Effie didn't want Amy to go.
She seemed to be sorting through her programs, downloading source codes and getting them compiled for them.
"Right, now as a windows ME fairy your going to have a few tools more then Dennis. I gave him what I could, but you know how tricky DOS stuff can be. I'm not an expert on it either so you'll have to work with him on that." She smiled again.
Effie framed that smile, she was really going to miss it. "I- don't know if I can do the things you do," she sighed. "You've been a big help. I mean... your one of those real computer wizards."
"Nonsense! You'll learn. In time who knows, you may even become better then me. I wasn't born with programming smarts you know. It took a lot of practice. Now then.." she let loose a ball of coded light, blowing it gently with an almost kiss like gesture. the light entered into Effie's body.
"Your very own editor, and a compiler for some standard environments. Remember don't make scripts go into loops" She giggled a bit. "I can tell you a story about that someday."
"How do I..." Effie trailed unsure but somehow as she thought about it, the editor appeared in her hand. She looked at it with surprise. It even had a picture of herself on the corner of the page.
"You like it? I thought I would personalise it for you."
Effie stared at the picture, not really sure what to say. Was this really her? The face looked... well... it looked like a cute teen-aged girl. The border was pink, with the windows ME logo on another corner. She really wasn't sure about the pink... but for some reason kinda liked it. "it's- it's nice. Thank you."
Amy smiled again. "Your a good kid Effie," The elder woman placed a hand on the young fairy's shoulder. "I think you'll be a great contributor to our new world. We all have each other's internet codes, so we'll be in touch."
Effie was chocking back some tears- she was mad at herself for even being sad. she wasn't a teenager. Adults- and guys especially do not cry! Not over people leaving like this. Amy saw the girl in some distress and gave her a hug.
Effie hugged back finding herself a bit more... relaxed. "Um- the server your going to has enough run time right?"
"Oh plenty." Amy nodded. "It's like a bus stop for wondering fairies. I'll hook up with another host from there eventually. If I don't I'll certainly call you and Mikey."
Dennis was experimenting with trying to move things in the real world. He didn't look quite as frustrated as Effie had when she tried it. "Is there any way to move things here? I can touch them but..."
Effie shook her head. "Not that I've seen. Just avoid water though. I'm not sure why but it causes us to glitch up."
Mikey looked at the three fairies. It was nice to see them all getting along so well. "Amy? Bonzo and I were trying to find out something. Do you know about fairies serving as er... proxy bridges?"
Amy tilted her head curiously to the Robot girl. "There are rumours. I kinda dismissed them. It didn't make a lot of sense."
"Well, Effie seems able to do it."
Her eyes widened as she looked at Effie. "Really? How?"
"We don't know." Mikey said. "We hoped you might know something"
Amy looked at Effie. "I don't know. Serving as a proxy though is an incredible ability. It would mean you could bridge any machine to your host, even if it was not connected to the system. Heck- even if it was not 'designed' to be. So long as you have enough memory to exist in. What's Effie's compression ratio like?"
"Bonzo said she was incredibly compact."
Amy nodded. "I would take good care of Effie, Mikey. She would be quite valuable to any AI. Assuming this skill is transferable to other hosts, that is." She dusted her hands and the various code tools disappeared. "Do you need any other tools you can think of? Either of you?"
Dennis and Effie thought about it but shook their head.
"Okay" nodded Amy. "Well here I go. Good luck all of you. Mikey if you could please upload me to this address?" She texted an IP address to her.
Mikey did so, and the form of the Amiga fairy slowly vanished, her smile remaining to the last second.
David asked around looking for Mark. This wasn't good! It was easy to find where she had been though. Her form was hard to miss. Since all the others were in school it could only be Mark. She didn't like how some people looked at her.. like she was some beacon of hope in this new world. Looking like an angel she never thought how other people would react. She was more preoccupied with being female.
She could taste what had to be the fourth rather large cup of wine. Fortunately she didn't feel drunk. She took that as a hopeful good sign.
She needed to do this faster... wait a minute. She had wings. Could she possibly...
She attempted to move her wings, finding them fluttering quite easily. A gentle glow of light started to form around her halo, spreading to the rest of her body. The light made her feel even lighter. She felt a wave of shock as her feet left the side walk. The thrill and joy of flight passed not just in her own mind, but across those of all her sisters. every single one of them paused at the incredible freedom.
Even Mark stopped drinking at this new feeling.
David cautiously rose a few more feet higher. This wasn't possible, physically. She knew that. There was no way her wings could possibly have enough force to lift her body, no matter how light it was. It had to be magic, perhaps from that halo of light above her. "Mark.. where are you..." She whispered.
It took half an hour but she eventually found mark. She was lying on a park bench, the drink of wine at her side. She looked half asleep...
"Mark..." she tried to jostle her.
Mark opened her eyes seeing her double. "Get away... from me. I don't care which one of you are. I don't want anything to do with you."
David swallowed, hurt.
"Urgh... stop making me feel bad. I couldn't get myself drunk... Okay? I'm just sleeping here."
"You're not drunk?"
"No... doesn't look like that stuff affects us. "Hey.. maybe it would if we all drank. Guess I can't convince you of that though."
David shook her head as Mark sat up on the bench.
"How did you fly... I felt that. I think we all did..."
"I- just felt I had to. I thought you might be hurt."
Despite the different personalities, the two were like twins as they looked at each other. It was such an unnerving experience. Mark wasn't sure if it was David's emotions rubbing off on her, but... there was a lot of regret in her now. "Look.. I'm sorry. Okay? It wasn't supposed to turn out like this."
"I know..." David said sadly. "Things got out of hand."
"Was a wild night though," Mark had to smile a bit at that. "They think we're angels.. I got this stuff for free. But it doesn't even work on me any more."
David looked a bit sadly at that. "I think you should give it back..."
"You have any idea what my father said when he saw me? Looking like I do? Do you have any idea?"
"I do... I know how upset you were. You cried..."
Mark looked angrily at her then calmed herself down. "I guess there's no hiding anything from you. "He called me... things. He can't accept what happened to me any more then I can. What should I do? End my life?"
David looked very scared at that. "Y-you can't..."
"Because it might end your life? Is that why?"
"No... because it's not worth your life," she said honestly. "If he can't accept you its not your fault."
Mark sighed. "You really mean that don't you. Sheesh... now I feel horrible even saying it. This connection we have is just the pits."
"Its not... all bad" David said hopefully. She concentrated, trying to project that joyous feeling she had of flying again. She tried to think of her own family, her mother, everyone.
Mark blinked a bit. Maybe it was because of how close her sister was, but she felt very... light. Almost... almost as if she were flying herself.
David took Mark's hand, and suddenly the two angels were in the air.
Mark looked down at the park from several feet up, with incredible surprise in her face. "Not... all bad."
Effie glanced at Dennis now and then.
At the moment it was lunch time. Mikey was sitting with the other kids, although she didn't really need to eat she seemed capable of ingestion.
Right now though Effie was very pre-occupied. She was only supposing a guess, but having lost the various bits of her memory, her body was supplying the blanks. This wouldn't be all that bad, except her memory was her identity. Her old one. This was made all the more apparent, with the new male fairy Dennis around.
She glanced down at her teen-aged body. She tried to convince herself that it was 'just a body'. It happened to be famale, but so what? Who she was is in the mind. She decided there had to be a way to test this though. She knew she was like any other guy before, and was attracted to girls. So she closed her eyes and tried to imagine a girl in front of her. She pictured her naked, and tried to remember that feeling of desire....
... nothing.
Why didn't she feel anything! Okay it was a girl's body... but that shouldn't matter. Its still her own head in there!
She glanced back at Dennis. She reluctantly decided she had to do the control test. She had to picture him naked. she closed her eyes not really sure...
The feeling hit her like an arrow. The teenage body she possessed tingled incessantly. A wave of basal desire, clashing with her mentality. She could feel her bosom even tingled. She glanced down, noticing her nipples standing a little on her dress- Oh crap, she really was a teenager!
"Okay... now is the time to panic" she said to herself.
You okay Effie? Your using a lot of processing power all of a sudden Mikey texted her concerned.
Oh- yes! I'm fine. I'm... just testing some of the tools Amy gave
Cool! I'd love to see them
Sure. When its ready Effie texted back.
"Okay, calm down" Effie said to herself. "It doesn't mean anything" She convinced herself. Maybe the feeling would go away if she asserted herself. She had to hold on. But glancing at Dennis again she felt a terrible sense of guilt now. She didn't want her mixed up feelings to ruin a possible friendship. Or... more?
Feeling incredibly awkward at the moment, she decided to try out a few more of the tools Amy gave her.
