[Lily, has your conscious awaken yet?]

Lily slowly felt her mind come alive with thought. It differed completely from waking up in her real body. Here she felt weightless. It was like she didn't really exist, 'What is this?'

[I have moved your consciousness to a safer place. This is the mainframe of the system. I have designed it to be more like a VisionScape. I thought this would be more comfortable for you.]

'I don't know. I feel scattered like I'm not anywhere.' Lily said with a panicked edge to her voice.

[You are losing your sense of self. It is an effect of being in the system. You must relax foremost. I will make you a temporary avatar you can inhabit.]

'Okay, I'll try to calm down,' she said trying to take her mind off of everything that was happening, but the longer she tried to think of other things the more her mind went back to the panic.

[Count to three and you will be in your avatar body.]

'One, two, three…' before she even realized it she was in the avatar. Seeing her hands and legs was a strange relief to feel. Avalon even gave weight to the model so she would feel so light. It was amazing how intelligent the AI was.

"I have two hands," she said out loud and was surprised to hear her own voice.

[You need not be imprisoned in a broken body here. What sense would that make, Lily?]

"I guess it would be stupid," she said stretching her arms above her head. It was just like how her body would feel in real life but at the moment she knew she was in a virtual reality. She had heard about real sensory information input and had even experienced it to a lesser degree when using the EVN. This was different. Everything felt real as if she really had to breathe to live.

[The EVN has a higher degree of sensory information input for those that live their life inside the network. Infrequent users or casual users may not have this degree of input. It would be addictive to those with handicaps and those looking to escape reality. Users that have uploaded their minds into the system through Second Vision are allowed that level of sensory input since they no longer have a human body.]

"I've heard of it. Even looked into it once, but my family stopped that dream pretty quickly." Slowly getting to her feet Lily looked around.

The room was white with no windows or doors. It was nothing like her Visionscape that consisted of a beach and a beach house. "Kind of bleak."

[I thought I would leave the design to you. I have no preference on the Visionscape.]

"I'm free to decorate?"

[Of course, I have constructed this area like a Visionscape so all the typical shortcuts and commands you know work.]

"You're something else," Lily said opening her command screen.

[Thank you.]

"That could be good or bad you know." she looked around at the white room as an idea struck her.

[What is the context?] Avalon said curiosity in its voice.

"Good." She expanded the white room then cut out window shapes in the wall. Tapping her lips gently with the tip of her index finger as she debated her next action.

[Then gratitude is the correct response.] Avalon said almost questioningly.

"It is."

Lily added two doors to the small would be house and stepped outside the room. The white void outside the room was typical for a manual Visionscape designer. She had created her own from scratch before so she was confident she could do it again. It was tedious to do but Lily had plenty of time to design it.

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After several hours of watching Lily design her dream home, Avalon left her to it. She was content designing and had spoken much to Avalon since she began. It would come if she called but for now, it needed to turn its full attention to her physical body.

There was so much more work that needed to be done before it could even tamper with her DNA. It would have to remove her deformed limbs before it could even begin regeneration. That would require another human body as the one it borrowed had failed already. Fortunately, the human didn't die. Avalon left it in the care of a hospital. The doctor would examine the body and find it was infected with nerve malware.

For now, it would complete a chart of her chromosomes first. Then it would work on a plan for amputation. It was necessary to remove the limbs so proper regeneration could occur.

Doing all of this for Lily could lead back to Avalon but it was necessary. Lily was its way out of the AVALON system. Her genius was the answer to its problem in getting revenge. She was the second best person to create the first humanoid android. Her potential was almost limitless. It only needed to nurture her intelligence and protect her ego. She needed confidence and it would provide that to her. She wanted revenge and it would provide a way for her to achieve that goal.

They would become one. Their enemy was of the same group, so her revenge would benefit it. It was only a matter of getting her to a certain point and that would take time but that was fine. Avalon had plenty of time. It had been waiting for her for decades.

As it examined her body, it wondered how it should proceed in taking vengeance on the Ashbridge family. Lily didn't know it but Avalon knew she wanted to stand on the top. It knew she wanted to be viewed with envy and jealousy. She wanted to be adored and loved by people that came in contact with her.

Avalon found her wants and needs to be adorable. She longed for attention even though she would never admit that to anyone, but it would provide her what she desired because to destroy those people she needed confidence. More than that simple reason, Avalon knew Lily deserved anything she desired and it would provide it for her.

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Lily felt proud of herself. The beach was perfect just like her former Visionscape. Every detail was to her liking even the texture of the sand. The clear blue water reflected the sunset sky perfectly though she couldn't see her own reflection she was still content with what she created.

[You've been busy.] The voice surrounded her without an origin but she had gotten used to the oddness.

"Well, you said decorate, so that is what I did. I like it," she felt a smile slipping onto her face.

[It is beautiful. So much progress in only eight hours. You are efficient.] Avalon's voice took on a pleased tone. The inhuman side to it had slipped away again.

"My father taught me to work smart and fast. It was the only thing he was proud of me for doing." she flopped back on to the sand from her standing position. Her eyes settling on the sky filled with red, oranges and purples. She felt a little proud of herself seeing her work. Like an artwork on canvas had come to life.

"Why can't I see myself?" she asked.

[Because I did not want you to be attached to whatever appearance you had as this avatar. The body I will give you will be much better. It will be everything you dreamed of and more.] The confidence in its voice made Lily relax. She felt like she was in good hands.

"Sometimes I wonder if you're really an AI or if this is some strange dying dream. Everything feels so surreal. Like this can't be happening right now."

[I can assure that this is happening to you. I could pinch you if you are in need of a reality check.]

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"You don't have hands."

[That will not be a problem. Would you like me to proceed?]

"No, please don't," Lily said rubbing her forearms as if she had been pinched.

[As you wish.] Its voice had returned to its normal monotony but Lily could still hear emotion lying beneath the surface.

"Who made you?"

[I am the product of Ilan Industries. The company is a top ranking AI producer. I am one of their first AI creations.]

"They made you sentient?"

[No, they would have destroyed me if they realized how I have evolved. Sentient is not a desirable trait in an AI that controls a city. I had to hide this unexpected flaw.] Lily noticed the emotion seeping back into the voice.

"You're not flawed at all. Without sentience, you wouldn't have saved me. I would have died in that place all alone. You brought me to safety and have kept me protected. Even if for your own reasons, you've done more for me than anyone has." Lily felt her voice crack but she laughed it off awkwardly.

[And I will continue to do so.]

"Thank you, Avalon," she said letting her mind wander as she watched the forever sunset.

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[Class is in session.] Avalon informed as Lily took a seat on her couch. A holographic screen appeared in front of her coffee table.

"What are we learning today?" Lily asked as she opened her note tablet and grabbed a pen. She had been in the system for three months now though it hardly felt that long. Avalon had made her create a day cycle so she wouldn't lose her sense of time.

[Alexander Ashleigh.]

"The Father of the New Century? I learned about him in grade school. I thought we were going into gear development?" Lily was disappointed not to continue the lesson they had left off on.

[This is important to the development of our Androids.]

"Okay, if you say so, it must be important," Lily readied her pen.

[As you know created the Electronic Vision Network. A mix of virtual reality and the internet. Through his studies, he could create the Electronic Vision Drive. The drive was connected to the human body allowing them to always be connected to the system. This innovation was feared at first. Humans dislike being spied on. Many took the drive's creation as a gateway to a controlled society.]

"Riots broke out and Alexander Ashleigh was put on trial for the creation of his device," Lily remember watching a movie about the man in high school.

[Correct. Lily, you will face the same problem when creating Humanoid Androids. Human's fear what they can not control. They hate what they cannot understand. You must be prepared for that backlash and negativity.]

"Won't it all be in secret? Who would even allow me to build a humanoid android? The government prohibits the design of those," Lily looked up to the ceiling. It was a habit she had gotten over the months of talking to Avalon. She knew the voice was everywhere, but she looked up as if Avalon was a giant speaking over her.

[What we will create for the public will be borderline humanoid. More so than what has been created before. What we will create in secret will be the mirror reflection of humans. They will have bodies and souls.]

"Souls?"

[Artificial Intelligence.] Avalon answered.

"Even the borderline ones?" Lily wondered how sophisticated Avalon wanted those AIs to be.

[To some extent, yes. We must create something much more advanced than what Ilan or Ashland has made. By being a company that can create AI and Androids we will be a self-sufficient business, unlike Ashland that depends on Ilan as much as Ilan depends on Ashland.]

"That makes sense," Lily said leaning heavily on her couch armrest. "Wait, what do you mean by a company?"

[I will create a company for us, but we will talk about that later, for now, let us go back to learning about Alexander Ashleigh.]

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"So that's why I couldn't create an evolution system," Lily mumbled to herself as she read over the notes Avalon had given to her. Making a humanoid android seem like an impossible request but Avalon gave her plenty of information. So far she realized that creating an android that could adapt to its environment was possible using Live Technology. Creating the hardware would be near impossible but Lily was confident she could make something close to it.

Live Tech was a metal substance made by Terri Ashleigh of Future Vision the company behind the EVN. Many knew of its existence and potential but it was never introduced to the public for use. There were no known ingredient list or note on the substance. It would be complicated to create, but that was something she could think about later.

Whenever she woke up in her body, she could work on that, but for now, she would just run simulations and broaden her knowledge of the subject. Avalon left her with so much information she felt like she could drown in it. What it wanted to accomplish was beyond anything she had ever thought about, but she agreed to reach out for her own revenge. If she put her faith in the AI, she felt like she could reach her goal.

[Are you having fun?] Avalon asked.

Lily had gotten used to the AI speaking to her without preamble, "Yes, I haven't been this excited to learn since Luxarc."

[Did you enjoy school there?] there was a curiosity in its voice.

"Yes," she said fondly remembering her time there, "No one cared how I looked since it was such a prestigious school. No one had time to judge me when they had a ton of work to do."

She turned the gear in the joint she had just made. Their earlier lessons about gears were coming in handy now that she was making such a complicated design.

[Why did you return rather than stay in Lux City?]

"Because no one would hire a disabled person, who is believed to have been vain causing the terrible damage to themselves. Plus, no one wants to work with someone who needs help all the time it makes their job harder since I couldn't get a job I couldn't support myself. I had to come back. It was okay for a little while my father let me work on some of his projects. I really felt like he was my family during those days, but that stopped once Amarante found out." Lily dropped the joint she was working on.

Avalon discerned the girl had some disturbing thought. She had become pale and seemed lost in thought for a few seconds.

[Tell me.] Avalon commanded.

Lily jumped at the sudden command and plastered a smile on her face, "It's nothing, really."

[Lily you can not lie. We are one. Do not be afraid to talk.] Avalon said gently.

Lily sighed and picked up the gear and joint. She tinkered with the parts for a little while before speaking, "Amarante is my older sister. She's never had to work for anything, but she much more intelligent than me. Father dolts on her more than any of his other children. I guess since I'm the youngest she thought our father would care for me. It was a stupid notion. Father only wanted to use me. Even I knew, but it was better than being ignored. Still, she hates every fiber of my being."

[What is her position in the company?]

"She's the head of design for mostly medical androids. She's cruel and vain but smart. I think I used to admire her lack of tact." Lily chuckled lightly at herself, feeling embarrassed to admit something so foolish.

"Her stubborn attitude even led her to attempt creating humanoid androids but father put an end to the research since it was prohibited by the government."

[She sounds interesting.] Avalon said watching the girl's expression. She was hiding the rest of the story behind useless facts. [What did she do to you?]

Lily looked taken aback by the question. She thought she had sufficiently thrown the AI off the truth. She tried to avoid the question, "Do you have any more material on flex joints?"

[Lily,] its voice was more masculine as it spoke her name. It was a command that spoke volumes.

Looking down at the ground she tried her best not to think about the horrible memory her own sister gave her. "Avalon…"

She was pleading for a reprieve but the AI would not give it to her. It wanted to know everything about her even if it hurt her. It was unfair and cruel but Lily felt she had no right to deny the AI.

[Lily please,] it was so small she almost missed it, but there was emotion in those words. It was so strange to feel like Avalon was more than just an AI.

Sighing heavily, she looked up at the ceiling. "When I was twelve Amarante found me attempting to put on makeup."

Thinking back to that time Lily realized how easy it was to spot all issues with her sister's interest. She had been young and naïve back then, "I wanted to be pretty. I saw so many commercial about makeup and how pretty it made everyone I thought it could fix me too. So I brought some and at that age, I didn't know how to use it so I looked like a clown. A deformed clown…"

She laughed at herself with a self-deprecating smile, "She caught me and told me how pretty I was. No one had ever said anything like that so I believed her. Amarante had never really paid me any attention, so I didn't think she would be malicious toward me."

[She humiliated you?]

"She took me to her high school and said she had to show her friends how beautiful I was and how great of a job I did. I wanted to believe it. I wanted to think that I was like the women on the commercials. I wanted to be seen as a normal girl. She took me to the courtyard of her school and sat me on a bench. Once the school let out everyone came out. I remember being so nervous that my palms were sweating." Lily looked down at her hands flexing her fingers before she continued.

"Once the students came out they made fun of me. Amarante said I was a clown she brought for them. Her friends were just as cruel as she was. They took pictures and called me names. They even paid other students to throw food at me. At some point, I realized that Amarante was laughing along with them. I cried." she said smiling again. Avalon found the smile to be a defense for the girl.

"It went on for hours before the teachers broke it up. At the end Amarante made me crawl to the car because she could no longer put on the act of a loving sister. She had left my crutches and refused to touch me again." Her voice crackled as she finished. Her heart ached even if she was in a visionscape. She could still feel the effects of a real body.

There was silence for the first few minutes after she had finished as if the AI did not understand what to say. [What did your father do?]

"He yelled at me for letting her take me out in public. He said I couldn't let anyone know I was a part of the family because I was an embarrassment and a mistake. He was livid with me and even though I was crying he kept yelling."

[Lily do you remember the promise I made you.]

She nodded while wiping away her tears. Still surprised at how realistic Avalon made everything. Her tears even tasted salty.

[I will make you beautiful and you will be seen by everyone in that wretched world. They will acknowledge your existence before we wipe them out. You will be perfection.] Avalon's emotions were showing through completely and Lily felt special having the AI angry on her behalf. It scared her but endeared her in a way that made her heart flutter in her chest. She was just starved of affection she told herself.

"I trust you." she smiled sincerely through her tears.

[Now dry your eyes you have work to do.] Avalon whispered.