Mindfulness
They all filed into the Parts and Services Room to oversee the beginning of the operation. The newer synths, excluding Billy were sitting in the same dentist chairs Jeremy had found their older counterparts in. That group took standing positions directly across from them, with Goldie in the centre. Billy nestled himself with her.
There were a few things that were decided following the revelations that had come. For one, the new synths would be kept in standby mode until they needed to talk to them. Goldie explained this would slow what the fragments were doing to their minds. For obvious reasons, it was also decided that this would be done one at a time since Goldie would have to use all of her focus to complete the task.
Phil looked over the console nearby, monitoring the mental signs of the newer synths. Mike was following instructions from Goldie, running a series of interface cables into the backs of their heads and into Goldie. Goldie herself was being connected by Jeremy to the console Phil was using, again on her instructions.
"So this is pretty much going to be 'Inception' then?" asked Jeremy.
"Essentially, yeah," Phil explained. "Goldie here, she was pretty much the teacher for these guys. The way Aaron, M-Mr Johnson to you, and Fred told me, she'd create these digital mindscapes for them while their bodies were being developed. I-It allowed their minds to be trained and be ready to use their bodies when they were completed."
"Yeah, she did tell us she was their teacher, but she didn't go into that bit," recalled Jeremy. "I'm guessing that's how you fought that Puppet thing, too?"
"Precisely. It'll be easier for me to do my work in a digital state, so everybody may as well join me. Make sure the cables are secured nice and tight," she added.
"But can't you do this wirelessly?" asked Mike. "I mean, you managed to do that before."
"That's because I knew what I was working with when it comes to my family. Since we're essentially going into unknown territory with these four, I'd rather have the stability of a wired connection. There's too much at stake to risk."
Jeremy secured the cable to the console with a heavy clunk. "So what exactly can we do when you're doing all of this?"
"Not much, I'm afraid. You're not synthetic. Phil knows a little about some of the basics, but none of you are trained technicians in this field. You can observe our respective mental states on the monitor, but the best thing you can do is let us handle this."
"Yeah, even trusting Mikey with these cables is probably asking a lot," remarked Bonnie.
"You know what, Bonnie…" He trailed off, shaking his head. "Okay, that should do it. Good luck in there, guys."
"We'll be alright." Chica reached for Mike's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Don't worry about us too much, okay?"
"I'm supposed to say that to you," he replied and squeezed her hand in return.
"I'll contact you through the monitor when we're done, Phil," said Goldie. "At that time, or if things look very bad, press the red shut-off switch. But don't do it unless I contact you first. If the connection is interrupted while I'm moving between minds, that will create all sorts of problems. Everybody ready?" There were murmurs of affirmation. "Good. Then away we go."
Simultaneously, their heads suddenly snapped upright. The console beeped rapidly for a few seconds before levelling off to a regular, steady rhythm. Then, their eyes closed and their heads drooped forward.
Phil let out a heavy sigh. "Well, I guess we're gonna be here a while. How about I make us all some uh, coffee?"
There was a great rushing sensation as Goldie left the confines of her physical body and entered the digital realm. As much as she wanted a synthetic body of her own, leaving a limited form and coming here was always liberating in its own way.
She generated the mansion environment that served as their old training ground, manifesting herself in a drawing room by a roaring fire and taking her place in a cushy armchair. It was nice to be back here and not be under attack by a hostile AI and its hapless pawns, or in the aftermath of having their whole lives uprooted by Hawthorne's scheme.
Moments later, the others joined her, taking seats on either the nearby couch or another armchair in Freddy's case. Billy, however, was staring around in awe.
"Wow! This place is so cool!" He jumped onto a footstool and sank into the cushion.
"Welcome to our training grounds, Billy. I assume the Puppet never did anything like this for you?" she asked.
"Not really. He just made us practice stuff in a place that looked like the restaurant, then left us in the dark when he was…" He did a double take when he saw Goldie. "You're huge!"
She laughed. "I am, aren't I? It took me a while to settle on this form, but I think it suits me."
"You look amazing," he said, scurrying up and prodding her leg. "Is this what you want to look like when you get your own body?"
"If that day ever comes, yes. Then I get to do things like this!" She scooped him up and planted him on her knee, much to his delight. "Comfy?"
"Super comfy! I really hope you get a body someday," he said.
"Thank you, Billy. Now then, onto business." She looked at the others. "We all know why we're here. We're going to use this place as a hub to help Billy's friends. Since this where I helped all of you and it's familiar territory, it only seemed fitting."
"Just how difficult do we expect this to be?" asked Freddy. "As you said, we are venturin' into unfamiliar territory."
"Very much so and as to that, I can't be certain. Not completely. I can bring the other synths here without any issue since I'm connected directly to them. However, this is going to be a very different experience compared to raising all of you. There's going to be a lot to unpack to get at the fragments."
"That's the thing, then. These fragment things." Bonnie had her feet rested on a stool while she reclined. "What do they look like? I mean, can we see them in here?"
"Well, let's see if we can't have an example." She looked at Billy. "Little one, this going to feel strange, but I'm going to fully extract your Other from your head, okay?"
"Okay." He glanced about uncertainly. "I mean, do you have to?"
"Why, do you not want me to?" she asked gently.
"I do, but… it's silly, I don't want him to go." He sniffed. "I'm always left on my own, but the Other was always there. Even if he's sad, we could be sad together. If he goes… I'll be alone again."
"Oh, Billy." She cupped his cheek and wiped away the tears that started to fall. "That's not going to happen. Not with us, isn't that right everybody?"
"Of course," said Chica at once, coming over to kneel in front of him. "You're our friend now, Billy. We won't leave you on your own."
"We never leave anyone behind," said Foxy. "Certainly not as fine a crewman as ye, lad."
He let out a little hiccup. "Y-You promise?"
"We promise. And I'll bet that once we help your friends and let them know that the way they treated you wasn't fair, they'll try to make things better too," Chica said.
"I agree," said Goldie. "It'll take some time, but I'm sure they'll come around. Until then, you can count on us."
Billy sniffed again and stared at Goldie with big, watery eyes. He latched onto her like a koala while she stroked his hair and returned his hug. He stayed like that for a little while and when he pulled away, Goldie gave him a handkerchief to wipe his eyes.
"Okay. I'm ready," he said resolutely.
Goldie nodded and her hands started to glow. She pressed them against the sides of his head, taking as much care as she could. It didn't take her long to find what she was looking for. Inside his mind, Billy was glowing with a fulfilling warmth, tinged with a bit of sadness. The fragment inside him was thrown into sharp relief simply by how unendingly miserable and lonely it felt, paradoxically apart but separate from everything else.
In just a few minutes, she had gathered it together and carefully pried it from Billy. It offered a little resistance, but it soon relented to her purpose. She pulled her hands away, containing it behind a firewall which took the form of a transparent sphere around it.
Manifested in the digital realm and out of Billy's mind, it looked like a shapeless, grey orb. There was a faint aura surrounding it, making it glow weakly like a bulb about to go out. It was staring at them with large, white eyes with an almost baleful gaze.
"Holy crap, that's a ghost!" cried Bonnie.
"You might not be entirely wrong about that." She lowered it so Billy could see. "Here it is, Billy. Here's your little friend."
"Wow," he whispered. He pressed a hand to its surface and the Other gravitated towards it. "He's like a sad little balloon."
"Aw, he's rather cute. Hello there," waved Chica. The Other seemed to recoil and move back against the firewall's surface. "Oh, I scared him."
"Don't worry, I have it contained here so it can't go anywhere," said Goldie. "That was the easy one, I'm afraid. Getting the fragments inside the other four to manifest will be difficult, but now I have some idea of what to expect."
"If you say so." Bonnie kept her eyes warily on the sphere as she spoke. "That's something else though, about these fragments. If getting them to show themselves or whatever hangs on us getting them to talk about their baggage, that's not exactly going to be easy."
"Depending on who they are, I would agree with you. However, we don't have much of a choice. They're far from perfect, but I'm not willing to let them suffer for what Sid has done to them," said Goldie.
"Seconded!" barked Foxy. "So when do we set sail?"
"Whenever you're ready. I've already created bridges to their minds." She indicated the wall behind them.
There were four doors, each coloured for one of the synths. Blue for Clyde, yellow for Hermana, white for Vevina and brown for Theodore.
"All you need to do is open the doors to let them in. They'll have it open somewhere in their minds and will be compelled to step inside. Since some have shown more of a willingness to be helped than others, I would recommend you starting with them before proceeding to the more challenging cases."
"Works for me. I'm not exactly a big fan of any of these guys, so if we're gonna do this we'd best start off on the right foot," shrugged Bonnie.
"I take it that means you won't be accompanyin' us directly?" asked Freddy.
"Sadly, no. I need to be in the admin portion of the mansion so I can concentrate on removing the fragments from their minds once they're here. But don't worry, I'll be able to see where you all are and I'm appointing Billy as my special support for you all," she said, patting him in the head.
"I know them all best," he chimed in. "If you need me to tell you anything about them, just ask."
"I got somethin'. Do we tell them what we're tryin' ta do?" asked Foxy. "Billy here knows and Vev said she was actin' in a similar way too."
"A good question. I would advise to keep it under wraps, if you can. I can't say for certain, but if the fragments become aware that something is going to remove them, they could put up a more active resistance. Keep it on the down low if you can, but if they ask directly, do what you can."
"Not sure how right that sits with me, but I see yer point," agreed Foxy.
"Are there any other questions?" They all shook their heads. "Excellent. Remember, it's important that you get them talking about what really matters. If they're going to bury things down deep, it'll be harder for me to isolate what doesn't belong. Those feelings have to be brought to the surface."
"We'll do all we can," promised Chica.
"I know you will. Right, I'd best get into position and bring this little thing with me, too." She held up the Other in its sphere. It didn't try to escape, but it glanced warily around. "There might be a chance I can gain a better understanding of the nature of these fragments, if I can examine them closely."
"You promise you won't hurt him?" asked Billy.
"He'll be in the best possible care, Billy," she vowed. "Right, best of luck again to you all. I can't lie to you, this will be difficult. But you've all overcome worse than this. I have no doubt you'll manage again. These synthetics couldn't be in better hands." She smiled proudly at them, then transported herself from the drawing room into the lower parts of the mansion in a microsecond.
Yes, she had missed being able to do that.
Goldie took her seat in the administration portion of the mindscape, every part of the mansion available to view on the monitors and steeling herself to begin her work. She looked over at the Other, floating in the containment sphere she had it in.
"Now then, you strange little wayward thing. Soon, we'll see if we can't determine precisely what you are and where you came from," she murmured.
Hey folks. Sorry for the lateness of this one, Christmas and what not. Hope you all had happy holidays and here's hoping for a good new year :)
Arc of Carona: I'm sure you've caught on.
ArchineerRob: And to you.
Guest: We will soon see.
Fate-Be Changed: You catch on quick XD
Teller-Story: Both questions now answered XD