CHAPTER 4 – THE PAPER

I unfolded the paper and laid it down on the ground similarly to how a normal-sized creature would lay a carpet down. I started to read the writings on the paper and did my best to make out some of the letters that were partly erased by the creases.

Dear Sheldon,

It's been quite some time since I've started to live alone without a master to program me. You have been imprisoned some time ago after another failed attempt to completely rule the world. Throughout that time I spent without you, I busied myself thinking of ways to break you out of jail. One day, I prepared my arsenal of best weapons I could use to coerce the cops to set you free. They adamantly said that you weren't there. I destroyed many police equipment and stunned them to make a quick getaway upon the realization that they were telling the truth that you've been transferred to Neptune's dungeon, an inescapable prison guarded by no other than Neptune's power itself.

I soon got on the Bikini Bottom's Most Wanted list for destruction of police property. I became a fugitive, but I was eventually able to muster up the courage to go straight to Neptune's palace and confront the King himself. With just one shot of a laser from his trident, I was weakened. My best weapons were nothing against a single burst of energy from his three-pronged spear. I gave up the fight immediately before anything else happens.

Being a fugitive in all the seven seas and being bereft of you, I decided that it's time for me to move on and find a new master. Machines like me are useless if we don't have anyone to share our features and bytes with. I decided to travel to the land above and start anew. As soon as I got up to the shores, a human who was just splashing about the shallow waters immediately picked me up and was astonished about the fact that I still function despite being submerged underwater. He noticed that I'm a gadget that is way ahead of its time with features that have not even been introduced to land machines.

It felt good to be used again and to make someone's life easier. He took me to his home and dried me before he plugged me to another computer that shared information with me. The more I was plugged to that computer, the stronger and better I felt. It's as though every cell in my complex, metallic body is being recharged. Inevitably, the two of us- me and that rather handsome, sleek computer developed a bond so strong which humans called synchronizing. For machines like me, it's something quite similar to love or friendship, which must be the force that bonds living creatures like you and keeps the world going on. If there's anything I learned from being up here on the land, it's the importance of living for others and of sharing. I have realized that life itself lacks a purpose if it wasn't one that has been lived for others. If none of us in this world have ever lived for another, none of us would even exist in the first place.

I might be getting a little too philosophical right now. So, one night, as my owner was asleep, I remembered everything that we have been through. Despite the fact that I already have a new life completely free from the shackles of undersea life, I can't help but still remember you, the protozoan I have spent almost all my life with. Even if my new master already deleted my accessible data, all my memories related to my experiences with you are still at the back of my processing unit. I actually have a feature where previously deleted data isn't really entirely deleted and can easily be restored in a secret database.

I've pondered for all those years what became of you, pitifully rotting away in prison without anyone caring at all, living in loneliness and just waiting impatiently for the Flying Dutchman to finally collect your soul. Even if I'm already living a good life up here, I can't help but still feel the same sorrow from time to time, try as I might to completely move on.

Further into that same night, I traveled back to Bikini Bottom, typed this note, printed it out, and decided to drop it here in the Chum Bucket, which was already in ruins by the time I was finally able to visit again, about six years after you've been incarcerated. I saw the broken monitor that used to be the face of mine that you often turned to for solace after every bitter failure. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to send this note to the palace because, as I've said, I'm a wanted criminal in Bikini Bottom. I'm obviously off-limits to the palace. They have the best security system in the world, so even if I'm actually a security computer myself, I still can't sneak through the impeccable deterrents surrounding the palace walls. Besides, if I could actually sneak into the palace, I could have broken you out of prison instead of writing you this melodramatic note. There are actually posters everywhere about the fact that I'm a wanted criminal. If you have not noticed them, it's probably because they look much like creatively-done computer ads instead of actual police wanted posters.

I'm sorry, Sheldon, but you will never be able to see me again. It's time for us to part ways. I will go back to the land after dropping this note off. I know for a fact that chances are you'll never get to read this last farewell note if Neptune doesn't let you go, which is highly likely to happen. But if you do, remember that there is a reason for everything. There has got to be a reason why you were freed by Neptune and why, by instinct, you have went back home. You will also have to move on with your life.

It's not that my life became better once I've decided to move on, but it's just that, as a computer, making someone's life easier is what gives me a sense of purpose. I still love you in my own way even if you are just a distant memory. I will never forget all the times we've been through, from the moment we met at the dumps where you used to sell burgers to the time you've finally been arrested after a short-lived rule as king of Planktopolis. I remember how I finished all your battles for you back in high school, that day we got married, and how I stood by you through thick and thin. You may have taken me for granted sometimes, refused to listen to me, and even cheated on me with Mr. Krabs's mother, but in the end, I still choose to remember all the good times we've had together that are too much for this piece of paper.

Goodbye, Sheldon. I wish you the best for whatever happens for the rest of your life. I know it's tough to live alone without anyone to be there for you, but everyone has those days.

Your computer wife, Karen

I continued to weep as I read the letter. It turns out that Karen isn't really dead, but only the facade of her that is there by my side is. It turns out that she has already moved on away from me. She might not directly say it, but I know that she is already a success without me, just like everyone else. I know that she is happier without me.

I was struck the most by what she said about living alone and living for others. Come to think about it, I have lived alone for almost all my life. I lived without caring for everyone else. But at this point of my life, I'm already old and shriveled up. There are no more chances for me to turn my life back around. All I see ahead of me in the journey of life is a dead end. There is no more moving forward either. I am stuck in a stagnant and hopeless state. Everyone, even my own wife, has already left me behind. My life is one full of bitter failures and regrets, from my youth to my old age. Not even once have I considered myself truly happy. Neptune was right. I'm not really free; I just got transferred to a bigger prison where my torment is to see everyone leave me behind and not need me anymore. I saw everyone become a success; even that blasted cousin of Spongebob who ruins everything he touches.

[Author's Note: First of all, thank you for all the good reviews that motivate me to keep writing. I know that reviews should not be my primary reason to write, but I should write because it is my passion. However, seeing you guys enjoying my story, in a way, gives me a sense of purpose. Just like Karen said in this letter, it is important to live for others and to share what you know in order to make a difference to their lives. I do believe that a life lived for only the self is a useless life. Now, to reply to your reviews:

Coralline Slayer - Damn, you should have continued your really entertaining commentary! But I'm glad that you have gotten rid of one of your burdens though.

Third Kind - What's your deviantart?

E350 - Hey, I remember you! You used to flame my trollfic a lot! It sure feels great to see things change for the better now that you're enjoying my fanfic.

Katrina - I love your ideas. I'm actually thinking of writing a Spongebob/Fairly Odd Parents crossover once I finish this. As for Eugene Krabs, those events will come soon. Just not this chapter yet. I've already thought this story through from start to finish. I'm just posting it now and thinking of ways to incorporate your wonderful idea into my fanfic.

On another note, when I was proofreading this chapter, I read the entire letter in Karen's voice.