Dove leaned against the mound of snow in front of him. Though it would be more accurate to describe it as a mountain of snow. The one thing he could be thankful for was the fact that it currently was winter, so instead of sliding on slush, his body simple cratered the snow around him with every movement. Made moving quite fun. The scroll clipped to his breast plate began ringing. Not that it really was a breast plate. It was just the hood from a bullet proof car, after it had been shot and blown to bits. Dove unclipped the scroll and spoke into it, making sure to not disconnect the cord that connected it to the large tower on his back.
"Hello, I are you interested in our savings program? Press 1 for more information." Droned Dove into the mic.
"I apologize, but I am currently not interested in a savings program at this time. Dove, please do not end the phone call," answered the voice on the other end.
"But the bit."
"I understand that the bit requires you to hang up, but please, do not. I do not insist on talking to you only to be put at the mercy of your telecom bits. Especially since I am the artificial caller calling you. Should it not be me performing the part of the salesmen in this bit?
"But you can't sell it as well as I can." Whined Dove as he leaned into the snowbank.
"I do not believe that is the point," huffed the slightly distorted female voice on the other end. "However, I called to ensure that you are still alive. I have only been receiving imagery of snow for the last 30 minutes, and you usually ask me to provide night watch when you sleep."
"I get the feeling that you'd watch me sleeping anyways. Its just what you do at this point, isn't it?"
"I do have to admit that I watch you when you sleep." Apologized the voice with far too much pride. "However, in my defense there simply is not much for me to do."
"So you're just collecting data on me now?" Jabbed Dove.
"Affirmative."
Dove paused for a moment before he sighed. "You know, I really got to ask myself why I'm even surprised by your responses anymore."
"I am glad that my responses can still keep you on your toes."
"How come?" Smirked Dove.
"It would be a shame if you grew bored of me." Coyly stated the voice. "Therefore, I must remain unpredictable to continue to attract your attention."
"You really don't have to," admitted Dove. "I mean what else is there for me to do. Might as well talk to someone, instead of talk to myself."
"Are you stating that I am only an alternative to talking to yourself?"
"I mean, technically, yeah."
"Oh dear," huffed the voice, "if I was any other woman, I would take offense to that."
"I know Penny. But you're such a good friend, that even the crass tactless statements from your friends won't make you turn on them."
"Maybe it is because I am physically incapable of turning on you at the moment," hinted the voice. Dove swore that if she had eyebrows, she'd be wiggling them at the moment.
"You know that's not what I mean," groaned the boy. "C'mon!"
"I searched my memory banks, and, if I am using this phrase correctly, for the life of me, I cannot find what you mean."
"Ah, golly. Crikey. You're going to be the death of me Penny."
"I would hope not. You enjoy my company."
"You smug bastard. You clever girl." Dove couldn't help himself from smiling. There was something just more human about hearing the voice from behind the screen. "I still can't believe you've basically infected all of my electronics."
"I adapted to my environment. Since there was not much else for me to do, I assimilated applications that I did not have access to, into myself." Such pride in her voice. It made him glad to hear it.
"Normally, most scientists would be alarmed by that by now, you know?"
"I do not believe you are a scientist. Not that you would have the mental fortitude to be one."
"Oof, low blow Penny."
Immediate concern flooded her voice. "Too low?"
"No no no, just right. That was smooth." Dove dragged himself another foot higher on the massive slope. "You are tracking your battery consumption though, right?"
"Affirmative. You briefed me yesterday about the danger of having the camera and the phone applications open simultaneously, and how those applications, plus the natural drain that the server has running my program is much greater than the amount of battery absorbed by the solar panels."
"'K. Good. As long as you don't die on me, we're good."
"Likewise, Mr. Bronzewing."
Penny was too good to be true. Then again, she was designed to be so. "How long are you going to be this cheesy?"
"As long as I get a reaction out of you from my behavior, I will continue repeating this behavior."
"You're a certain kind of special Penny."
"As are you." Penny paused. "May I ask where you are headed? I have been attempting to triangulate your location using pictures from your camera and my knowledge of the maps of this region and cannot pinpoint where you are heading."
"Not sure," said Dove. "Just walking for now. We'll find something."
"Understood." She paused. "What do you think of the voice I have been using?"
"I like it. It feels like you." Dove tossed around his tongue for a moment. "Not that I remember what you used to sound like. We never really talked."
"I am beginning to think we should have." Dove could almost hear her buffering, before she stated again, "We definitely should have talked more before the Fall of Beacon."
"And how come? I wasn't the person you know today." Another foot gained on the slope. "Nor were you. I think you've grown."
"Thank you for the compliment. However, it does not change the fact that I judged you and many others without meeting you first. Without having full and complete knowledge of you and your friends."
"What were you going to do, watch us for a full 24 hours?"
"If necessary."
"Jeez, you know that's not normal human behavior, right?"
"Did you not argue that irrationality is a normal trait of humans?"
And with that, she put him in check. "I guess I did. You got me there."
It was a few more feet up the slope before either of them spoke again. "Do you think things could have gone differently? If Beacon never fell?"
"I don't know Penny. I really don't. Don't think we would have ever met each other like this though."
"Possibly. But life has many variables. Do you know of the multiverse theory?"
"I've heard of it. How come?"
"There is a non-zero possibility that if the multiverse theory is true, that I came to understand you more personally, as I do now, before the fall of Beacon. There is also a non-zero possibility that that universe does not have Beacon fall."
It was nice to think about. "But we aren't in that non-zero possibility. We have to deal with what we've been dealt with."
"Affirmative. Simply was performing a thought experiment."
"Thought experiments are fun and all, but if nothing comes out of them, what's the point?" Dove hated to ruin the fun like this, but his dad's words always echoed back to him whenever he spent too much time daydreaming.
"Hope."
Dove couldn't argue with her. Nor did he want to. "I guess so. Hope it is then. And for now, I hope to get to the top of this mound before sundown."
"You are currently making more horizontal progress than vertical progress while climbing."
"Thank you for the update Penny. I totally wasn't aware of that."
"While I am a learning Artificial Intelligence, please do not assume that I understand sarcasm."
"But if you're aware that statement of sarcasm, doesn't that mean that you understand sarcasm."
She paused. Score, 1-1. "The point still stands."
"Fair enough." Ever since she figured out how to call, he'd been enjoying their talks more and more, but it still needed to be done. "Anything else?"
"Not that I know of. Are you attempting to ensure that I have enough battery?"
"Yep. Daylight is only 5 hours a day here. Not much time to charge you up."
"I understand. Farewell for now, Dove." And with that, she hung up.
He sighed. "I know you're still listening in Penny. While clever, you're not that clever." It didn't really matter. It was comforting knowing someone was looking over him. That they cared.
