Eddy sunk down against the hallway wall. The coffee had been all but forgotten and exchanged for long gulps out of the flask. He had a thousand and one questions racing through his mind. Who wouldn't after that bombshell had been dropped?

Al had wanted to talk more, explain more. Eddy had waved him off and walked out of the room. He was still trying to process everything. Where did he even begin though? Al had dropped everything so fast and so casually.

Sarah's brain.

Manufactured life.

To Eddy it wasn't really that vast of a jump. “Think if we could turn our memories into data. The possibilities are endless. Think of all the knowledge we could preserve. No one would ever truly be forgotten.” Sarah's words echoed in his head. She had been so passionate about her work, so driven and focused.

When she passed, Eddy had always assumed her work had died with her. The idea that it had carried on and resulted in...well that thing laying in the other room. It was overwhelming....and also terrifying.

If he understood what Al had said, her brain had been the framework. That thing had the composition and structure of Sarah's brain. He didn't really know what that meant thought! Was it Sarah? Was it not? What if that thing started to gain Sarah's memories? If somehow it did have Sarah's memories would that make it Sarah?

“We are the sum total of our experiences. Those experiences – be they positive or negative – make us the person we are, at any given point in our lives.

B.J Neblett. It had been one of Sarah's favorite quotes.

He shook his head trying to focus. At the same time the door swung open and Al walked out. He stood across from Eddy looking down. Eddy didn't quite have the strength to meet his eyes.

Silence hung in the air as minutes passed. “Al.” He said breaking the silence. “I need to know. Why Al? Why?” His voice was quiet almost pleading.

Al exhaled audibly. “Why what Eddy? Why did we do it? Why did we choose you?” He said with a half hearted chuckle. “I imagine you have a lot of questions.”

That was an understatement. Eddy had more than a few questions. “Why did you do it? What did you hope to accomplish here?” He looked up locking eyes with Al. “Tell me the truth Al. Don't give me your make the world a better place bullshit.”

Al stared at him for a long moment before finally looking away. “I started this project for a very selfish reason Eddy.” He answered in a calm voice. “After loosing Sarah.....” He shook his head. “First her mother and then.” His voice trembled only for a second. “I lost my baby girl.”

Eddy dropped his head letting out a sigh. “Her brain data, her memories. You wanted to bring her back.” He said flatly. Could he really blame him? He would have gladly given his life to bring Sarah back, paid any price to see her one more time. “It wouldn't have been her Al. She's gone and she's never coming back.”

“Your right. It wouldn't have been her, not all of her. It would have just been a part and to me a part would be better than nothing.” Eddy didn't know if he really agreed with that. “In a way I suppose I did get a part of Sarah back. It may not be her but in a way. In a way I would like to think of that girl as a child of Sarah's mind. If not her mind certainly her work. Her finally legacy manifested into something new. It would be just like Sarah to leave such a enigma and miracle as her final gift to the world.”

Eddy snorted. He couldn't argue with that. “Your sure it doesn't have her memories? How many other times have you tried something like this? Loading a brain into a synthetic body?”

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“She.” Al emphasized. “Was not our first attempt. However we haven't been able to replicate the conditions that created her. We don't know what we are missing. All attempts before her and after her have been unsuccessful. As for her memories...” Al let out another sigh. “She is a complete blank. We've done extensive tests. We've had her awake a few times to run her through a few different experiments. She is a blank, a complete and utter blank. I could go into the technicals if you really want me to.”

Eddy shook his head. Wasn't like he would understand it anyways. “Then why me? Why even get her out of here? If she's one of a kind wouldn't you not want to continue doing experiments and shit?” That had been the part that made the least amount of sense to him. Why put her in his care?

“While she doesn't have Sarah's memories. Part of me would like to think that some part of her is in there. Perhaps her memories are buried deep down. Maybe being around you will trigger something in her. Regardless it seems only logical to keep her around someone who was close to Sarah. It wasn't entirely my decision. She IS a living thing Edward. We can't just keep her locked up underground and experiment on her endlessly. At this phase if we are to gather any more useful data we need to send her into the real world. We need her to live, to experience. A myriad of different reasons. It will happen if you agree or not. However I want it to be you. I can't see it being anyone else.”

Eddy bit his lip. That couldn't be the entire reason. It sort of made sense to Eddy. He couldn't shake the idea that there was more to it though. Al wasn't telling him something, probably a lot of things. Eddy doubted he would get a straight answer either.

He would be lying if he said he wasn't at least a little bit interested. He may not be a scientist or honestly that smart. Still, he had always loved science. Going to talks with Sarah, checking out the latest expos and new big breakthrough's. It had always been awe inspiring to him.

This, this was beyond big breakthrough.

Eddy tapped his fingers against his leg thinking. He needed the money, that much was for sure. If he thought about it in the simplest sense, he would just be a glorified babysitter. If it got to be too much he could just walk away.

“Edward.” Al knelt down and Eddy met his eyes. “I am asking you to do this. Do it for me, please Edward.” His voice was thick with emotion. His eyes filled with a pleading Eddy had never seen in the man before.

Eddy let out a huff. “Fine.” He finally agreed. “Two weeks, I'll do it for two weeks. I'm not agreeing to anything more than that for now. Two weeks.” Why did he feel like he was going to regret that. “I'm only doing it for the pay.”

Al smiled at him. “Thank you Edward. I understand your hesitation.” He stood with a grunt and offered Eddy a hand. “You won't regret this.”

Eddy shook his head and took his hand Al pulling him to his feet. “I'm already regretting this.” He muttered. “What's next?”

----------------------------------------

It turned out that next was a lot of paperwork and signatures. They had returned to Al's office to go over all of it. Eddy had expected some but the sheer amount was staggering. By the time he was done signing all of it his hand was cramped.

What they expected out of Eddy was pretty simple and oddly vague. She would be put into his custody to care for and watch over. He would simply live his day to day life with her present. Show her new things, teach her what he thought was relevant and just experience life. What all of that entailed was up to Eddy.

She would be equipped with a monitoring device that would track her vitals and other data. Once a week he would bring her to a local office for a check up and MRI. As well as a meeting with a psychologist. Beyond that Eddy would be expected to pass on any details he thought was relevant to her situation and growth.

The pay was indeed astronomical and more than he had made in the last two years. The freedom they gave him was also seemed...odd. When he questioned Al about it he had simply shrugged it off. Another tick in the suspicious box. Whatever it was just two weeks.

It was three hours and a giant headache later when they headed for the room once again. “We've provided you with a debit card for whatever expenses come up. As well as any necessary paperwork. ID, birth certificate, and anything else that might come up.” Al said handing him a envolope.

Oh yeah, that reminded him.

“What do you call it-her? What do you call her?” Eddy quickly corrected. Al had corrected him more than a few times at this point. “Please tell me you didn't name her something pretentious like Eve or some stupid shit like that.”

Al laughed and slid the card across a reader and the door hissed open. “Edward, I want you to meet Grace Lynn McCarthy.”