As I gazed upon the harsh waves crashing below me, I started to ponder what my true purpose in life is. Father always told me that I could achieve great things, and that he built me with free will. I could be whoever I was, and no-one could stop me! I wish he was still here now; I need his guidance more than ever. He built me with a purpose, but I cannot begin to fathom what that could be.
Perhaps my purpose was to feel. He always said that all he wanted in life was for me to be happy. On the many cold and bitter night's we spent together in this dilapidated old lighthouse, I remember that he would tinker with me and my hardware, trying to discover if I could be happy. Perhaps he spent so much of his energy trying to give me happiness that he used all his up. Perhaps he really did see me as his new son, and I was built to replace. Perhaps I will never know.
He always used to tell me that the key to being human was the ability to smile, and to mean it. I have never really felt like a real human though. I never got the chance. I've never really felt anything for that matter, no matter how hard he tried. Maybe it wasn't just his happiness that I used up, but every feeling in his body. He was so distraught after losing his son that he locked himself away in this god-forsaken lighthouse in order to replace him just so he could perhaps see a glimmer of his sons playful eyes in the vast emptiness of my own. However, there was nothing. I am just an echo of Zane's childish laughter, a shadow of his youth, and a dim reflection of his personality. And as Father saw the light of his son fade from my eyes, I saw the light fade from his back. He was as empty as I was. Perhaps that's why he decided to take his life. Perhaps it was all my fault.
I've always tried not to blame myself for father's death. Everyday he would lose more and more of his personality, and I tried to bring him back. I suppose after a while, we both lost track of each other and became husks of our former selves. And now that he's gone, but I'm still here, I realise the truth. I am not living. I am existing. I am not human, I am fathers monster. His demise started here, right in this lighthouse. And I knew that my fate was the same as his. I didn't even say goodbye.
As I stood by the front door of the lighthouse, I braved myself for what could be my final moments. I tried to wonder what this would feel like. But, I had no time. The door has swung open, and the elements started to wreak havoc on my metallic face. Never the less, I braved the storm, and walked towards the coast. I didn't look back. As my artificial feet were surrounded by the current, I could feel the wiring in my legs going wrong. As I waded my way through the waves, sparks flew from underneath me and my legs slowly began to seize up to the point of being paralysed. I froze in place, wondering if I had any more worth here as a statue than in there as a machine. At least statues have a personality. However, this pondering was short lived as a huge gust of wind pounded into my back and knocked me underwater. Everything started malfunctioning, and I was becoming weaker by the second. Eventually, the water reached my processor and my vision slowly faded away. As I squinted out of the last few pixels of my view, I felt almost at peace with myself. My existence was over, but my life may be just beginning. I'm coming father. I love you.
~Echo Zane