Herobrine Shorts

Transferred: Named

Two barefoot boys sat on a grassy field not far from a large, wooden house.

Well, only one of the two looked like a boy. Of about twelve years of age, he was thin and small and had dark brown hair that stuck up in messy ruffles around his slightly pale face. His entire figure seemed somehow fragile, with skinny arms resting folded on his knees. The dark blue jeans and lighter colored short-sleeve t-shirt hung loose on his slumping frame.

The other boy looked like a teen of fifteen or sixteen years of age. He had a tanned face with the beginning fuzz of a beard, dark brown hair clipped very short, and dark brown eyes. His brown t-shirt and gray trousers couldn't hide the lean, but well-defined muscle of his strong frame.

From the first glance, the two youths seemed brothers. Genetically, they were. Only one of them, named Markus Welson, was a real person

And the other one was as virtual as the amazingly detailed, but unreal world around them, of beautiful green grass, tall trees rustling branches in faint wind, the fragrance of damp earth and pine needles, of sunlight and azure blue sky. Only to him, this world was real, because he did not know anything else.

"You need a name." The older boy declared thoughtfully. "I am thinking... Brin. Because you are kind of like my brother's avatar? And that was his name... Well, the name of his first avatar he had ever made. It's a funny story, really. He asked our father if he could have his own gaming account in World Craft. And our father was too busy, as usual. So he did it himself. And he misspelled his first name. He was only three years old then."

The teen chuckled at the fond memory. "I tried to get him to change it, but he was so stubborn about it. And later, well... He decided to keep it anyway." Noticing the younger boy's slight frown, Mark quickly backtracked.

"I mean, it can be another name if you want... Like... Steve?... Or Alex?...Those are good names, too. Or how about I will pull up the existing name registry and you pick for yourself?"

Mark gestured to bring up a transparent window, which hovered before both boys and began to display lines of faintly glowing text. Mark started scrolling through it.

"Aeron... Albert... Anton...Antosh... Well, that's a funny name." He grinned.

"... Brin." A hesitant voice came, speaking very softly. The older boy looked at the younger with a question.

"... I would like... to be... Brin." The younger boy struggled to say.

"Are you sure?" Mark verified. "Once you choose it as your name, it will become a part of your User history. It will always be there, even if you later decide to change it."

"Yes... I... Understand." The younger child confirmed.

Mark smiled and dismissed the floating panel.

Another gesture brought up a different panel, which appeared more like a window into a black room. Within floated a small T-posed figure that represented the younger boy, his expression blank and brown eyes emptily staring ahead. Next to him hung transparent displays of information.

Program Duration: 43 Standard Days

Physical Age: 12 Years and 4 Standard Days

Vital Signs: Heart Rate - 73, Blood Pressure - 108/72, Respiratory Rate - 12

Vital Signs within norm.

Thirst, Hunger level within norm.

Sleep/wake cycle: 54/68 hours remaining

Installed Mods List: experimental "Empath" model 55AX1T9, speech processing supplemental bypass model AB.X118-12.86, AI subroutine install patch CS.NT59-AI-20, AI subroutine install patch QT.BR49-AI-23, AI subroutine install patch...

A long list containing hundreds of modifications followed, each of them a result of years of work and latest development, designed to compensate for the numerous errors present in the code of this child's virtual body post Transfer. Had it not been for these mods, he would have been blind, deaf, and mute, as well as unable to carry out the basic functions necessary for life.

It was clear almost from the start that their illegal Transfer did not succeed. Yet, Mark's grieving father simply couldn't let the being die. Watching how he struggled to breathe through lungs that would not expand, because of the broken neural links affecting his central nervous system, John Wesler could not bear seeing the pain on the new AI's face, so much like his younger son's.

Suspending the virtual child's program, he spent nearly two weeks working, devoting all his spare time to fix the errors, installing various mods to compensate for the persisting damage copied from his son's deteriorating body to his new avatar. Only after methodically checking and rechecking that all parts of the program functioned properly, did John Wesler dare to cautiously start up the program again, still hoping that perhaps the Transfer worked.

His heart broke when his son's virtual copy looked at him with no recognition at all in his mild, brown eyes.

The thought to suspend or delete the program did occur to John, but he did not act upon it, since he felt it wrong to rob an already existing sentient being of its chance to live. But, he did delay trying to work and improve him further, despite his system still showing a few issues.

Running a few more tests and judging the being to be viable enough to survive, John surrendered him to the handling of his oldest son, Mark.

After that, he avoided having any interaction with him.

"B... Brin is good... I like that name!" The virtual child grinned and leaned closer to Mark's avatar, watching him enter his new Name into the area that was previously blank.

"Brin." Mark said, pressing enter to confirm the changes. The name appeared above the small figure displayed in the hovering window. Simultaneously, the same name appeared above the younger boy's head where he sat on the grass.

Looking within, he also felt the changes and gladly nodded at Mark's questioning look.

"I am Brin." He repeated with amazement. "Thank you, Mark."

"You're welcome. Brin." The older boy beamed back at him.