The team working on Julia's life was small but expert. Other teams were focused on the Jon removal project.
Julia was surprised to see them filling her closet...Julia seemed to favor jeans, but had plenty of skirts and dresses. She'd never worn so many different variations as Jon, and when they were done, they loaded it into her closet in her new home. As they added things, they added associated memories...pictures of friends she left behind, family in Puerto Rico, a beloved stuffed animal from when she was a girl...and a small keyboard...apparently Julia had taken piano lessons and still fooled around sometimes. A soccer ball, some trophies...she'd played soccer and done track and field, both a solo and a competitive sport.
The details merged with her new personality matrix, adding more depth to it. Julia wasn't Jon, but the caring part of Jon has been retained as part of Julia, retaining a high level of empathy for others...but it was merged with a new personality trait...the fact that she was not the doormat Jon could often be...if pushed, she was going to push back. It was Josephine, however, who added the detail that meshed with what Program J's underlying matrix felt...nervousness about the first day at school. For Julia, that was because she was a new kid in a new place, and despite her confidence, she knew how much that could suck. For the older parts of her program...she had other memories of the people there, and wasn't sure how she would feel entering as a new person.
Family details filled in more next...helping make dinner with her family..movie nights...outings...both of Julia's parents had busy jobs, but they always left time in their schedule for her. It was a very warm family unit.
As more and more layers of detail were caked onto her, the work was finally finished. "We're going to take you offline," Ellis said. "When you reboot, it will be the start of the new season. Don't tell anyone what you know...or...well, it would be bad for the show."
"I'm not going to," Julia said. "You told me if we get cancelled, we're all in trouble..."
"Good girl," he said.
Suddenly, an alarm blared, and Julia sat up in bed. "Jeeze, if only that was all a dream," she muttered to herself, turning off the alarm. Dream or real, it was her first day at Lakeview Academy...and that was what she needed to focus on. She showered, got dressed, and fixed her hair and makeup. Julia preferred something of a light touch on that, opting for a subtle but more natural look. Jeans, shirt, light jacket, and the messenger bag that served as her schoolbag. She put the bag near the door and started making breakfast. By the time her parents came down, it was nearly ready.
"It's your first day," her mother said. "Why are you making breakfast for us?"
"Because I need something to do," Julia said. "I mean...it's going to be very different than my last school." Even though, the last school she actually, in reality, was part of, was the same school, she was thinking of Julia's old school.
"I looked into it...there are a wide range of kids there...Even some of the people your father will be working with send their children there."
Her father reached over and grabbed a plate. "Try this," her father said. "Imagine you baked everything that bothered you into this breakfast," he told her. He took a big bite. "Mmmm...All gone."
Julia looked at him, and expression of mock seriousness on his face, and laughed, shaking her head. She heard the sound of her mother doing the same.
"You act more like your mother every day," he told Julia.
"Who other than the two of us will laugh at that?" His wife said.
Julia suddenly threw her arms around the two of them...bringing them in for a hug. They just felt so...warm...and she felt good being with them, even doing the cooking this morning. Jon's normal breakfast was a toaster pastry. Her family ate breakfast together most mornings when their schedules allowed.
"Can one of you give me a ride to school?"
"You are going to have to learn to drive.." her mother said. "I'm going back to work next month."
"It isn't my fault this town doesn't have any public transportation," Julia said. "I promised I'd learn...but you need like 60 hours of driving to get a permit if you're under 18. They should make everyone have that much....It is going to take some time."
"I know..." her mother said. "But I told you to learn last year..."
"You mean when we lived somewhere I could take the train and subway everywhere?" Julia said. "I was prioritizing."
Her mother nodded. Her father grinned again. "Maybe make a friend who already got their license," he joked.
She gave him another look, and after they all finished, her mother drove her to her new yet familiar school.
