A/N: Hi all! I just wanted to thank my reviewers for all their helpful comments/suggestions and encouragement. I'm keeping them all in mind as I slowly wrench this story from my brain!


"Hey Rommie. I hope you don't mind me visiting, Dylan said you were feeling more like yourself so I thought I'd come see my favorite warship avatar." Beka tried not to visibly squirm as she looked around at the VR matrix. While it was no longer the desolate landscape Harper and Dylan had described it felt colder and harsher than ever before. They were completely engulfed in blackness with only herself, Rommie, and the datastream representing the exit visible. The place was giving her the heebeegeebees. She tried to focus on Rommie, "I like the new hair, long, brunette, classic. Though just about anything would have been better than that blue thing you tried awhile back. What were you thinking?" Beka managed to force a laugh but she had a bad feeling she wasn't fooling anyone.

"Hello Beka. I am glad to see you, though I was expecting Harper. He has not entered my VR matrix in several weeks."

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that. We've been keeping him busy up on the Andromeda, big problems with the Seefran suns. I'm sure he doesn't mean to neglect you though. You know what he says, you're his favorite creation."

"Did you know he runs a scan on my matrix everyday to check for deterioration? I am able to attach messages to the scan result output. We used it as a method of communication for years. He has not responded to my last three messages indicating I wished to talk with him about re-uploading me into my body. Do you know why he is purposely refusing my request?"

Now Beka was really uncomfortable. She hadn't known about this. Harper was forgetting to mention things to her again. Or was it Dylan; he was the one who had asked her to come and talk to Rommie. Someone was in trouble. "Rommie, really, I had no idea about all that. I promise I'll have a talk with Harper later, but maybe he really is too busy. There are some major problems out there. Dylan's thinking about you though, he's the one that asked me to come and talk with you. He said you looked like you needed cheering up. So here I am, Beka Valentine, happy cheery girl."

"I see. I am fine Beka, just tired of being here. I want to be reloaded into my body. Everything will be fine once I am fully restored. Please pass my message on to Harper and Captain Hunt when you see them Beka."

"Ok, Rommie I know when I'm being shown the door." Beka forced herself to take a good look at Rommie. What she saw did not make her feel any better. She sighed quietly, "Don't worry Rommie, it'll be ok. I'll see you soon."

Beka pulled the VR goggles from her head and stared at the wall, trying to block out the image that appeared in her mind every time she thought of Rommie. No matter how hard she tried the only thing she ever saw was that half face trailing wires suspended in a metal coffin. She couldn't connect her memories of her friend with that image, and now that she had finally gone into the VR matrix for the first time she couldn't see her friend in that strange creature there either. She wasn't sure what sort of Frankenstein Harper had created but she was definitely going to have a talk with both him and Dylan.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

After Beka disappeared Rommie began to process all that she had learned.

"… maybe he really is too busy. There are some major problems out there." Meaning that I am a minor problem. As I suspected. They have adapted to life without me. In my next message to Harper I will ask for an estimate of when he will be able to work on my problem rather than request his presence. This will put less pressure on him and make him more inclined to at least think about my problem. There was a time when my problems were his first priority. (memories of Harper screaming that he had to fix her before fixing anything else and being literally dragged away from her inert body by Tyr flashed by) What is that human saying? Things change.

"… my favorite warship avatar" Of all people I had thought that Beka would be the least likely to refer to me as 'warship avatar.' "… anything would have been better than that blue thing you tried…" She used to encourage me to express my individuality. (We used to laugh with Trance on the Maru and complain about the men. Things change.) It doesn't change anything though. Not really. It is just further confirmation of what I have learned here. And she was right that 'blue thing' was foolish, completely outside the recommended parameters given in my programming. I was given limits for a reason.

"He said you looked like you needed cheering up." Captain Hunt believes I am not operating at optimal levels. That could explain why I'm being keep isolated not only from my body but also from the ship's main database. He is concerned about my mental state (I'm not insane. I'm not. I can't be!). I will try to appear more enthusiastic, that is often interpreted as 'feeling better.'

I wonder if they even trust me anymore. I had not fully considered the implications of not being allowed access to the mainframe until now. Harper mentioned something about Andromeda's own instability and that much data disrupting the structural integrity of my matrix, but he has uploaded a lot of data into me, and not even attempted any modification of the physical structure incorporating my matrix. Now he is avoiding me altogether. Captain Hunt is sending others to observe my mental state and report back to him. And this was the first time Beka entered the VR matrix, and Trance and Rhade have not even attempted to communicate with me. Are they afraid of me? How could I possibly convince them to trust me; it is a fact that I am smarter, faster, and stronger than any of them.

If I am only a minor problem to them, and they don't really need me, and they aren't even sure that they can trust me….

Should I be afraid of them?


decided to give Rommie a little bit of paranoia there, 'cuz paranoia's good for ya. Or is it bran that's good for you? I always get the two confused.