Watson's Woes July 2023

by Pompey

It's been over a decade, but this is the last Watson's Woes JWP (a month-long marathon of writing prompts aiming to whump Watson in any genre, any 'verse, any level/lack of seriousness.) It's been an awesome ride. Thank you for coming along with me for one last go-around!

23. July 23 - Silver Friends

Title: Silver Friends

Author: Pompey

Universe: SH in the 22nd Century

Rating: G

Warnings: mention of character death

Word count: 325

Summary: "Make new friends but keep the old / One is silver, the other gold."

Prompt: July 23 – someone/something is lost

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After his resurrection in 2103, Sherlock Holmes had very much felt much like a man without a country, despite still living in London, England. The renovations ("de-novations" might be a more accurate term) to his old digs at Baker Street helped almost immediately to give him a sense of home. Not so with "Watson."

The highly realistic automaton ("compudroid" was the contemporary term, apparently) was less comforting and more unnerving. It spoke with his Watson's words in his Watson's voice, and it wore Watson's face from their shared heydays in the 1890s but that metal man was not his Watson and never would be. Dr. John H. Watson was long-dead and conventionally buried; there would never be a bodily resurrection for him as there had been for Holmes.

Time passed.

Holmes could never remember exactly when he stopped referring to this new Watson as "it" and started using "he." It was after Watson started wearing a full-length cloak at all times to hide away the metal body, Holmes knew. Nor could Holmes quite remember just when he stopped merely tolerating Watson's presence and actually began accepting and even seeking out his help. Electronic brains excelled at storing and retrieving information, which was a great time-saver.

But assistance with cases was one thing. It was quite another when Holmes realized he was already relying on the new Watson to be a true companion, as his Watson had been. Homes immediately rebelled mentally but it was far too late. The compudroid had already become a new version of his Watson, not identical to the original by any means, but his own entity with his own role in Holmes' life.

After nearly a week of isolating himself from Watson, save for cases, Holmes finally relented. His old friend John Watson would always have his place in Holmes' heart and memories. His new friend Watson was not a replacement for the old; he merely occupied a new, adjacent place.