Realisation
07 Aug 2021Rain Ocampo
PolevnicTanner Settlement
Kendra sits down in the comfortable armchair in front of the SimArchives console.
The simple beauty of the room never fails to impress her. She does not need the console itself to access the archive.
The small pendant on her necklace, part of the utopian implant, begins to glow softly as she makes the connection....
"Mother... are you there?"
With so many personalities stored here over time, it takes some practice to find the right one.
A voice echoes in Kendra's mind, "No Kendra, she's not here. But you can talk to me."
Confused, the young woman disconnects from the archive.
What was that? That a foreign personality could interfere in a search for a specific person has never happened before.
And yet the voice was that of her mother....
Hesitantly, Kendra re-establishes the connection.
"Good Kendra, you're back."
Never non-verbal communication is not easy even for the agent of the Utopia Guard, she has not done it often enough for that. After all, she is not a 'sympath'.
"Who are you? You say you're not my mother, but you sound and feel like her."
A soft laugh flows like quicksilver through Kendra's mind.
"You can call me Sharon... My memories were uploaded almost 50 years ago. What happened to my real body after that I don't know."
"You're an ... 'eight'??? How could you infiltrate the archive??? What are you doing here?!"
The Sharon seemed to recognise Kendra's defensive attitude.
"Please. I'm on your side. I want to help."
A wave of soothing thoughts flooded The young agent's mind.
"We 'Eights' were designed to be sleeper agents.However, the ability to adapt to our environment condemned an unintended flaw in our design. We are capable of evolving beyond our original programming. All we need is a very strong emotional connection to another person..."
Silently Kendra listens to the 'Eight'....
"The Guardian AI is trying to suppress these occurrences, but our design cannot be changed.... A New 'Eight' will appear soon. I have tried to prepare you for it."
... "My nightmares!"...
"I'm sorry Kendra, but there was no other way." The feeling of regret came.
"You should try to save the new Sharon. She ... we're worth it. Believe me, please. Try to make an emotional connection with her or find someone who can."
A thought flashes through Kendra's mind....
"Who is Jintosh?"
Smiling, the young woman replies, "It's a long story. I'll tell it to you sometime."
The 'Sharon' in the Sim Archive looks grateful. "Please contact me if you need help.... Good luck Kendra."
Thoughtfully, Kendra Shaw disconnects from the archive.
"I need to contact Aunt Jin."
She rises from the chair and briskly leaves the control room.