Effie looked at Dennis with a lot of guilt. He was right... on everything.
However, it didn't excuse the fact that she had been hiding her previous existence as a male from him, and she had to now confront her reasons for doing so. There wasn't exactly a conscious decision to do it.. it just happened. Was it guilt? Why would she have to feel guilty though? If her previous status didn't matter, why hide it?
She... liked him. A lot. It was such a hard admission and it confused her as much as it probably would Dennis, if he knew. Was it wrong? She didn't want to cause any problems. Mixing in her previous life with these feelings were disturbing at best, amoral at worse. She had to disconnect who she used to be... she had to say it was ripped away from her.
It was... better that way.
Bonzo had given her a picture of her parents in the E-mail. Reluctantly, she brought it to her editor, looking at it.
The faces... meant nothing to her. Just strangers... people... if she had seen them on the street, she wouldn't have even given them a thought. Though of course, they themselves may have changed into other beings now. God only knows what they became, or if they were as lost as she was. She kind of hoped not... the couple in the picture, seemed happy.
Now Dennis knew the truth... this terrified her more then anything so far thrown at her. She didn't want him to leave her... but she would understand if he did.
She felt a pulse of data from her Host.
Are you okay Effie? asked the AI Mikey concerned.
"I'm fine. Sorry... I'm just thinking a lot of things," the fairy didn't want her host to worry about her.
Isn't there anything I can do? She asked.
Effie thought about it and shook her head. "Where is Dennis now?"
Locating... he is inside the network printer.
Effie sighed, and brought out her wings. Cyberspace was always strange. What she saw here, she had to remember only existed in a way for her own mind to process. But that didn't mean they were not there... it was all very surreal. She missed the tactile sensations and assuredness of the real world. Where a river was a river, not a data stream pretending to be a river for her own interpretation.
She found Dennis playing with the printer drivers, drawing shapes. She imagined the printer was spewing out his various pieces of ASCII art.
"Hi," Said Effie. "I'm.. sorry. You're right..."
Dennis smiled a bit back. "It's okay... so... you are going to see them?"
Effie took out the picture of the strangers. What could she say to them? Hello... I'm all that's left of your son? She knew what they would think... they would say she took his life. Replaced him, like some kind of pod-person. They would hate her... but maybe she should at least apologise? God! How can she possibly apologise for this? For.. existing at their son's expense... she was desperately sorry, but there was really nothing she could do.
Effie looked backed to Dennis. He seemed to want her to do it... "Yeah... okay... we'll go see them. Just... if it goes badly, we bank out..."
Dennis nodded. "I Already have the updated recall program. It includes mobile phone transmissions."
"What? Really?" Effie asked impressed.
"Yes. Things are advancing in cyber space rapidly..."
Effie realised the world here might, get very interesting... who knows how their world will connect to the real world. Still... to be only a plug away from oblivion...
... it was something she tried very hard, not to think about.
Hiro was in the library now of the school. He kind of liked this place. It was a lot larger then his previous one, and the staff seemed to actually care about the students...
He wished that Gorgon had not reminded him, how 'ugly' his appearance was. He didn't really want to scare people... even if he knew he did. Well, what did it matter? He collected the books he needed, and was about to check them out.. when it occurred to him, he could just scan and put them into his brain digitally.
He did so, finding the memory of each page clearly inside his systems. God, did this mean he could get straight A's now? He glanced around, seeing other students give him a wide birth of space. The library insisted he had his hood off... and he complied, only for them all to shriek away.
He used to be quite a handsome student, he thought. Nothing overly exciting, but certainly he was unique enough. Now he was just... just a...
.. somehow, his father came off it better then he did. Though she was certainly 'cooler' as an actual weapon. He seemed to be more a sensory system... his functions were all crying out for purpose, for some kind of directive. He had removed the 'personal survival' directive, as that caused way too many problems..
instead, his prime directive was now to protect his sister. It satisfied his engineered systems, as well as his human desires. A rare agreement between the two aspects of his psyche.
He went out of the library, musing to himself. He accessed the router, and introduced his systems to it. As always, the inter phase confused his biological components... but he stuck with it.
Scan.. M..ic... number
Hiro glanced up at that. That sounded so... strange. metallic, barely human... was it something looking for an IP address?
Hello? Can I help you? asked Hiro. If it was another digital life.. maybe he could this time at least show he wasn't a bad guy...
Number not detected...
Hiro attempted to get an idea where the broadcast came from, but it just didn't seem to be coming from 'anywhere'. It was just out there... scanning the network. He wasn't sure why, but it raised his hair.. something was 'hunting' on the internet... and it didn't look like the AI in charge had detected it yet.
Hiro knew he would have to investigate himself. Inside he did grin a little... this was a chance to show his worth, especially if he could get him before the AI.
He'll get rid of the hacker.
Adam entered the store, to see his boss appraise him. He worked on the day shift, and seemed to be a half alligator man.
"Hello Adam," He said. "Any excuse to get out of stacking boxes, eh?" He chuckled.
Adam gave an uncertain smile. She wasn't really sure what to do. Not to mention that for some reason, the alligator was now really offsetting her 'bird' senses. She wasn't quite sure why she had that feeling. Like she had to.. go get something?
The man shrugged. "Okay... well.. it looks like you'll be on the till from now on," He said. "You think you'll be okay dealing with people? I don't mind giving you a few days off to get used to things."
Adam nodded. "I'll be fine. Really. To be honest... I just want to continue with working. If I put this off a few days, I'll still be here with these same feelings." Adam didn't want to be shut in...
"You're a good worker. Just carry on. If you need any help, let us know."
Adam nodded again very grateful. "Thank you sir,"
The Alligator man smiled showing rows of teeth. "Welcome to the day shift."
Lilly walked besides Jenny, still feeling strange to be in her gym clothes. They were now in the open air. This would be a nice chance though to burn some energy, and being a squirrel seemed to give her a lot of it. Her mother had actually had to cut down on the sugar completely from her...
.. sugar tended to make her run up and down trees. The first time she sipped a cup of tea was quite.. embarrassing.
"Okay everyone, line up" said the teacher.
Lilly glanced at the line, at last able to work out her actual height relative to the others. Looking at boys her own age, she saw she was at least a head shorter then the others. This made her feel quite sad... she remembered being taller, and stronger.
Jenny sensing something of her friend's sadness squeezed her hand. "It's okay you know. I bet you'll do fine in sports too." She said.
Lilly shook her head. "I.. I want to be tall again.."
"And your gonna be," Jenny said. "You'll grow up."
The squirrel girl nodded meekly. She wanted to agree with Jenny. She was her only friend in this scary world. She knew her secret... and didn't mind it at all. But what if other girls were not as understanding? What if they found out? She had already changed in the locker with them!
The teacher blew her wistle. "Warm ups, i want you all to give me one lap around. Go!"
Lilly smiled a little feeling the wind in her fur. Running came naturally to her... combining the speed of her animal, with the natural stamina of a human. She wasn't sure there was much that couldn't out run her...
... until she saw a rabbit girl run past her.
Lilly had to blink. "Come on Jenny!" she said looking at her challanger. "lets catch up!"
"We're just warmin' up," reminded the white haired girl.
Lilly looked conflicted between the need to run faster then the other girl, and staying with Jenny, who was keeping a more leisurely pace."
"Trust me, We'll catc' up. She can't hold tha' speed for long," Said Jenny knowingly.
The squirrel girl nodded, and kept her pace with Jenny.
This was so much like the hare and the tortoise though. She really hoped they would catch up.
