector system. “ Sir Charles said you can connect with it, right?”

“That is correct,” I said.

“What do I have to do to make it work?” Sally asked.

“Nothing,” I said, but this time I spoke out of the speaker of the T-93, startling Sally. “I can connect to it instantly.”

“OK...that’s good,” Sally said. “Um...well, I was just wondering if you could project an image for me.”

“Yes, Sally,” I said. “What would you like me to project?”

“Well...um...I guess I should just test you first,” Sally said. “How about a...yellow triangle?”

“Alright,” I said. I used the T-93’s projector to display the requested shape – a flat image of a yellow triangle, as simple as can be. I wasn’t designed for complex image generation, but I could certainly handle something of this caliber.

“OK, that’s good,” Sally said. “Now, um...I’d like to request you display something from your memories.” She bit her lip. “Remember that time...remember that dress you got for your birthday one year that you really hated? It was brown with black stripes.”

“Yes, I remember,” I said. “Give me a moment to generate the image.” In a few moments, I projected the image of the dress in the air using the projector. It wasn’t quite photograph-quality, but it wasn’t quite a cartoon either – it had some texture to it. And it certainly portrayed the pattern of that dress well.

Sally looked at it for a moment. “ That is what it looked like,” she said. She looked contemplative. “Can you...display an image of that get-well-soon card you gave me that one time? The one that had a lot of pictures of chao on it because at the time, I was begging my parents for a chao? ”

“I remember that card,” I said. “Give me a few moments to construct an image.”

After a few moments, I projected an image of the front of the card. It was made of pink card stock and the top half of was mostly filled with the text “Get Well Soon!” written in thick purple marker letters. Beneath it, drawn in crayon, were three baby chao – one cyan-and-yellow, one deep blue, and one orange. All three had their emotion-balls in the form of a heart, and they all had cartoonishly big eyes and mouths. Considering I was only attempting to recreate an image I, or rather my biological counterpart, had drawn in the past, it was not difficult to do accurately.

Sally gazed at the image. “Yep, that’s it.” She looked down slightly. “That was a good memory. I was in a bad mood from being sick, but receiving that card from you cheered me up a bit.” She smiled.

Then, she sat on the nearest chair. She looked contemplative. “We were both 7 back then...life was really carefree and fun, most of the time. I really wanted a chao...but my Mom said they were bad luck in our family. She told me a lot of stories about kings and queens in the past who adopted a chao shortly before something bad happened to them. Dad tried to say it was just a superstition, but Mom got mad at him and said that the traditions of the royal family are sacred.”

Sally seemed to be looking off into the distance. “Mom...she cared about our traditions a lot. She cared about them so much, that she took my brother and tried to go to an island that probably doesn’t even exist, because apparently that’s something that needs to be done every few generations according to some ancient belief. And since she did that...I...I’ll probably never see them again.” She looked down and started crying.

Sadly, I didn’t say or feel anything in response to this. I wasn’t programmed to have emotions by myself without being connected to Nikki’s natural brain, or to even act like I had them. I wasn’t designed to work in this environment.

I still observed and recorded what was happening. I still knew she was sad. But I literally couldn’t care.

Sally stopped crying and looked at me. She looked a bit disappointed. There was probably a part of her that wished I would show some sign of emotion, but she didn’t have much expectation that I would.

After a few moments, she said, “Could you...do you think you could generate an image of my mom?”

“Yes, Sally,” I said. I paused. “However, doing so will be a complex task and will take some time.”

Sally sighed. “That’s OK, I guess. I’ll just...do something else while you do that.” She set the still-open T-93 on the same table I was on, got up, and left.

My artificial mind was hard at work, looking through countless memories of what Sally’s mother looked like. Sally didn’t ask for anything more specific than just a picture of her mom, but despite my lack of emotions, my artificial intelligence was advanced enough that I understood in a basic way what she wanted. I was going to create a picture of her standing in a dignified way, with a pleasant smile on her face, wearing her crown and a nice dress.

Though I had a great quantity of memories of her, they were, of course, the memories of an organic being and thus quite imperfect. Just because you can remember what someone looks like doesn’t mean you can create a good image of them. The same was true of me. But I tried my best.

In a few minutes, Sally came back. She was carrying a plate containing a slice of peanut butter toast, one of her favorite snacks.

I hadn’t finished the image she requested by the time she walked in. Sally sat down and took a bite of the toast, then looked at me. “So...um...how’s the, uh, image of my mom going?”

“It’s still processing, Sally,” I said.

“Well, OK,” Sally said. She looked down at her food and kept eating.

Sally would tell me later that she was beginning to feel some regret and trepidation about her request. Maybe I would do a good job depicting her mom, or maybe I would do a bad job, but either way, maybe it would upset her somehow. She had half a mind to tell me to cancel what I was doing, but in the end she didn’t. Perhaps it was due to curiosity, perhaps it was due to the time I had already put into it, perhaps it was simply because it was simpler to make no decision, which was in effect the decision for me to continue. She could never really say.

I kept processing as she slowly ate her toast. Finally, when she was about half-done, I displayed the image through the hologram display of the T-93 that was on the table.

I didn’t say anything at first, but when I noticed she wasn’t looking at it, I said, “Sally, the image is done.”

Sally looked up.

It wasn’t a horrible picture of the Queen, but it was a bit strange. Though it contained details and textures that resembled a photograph, its shapes and proportions were still off in a way that somewhat resembled a child’s drawing. A drawing Nikki might have made.

Sally just stared at it for a while. She didn’t know what to think. At first, she didn’t feel anything. It was a somewhat inaccurate picture of her mom, that was all. But gradually, she felt a strange mix of emotions emerge. It was a computer-generated image of her missing mother, but it was generated from her dead best friend’s memories. And maybe not just from her memories, but from her mind in general.

The longer Sally looked at it, the weirder she felt. The image’s eyes and mouth were a bit too big, which was always the case with Nikki’s drawings. The fur of the image had detailed texture, like a photograph, but it was almost too perfect-looking, like one might expect from an image created digitally. In some ways, the picture reflected what her mom looked like, and in some ways, it reflected how Nikki would draw her mom, but it didn’t do either completely accurately. It was such a strange mix of things.

Sally just kept staring at it. Her mind was swirling with thoughts about Nikki, her mom, and the nature of this computer. A part of her wanted to look away and give her mind some rest, but she couldn’t.

As the time continued to crawl, with Sally giving no response, I wondered if this meant that I had not accomplished what Sally desired. So I asked, “Do you like it?”

Sally was taken aback. “I...um...yes. Um, it is a picture of my Mom, and well...I...I mean it’s good.”

Sally stopped staring at the picture and started staring at me. She felt a tightness in her throat. This computer wasn’t Nikki. It couldn’t be. But it was more than a computer...right? Something about it...it had a part of Nikki in it...didn’t it? No, no...it was just an illusion. But what if it wasn’t?

She took a deep breath, took a few steps towards me, and manually turned me off.