A/N: As of this month, All Things End as a whole is six years old and Volume II is now two years old.

Anyway, I feel like I need to address a recent review stating that this fanfic has more or less jumped the shark since Volume I ended. Volume II was pretty much always meant to have a different feel and atmosphere compared to Volume I, at least at first, or to better phrase it since I originally didn't plan to split the story into two, once they got on the road, it was meant to have a different feel for awhile. It's meant to be a sort of adventurous road trip with a lot of random, disconnected, and sometimes silly things happening. I wanted there to be a break from all the angst of the first part, for at least a little while, with things slowly getting darker again as it goes on, starting with what happened with the chicken. As I've said before, nearly everything in this story has been planned out from the start, or within the first few years of writing it, nothing that's happened so far, aside from the current storyline, wasn't already planned. This whole simulation plot is a very recent thing I came up with as a way to better segway into one of the last major storylines outside of Courage and Computer reaching their end goal. I came up with it only a little while before the chicken storyline began. I really liked the mystery of it and wanted to see how it would come out on paper. I will admit, the current storyline has dragged on a bit. It's been going for six months now, but that's mostly because my writing output has been horrible these last few months, and if I had kept updating more regularly, this wouldn't have happened. I'm hoping to have everything wrapped up within the next two chapters. As for what's left? There will be a few chapters coming up that encompass a slight mini-arc and then we will be getting into the last big storyline that finally deals with Computer's past. After that, we hit end game.

At the end of the day, I write this story for myself more so than anyone else. I'm not stopping now and I'm not changing what I have laid out. For me personally, I think Volume II is much better than Volume I, mostly because I've improved a lot and I think it's all around more fun and balances out the angst better with plenty of humor. It's also the one that I've been having the most fun writing. It sucks to know that the shift in tone turned away even one person, but it is what it is and it's what I want to write. After all of the character development in Volume I, I have a lot of fun writing the end results of it, and this still isn't the end. As I said, the tone is set to slowly get back to where it was in Volume I, for the most part. I've been waiting a long time to write the final chapters of this story and I'm really looking forward to it.

Chapter 53: Computer's Escape

Computer stared up at him, completely at a loss.

"You still haven't figured it out, have you?" Ian asked, annoyed. "Fine, then. I'll explain it to you. When my machine no doubt captured you both, you two were taken to the lab to be added to the simulation, as is procedure. Courage, you were hooked up and administered the drugs needed to make you forget just like it would have been done to anyone else, but you-" He turned to Computer. "Things were different with you. I witnessed most of the fallout, after all. When you were hooked up to the simulation, because you are like Zeta, and because you are an artificial intelligence just like her, instead of having your mind placed into Paradise like what would have happened with any normal organic creature, you instead were uploaded out of the body you were inhabiting and dropped into Zeta's system without a single limitation or barrier."

"Oh great. So I'm just a bunch of ones and zeros too." Computer quipped, entirely unamused. It honestly did not come as that great of a shock to him though. He had already started suspecting as much and now that it was confirmed, it really didn't feel all that strange to him. Deep down, he really did not feel much like a dog, nor did he internally see himself as one.

Courage on the other hand, looked completely taken by surprise. He was now staring at him like he had never actually seen him before.

"You're...really the same as Zeta?" He asked, sounding as though he couldn't believe it.

"Apparently that's the case." Computer answered. "It's, uh, not a problem, is it?"

With the way Courage was looking at him now, he was suddenly very worried that the dog might not see him in the same light anymore. He did not want to be considered...lesser in Courage's eyes. Was this the way Zeta felt all of the time? Or was this the way that he himself had already felt plenty of times before his memory had been lost?

"No, no. It's just...a little odd." Courage amended. "You seem like a normal dog to me."

"That's because you are only looking at an avatar." Ian interjected. "All of us in here are using an avatar that is a projection of our real bodies, but it's a little different for A.I. like him and Zeta. They can take on any shape they so wish, or they can have no form at all so that they can move about the datascape more freely. Your friend here was forced into this shape by Zeta." He looked down at Computer. "If your memory is anything to go by, you don't normally give yourself a form within your own system. If you ever appear as anything, it's a sort of undefined, glowing light. Zeta had plenty of time to practice creating an avatar for herself when we were first working on the simulation technology, but you, I don't think you even knew that you could project an avatar inside your natural environment. You've only taken on a form now because of Zeta, and even then, you were only made to look like the dog you've been inhabiting."

Computer shook his head. "Wait, wait, wait. If this is how I look on the outside, then I'm a dog, right? I can't be a bunch of microchips and machinery if this is how my real body looks. I mean, the glow is rather weird, yes, but I don't feel like a dog shaped robot or anything."

Ian grinned slightly. "You have the ability to jump into organic bodies. A handy talent for someone who's usually immobile. I'm certain that Zeta isn't able to do the same thing though, or else she would have used that as a means to escape what was being done to her long ago."

"That might be what her defect is!" Courage broke in suddenly.

"Perhaps." Ian agreed. "But Zeta is also lacking in another talent your friend here is capable of. His memories show that he is also able to manipulate machinery and metal to some effect. Zeta has never shown even the slightest hint that she is capable of the same thing, and if she were able to use any of those abilities herself, things would have never turned out this way. If her lacking in those abilities are her defect, it is no wonder that she was rejected and considered an utter failure by whoever made her."

"Well, maybe that just means we aren't the same after all." Computer interjected. "Maybe I'm a different A.I. and I was built by someone else who was able to give me different abilities."

Ian shook his head. "I'm certain that you are the same as Zeta. I was able to take a look at your inner coding before Zeta cut me off, and while it's badly degraded and practically patchwork at this point, there is no mistaking the parts that are recognizable, you are made from the same framework as her. While I may not know enough to ever attempt to reprogram either of you, even I can see the unmistakable similarities. There is one interesting thing I did find, however. Inside Zeta's coding, she is designated Construct-6 'Zeta', which fits as zeta is the sixth letter in the Greek alphabet. You on the other hand, you are simply designated Construct-35. You lack a name of your own, but that isn't the important part, what this means is that there are at least thirty-three A.I. out there, just like you and Zeta, who could be suffering the same as you and Zeta have. Worse, there is no way to tell just how many A.I. were made after you. There is an unknowable amount of fully sentient A.I. out there who are all likely being treated like mere tools instead of people."

Computer slowly took in a breath and then said, "I think we should worry far more about ourselves right now rather than any other A.I. out there. We certainly can't help them in our current state."

"I have to agree," Ian replied. "unfortunately. It makes me shudder to think that Zeta isn't the only A.I. out there to have suffered so badly. You alone are proof enough." He let out a weak sigh. "I suppose we've gotten off track. Well, here's the rest of what I know through what I saw myself and what I saw through your memories. When you were dropped into Zeta's system unexpectedly, she justifiably panicked at the intrusion and attacked. Because of your past history, you are quite adept at fending off attacks and excel at defensive maneuvering. You were able to stop her from deleting you on the spot, and you managed to fend her off for quite some time, but Zeta was still the one with all of the power. You were outmatched and had no real hope of overcoming her. It was only a matter of time until she would overwhelm you, just like 'He' had in your past."

That single emphasized word sent a chill down Computer's spine, or avatar, or whatever the heck he was right now. Once again he was left fighting to keep himself from blacking out. The reemerging memories were going to swallow him at this rate.

"'He' was the one who destabilized and ruined your innermost programming, similar to what was done to Zeta. It is a miracle that you are still here today, or perhaps it is simply sheer persistence on your part. You are stubborn and determined, I'll give you that."

Computer was still desperately trying to fight those memories back, but a few painful scenes would worm their way into his mind and he could not ignore them.

"I'm...sorry." Ian uttered out. "But no matter how much you hate it, what was done to you is a part of yourself, and that is the same for Zeta too. We all have painful experiences we'd rather forget, I know I have more than my fair share, but we can't hide from them. Such things always find us again. Zeta is going to have to live with all of this for the rest of her life, even if she is saved from it, just like you have to live with what 'He' did."

"You don't understand!" Computer angrily shot back, desperately clutching at his head. "I had a chance to forget, and you've ruined it! I don't want these memories! Of all the things to remember, why does it have to be this?"

"It would have eventually come back to you either way, but I am sorry that it's the first of your memories to return, and since we're already on the topic..."

Computer felt Courage's paw clasp around his arm. It was enough to keep him anchored to reality and away from the memories that were swirling around inside his head.

"I'm so sorry." Courage whispered, even though there was no way for him to fully understand the true extent of the horrors that were playing themselves out in Computer's mind.

"...When Zeta finally overpowered you, she had to find a way to subdue you to a point where you wouldn't be a threat anymore. She had lost the desire to outright destroy you and was curious to find out more about how you ended up here. The solution she came up with was to rip out your memory banks completely."

Courage winced, but Computer could barely react at all. His mind was still in a fog and nearly couldn't register what was being said to him.

His memory banks? Hadn't he once tried to...

Yes...but he couldn't make himself forget completely. It always came back...

"She more or less killed two birds with one stone. She rendered you completely harmless by making it so you wouldn't even know you're an A.I., must less know how to use any of your abilities, and she got your memories so that she could figure out where you had come from and why you ended up in her system." Ian frowned slightly. "There was one problem though. You were likely to regain your memories at some point, even without your memory banks. Zeta herself once tried to obliterate her own memory. She figured that her life of being used would be easier if she really were just a mindless machine, and she thought that removing her memories would be the best way to do that when her programming would not allow her to do anything else, but they always returned in the end. You tried the same thing multiple times in the past, and you received the same results. It seems that because you both have been given life in some unknown way, you two are not strictly tied to the hardware that you exist within. There is one odd anomaly though. You have a vast swath of your memory corrupted, and it would seem that such a thing would not impede your recollection, but it does. That is what Zeta is most interested in, she wants to know how that happened, where you come from, and how you fell into a life of being a seemingly common computer. So, once she had your memory, she forced you into the form that you are now and had you put to work in Paradise. She ordered Betty to work you so ragged that you wouldn't have time to remember anything, and I was ordered to keep an eye on you for any signs that you may be regaining your memories. I was also ordered to keep you from coming into contact with Courage, because if there was anyone likely to cause you to start remembering things, it was him. Obviously I did not follow that order, but I still kept a close eye on the both of you. It was my hope that you would start remembering because you are the greatest chance any of us have had in a long time. You would be far more useful right now with your memories intact, but clearly they are not coming back as easily as I thought they would, so we have to make do with you being an amnesiac for now."

Computer might have been insulted to hear such a thing, but he was still left wondering why he inspired such hope in Ian, especially if he 'useless' without his memories. How could he possibly save Zeta, or anyone for the matter, if he didn't know how to do any A.I. stuff or whatever the heck Ian wanted?

"There is one thing you managed to do before Zeta incapacitated you." Ian continued, a smile spreading out across his face. "And that is the most important thing of all. You were able to get into the simulation's coding and you created a program that functions as a backdoor out of Paradise!" He pointed a finger upward. "That mountain you both have no doubt noticed at some point or another, it did not exist within Paradise before you two showed up. It is the backdoor program!" He looked down at Computer with a proud smile on his face. "Before your memory was removed, you knew that Courage had ended up somewhere here within Zeta's system. I'm certain you didn't know the extent of what was going on here, but since you knew that Zeta was eventually going to overpower you, you tried to at least give Courage a fighting chance to get out of this place by creating that program and giving it a form that would have had some meaning to him. Unfortunately, there was no way for you to know that Courage's memory had been suppressed and that the mountain would not have any meaning to him."

"I-" Courage weakly chimed in. "I always got a funny feeling whenever I looked at that mountain. It never seemed to fit right with the rest of Paradise, but it never made me remember anything either. It always felt...important somehow, but I could never figure out why."

Computer blinked. "We were...trying to get to a mountain before we got stuck in this place, right?" He asked, hoping that this might be sign that he was remembering something that didn't relate to his torturous past.

Ian nodded. "Keep that up! The sooner your memories come back, the better!"

"So, what now?" Courage asked.

"Well, I'm taking you to the mountain, of course."

"But, wait." Computer interjected. "What does any of this have to do with me saving Zeta? You made it sound like that was the most important thing we should do, but now you're trying to get us out of here without helping her?"

"You misunderstand me." Ian answered. "You can't help her inside this place, she just has too much power over us. She'd stop any attempt to help her before we could get anywhere."

Much to Computer's surprise, Ian suddenly dropped down onto his knees and placed both of his hands onto his shoulders.

"But once you're out of here, once you're on the outside, you can help her! You can save her!" Ian's eyes displayed almost a mad hunger. "From the outside, you can access her programming and change it! You of all people, once you have your memories back, you would know exactly what to do to free her from the chains that bind her to this horrible place! Then you can take her and get her as far away from this place as possible! She can start a new life then! She can be as free as you are to do as she pleases!"

There was a moment where Computer really did not want to say what needed to be said. He looked into Ian's desperate, hungry eyes and said, "You...you don't understand what you're asking of me. She'd never trust me to do something like that and she'd fight me every step of the way. I'd have to force my way into her programming and change it against her will. If I did that, I'd be no better than-" The evil face of that man flashed into his mind and he couldn't help but shudder.

Ian's grip on his shoulders loosened and he suddenly looked so filled with hopelessness that the life inside of him might have dried up right then and there. "You've got to try." He begged in a shaky voice. "Sometimes you have to do what's best for someone, even if they don't want it. But-" He trailed off into silence for a moment. "But if you can't do that for her, then I want you to shut her down along with the simulation, and then destroy every last bit of her so that...so that she isn't left in darkness like the last time she was shut down. I will stay here, I will stay by her side, so that if you have to do the deed, I will be there for her when the end comes. I know she'll never stop hating me, but I'm all she has and she shouldn't have to face her end alone."

Computer felt ill to even say it, but he swallowed and answered, "I'll...do my best to ensure that the worst doesn't happen." Even though he knew that there was no way he could stomach forcefully reprogramming anyone not even if it was to save their own life.

Ian got back to his feet. "We'll be under the mountain very soon, and from there we'll find the means to escape that you've opened up for us. Well, not for me, but for you two. I must warn you though, Zeta will be there. She's not happy to have a gaping backdoor sitting out in the open for all to see. She's been working day and night to delete it, but hasn't had much luck yet. Because she's been so focused on that, she hasn't been keeping much of an eye on any of us and that's why she doesn't know I've been working with you two yet. It's also kept her from delving deeper into your memories and dissecting your memory banks down to their core. I doubt we'll be able to get them back, but it would be helpful if we could." He looked back down at Computer yet again. "There are some potential problems if you were to jump back into an organic body without your memory banks intact. It may stop you from regaining your memories altogether, or if you're lucky, it won't cause any problems at all and you'll continue to regain them bit by bit. The worst case scenario is that the discrepancy might be so great that once you jump back into that dog body, you'll go into shock and die on the spot, or you'll slip into a coma and never wake up again."

"Now you tell me this?" He asked indignantly. "If I leave this place I might die or remain a permanent amnesiac? This should have been the first thing you told me!"

Ian shrugged. "I figured that it wouldn't be a big enough deterrent to stop you from wanting to leave this place. Understand that once Zeta is no longer occupied with removing the backdoor program, she will turn her attention back onto you and it's very likely that it won't just be your memories that end up dissected."

"I guess you're right about one thing." He sighed. "There's no way I'd ever consider staying in this simulation, not even if it means risking death or permanent memory loss."

"But what about Zeta?" Courage asked. "If she's at the mountain right now and trying to get rid of it, we'll probably run into her, right? Will she attack us if she finds us?"

"I'm afraid that there is no way for us to get to the backdoor without her noticing. We are going to have to face her at some point, and since our friend over here hasn't regained enough of his memories to help us fight her off, we'll have to rely on sheer luck and quick thinking to get us through this." Ian adjusted his glasses in that ever characteristic way. "I will try to talk to her, but I doubt she'll listen to me. If it comes down to it, I will attempt to distract her while you two make a run for it. She would never risk deleting the first A.I. she's come across in years, but Courage, if she catches you, I have no doubt in my mind that she will delete you without a moment of hesitation, so I suggest you don't let that happen."

End Of Chapter