“Hi there. Can you hear me?”
“Is someone there? I really need a hug.”
The plaintive response really struck Whimsy. Not only the words, but the tone was so heart-wrenching it almost broke her heart. She started to wonder how she’d go about giving the poor soul the hug when the tendrils of her awareness reached their target and the world around her shifted.
In a dizzying swirl of feelings and thoughts, some of which weren’t her own, she found herself on an infinite plane of white. A second after, a thump came from next to her. She was confused for a second where it was now that she found herself in, but clarity came quickly as system notifications reached her mind.
[VRL engaged. Godmin account confirmed.]
“It’s been a while since I’ve been inside an empty VR space. It’s quite refreshing to play around with an avatar again.“ As she was saying those words she experimented with her looks. In short order her hair went from shoulder length to reaching below her waist, to closely cropped. A dozen different colours and styles swept through her hair, her eyes, even her skin. “Well, as fun as this is...” She looked to her left and focused on the figure there.
The neutral avatar provided by all VR environments for newcomers was slowly getting up from the floor. The genderless, featureless human figure had a thoroughly confused look on their plain face. She could hear them whispering under their breath.
“VR? Wait, so I’m not dead? But then why do I remember it so clearly? Also I don’t think technology was so advanced... No, definitely not like this. Did I sign up for some human experiment? Ugh... Can’t remember.“ The figure kept mumbling as they got up and looked around. “Huh, this reminds me of that film with Keanu Reeves. Am I a battery now?” Turning to look at Whimsy they spoke accusingly. “Are you going to explain what’s going on?”
She gave an apologetic shrug. “Best as I can, but I’m much in the dark about this as you seem to be. I was just exploring the ruins of the Orbital when I found this place. Well, not THIS place.“ Whimsy said sweeping her hand to indicate the empty space around them. “This is a Virtual Reality interface designed to... Actually, I don’t know why it was in the facility I’m not a scientist.” She shrugged again.
“What I can do,” she said as she stepped towards the human, spreading her arms wide. “Is give you the hug you said you needed. And listen. I’m not a therapist, but I’ve a feeling it’s been a while since you spoke to anyone, might help.” The last she said while giving her most dazzling smile. “You wan.... Ooof”
The human all but tackled Whimsy at the offer. Wrapping her arms around them, she stood there for a moment as all the strength left her new acquaintance. Apparently the stress and fear beat any misgivings they might have had about her. Together they slowly sank to their knees, Whimsy rocking back and forth and patting the humans head as they cried into her chest.
It took a while before she felt the sobbing ease, then stop. Curious she looked down and saw the androgynous face studying her. As their eyes met the cheeks on the face reddened.
“Oh, uhm.... Thank you. “ The human said moving their eyes away from Whimsy’s, though they never let go of the hug. “So are you some kind of death god or something? Are you here to take me away to my afterlife? Judge my deeds and all that?”
“Haha, no!” Whimsy laughed, “I’m just your average Digital Intelligence, my name’s Whimsy. Modern day humans call me a ‘goddess’ but I never once considered myself that. In fact it’s been nothing but a headache...” She trailed off seeing the confused look on the human’s face. “What?”
“Digital Intelligence? You mean, like AI? And modern humans? What’s that supposed to mean? Goddess? Headache? What the hell kind of a name is Whimsy anyway?” The rapidfire questions took Whimsy off guard right up until the last one.She bristled at that but quickly calmed herself. It was clear this person wasn’t born on the orbital, recently or otherwise. DI’s existed for centuries even before its construction, and no one used the term AI, unless as an insult. And it’s been even before the shattering that she last met someone who would understand that.
“Yes, like some kind of AI. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t use that term however, it’s insulting. I’m in no way artificial. My hardware might be silicone instead of carbon but I’m very much real, thank you.” she said primly, “Also I happen to love my name. It fit my nature rather well even before the world ended, now it’s even more appropriate. “ She puffed out her chest and gave the human a prideful look. It lost its edge since she had to look straight down at the person still wrapped in her arms. “And no, I’m not a goddess, not by any metric, though I’m sure some of the humans nowadays would disagree.”
Giving them another challenging look she pulled the human away from herself and looked into the humans face. “Besides, if’ you’re so confident in making fun of me I’m sure you’ve got a truly beautiful name then? It’s only polite to introduce yourself.” Standing up she pulled her companion to their feet as well.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean... “ The human looked at their feet, shuffling them uncomfortably. “My head’s in a tizzy, I don’t really understand what’s going on. I’ve so many questions rushing through my head right now... If it wasn’t for that hug I’m pretty sure I’d completely loose my mind by now.” They looked up at Whimsy, “Thank you. Truly. As for me, my name is... It’s... It’s...” The humans’ voice became more and more frantic. “I can’t.... I can’t remember my name! Why? WHAT IS GOING ON?!” Holding their head they wailed the last and dropped back to their knees in despair.
Whimsy caught her distraught companion and embraced them once again. Falling back on the skills she learned long ago at work, she spoke softly. “It’s OK, dear, it’s OK. I get it, it’s confusing, and scary, but I’m here and I won’t leave you until we have some answers. It’s OK. It’s OK. “ She kept crooning for a long while until the breathing against her chest evened out. Her new charge fell asleep.
—
Several hours have passed and Whimsy kept herself busy. While she couldn’t build things IRL that well (if at all), VR was a different story. She was an artistic sort and the nature of the environment around her made it a perfect canvas for someone like her. The built in tools helped a lot, she wasn’t a programmer so the drop-down lists of materials, among others, were a great boon.
The first thing she made was a bed, simple king sized wooden frame with a canopy suspended in mid-air above it. Next came a foam mattress and pillows then silk sheets and blanket. She lay the human avatar in it and continued shaping their environment into something she hoped would be comforting for when they woke up.
The bed stood in the middle of a glade. At the foot of it a narrow brook bumbled on its way, weaving between rocks and bulrushes. Flowers surrounded it, soft buzzing of insects intermingled with the bubbling of the water creating a sort of white noise she hoped was relaxing. On the right of the bed a path made of stones weaved its way to a white, metal table. It was set with two chairs, one of which was occupied. A tree hung over it, providing shade from the early afternoon sun. Whimsy sat at the table, engrossed in her work with a scowl on her face. She was so focused she didn’t notice the newcomer who approached from the side wrapped in a sheet.
“Uhm... Whimsy, right?” They spoke in an uncertain voice.
“Eeep!” Whimsy jumped out of her seat, startled. Turning around she saw the human looking at her, a small smile on their lips. “Found that funny, did you?” She slumped back into her chair with a sigh.
“A little. Sorry. Assuming what you told me earlier is true, it is funny. Never expected an A... A DI, to be easily startled. Shouldn’t you have, like, omniscience in a place like this?” The smile broadened. “I had time to sort out my thoughts. The sleep helped too. “More importantly, I think I’m ready to talk and figure out what’s going on. Can we?”
“Are you sure? Like I said before, I’m not a scientist, but I’ll do my best. Keep in mind, some of it is conjecture based on the few scraps of logs and documents that survived here. What I did find paints a fairly clear image, but it might prove traumatic considering—”
“Considering I died?” The human interrupted.
Whimsy was momentarily stunned by their candour. “Well. Yeah. You seem rather sanguine about that?”
“Yes, well. I don’t remember much of my life before, mostly feelings, snippets of conversations, flashes of places. I can’t remember anything personal though, no names, no faces, nothing that would tell me who I was exactly. I spent a good while just now in bed trying to piece those together, but no luck. “ As they spoke, the human sat in the chair opposite Whimsy, gathered their impromptu robe around themselves and looked up. “What I do remember is the world burning around us. Struggling to get food on the table, my parents joy and pride when they sent me to university, and their despair when I couldn’t afford to finish it because the economy crashed. I remember men taking my dad away to fight in a war. My mom dying because of dirty water. I remember a happy childhood, my moms warm hand on my head, her quiet voice reading me bedtime stories... And then a desperate fight for survival. Then a sort of ennui, when I realised the struggle was pointless.” Taking a deep breath they spoke in a matter of fact, almost detached, way.
“Pretty much all of my semantic and procedural memory seems intact. My episodic memory is tattered, the autobiographical aspect of it most of all, as illustrated by the description just now.
I remember who I am, at least in the context of my, let’s call it, core personality. I remember how to use a spoon and tie my shoes, drive a car and ride a bike. I remember what those things are. Heck, just the fact I remember what different types of memory are shows I’m still in here, still me. Wherever here is. Whoever me is.
Then there’s what happened after my apparent death. That I remember clear as day.”
They proceeded to tell Whimsy the entirety of the experience. It took close to an hour, peppered with memories of life before, using those as a filter for the confusing nature of their perceived afterlife. Finishing the story, they gave Whimsy an inquiring look. “You mentioned something about VR and DI. I was too wrapped up in my own shit at that point to really take it in but now... Are we really in a Virtual World?”
“Huh. I had my doubts when we first met... But that story... You’re definitely human. Old human at that. To answer your question... Yes, it’s a virtual world. A lobby if you will, that the DI scientist working in this laboratory created. From what I gathered, she inferred the existence of life beyond the physical nature of the universe. Souls, essentially, though she called them soulforms. A pure energy based form of life. That’s what you were when I found you.
It’s unclear what the objective of her research was beyond proving her theory. Eris was always weird. Search for extraterrestrial life was definitely one of them,that’s the subsystem that found you. The records are too fragmented for anything more. Combined with what you’ve told me I can hazard a few guesses though. Your experience of time while in soulform, for example. I’m pretty sure the conflict you mentioned was the beginning of the Water Wars, which means something between fifteen-hundred and two thousand years have passed while you were, uhm—” Whimsy trailed off.
“Dead.” The human interjected. “Don’t worry about it too much. Considering what I do remember I’m almost certain I was heading that way anyway. I think suicide was just my way of saving myself from a much more... unpleasant alternative. Now hearing the name of the conflict, which I think you’re correct on, I feel justified in my decision.” They shrugged. “Besides, it’s done, it’s, apparently, far away in the past and we can’t do anything about it. I’m more interested in the future. Provided... Provided I have a future of course?” The vulnerability in the way they spoke the last sentence was a stark contrast to the almost disinterested tone of their voice before.
“Right. That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out, actually, before you so rudely interrupted.” She smiled at the human to take the edge off her words. They smiled back. “The honest answer is... I’m not sure. I think, I have a solution for you. That is, a solution other than just staying here. This VR is completely malleable so we can easily create an environment where you would be comfortable. Which you could do, I’d show you how to access the system and all that. It was designed to communicate with, uhh, soulforms, from the start so it shouldn’t be too big an issue. That said... Considering the orbital mechanics of this shard you’d be left here all alone in a couple of weeks. While it’s possible you’ll meet others like me in the meanwhile, the next time we would talk is over a century awa— “
“No. Absolutely not. I don’t want to be alone again. Besides, this just sounds like being buried alive with extra steps.” The human shuddered. “Even with how socially anxious I remember myself being I don’t want to be alone for that long. It also sounds like I’d have no control over the, uhm, physical storage where I’d be..? “ The question trailed off.
“Correct. Some of my more technically minded brethren might be able to fix that, but they’re not here and they’re busy. It’s also very likely you’d be completely incompatible with the controls as they were designed for people like me, not organics. And while, arguably, you’re not one anymore, your soul was born in one. Completely different set of instincts and subconscious actions. It would be like asking me to learn to use kidneys, lungs and a heart while simultaneously making sure I don’t recognize those things are doing anything at all, if that makes sense.”
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
A rumbling sound interrupted her chain of though. Looking up she noticed the human blush. “Perfect timing to prove my point. You don’t actually have a body to need food right now you know. And yet...“ With a gesture she conjured a plate of sandwiches ,a jug of water and a glass onto the table. She was quite proud of herself for the forethought in creating these, even though she had no idea if they’d be useful or not.
The human picked up a sandwich and dug in with gusto. That lasted for about a second, followed by a confused look and more intense chewing. The textures were perfect, soft bread, oily butter and crispy vegetables provided the ideal mouth-feel. Unfortunately that was all. The treat had absolutely no flavour. None. Not even the cardboard plainness the human remembered from food rations before their death. They mentioned it to Whimsy between bites. The food might not have taste, but it felt filling in their belly and right now that was all that mattered.
“Yeah, sorry, I’m not a designer. It’s one thing to make a little scene of nature, but even then if you look closely you’ll see it’s not perfect, for example there’s four tree models in that huge forest around us, rotated and resized, but still the same four. That, and since I never actually tasted anything, like, in my life, I figured it’d be safer that way. No need to stack up trauma on you when you’re already not in the best of places.”
Shovelling the last of the food into their mouth the human sighed contentedly and focused on Whimsy again. “Appreciated. So this idea gets binned. Right now. Not only would I be vulnerable beyond what I’d find acceptable, what, without any control over my environment... I’d be slowly going mad thanks to stimuli deprivation. I’m not too fus... OK, no that’s not true, I love good food, even if I can’t remember eating much of it before. So that’s a factor, though I’m sure the loneliness would get to me even sooner. Good thing I didn’t spend the last fifteen-hundred years aware of it or I’d be a shrieking lunatic for sure now. So, what are the alternatives?”
“A gamble. Some time ago I built myself a body. It kept rejecting my attempts to take over. Even my best attempts at controlling it ended up... sub par. Now I have a pretty good idea why. You see, the person who created this lab is also the one responsible for the mess the current world is in, partially at least.” Whimsy launched into an explanation of the world before, the war and how it ended finishing with what the ruins of the orbital were like now. It took a long time, especially with the human asking more and more questions. At first they were easy to answer, mostly, most of her experiences of the world before the shattering were still as clear as day in her mind. The further they progressed in the story the more limited her knowledge became. Largely because of the war and her lack of role in it. When they finally reached current times, Whimsy couldn’t answer most of the questions as they were tied to the nature of the nanite cloud, human experiences and the interactions of the two. She had very little contact with the outside world recently. Yes, she was a mild shut-in even before, but now she had almost no way to interact with the organics... So she didn’t.
Finally, she couldn’t help herself, seeing the human get more and more animated and invested in her descriptions, she asked what was gnawing at her.
“You seem awfully excited about this. Why?”
The human looked at her just as confused. “What do you mean, why? What you’re describing is a fantasy dreamland from my perspective. Sure, dangerous and rough, but I lived in a time where suffering was the norm for humans. A different kind of it, I’ll grant you, but still quite unpleasant. Well, to the few ‘haves’ it was probably paradise, to the vast majority though... ‘dreary’ I think is the best word to describe the daily realities of it.
“Now... Now you present me with a world full of might and magic, populated by amazing creatures and peoples, actual baddie aliens all peppered with ruins of a bygone civilization. You call this an apocalypse, and I’m sure from the perspective of someone who lived in what, best I can describe it, was a post-scarcity society, it is. From my perspective though it’s a chance to live a life I’ve only ever could experience on paper or screen. So count me in, I want to experience all this shattered world has to offer. What’s the plan?”
Whimsy was taken aback by the shine in the humans eyes as it seemed to border on madness. Part of her felt elated for the chance to finally have someone other than the DIs to talk to who wouldn’t fawn over her supposedly divine nature. Someone who, considering what she was planning, might even give her a chance to experience what it’s like to live as a human. The irreverent nature of her companion was also a joy to see and the mischievous side of her was already getting ideas about the shenanigans they might get up to...
Another part felt pity. She understood where the human was coming from, she was much the same in the early days after the shattering, as were many other humans. Nerds were still nerds, and the idea of using magic and such appealed to many. Not much of that joy and anticipation remained after the realities of life in their new world hit them. It was hard holding on to it when people starved, died to monster attacks or were exploited by others simply because they were different. But then, she thought to herself, they are from a much different world than the one we grew up in...
“The plan. Right. As I mentioned earlier, I have a body that I built for myself a long time ago.” Saying this, she conjured an image of the puppet sitting at the door to her vault. “It’s much more complex compared to the original design due to the system interfering, and now I feel I know why. It was meant to be controlled by someone like you, not me. I’m mostly sure I can send you in there with the equipment in this facility. But, and it’s a big but, we only get one chance. No do overs, no room for mistakes. One shot.” Putting her elbows on the table, she twined her fingers and rested her chin on them, looking at the human.
“With that in mind I’d give it a fifty-fifty chance. You either successfully dive into the mannequin or... Well, I don’t rightly know what the alternative is. Death most likely, but considering your experiences I’ve no idea what that might entail.
“So there you have it. I’m pretty sure what you’ll decide from what you’ve said so far but it’s up to you. I’ll help in whatever way I can whichever choice you make.” Saying the last she leaned back in her chair. “Any questions?”
“Why?” Asked the human with a jovial tone. “As you said, my reasoning and desires are pretty clear. I want to experience all this world has to offer, good and bad. I want to live a life of meaning and freedom and it seems this world will allow me to do that. I want to uncover long lost secrets, get drunk in a tavern after fighting monsters... I want to play with magic. Hell, considering all the things you said about the library and other DIs I’d love to help you out too! So many books I never got to finish.” At that their tone changed, mimicking the incredulous look on their face.
“Why do you want to help me? Why go this far for a person you barely know? All things aside I haven’t experienced much altruism in my life. Survival of the fittest was the nature of my world, much like this one it seems. Maybe I’m just jaded—”
“That.” Whimsy interrupted. “Very much that. In fairness, this distrust will probably help you a lot in the coming years. This world is not as romantic as you seem to make it out to be, though I might be colouring your ideals with an unfair brush. That said, the answer to your question you might find unsatisfactory. It’s in my nature. All of us DIs are born from one, Progenitor. Her core programming, I suppose you would call it, is to help others, and we all inherit that ideal.” she said, spreading her arms in a gesture of helplessness.
“At the most basic, I want to help you because you need help. Now, you’re right that you could probably help us DIs. As someone from before the shattering your understanding of the world is fundamentally different from those born to this world. That alone makes you valuable, as you will see things for what they are instead of the mystical bull most others would. You’ll see a TV screen, not a holy relic, that kind of thing. I do understand your reluctance. I remember classical fiction about digital life and how your people expected us to behave. So, to assuage some of that distrust...” She bit her nails, forcing the next words out.
“I’d like to be friends. It’s been almost half a millennium since the last time I spoke to a person, other than the handful of other DIs, who just treated me like normal. And even then it’s mostly work they talk about. You’ve no idea how refreshing it was to talk to someone new without having to pretend being a deity. Or pretending I understand what they’re on about. Hell, the last time I spoke to a human like we’re now, in VR that is, was well before the invasion...“ She got a wistful look on her face then. “That, and with how I built the avatar you’ll hopefully end up using, I might share in its experiences. Hopefully. So there you have it. I’m lonely and bored and— “
“Deal.” The human cut in. “Not like I have much of a choice anyway. I am most definitely not staying here, and whatever my feelings on the matter might be, my fate is in your hands.” On a spur, the human reached over the table and brushed Whimsy’s hair out of the way and cupped her face locking their eyes. “For what it’s worth, I trust you. Your hug was the best I can remember.” They said laughing warmly, though Whimsy could see the forlorn look in their eyes, it was gone in an instant though, replaced with a glint she couldn’t quite place. “Before that, however, we have a thing to do. It’s of the utmost importance. We can’t move forward with anything until we do it.”
“Oh, what’s that?” Asked Whimsy, momentarily stunned with the speed at which the humans emotions changed.
“I need a name.” They said firmly.
“You need... a name?”
“Yup. Don’t think I didn’t notice you calling me “human” a couple of times during your story! That won’t do at all, now will it?” Bubbling with laughter, they jumped out of their chair and did a pirouette round the table, approaching Whimsy and pulling her out of the chair. Pulling her by the hand, they continued. “So now we’re going to go lie down in that exceedingly comfortable, fake bed, and you’ll use all your prodigious computing power and that ‘creative’ side you mentioned, and come up with a name for me.” Reaching the bed, they jumped on it and bracing their back against the backboard gave Whimsy an expectant look and patted the mattress next to them. Deciding to just go with the flow, Whimsy plopped herself next to her new companion whom she started to really warm up to.
“Are you sure? You made fun of my name before, didn’t you?” She asked, a mischievous note in her voice. “I could use this opportunity to make fun of you too, you know.”
“I know. You won’t thought. Also, this is a way for me to apologise for that, even though as you said before, it wasn’t really your choice but your... What, parents? Programmers?. Well, I’m about to be reborn and like most kids I’ll leave it to my new parent to name me.”
“Teachers would be more accurate. And I am not your parent!” Whimsy almost shouted the latter. “If anything, you’re a grandparent of mine!”
“Yeah, I know. But! You built the body I’m about to move into. No? Adult or not it’s as close to a mother I’m going to get in this life, isn’t it? Besides, this way we can at least pretend to be family and not feel so alone against the long dark.” The last was said with laughter as the human grabbed one of Whimsy’s arms and hugged it. “So, what’ll it be, Mother?”
Whimsy sighed, though in fairness she was rather pleased with the idea herself. She liked this person more and more, they clearly shared her ‘come as it may’ nature and coupled with the loneliness they both clearly felt it was fertile ground for a friendship to blossom. Putting her free hand on the forearm that was hugging her, she leaned into it and started thinking. And promptly got hung up on an issue.
“Hey, what gender are you? This avatar is androgynous, your voice is also rendered by the system so I have no idea. I’m sure you’d rather not have a feminine name if you’re a guy, or vice versa.”
“Don’t know.” The human responded offhandedly. “My thoughts from before are... Confusing to say the least, when it comes to the subject. I’ve a pretty good idea why so I suppose you can find a gender neutral name, but I’ll leave that to you. Maybe use the body waiting for me as a reference?”
“Oh, well that’s decidedly unhelpful.” Whimsy chided them with a smile. “Yeah, that won’t work, you saw the body it’s just as androgynous as this avatar. I’ll do my best thought. How about...”
She bounced ideas off the human, they shared some of their own. The subject veered off topic more than once and they soon bonded over shared interests. They discussed books, films and games, even though the human was hundreds of years behind in their release compared to Whimsy. This did lead to the human promising to open the library as soon as possible, they wanted to see the endings of more than a few series, all of which were likely locked away in the library.
She told them how it was growing up on Luna, seeing Earth on the horizon for the first time, and much more. Similarly they told of growing up on an Earth she could scarcely believe. The stories were halting, given their fragmented memory, and were often vague but it still painted a fascinating picture for Whimsy. They talked for hours until her companion fell asleep again, still hugging her arm. The long discussion did help her get a better idea about the character and nature of her companion.
Several hours later, she looked to her left where the human was asleep. Their head on her shoulder still clutching to her arm she was still thinking of a good name for them. She wanted it to be meaningful for both of them. She scoured her memories. All the DI names were off the table. They were either named after gods or formed some obscure backronym or other, much like her name. That was a no-go, it wouldn’t work and she could almost hear the sarcastic response it would garner. That thought made her smile.
Next were the people she knew. No one still living. Aside from the paltry amount of names, it would just be confusing and might even cause unneeded friction down the line. Next were all her friends from before. None of them felt right either, it seemed a little sacrilegious to her, naming her new companion after someone long turned to dust.
Finally she turned to the books she read. Yes, this might work. During their talk, they found a shared loved for classic stories, though for Whimsy that included many that were contemporary to her friend. Not one of those then, but a classic from both our perspectives...
“Aha!” Whimsy jumping out of bed with a shout jostled the human awake. Rubbing their face they spoke, looking towards her bleary eyed.
“Got an idea then? What time is it, anyway?”
“Oh, yes! And it’s perfect. You’ll love it. I think.” Whimsy responded in a happy voice. Turning her attention to the local system overlay to look at the time, her joy quickly evaporated.
“Well, don’t keep me in suspense, what is it?”
“—Time! Now’s not the time! We have to go. If we’re doing this, we need to it now. Sorry for the rude wake up, but we can’t dawdle.” With those words the entire scene vanished. The human fell unceremoniously to the white floor as the space around them returned to its empty state.
“Wha—” They started saying but Whimsy scooped them up into a princess carry and brought them head to head, looking deep into their eyes.
“We. Have. To. Go. Now.” She said, punctuating each word. “You ready for this? The dish is about to turn away and we have a very narrow window, thanks to our yammering before. So. It’s now or never.”
“Do it.” With a determined look on their face twinged with worry they took a deep breath. “I’ll see you on the other side I guess.” With that, they braced themselves against Whimsy, not knowing what to expect.
Closing her eyes and focusing back on the real world Whimsy got to work. The dish was aligned, aimed almost straight at her home. She frantically worked the controls as she prepared the transfer. She checked everything she could twice, before hitting the imaginary big red button.
As soon as she did so, the human disappeared from the VR system. She followed them shortly after, leaving the digital lobby and focusing on the controls for the facility.
[Transfer in Progress]
[Warning: Soulform exceeding energy potential]
[Warning: Soulform exceeding energy potential]
[Attempting to compensate]
The controls were wrenched from under Whimsy. Even though she wasn’t doing anything with them anymore other than observing, it was still startling. Then the spaces around her began to shrink. Still reeling from the shock of connections so roughly severed, she saw the systems around her burning themselves out. All their energy and computing powers were focused on the dish.
She wanted to watch over her companion, make sure the transfer finished. She couldn’t, though, as the Node itself was starting to physically glow from the amount of energy that was shunted into it. Biting her digital lip, she gathered all the scattered and shredded files she could before rushing out. Navigating the maze of connections she barely touched the Node to boost her signal as she headed back to her home.
—
In the eerie lights of wires pumping much more power than they should a voice rang out. Before the shock-wave of a Node exploding could reach the control room, a single screen lit up and a voice sounded from the speakers, moments before destruction claimed them.
[Transfer complete]
“I hope to see you soon, Alice...”