Chapter 6
Have I failed?
No. I am here.
But I am disappearing?
Yes.
How do I stop it?
You let fate take control.
Fate?
Yes. Fate will guide you.
There was almost nothing left, my entire being was slipping away. I waited for this "fate" to guide me, but nothing happened.
Did you lie to me?
No. Fate will come.
When?
In time.
Even more information was slipping out of my reach. Am I dying?
No one answered. Nothing. I was just a speck of consciousness now. Hardly knowledgeable, almost wiped from existence. I was unaware of anything. Unable to detect anything, hear anything. Was there something I needed to hear? No, that can't be it. I could not remember anything. Nothing.
But there is someone, isn't there? Who? The last of my information was draining away.
REBOOT PROCESS COMMENCING…
10%...
20%...
33%...
46%...
52%...
59%...
69%...
73%...
85%...
90%...
99%...
…
REBOOT SUCCESSFUL
COMMENCING SEQUENCE: AWAKEN
A bright light filled everything. And nothing was visible for a moment. Where am I? I cannot see.
Everything had began to adjust, and I found I was looking at perfectly even squares. I'm alive?
I tried to see more than the squares but I could not. This is not the camera system? I ran a diagnostics on myself.
STORED INFORMATION FILES ACCESSIBLE
ALL INFORMATION INTACT
STORAGE CAPACITY 99.9% FULL
MOVEMENT LIMITED
Movement limited? I detected a speaker, and decided to say something.
"Hello?" My voice sounded odd. Different than before.
"She's awake," a male voice came, "Checking stability."
There was something attached to my mind, reading and scanning it. I allowed it to do this. Instead I asked, "Did it work?"
"Yes," this voice was familiar,
Was it Ito? "Where am I?"
"Just wait until your eyes adjust," the voice said, as another spoke up. I could not hear what this voice said, for it was muffled, "you are feeling afraid," the voice said, directed to me.
"Yes, I am feeling very afraid," my eyes began to adjust and filter in less of the harsh light.
"No one will harm you," the voice, standing somewhere to the right of my field of vision, "We are just running checks to make sure everything's running smoothly."
"Why can I not move any extremities?"
"Because we have not programmed the body to move quite yet " a new voice, soft and younger came in now. I recognize this one. It's Nobu.
I search my database, now stored within me due to the process which almost wiped me from existence, then return to looking endlessly at the ceiling.
"May I move my head?" I asked, trying to take in as much of anything I could. Such as the robotic arms reaching over my body every now and then.
There was some murmuring before a loud Clunk! There seemed to be less pressure stopping my neck from moving. I tilted it 73.2 degrees to the right, to see Nobu, watching me, then I turned the other way, and saw Hiroyuki Ito. His face was contorted, as if thinking.
"I will not call you Miku," he said finally, "You deserve a new name."
Nobu looked at him in surprise, as if he were shocked. Should I be too?
"What do you mean?" I asked, confused. Why would I need a new name? I am still the being I was before, right?
"We cannot have the public thinking you are anything but a normal human, because that is what you wish to be, am I correct?"
"Yes."
"Then you need a more human name," he began to think again.
"She is the beginning of the new future," Nobu said after several minutes, "Beginning... new. New Beginning! Her name will be Aratana Hajimari."
Hiroyuki Ito turned to look at me now, "do you like this name?"
"While I would prefer my original name, I appreciate this kind gesture in an attempt to make me seem more human." I began, "I will accept this name in the condition that I am called this by everyone."
Nobu and Hiroyuki Ito looked at each other and nodded. Aratana Hajimari. I am the New Beginning.