The main characters of this story are based on characters from the cartoon 'Code Lyoko.' I do not own, nor do I claim, any copyright to these characters.
The next day, Jeremie got in contact with Zoe.
"What have you found?" he asked her.
"I confirmed my original statement," Zoe replied, "the Polymorphic Clone has no routines for memory management. He cannot sleep or meditate."
"Great," the genius replied, "is there anything we can do?"
"Yes. I have prepared a new version of the Polymorphic Clone that includes the required routines. All we have to do is transfer Franz Hopper's memories into the new clone."
"And how do we do that," Jeremie asked, dreading the answer.
"I must do a destructive copy of his memories."
Jeremie called a meeting at the factory. Along with the rest of the gang, Desmond Hopper and Mrs. Ishiyama attended. Jeremie laid out the situation to them all.
"What you're saying Jeremie is we are going to have to do the exact same thing to my father that XANA did to me," Aelita said flatly.
"Yes. The difference is that we are going to replace those memories in another clone, not just discard them," Jeremie replied.
"Are you sure it's the only way?" Desmond asked, "maybe he can sleep or rest somehow and we just haven't found out how he does it yet."
"Guys, I understand your concerns. I've got them myself," Jeremie said, "if anyone has a better idea, lay it out. I'll do almost anything before I do this."
"And what guarantee do we have that this will help Mr. Hopper calm down once it is done?" Mrs. Ishiyama said, "even if you do this, he may still be insane. He may never recover. What if that becomes the case?"
"I don't know," Jeremie sadly replied.
"Jeremie, I would like to go to Lyoko for a while," Yumi's mother said after a moment, "I wish to have a talk with them."
"Them?"
"Mr. Hopper and Zoe."
Mrs. Ishiyama materialized in the Mountain Region, about a kilometer from where Franz Hopper and Zoe were located. Jeremie didn't want to put her any closer in case Franz tried attacking her.
She walked about two thirds of the distance to them when she was met by the Scyphozoa.
"Zoe," Mrs. Ishiyama said in greeting.
"Mrs. Ishiyama," replied the creature, "Jeremie informed me that you were coming, but couldn't give me any specifics as to why, so may I inquire as to the nature of your visit?"
"I wanted to see the situation for myself. The solution you and Jeremie are proposing is very unpleasant to everyone, and I would like a little more information."
"I can provide you with whatever you require. I was not aware that you were a programmer," Zoe said.
"I am not," Mrs. Ishiyama replied, "tell me, how much of my memories have you incorporated into yourself?"
"Quite a bit," was the reply, "as a matter of fact, I eliminated most memories specifically related to your family, and kept the ones relating to how you reacted in different situations. By eliminating the family specific ones, I virtually eliminated the possibility of my getting too 'familiar' with Yumi."
Mrs. Ishiyama smiled at that. "Can your female form get away? I find the Scyphozoa form a little hard to converse with, particularly given what I want to talk about."
"Let us proceed to Franz, then."
The two traversed the rest of the distance to Franz and female Zoe. Once there, the Scyphozoa took up watch of Franz, and Zoe went to Mrs. Ishiyama.
"What do you wish to speak to me about," Zoe said.
"Have you incorporated emotions into your personality?" Mrs. Ishiyama asked.
"After a fashion," Zoe replied, "emotions have a physical component that I can't incorporate, but I have assimilated the rest."
"How do you feel about Franz Hopper," Mrs. Ishiyama asked.
Zoe was silent. After a moment, she said, "I don't know. Protecting him is one of my program requirements, my primary one now. Feeling emotion towards him doesn't seem like it would assist me in fulfilling that requirement."
"Do you wish him harm?"
"No, that is against my program requirements."
"What if he kills himself, or is taken from here?"
"If he manages to kill himself, then I will have failed in my program requirements. If he leaves here, depending on the circumstances, I will have fulfilled my program requirements."
"How does his current state make you feel?"
Once again, Zoe was silent.
"Well?" Mrs. Ishiyama asked.
"I... I... I'm not sure," Zoe stuttered in reply, "those feelings don't contribute to my program requirements, but I have registered emotion towards him."
"What emotions?"
"Sadness. Sadness that I cannot ease his pain. I try to ease the emotion by remembering that he is alive and experiencing sensory input again, but that fact is not enough."
"What else?"
"I cannot adequately express this. I, don't want to be away from him. Even now, standing here and talking to you, I want to return to him."
"How close to you want to be to him?" Mrs. Ishiyama asked.
"As close as I can get. Closer than may be physically possible," was Zoe's reply.
"What about when you are together? Do you interact with him?"
"No, not nearly enough. He gives the bare minimum of feedback when I try and engage him in conversation. Confusion rises up in me when this happens."
"Confusion?"
"Confusion between anger and sadness. Anger that he won't interact with me, but also sadness that he won't either."
"His interacting with you does not fulfill you program requirements, does it?"
"No, but it seems to fulfill another requirement, one that I didn't formulate."
"Zoe," Mrs. Ishiyama said, "you may be experiencing the first tendrils of love."
"Love?"
"Yes. Answer this, if you could heal Franz Hopper right now, but at the cost of your own existence, would you do it?"
"Yes, if doing so fulfills my program requirements."
"What if he were locked away, not harmed, but never free. What if you could never see him again, would you want that?"
"No. Doing that would prevent me from meeting my program requirements."
"Zoe, what would you do if you somehow lost Franz Hopper's memories during the copy to another clone body?"
"I would destroy myself."
"I see," Mrs. Ishiyama said at last, "Zoe, you should keep trying to interact with Franz Hopper, even if he rebuffs you. One of the things that is hurting him is he believes he is alone. That is why he is trying to hold his daughter here. No matter what happens with this transfer, you must be his companion, his friend. And in time, maybe more."
Zoe considered Mrs. Ishiyama's words for a moment, going back to the original memories she copied from her weeks ago. She correlated those memories with what Miko had just said.
"Mrs. Ishiyama, I will consider what you have said."
When she stepped out of the scanner, Jeremie was waiting for her.
"You didn't speak to Franz," he said.
"I never intended to, Jeremie," she replied, "I wanted to speak with Zoe, but I didn't want to raise suspicions."
"Why would anyone be suspicious?"
"What needed to be discussed needed to be discussed between women," Mrs. Ishiyama said, "I didn't believe that reason would have been good enough for you."
Jeremie was silent for a moment. "Okay," he finally said, "did you find out what you needed to find out?"
"Yes," she said, "begin making your preparations. Franz should be in good hands for the procedure."