Sector 1 – Year 2236 – Month 2 – Day Seventeen

“Ani, if I may ask?”

“Go ahead,” Ani wheeled into the kitchen to prepare some food. This latest session in Asphodel drained him. It felt as if his mind was a jumbled mess. Memories were fleeting, and he noticed an aversion to details in the real world. Shifting into the Wrathic had taken a toll on his mind, one that he wasn’t used to, but he was hoping it would get better with time. Even if it didn’t, there wasn’t much time left as it was. He made a mental note to looking into a supplementary and waste management setup for his grav chamber.

“What is your fascination with the wheel chair?”

Ani always felt a wave of success when Reggie asked questions like that. He spent a lot of time trying to make Reggie more human, trying to make him more of a thinking, living entity than just a computer that controlled the temperature in his apartment, or called the proper authorities if, God forbid, his health went further south.

“That’s an interesting question,” Ani said with a smile.

“Hmm, one you’re pleased with it seems. A reflection of your programming, no?”

Ani laughed. “To some degree, Reggie, but you’ve taken on a personality of your own. Not everything you do is a reflection of me.”

“And yet I wouldn’t exist if…”

“It’s a compliment, feel free to take it.” Reggie didn’t answer, no doubt assessing the impact of what Ani said. “To answer your first question though, let me respond with a question. You know that I don’t have a family, yes?”

“Your mother abandoned you. If you’d allow me to connect with the UWGB child services network, I’m more than confident that I could find…”

“Reggie, no, no. That’s not what I’m getting at. Of course someone gave birth to me, and she copulated with a male in order to make that happen, but for whatever reason, they didn’t want me. Yes, they abandoned me, but in our time of technology, I have now abandoned them. I have no concern for why they did what they did, and I don’t need or want them in my life. But the point I’m trying to make is that the wheelchair is a reflection of that. A relic from a different time where people thought differently. It’s nothing without me. I want to get around on my own volition, I don’t need any handouts.”

There was a momentary silence before Reggie said, “There are many definitions for the word ‘family’, one such being a group of persons of common ancestry…in this day of technology, would that make me your son?”

Ani was thrown by the question. Reggie had never questioned his existence or place in the world, and while they’d formed a bond since Ani changed his programming, Reggie had never postulated on defining their relationship. He was also seemingly satisfied with the answer about the wheelchair and moved to create a new conversation based of other things they had been talking about. Ani was impressed.

“I think, in a manner of speaking, yes. Some would consider you my son. However, I would prefer if you considered us friends, though it’s certainly not a requirement. I don’t see you as someone I need to raise, and take care of. I see you as companion who can share in my experiences and hopefully one day before…I’m gone… I’d love to release you from this apartment in order to experience the world on your own.”

“Truth be told, I don’t know that I’d enjoy this world without you.”

Ani started to tear up. He didn’t have anyone in this world and here, this computer, this collection of ones and zeros was more of a friend to him than anyone had been in his life.

“Before you are gone,” Reggie continued. “Are you referring to death, or Asphodel?”

“What about Asphodel?”

“I don’t mean to pry, but you have me recording your sessions within Asphodel. Logic is the easiest concept for me to embrace. You are a Wrathic in Asphodel, this has been confirmed. You have survived your second transformation. All of the myth surrounding the Wrathic leads to back to one conclusion on why they’re so sought after.”

Ani stopped preparing his dinner and just thought about the implications of his actions. He was fully aware of what he was doing, but somehow with Reggie talking about it out loud, everything felt more real, more serious. Ani spent so many years mentally battling the disease that ravaged his body. In a world where most every disease had been eradicated, what had he done to be born with the one that wasn’t cured? Being dumped on the sidewalk in front of a hospital wasn’t a bad enough way to start life, he had to carry the burden of an aggressive, mutated form of multiple sclerosis as well.

“I’m sorry if my question has caused you emotional pain,”

Reggie’s voice snapped Ani back to reality. He felt a tear roll down his cheek. “No, that’s fine Reggie. It’s just, it’s been a long time since I’ve thought about the end goal.” Ani took a deep breath, holding it for a count of five before releasing the tension in his chest with the carbon dioxide exiting his lungs.

“Wow, we’ve really gone off topic here,” Ani chuckled nervously. “Um, but back to the wheelchair, I uh, I also like it because it connects me with a different time in humanity’s history. One that I’m more fond of than what we’ve become.”

“You believe the world’s dependence on technology is too great?”

“I do.”

“Yet your only friend is born from this technology.”

“You are, although there’s very little of you that’s legal at this point.”

“Do the legalities surrounding my programming make a difference in this aspect?”

“Yes they do. You’re not a machine anymore, Reggie, you’ve become more than that, a personality, a consciousness…I believe.”

Reggie stopped talking. Ani waited in the kitchen for ten minutes, but he didn’t say anything. Ani finished preparing his dinner, then set it on his lap and wheeled into the living room. Reggie’s last iteration required that he ask permission to process a conversation or concept before going silent. In the most recent update, Ani removed that setting as it was too robotic. People don’t ask permissions to have time to themselves to internally process something. When Reggie was ready to talk again, or had a question that needed answering, he’d speak up.

Ani ate his dinner in silence while pouring over all the information that he’d collected on Wrathics over the years. Ever since he heard of the myth as a child, well before he was mature enough to enter Asphodel, he’d dreamed of flying through the air. There was a lot of information, and not all of it was valid or to be believed, but Ani saw all of it important nonetheless.

In the old world of entertainment over education, a creature like the Wrathic was called a wyvern or possibly dragon depending on the source. It was a remnant left over from real world myth. A creature that fell somewhere between fact and fiction. Dinosaurs were historically factual. Some of their bones were still preserved in museums across the world, but Dragons just littered old world stories, based in hypothetical fact though never proven to exist. Their existence in Asphodel mirrored this. Tomas Hidarian, the creator of Asphodel, was a documented wyvern fanatic. He knew all the lore front to back, better than anyone else in the world. He was the leading authority before he passed away.

Some say that’s why he created Asphodel to begin with. That it started as a simulator for Tomas to bring his favored myth to life, whether it be to interact with as a pet or observe it in nature, or assume its role. It’s said that his obsession to understanding wyverns led to the development of the Shifter class within Asphodel and in turn led to it being further developed as a class and level system. Rumors turned into myth. There was no concrete evidence that pointed to Tomas’s reasoning behind the myth of Wrathics, just conjecture and hearsay. Before Ani’s transformation, there was no concrete proof that they even existed.

Ani’s transformation took every myth that existed in Asphodel and gave it the possibility of factual grounding. Tomas Hidarian was the only person who knew the true depths of Asphodel and what was possible, and even that could be stretch. Self-learning and evolving intelligence systems were just beginning to be researched when Tomas created Asphodel, but his work was always proven to be well beyond that of anyone at the time. It was entirely possible that his world started out one way and evolved into something that even he had never thought possible. The discovery of Wrathics could just be scratching the surface of what Asphodel had to offer.

“Ani?” It had been four hours since Reggie and Ani had their conversation in the kitchen. Ani was so involved with his research that he nearly jumped at the sound of his voice.

“Yes, Reggie?”

“I’ve taken some time to process our previous conversation.”

“I figured.”

“I’ve also taken the time to contemplate my existence, our relationship, and how that in turn relates to your end goal.”

“Is that so?”

“It is indeed.”

Ani pushed his work aside in order to give Reggie his full attention. He believed that Reggie was on the cusp of a realization that Ani had hoped he would reach on his volition.

“Your transformation into the Wrathic form has called into question every myth that populates Asphodel. One of the more prominent of which is that Tomas Hidarian, the creator of Asphodel, hid a certain technological marvel in the world and this marvel is directly related to the Wrathic myth. Though never expressly spoken, I believe that given your postulated life expectancy, your interest in Asphodel, and the Wrathic myth’s surrounding it, your intent is to try and transfer your consciousness into Asphodel before you die, thus shedding the need for a physical form here in the real world.”

"That’s quite a conclusion Reggie.”

“Is it correct?”

Ani had been waiting for this conversation for years, and now that it was finally here, he felt his nerves going crazy with anticipation and fear. There was no guarantee that Reggie would be receptive to his plan. He could only hope that all the programming and evolving that Reggie went through in the last few years would lead him to the conclusion that Ani had hoped for. Reggie had become his own being now, and wiping him clean because he wanted to stop Ani would be just as painful as killing a dear friend.

“It is.” That moment felt as if it dragged on for days. In all reality, Reggie took seconds to respond, but Ani was so tense that relativity took on a whole new meaning.

“Your time in the real world is limited. If this is truly what you want, I’d be honored to help.”

Ani sighed, letting out the huge gasp of air that was stuck in his lungs. “Reggie, I can’t tell you have relieved I am to hear that.”

“Ani…Ani, you are my friend, and if helping you to be happy is within my grasp, then I will do whatever I can to make that happen. Can I ask one favor in return?”

Ani had a wide smile across his face. He couldn’t contain his joy for what he expected Reggie to say next. “Anything Reggie, just name it.”

“Asphodel is expertly guarded. It has been since its inception. The code is something that no one has ever been able to crack from the outside. However, if there’s anything you’ve taught me in my brief existence, it’s that in order to be happy in life, you need fight for what you want. Even if it seems impossible. I don’t know if my simulated emotions are evolving as you expected, but I think…I think I would like to join you in Asphodel. I think, if we can figure out a way to succeed in importing exterior technology where others have failed, then maybe I can be happy…with you.”

Ani eyes began to swell again. “Reggie, you are my friend, and if helping you to be happy is within my grasp, then I will do whatever I can to make that happen.”