The Thinker

Chapter Four

The next morning promised to be full of hope and adventure to those who sought it out. Knowing she had to work today, some of this was lost to Nya. Working for Cyrus was one of her favorite jobs, but it was still a job and had its boring moments. Today, she was going to explore the TH1-NK-3R's hard frame during her down time.

The console that controlled the hologram's presence was located in Cyrus's office after the presentation yesterday. Knowing Cyrus would be out for lunch, Nya took the time to investigate. She walked up to the console with interest. The first and only time she had touched it before was during the presentation. Even then, Cyrus had told her what to do ahead of time.

"What are you doing?" someone said that surprised the wits out of Nya. Defensively, Nya turned around to find the source. It was the hologram. She was sitting on Cyrus's desk with her legs crossed, looking as if she was trying to meditate beforehand.

"I don't want to hurt you." Nya said, feeling rather stupid. The hologram looked at her then slowly made her way off of the desk. Nya watched with great interest as the hologram moved in the world. It was like watching a human being that was afraid to move, or a stiff doll that was being manipulated after years of being disowned.

"What would you do if you knew that you existed outside of the time you were meant to be in?" the hologram asked as she continued her walk toward Nya.

Nya opened her mouth and closed it several times, unsure of how to answer. For every three steps the hologram made toward Nya, she would take a step back. The hologram was making her exceedingly anxious the closer it got to her. But all the anxiety she was feeling wasn't entirely hers... was it? There was simply too much for only one person- Nya could never remember a time when she was this anxious.

The hologram stopped walking toward Nya when they were only a few precious inches away from each other. The hologram looked at Nya from head to toe before making focus on Nya's hand. Slowly, the hologram started to reach for Nya's hand to hold it. But the second the two made contact, the hologram became heavily pixalized and for a moment, Nya swore that the hologram had taken on the appearance of a younger child. Howling in pain, the hologram disappeared and reappeared in different parts of the room as if she was being continuously zapped at a rather high voltage.

With a rather sick realization, Nya saw that this was close to the case.

Reacting quickly, Nya went to the console and observed the basic commands. Quickly, with an impressive knowledge of how things worked, she reset the hologram's advanced protocols that made her suffer. Instantly, the hologram collapsed, exhausted from the high amount of voltage that had surged through her body. Nya rushed over to the hologram's side as it went from a teenaged form to a child-like form.

"Don't touch me!" the hologram said, even using a younger voice, as Nya bent down to inspect her.

"I won't." Nya said softly. "I promise to never touch you again."

"Nya...?" a voice than rang out from the doorway that gave Nya a heart attack. "What are you doing up here?"

Nya stood up quickly and looked at who had addressed her. It was Cyrus.

He rolled into the room and saw the hologram on the ground. His eyes widened with fear and he quickly pushed his chair toward the girl.

"What have you done?" Cyrus asked Nya with a terrified tone. "Do you have any idea what you have done?"

Nya stared at Cyrus, unsure of how to answer.

"Everything that makes our world run was connected to the TH1-NK-3R! As we speak speed lights are malfunctioning, power outages are spreading like wildfire, and innocent people are dying in hospitals because their life supports have shut down!"

Nya's blank stare quickly became very angered as she started to get up. The only sound in the room was a little girl crying and it was making Nya more furious the longer it lasted.

"What is this machine any way?" Nya asked. "How come a hologram- something that should exist solely out of pixels and binaries- can feel pain that could harm it enough to call it torture? How come when this hologram touches an organic being she acts as if she was shocked in an electric chair? She isn't just a machine, she's a human trapped in a machine! Why? Why is she trapped?!"

Cyrus shifted uncomfortably. He took a glance at the hologram. She still took on the appearance of a child, but was flickering between her teenaged form. Her crying was unending. She was in pain, a lot of it, and there was nothing he could do for her.

"TH1-NK-3R is really the name of the console." Cyrus said. "It represents Tangible Hologram type One, Next Kin, version Three Revised. You see, a few months back, I wanted to create a hole in the fabric of time and space so I could experience what the future would be like without physically being there. It was a brilliant idea Nya, honest, I didn't mean any harm. But the machine could only produce a hologram of an image that existed with the machine in the same place. Minerva happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and was forced into the TH1-NK-3R's hard drive and into this frame in time. This... side effect causes Minerva to feel discomfort in our time- it sort of feels like walking on pins and needles, without the bleeding. When she comes in contact with an organic being from this time... well, we know what it looks like."

With this idea, Nya and Cyrus looked at Minerva's state. She once again had her teenaged appearance, and her crying was slowly ceasing- but it was obvious that she was still in much, much pain.

"As long as we are human, we can not help her." Cyrus finally concluded.

"No." the hologram said.

"My dear, no one can get close enough to..."

"Zane." the hologram said, cutting Cyrus off. "He isn't human. He isn't organic. He's... a robot."

"Of course." Nya said. "If we can hook Zane up to the console, he can free Minerva and get her back to her own time."

"But how on earth to you plan to connect him to the TH1-NK-3R?" Cyrus asked. Nya smiled at her boss.

She might have been his assistant, but he severely under estimated her mechanical potentials.