Title: Doing time on Seefra

Spoilers: Definitely for most of season 5, best to be safe and assume all previous seasons as well

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Andromeda. And I am getting nothing for any of this. Ok? Ok. And while I'm here, can I ask a question or two? Why do we all put these disclaimer thingys here? Has anyone actually gotten in trouble for writing fanfiction? Seriously? Some of the stories I have read are excellent indeed, but I really doubt anyone has ever made any cash off of them. Ok, moving on now.

Characters: I originally intended this to be exclusively Rommie, but Harper somehow managed to weasel a rather large part in the first chapter. Don't ask me how, he does it almost every time I start to write one of these. Other characters may appear later. Depends.

Please note, this is definitely not one of my silly humor-based stories. Not even a little. So if you are looking to laugh, please don't bother reading this one – you'll be disappointed, I'll be disappointed. I'm working on a funny season 5 based story, but it's still too fragmentary to post.

Playback memory file "lost"

"Stay safe"

(Flash)

(Physical sensors offline, data loss, internal clock malfunction. Time period of indeterminate length. Nothingness. Darkness. Loss.)

Avatar reboot
attempting to connect to AI……..
fail……
retry……
fail……
abort connection to AI - reload from stored core programming…….
damaged sectors 9153-9354, 15766-160004, 22989-23144
continue reboot? Y/N
programmer input Y – ignoring damaged sectors
reboot complete.

"Dylan! Dylan where are you? I have to find Dylan."

The avatar sat up, pushed herself off of the workbench, and attempted to leave the lab. It was clearly Rommie, but at the same time clearly not Rommie. The proportions were slightly off, the movements not quite as smooth, the skin and hair of a lesser quality. These were all minor defects though. The real difference was the eyes. Almost completely blank, no personality, no hint of what might still be locked up in that mind.

"Rommie, Rommie wait! You can't go out there yet, Marika's goons might see you. You'll get us both killed! Come on babe please, come back and let me explain things to ya. We'll both keep looking for Dylan and the others later."

The avatar didn't even pause when Harper grabbed her arm. She just wrenched herself free and continued towards the door. "I have to find Dylan. He's in trouble and he needs me. I have to find him."

"Wait just one minute, please Rommie? Oh come on, pretty please with a synthetically generated imitation cherry-like fruit on top?"

He couldn't even slow her down. In desperation he made a last lunge and hit her 'off switch.'

"Oh man that didn't go well. I just need to put more of my considerable genius into the problem. I bet I need to bridge some more of those damaged sectors. Might as well tweak her body while I'm at it, still not quite right…."

new data integrated…….
ignoring damaged sectors…….
reboot complete.

"Dylan! He's in danger. I have to find him. He needs me."

Again the avatar with the blank eyes moved straight to the exit.

"Come on Rom-doll, not again! Yoohoo, your creator and savior over here! Just listen will ya Rommie, you can't go find Dylan right now. I can here Marika's creepy creations out there!"

The engineer seemed better prepared for the avatar's single mindedness this time. He locked the door and attempted to reason with her for a while. He shut her down when she stripped the skin from her frame trying to use a welder to escape.

overriding program imperatives 12alpha92omega and 34epsilon009………
new data integrated……..
ignoring damaged sectors……….
reboot complete

"Dylan!"

"Not again! You can't find him, trust me! I've been looking and waiting for over 18 months."

"I need to find Dylan."

"Oh Rommie."

………..

reboot complete

"Dylan! I have to find him."

………..

reboot complete

"Dylan!"

Digital Harper appeared within Rommie's VR matrix. It was still the same desolate, static-interrupted, uncontrolled environment that had appeared the first time he managed to reinitialize the remnants of Rommie's personality. So different from the cool, efficient, elegant, but so human Rommie that he loved. Still, the image that appeared in front of him was just like he remembered and it gave him just a little hope.

"Uh, hi again Rommie. It's good to see you."

"Hello" Rommie paused a beat "Harper"

"Ahhh, I'm so sorry Rommie, it failed again. I don't know what's wrong. I've tried everything, but you still keep… I just can't get the materials I need even with all Marika's connections. And it's not like I have a lot of spare time with her always breathing down my neck about those 'genetically perfect beings' she's trying to create, and…."

Harper paused. "You aren't angry are you? Or disappointed? Or anything. I almost wish you would yell at me or something. You must remember getting angry at me, you did it everyday. Nothin' huh?"

Rommie responded with nothing but a look of polite attention.

"Listen Rommie, I'm not giving up on you. I'll keep trying as long as it takes. But for right now I need…I'm just gonna try something new. I'm using your core personality, but I gotta, uh, change it a little. It won't really be you, but it's the best I an do right now. You just have to trust me, okay?"

Pause. "I trust you. Harper." Another pause. "Will you answer a question for me Harper?"

"Sure doll, anything."

"How long have I been here? My internal clock is… nonfunctional and my records are damaged."

"We've been here two years Rommie. Two years since Arkology, two years since we were torn apart atom by atom and dumped here, two years since everyone we ever knew left us. In case your wondering it's been over a year since the first time I rebuilt your body and tried to upload your consciousness into it."

"Ok Harper."

"I'll come back and visit soon Rommie, I promise."

end playback memory file "lost"