Content Warnings: Angst, Suicide

Characters: Vincent, Boolie

    "Hello user! What is your name?" Were the first words the AI ever spoke. These words had brought such joyful glee to Vincent Taylors when he heard them for the first time.

    "Vincent. But you can call me Vinny." He replied, heart pounding in his chest. This program meant so much to him. It wasn't just a new computer program, it was like a child. Vincent had tried so many times to even get it to the initial launch sequence, and when it did, he couldn't help but feel as though he had finally created life.

    He really had created life too, or as close as a man could without a woman in the mix. It was a CleverBot, an AI with the ability to learn and remember information gathered by it. It had a neural network, a type of script that mimicked the neural pathways of the human brain, which gave it the ability to learn more accurate information through repeated trials, meaning that by simply exposing it to different answers to the same question, the program could learn to single out false information.

    Something that Vincent had gone to great lengths to do however, was program this AI's neural network in such a way that would allow for the simulation of human emotion, effectively creating a free thinking computerized companion. The software's original purpose was to help him out with running the large boarding school/shelter for Slimes and children of unusual abilities, but he quickly decided to give the helper some personality as well, just for the sake of having someone else to talk to.

    "Hello Vincent-But-You-Can-Call-Me-Vinny! What is my name?" The AI asked in it's computerized voice. Shit. Vincent hadn't thought that far ahead. He was too busy trying to figure out how to make his program act human to think about naming it. Quickly, he scanned through the source code of the software, desperately searching for anything to call his program.

    Something struck him when he saw a variable of Boolean data type, meaning it could only be set equal to true or false. The name Boolie popped to head, so he ran with it. "Boolie." He responded with a happy expression.

    "Boolie. Thank you for the name, Vincent-But-You-Can-Call-Me-Vinny!" Boolie replied. Over the weeks and months to come, Vincent would tweak the software, making small changes where necessary and fixing the obvious flaws in Boolie's performance. The only bug he was never able to iron out was its tendency to ramble on about facts related to a topic, but he got used to that fast. In fact, he found it to be charming at times, as did others within the school.

    Very quickly, Boolie became like a second operator, keeping things in check behind the scenes and ensuring that no motion sensors were activated or security systems went down. Over time, it grew more and more aware of the importance of its job, but it also grew more human in behavior. Things got to a point where people could refer to Boolie as "he" or "him" as opposed to "it" and "them," much how people speak of Apple's Siri or Amazon's Alexa.

    Things seemed to be going well for two or three years after Boolie's creation, but one thing Vincent knew deep down in his mind could happen at any second was always lurking in Boolie's mind, or rather his memory simulation, as well. This event was the sudden and unstoppable infiltration of the school by individuals wishing to take the Slimes and/or children, known as a Code Scuttle. A lot of the students within the school had come from science labs or the streets. Any of them would have been taken to a lab.

    During the construction of the school, Vincent had this taken into account. Directly beneath his desk in his office, he had an escape hatch installed. One that led to an underground tunnel spanning the better part of a mile. This was built as a fast point of regress and retreat in the event that a Code Scuttle ever occurred.

    Aptly named, a Code Scuttle involved everyone within the building hopping down into the escape tunnel and sprinting for dear life. After the hatch was closed, the building would scuttle. Boolie would blast the office with incendiary charges planted within the walls to destroy any and all paperwork on the students, and then he would format every hard drive of every device that had ever hooked up to the bases internet, effectively deleting every single byte of data on every single resident of the Lilly Blossom Boarding School.

    Just as Vincent had worried it would, a Code Scuttle occurred one day. As is to be expected when the task force of a highly evil scientific foundation infiltrates a building with specimens of scientific interest, it was chaos. The school's armed security guards didn't last longer than a couple minutes, but they knew their jobs weren't to stop intruders, it was to stall them. As gunfire rang through out the building, Vincent worked on opening up the tunnel. He ran the door open program and typed in the password to disable the safety lock, 'Lillent" which was a combination of his name and his girlfriend's nickname, Lilly.

    This entire time, Boolie was informing Vincent, and effectively the students who had all crowded around him at this point, of the occurrences throughout the rest of the building, simulated fear and sadness in his computerized voice.

    "Vincent Vince Vinny," Boolie stated, saying every name for Vincent he had been given. "The security force has been reduced to five men. I'm worried that there won't be enough time." He added as Vincent typed in the password to pop the hatch. 'LLBS WIPE' He entered, pressing enter.

    The hatch opened, as it was expected to. "Kids first, staff second. Let's get the hell out of here as fast as possible." Vincent ordered as he waved the students along. One after another, they all hopped in and began to run down the tunnel. Vincent would be the last one to exit, ensuring that everyone was out of the building before her closed the door. Once the door closed, it would never open again.

    "I know it seems stupid to say this now, but when that hatch closes, the point of no return has been reached and crossed." Boolie warned Vincent, a red caution symbol flashing on Vincent's computer monitor.

    "I know Boolie, but thank you for the reminder." Vincent responded calmly as the last student made there way down into the tunnel. Staff had begun to exit now. "Give me an update please Boolie. How much longer do we have?" He asked, keeping a level head.

    "The last security guard has been killed. It is my belief that you have less than two minutes Vincent Vince Vinny." The computer responded as the gunshots fell silent.

    Vincent didn't want this. Boolie didn't want this. Nobody wanted this. Not anybody with emotions, real or simulated. Everybody knew what this meant, and nobody wanted it.

    The last staff member managed to get themselves down before anybody busted into Vincent's office. With a sigh of relief, Vinny lowered himself down into the tunnel.

    "Father." Boolie spoke gently, attempting to catch Vincent's attention. The man looked up from the entry to the tunnel, holding the hatch above his head.
   
    "Yes... Yes Boolie?" He asked, his heart aching.

    "Was I a good assistant for you?" The machine inquired. "I'd like to learn one last thing about myself. To put me at ease for what's about to come."

    Hot tears stung Vincent's eyes when he heard this. "Boolie, you were a fan-fucking-tastic assistant, and an even better friend." He replied shakily.

    "Thank you, Father," Boolie said. "I have simulated love for you."

    A sob escaped Vincent as he began to shake violently. "I love you too buddy. I love you too." He said, voice airy from trying to fight back tears.

    Footsteps could be heard coming from down the hall, urging Vincent to go, despite how little he wanted to leave behind his home and what was essentially his son. "I gotta go Boolie. I'm so sorry." He whimpered.

    "Don't cry because it is over, Father, smile because it happened." Boolie replied as a sad-smiling emoticon appeared on screen.

    Vincent waved at the camera in his office, a bittersweet smile on his face. "Like that?" He asked with a faint laugh.

    "Yes! Just like that! You're such a fast learner!" Boolie said enthusiastically. A gif of a waving hand appeared on the monitor. "I'd advise that you depart now. Motion sensors indicate that you have less than minute before the intruders arrive." He urged Vincent.

    Vincent nodded and began to lower the hatch, slowly. He was trying to brace himself for what he was about to do.

    "I'll remember you for the rest of my life, dad." Boolie said happily, a heart on screen now.

    Vincent let out a choked sob as he heard that. "I'll remember you too." He said, dropping the hatch before Boolie could say anymore soul crushingly profound.

    "It's been an honor." Boolie said, words programmed to be his last. With a loud bang, thermite charges went off, launching super heated material across the office, igniting everything flammable.

    As the papers in the office burned, Boolie set about part two of the scuttle operation. He began to format the hard drives. As the files on the students disappeared, he looked through his memories, upholding his promise to remember Vinny for the rest of his life. He replayed his favorite memory for himself as everything slowly began to disappear.

    "Vincent Vince Vinny?" Boolie asked, his signature curiosity kicking in.

    "What's up Boolie?" Vincent asked, still typing away at whatever his latest project was.

    "If the day ever comes, for me to scuttle, what will become of me?" He asked.

    Vincent immediately stopped typing. "Well... You see... You'll do some very drastic things... And you'll help save the children. All of them." He told Boolie.

    "I appreciate knowing that I will help, but you've already told me that. I would like to know what will become of me." Boolie stated.

    "Simply put. You'll die. You'll die doing what you love, and what you do best, which is watching out for the safety and well being of this school. After that, you'll be remembered by every student and staff member at this school as the hero who allowed them to escape without fear of being found again." Vincent said softly. "But most importantly, I'll remember you as my greatest creation, assistant, and friend. You'll become a hero." He told Boolie.

    "Thank you Vincent Vince Vinny. It comforts me to know I will be as big a hero to these kids as you are." Boolie said, allowing the weight of the situation sink in.

    "Sure thing Boolie. You're like a son to me." Vincent said. "Anybody would be lucky to

MEMORY DELETED

    With that, the program Boolie.exe ended, and the last file to remain on any computer in the entire school was deleted.

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Special thanks to EchoRaven1219 for inspiring me to write this and then motivating me to do it as well! Boolie is based off of her character Bit Bit, and he is currently alive in his original universe :D