Subj: Remember (chapter two)
Date: 1/20/00 3:22:13 PM Central Standard Time
From: Melissa
Remember
Chapter Two
I left the house early again, feeling guilty that
I wanted to be as far away from Maggie as I could, but I felt that I needed
the silence of the lab. When I got to the door and went to unlock it I heard
a noise from inside. It was muffled, but it sounded like a child crying. I opened
the door and on the bottom of the hologram was a little girl, she couldn’t be
any older than six years old. She was hugging her knees and crying, she didn’t
notice me until I was near the hologram. She had dark hair, and she was wearing
a bonnet of some kind, her dress was old fashioned. She looked up then, and
met my eyes. It was then that I realized that this was real. But it can’t be
I thought, no computer program could do these things.
“They left me here all alone,” she cried. She was responding to me. I couldn’t believe it, I moved to the keyboard and punched a few keys and soon a ball fell into her arms.
“It’s okay,” I said in a comforting voice. The girl smile and I smiled back. I heard a noise from behind me, I turned and saw Will standing in the doorway, his mouth hung open in shock.
“Hi,” the girl said to him.
His mouth opened, and somehow he managed to say “Hi.” He came over to me and asked me quietly, “What is she?”
“I don’t know, it can’t be a program for there isn’t one that can do the things she’s been doing.” We walked closer to her, then I said, “Hi do you like the ball?”
“Yeah, thank you.”
“My name’s Quentin, this is Will, what’s your name?”
“Daphne.”
“That’s a very pretty name, what’s your last name honey?”
Daphne looked at me, she looked a little confused then she said, “Harridge.”
Will glanced at me, “Where do you live, Daphne?” he asked.
“In Collinsport, I lived in the house by the big house.”
“What are you doing here,” I asked her. She looked up at me like that was the silliest question she had ever heard.
“Isn’t this where I’m supposed to be?”
Will and I looked at each other again, we had seen something that we didn’t expect. Her pupils dilated. “Of course you are Daphne,” Will said, looking rather helplessly at me.
Daphne smiled eagerly and began to play with the ball I made for her.
******
Will and I watched amazed as she grew before our eyes,
by eight she was ten years old. I had suspended my classes because I didn’t
want to miss anything that might happen. What I saw was amazing, I saw everything
change, from her
hair to the clothing style. I made new toys for her to play with, after she
out grew her ball.
Will had left to do some research on Daphne, “There’s still some Harridge’s living, but they don’t have any children. The lady said she had a great-aunt Daphne, she was disowned by the family so she doesn’t know much about her. She’s going to go through some family things and get back to me.”
“Is her great-aunt still alive?”
“She died, she wasn’t sure when that was.”
I didn’t know what to say, I got up and went over to Daphne who was playing jacks. When she saw me, she smiled. It lit up her whole face, “Hi Daphne, is there anything I can get for you?”
“No I’m fine,” she said shyly and smiled again.
“Don’t you get kinda bored?”
“Yeah, sometimes, but when I do, I just go somewhere else.” Once again I found myself meeting Will’s eyes with shock. “I mean in my head, I remember things that I did with my family.” A wistful look came over her face, “Like this time, I was remembering when Daddy took my sisters and I out for a picnic by the lake. I pushed my sister in the water,” then her face began to cloud over, “he hit me,” it looked like she was going to cry, “I don’t like to remember things like that,” she whispered.
“So it’s like your there, and not here?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said brightening up. “But I like being her with you much better.”
I couldn’t help but blush, Will was staring at me surprised by my reaction. “Daphne, do you remember what year that was when your Daddy took you on the picnic?” I asked
“Uh. . . I think it was 1916.”
Will and I weren’t expecting this, she wasn’t from this time, but it made sense also.
Later in my office, we both sat in my office, we didn’t know what to do. Will then suggested that we tell someone from the department, but I put that thought out of his mind, if we did she would be turned into some kind of sideshow.
Then he asked me, “Do you think it’s possible that a human soul can be reincarnated into something, like the computer?”
“I don’t know? I don’t know if I believe in the soul.”
“Why, the things we see here are just as unbelievable.”
“Yeah, I know, but you can eventually see the outcome, the phenomenon, whatever it be.”
Will stood up and went to the door, “I’m going to go home. You got a phenomenon, go observe.”
To be continued. . .