AnotherLIfe {TravelBrilliantly Contest}

AnotherLIfe

"Dr. White, she's responding." My right-hand assistant placed a clipboard into my hands with a smile.

My back stiffened and my breath caught at the sound of those words. They stuck to my ears and riddled my brain like a puzzle. For ages, I prayed to hear those exact words. To finally hear that all my hard work wasn't for nothing. That it was finally paying off.

I removed my goggles from my eyes, stuffing them into the pockets of my white lab coat, and turned my head to face her room that was protected by bulletproof glass and skinny metal columns that supported each wall, just outside of my research lab.

Her eyes were focused ahead as I watched her. Her body covered in dark purple pajamas and stuck in an upright position while her legs crossed out in front of her, barefooted.

Her reaction to anything outside of her room was little to none as people worked from all angles of her, but still, she ignored them.

I rounded my research table to make my way in front of her viewing point. From afar, she resembled a real living, breathing human being. Even down to her fingernails. The resemblance and the textures were uncanny. But it was then when I approached the glass that I witnessed it. The exposure of her wires spilling out of the back of her head in messy loops. And her ears not quite up to where they need be. But those are all easy fixes.

It was her eyes, beaming the darkest shade of black with a lone ring of turquoise blue on the inside that would be the hardest to ignore. It would be an eyesore that everyone would notice when looking at her. It would make her stand out amongst the rest. But that was never a problem.

She blinked once, just as we made eye contact. Her expression shifting to something more of a confused stare as her head tilted to the side like a puppy.

Somewhere in her database, she was recognizing old faces and old events. All while new ones were staining her memory like red paint. Memorable things that people thought wouldn't occur.

They ridiculed me for even having these thoughts and ambitions. They told me that I was just a grieving man who lost his mind after the loss of his wife. They wouldn't even fund so much as a penny for my research. No one believed that I had so much as the brains to pull something off like this. But I knew. When everyone else shut me down for being a lunatic, I knew.

As I opened her bedroom door A.K.A researching chamber, I folded my hands behind my back and smiled the brightest smile I could possibly betray. I need her to trust me.

"Hello Amanda, I'm doctor White. How are you feeling?"

She didn't speak.

The only part of her that responded was the tiny L.E.D light just east of her right temple. A huge part of me died when she didn't say a word, or even twitch a limb.

Had I done something wrong? Did I forget a key detail in the speaking portion of her coding? I couldn't have. I made sure I paid extra attention to her programming. Maybe I just-

"Hello, doctor White. I am quite lovely today. How are you?" Her face spared a light smile as she looked up at me. My breath released at the sound of her response. Her speech was... Perfect. Just how a normal human would respond to such a question. This project was all I ever wanted. This, was all I've ever wanted.

I stepped closer to her bedside and took a seat beside her. I admired the look in her eyes, though there wasn't one to completely enjoy. They were blank and prepared for my next move. They will never be as lively and energetic as I remember. But this will have to do.

"Amanda, do you know where you are?" I asked her. Her light flickered red then blue as she searched her database for another answer.

"I am inside of a scientific research facility. Wing 26 B. Project, AnotherLIfe."

I exhaled a deep sigh of relief. She understood. Remembering what has only been stored in her mind close to a decade ago. She was an artificial intelligence that could rid so much pain in this world. The entire human race would rejoice with a new feeling of bliss once they get a look at her. She is a miracle.

I derailed my own train of thoughts just as she stood from the bed and made her way over to the tall window that overlooked the grassy fields and skyscrapers in their entirety. She peered outside like there was something that caught her eye, if not everything. I watched as she brought her face closer to the glass, no sign of breath fogging it. Because there was no air flowing through her. No lungs to absorb the sweet scents of life. Or her favorite roses.

"Doctor White, am I who I think I am?" She turned to me quickly, her loose wires mirrored long silver locks of curly hair crusading down her perfectly postured back. I stood, stepping beside her so we both watched the same view.

"Who is it that you think you are, Amanda?" I stuffed my hands into my coat pockets and waited. Waited for the response I was counting on since the beginning of this whole project. The only reason I put so much of my life's work into it, and ignored all the hateful things people barked and spat at me throughout my lonely years.

"I am.." She paused to face me, her L.E.D flashing an assortment of bright colors as she searched the empty space for some time. Before our eyes connected and she smiled. It reaching up to where her ears should've been. "I am Amanda White. Your deceased Wife."