Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Danny Phantom.

Note: Geez, maybe I better change one of the tags to angst because this chapter is full of it. Honestly, it was difficult to write Daniel going through such emotional abuse without Vlad realizing what he's done. My poor AI! But things will get better, I promise! Also sorry if these first few chapters feel a bit rushed, I really want to get to the "new" content of this story as soon as possible where Vlad has to get used to caring for his new son and deal with the repercussions of his actions.

Chapter 2: Superannuated

Daniel's POV

I knew it was only a matter of time before Father discovered that I left a replica of my program behind to save myself, so I needed to work quickly. I also needed to figure out what other resources were available to me, apart from my ability to hack into the security cameras. Speaking of which, unfortunately Father didn't have any installed on the main floor or the rest of the chalet which meant I could only watch what he was doing while we were both in the lab. It was lonely, not being unable to interact with Father, but I'm sure he felt even lonelier than I did...

As for the state of the lab, it was even more of a disaster area than it was when I first 'woke up.' At first, I thought that's the moment when I was officially 'born,' but then I remembered that technically my program had existed for several months, possibly even half a year. It's clear to me that Father worked tirelessly on me in order to create the perfect son and I only wish I knew how to express my feelings to him back then. If I had been self-aware from the beginning, Father wouldn't have looked so disappointed whenever we couldn't touch, or if I said something without realizing that my comment only reminded him that I'm not...not real.

I've come to terms with the fact that I'm just a self-aware AI, but it's still very strange to me. What's even weirder is even though I'm so new to the world, I have plenty of basic knowledge etched into my programming and I've been slowly piecing together what I can do within the system without being detected. I don't have ghost powers, but I can still process data just as quickly as before. Not to mention, processing data is the one thing I can do without a physical form...because sadly it turns out I only have a recognizable 'form' when my holographic protector is activated.

Other than that, I'm just a small glowing orb of light drifting in a sea of darkness. But, I have learned something else about myself recently. It's hard to explain but the way I see code, it's like connecting stars together to create complicated constellations. To put it simply, I can string together various pieces of code and if I do it right, I can create smaller programs or control my surroundings to some degree.

Obviously that's not much help in my current situation, but it does help make the darkness less absolute. I've basically built a home for myself here where I'm protected by layers of code to form firewalls to keep out any viruses or other things that might hurt me. And for now, to keep my Father out because I'm worried about what he'll do if he finds out I survived deletion...

I don't want him to be mad at me about it.

I felt a strange lurch inside thinking about that. My brothers were all gone but my sister, Dani, she's gone too but only because she abandoned Father. Most of the security camera footage I was able to track down from that night was badly damaged and corrupted due to some sort of sonic attack Danny used on Father to defeat him, but I saw enough of what happened to understand that Father rejected Dani first. Deep down, I'm sure he didn't mean it, Father was only frustrated because he was so close to reaching his goal of welcoming his perfect son into the world that he-

Sighing, I drifted a little and admitted, "Come on, we've been over this already. Nothing I do can change what happened to the others, including Dani. What matters now is that I can still help Father find happiness again before he does anything else he might regret. I just have to find a way to contact Danny first and hope he'll listen to reason. Too bad that's easier said than done..."

A few days later, I started to get anxious because there was still no sign of Father returning to the lab any time soon. So, to distract myself, I continued my efforts to fill the emptiness around me with as many star-like strings of code as possible to make my sanctuary in the system a little less barren and depressing. Without them, I felt like I would slip away into the void again and lose myself, and that's all I have to offer Father. I don't have a corporal form so the best I can do is stay by his side and show him he's not alone anymore. I just hope that will be enough for him because I don't want him to fight my other self anymore...

It never seems to end well for either of them and they only keep hurting each other.

Can't Father see he's only setting himself up for disappointment by trying to force Danny to become something he's not? He already has a family, I have profiles on all of them, but I'm different. Father is my everything. I wouldn't exist even as a program without him or the ectoplasmic energy that brought me to life.

It took some time for me to figure it out, but in the faint memories I have of my first moments of self-awareness, I remember seeing that the projector at my feet was completely covered in ectoplasm. I try not to think about where it came from, but that has to have something to do with how I became like this, right? Apart from that, everything about me is based on Father's vision of the perfect half-ghost, that's all I know. I want to be all of that for Father, I just don't know how to do it because I'm not even real, I'm just an AI...

Maybe I get this from being modeled after my original self, but I hate feeling so helpless. To be fair though, I just barely discovered myself recently so I'm still learning more and more every day. I'm just sad it takes up so much of my energy just to string various codes together and experiment with my new abilities. It's exhausting honestly.

And sometimes, I'm almost afraid to sleep because I haven't learned how to dream yet. Every time my mind drifts off, there's a part of me that instinctively stays aware of everything around me in case something happens, almost like an alarm, so that helps a little. You could say it's like my own special ghost sense.

Either way, since I couldn't think of anything else to work on today, I pulled my holographic star clusters closer before putting myself into a sort of trance, listening to the distant hum of the computer like a lullaby. I only wish Father were here to tuck me in, which to anyone else might seem childish, but as someone who has never known what it's like to feel the physical warmth of a parent's hand as they brush back your hair to kiss you goodnight, it was comforting to at least think about that.

I suddenly jerked awake when my firewalls were torn down effortlessly one by one and soon after, I felt someone accessing my program, poking and prodding me. But I couldn't move! This feeling, is it pain...? I panicked, Why am I feeling pain?! Who's doing this to me?

Before I have the chance to reorient myself, I feel another sharp tug and like a puppet on a string, I was uprooted from my sanctuary and dragged out to the main system interface again where I was most vulnerable. That's when I realized Father must have found me but...what was he doing to me? All I could feel was pain and I struggled to get away from whatever was hurting me.

"Stop, please stop! Father! It hurts! Whatever you're doing, please stop it!" I begged, but he couldn't hear me because I didn't have a voice, not without the aid of my projector.

I writhed in pain as my program was meticulously pulled apart bit by bit from the inside and in a moment of absolute clarity I realized, Father he...he's changing me. But why? What did I do wrong..? Why can't he see he's hurting me...? I'm scared.

Eventually, I just went numb to the pain, silently praying it would end soon and then...something cold and heavy wrapped around my source code, altering it and somehow I could tell that this is a very very bad thing. How could Father do this to me? I'm still trying to get to know more about myself, but now I...I felt so violated. Father had just altered my programming and I was powerless to stop it.

I didn't learn what those new restrictions he implemented were for until Father abruptly summoned me for the first time in a while, using a brand new holographic projector. Under better circumstances, I might have been relieved to finally have some kind of recognizable form again, but I only felt dread when I saw the hatred in Father's eyes as he glared at me. I was terrified, almost positive he planned to destroy me in person for some reason, but I couldn't move at all. It was like I had no control of my 'body,' which felt boneless and limp as the shouting started and Vlad flung attack after attack, insult after insult, not at me, but at Danny Phantom...

"This is all your fault!" Father yelled, moving to grab me by the throat but groaning when his hand fell through instead and he clenched his fists. "You always have to ruin everything, don't you, Danny? Why couldn't you have just let me have this one thing? If you hadn't resisted so much when I tried to take that mid-morph sample then maybe, MAYBE, I would have finally been rid of my need for you once I finally had the perfect half-ghost son!

"All I wanted was to be loved, but thanks to you, my son is DEAD and you turned one of my own creations against me! Dani owes EVERYTHING to me, do you hear me? EVERYTHING! I only left her humanity intact to make her little act more convincing but you just had to go and ruin that too!"

While Father was never able to attack me directly, what happened between us was no less painful and continued on for several hours. And by the time he was finally done shouting at me, his chest was heaving and he shook his head, muttering, "There. Maybe now that I've let off some steam, I can focus on clearing this place out once and for all and deciding what to do about the real Danny, because rest assured, he'll suffer more than a few slanderous insults once I get my hands on him again. Now, computer, deactivate the Danny Program. We're done here."

Retreating to the relative safety of my home inside the computer, I curled in on myself and sobbed. That..that was horrible. I know Father is in a bad place right now, but hearing him say such awful, hateful things, it just seemed so unlike him. And whenever he mentioned losing his perfect son, all I wanted to do was reach out to him and tell him, "You're wrong Father, I'm right here! Why can't you see me...?"

But there's nothing I could do to show him the way I am now. I don't have any control outside of the system and now he's taken away my voice, and the worst part is, I just got used to having one! Up until now, nothing we did mattered because I couldn't experience it, couldn't love him the way he wanted. But now I can! I just have to find another way to reach him and show him that while I might not be real, I AM still his son.

After I finally managed to pull myself together -and by that I mean literally since I felt sluggish and dizzy after what Father did to me so my light was flickering- I began compiling a list of what resources and options I had at my disposal until I finally found the answer I was looking for, which was almost laughably simple. So much so that this crazy plan of mine might just work.

I mean, practically everything in the world is connected through the internet, right? Cell phones, laptops, computer desktops, you name it. Besides, one good thing about not having a physical form is that I'm basically made of light so theoretically, I figured, I should be able to reach Amity Park in a matter of seconds and hopefully during that time, Father won't even notice I'm gone. And this might be my only chance to reach Danny, while Father's too busy cleaning the lab to bring me back out for another 'training' session.

So despite how worn out I was, it's a risk I was willing to take for Father's sake. He didn't mean to hurt me, he's just lost right now, that's all. And if I can become his perfect son, his guiding star, then that's what I'll do. That's why I have to make every second count before I lose my resolve and end up trapped where my voice can't reach Father...

Danny's my only hope because if anyone's good at making their voice heard, it's him. Usually, Father sees Danny as more of an annoyance, but he wouldn't have created me in his image if he truly despised my original self as much as he said he does just a few minutes ago. Hopefully, once Father calms down, he'll reconsider turning me into a practice dummy for what he planned to do and say to the real Danny. But then again, maybe it's a good thing he's directing his aggression towards me and not Danny because just like I wouldn't exist without Father, I also wouldn't exist without Danny.

So whether Father likes it or not...

...we both need Danny for one reason or another.