Psyche OS X

JF: as I’ve told you many times before… just keep reading. :wink: You are right when you said “knowing you, I’m sure it will all fit together…” It will. I promise. :smiley:

About the name - I am working for DSA right now, (Dutch Soccer Academy for those who don’t know what we’re talking about) and I was given a list of soccer all-stars from different areas in Maine. I have to make labels of their names so we can send out brochures for DSA’s soccer camp and such, and one of the girls on the list was named “RyLee”. I liked the way it was spelled (and I also like the name “Riley” on a girl), so I used it in my story. I love unique names, lol… as you probably could tell. :slight_smile:

Author’s Note

I am a writer who tries very hard to stay within the boundaries of “technicality;” meaning I usually don’t like writing a story that defies the laws of physics or that includes things that are impossible. Chapter Four of my fanfic was a stretch for me in this way, as you will read. I want to state that obviously, many of the things that take place in Ch. 4 would never actually happen in real life, and I wanted to make that clear so I don’t have people commenting and saying, “well, you know, you wouldn’t actually be able to do that…” :wink:

I’m going to try adding author’s notes to every other chapter, so be patient for that. For now, enjoy Chapter Four…

Chapter Four

“Sir, we’d really like to check on that arm, just to make sure it isn’t broken,” a nurse begged McCrea, who refused to leave Morgan’s room at the hospital.

“Ahh… to hell with my stupid arm!!!” McCrea cried. “I want to know if Morgan is going to be okay!”

The nurse wrung her hands. Morgan was still unconscious, and his vital signs weren’t looking good. “There’s no real way of knowing that at this point, sir.” McCrea was ready to go insane. For two hours he had been here, and in that time no one had given him answers to his important questions.

Moments later, the doctor trudged in, rubbing his forehead. “It’s not looking good for poor Rylee,” he sighed. “One of the boys and the driver of the car are in intensive care, but I think they’re going to pull through.”

McCrea was genuinely concerned about the other victims of the crash, and he had been waiting on pins and needles to hear about how they were doing. Knowing that two of the boys were most likely going to recover comforted him to a degree, but the fact that Rylee could slip from life at any given moment eerily loomed over all of them. The other two young adults - Rylee’s boyfriend Dallas and Monica - had been killed immediately upon impact.

The nurse came up to McCrea once again and gently put a hand on his shoulder. “Seriously now, I’m going to have that arm checked. We want to make sure that everything is okay.”

McCrea sadly glanced back at Morgan, who was lying unresponsive in the stiff hospital bed. Tears filled his eyes and a lump formed in his throat as he was led away.

Hang in there, Mo, he prayed, shoving the tears away with his arm. Please don’t leave us.

He stared blankly at the wall the entire time the doctors and nurses looked at his arm, as well as other areas of his body that had been affected by the crash. He couldn’t stop thinking about what might be happening to Morgan or Rylee as the time quickly slipped by.

“You’re lucky to be alive,” a doctor spoke up, breaking into McCrea’s thoughts. “And I’m honestly surprised that you’ve only broken your arm and sprained your ankle, and maybe pulled a muscle in your neck. It’s really a miracle.”

“Yeah,” McCrea muttered, still not completely in touch with reality. The doctor paused and looked into the man’s clouded eyes.

“You’re worried about your boy, aren’t you?” he sadly asked. McCrea looked up.

“I just want to know that he’s going to make it,” he choked. More tears came as he spoke the words. Just the thought of Morgan dying was too much to think about, and he wanted to just wake up from this nightmare and return to his home where he and Morgan would be safe.

“Like I’ve said, there’s no guarantee of anything,” the doctor replied as he set McCrea’s arm into a sling. “We’re doing the best we can, but we can only do so much.”

A young doctor came into the room, stood next to McCrea’s doctor, and began to whisper in his ear. McCrea didn’t want to pry, but he couldn’t help but overhear what was being said.

“Rylee passed several moments ago,” he managed. The other doctor closed his eyes and bit his lip. The two were silent for a long time, and McCrea felt as if he had been punched in the gut.

“Thank you,” the other doctor whispered, nodding at the young one, who quickly made his way toward the door. But before he could leave, the doctor stopped him. “Wait!”

The young doctor turned. “What?”

“Have you tried jumping her heart?” the doctor asked. The other shook his head.

“Not yet,” he replied. “Do you want us to do that?”

“Yes, and as fast as you possibly can,” the older doctor said. “Let me know how it turns out.”

McCrea stood to his feet. “I have to check on Morgan,” he explained. “Will you tell me how things are doing with Rylee when you get word?”

“Sure thing,” the doctor replied. “I’ll be praying for your kid.”


Sighing in relief, the tension released in McCrea’s body after hearing the words: Rylee was alive.

Although she had fallen into a coma after her heart began to beat again, she was still alive; and there was still a chance that she would wake up, however small it was.

Morgan, on the other hand, was rapidly falling in health. As the night progressed, the doctors were unsure that the boy was going to live the night through. They asked McCrea to leave at one point when things were looking rough, and to calm himself he decided to pay Rylee a visit.

No one was in the room besides one nurse, who sat vigil over the girl. McCrea took a seat beside the bed and stared at Rylee’s pale face.

That dumb driver should be in your place right now, he thought, clasping his hands together. You didn’t deserve to go through this. If only I could make you better…

He remembered thinking the same thing about EVE a long time ago. He always wished that he could come up with a way to make her work again, but nothing he thought of ever worked. That’s why he decided to let AUTO come up with something.

But as far as he knew, AUTO hadn’t even touched EVE. Did he not care about her, or was he busy figuring out a way to fix her?

A strange thought flashed through his mind. Maybe AUTO would know how to wake up Rylee.

He sat up straight in his seat at the thought. Suddenly, memories rushed back and ideas swirled in his brain.

EVE was upset because she couldn’t communicate; like we humans can, he began. I could tell by the way she exploded at me. Then she shut herself down; probably because she couldn’t take the stress anymore. Although she may have tried to handle human emotions, her computer couldn’t process it.

The thoughts got crazier. Maybe, while she’s still in a coma, I could bring Rylee to AUTO… and maybe he’d be able to figure out a way to transfer the information on EVE’s hard drive into Rylee’s brain - since Rylee is technically “dead.” She wouldn’t remember any of her past, but EVE would end up being human…!

He grabbed the phone and dialed his house number, knowing that WALL•E frequently answered the phone for him when he wasn’t around.

“Hi,” the robot cheerily cried. McCrea was gripping the phone with two hands.

“Listen, I need you to do something for me,” he hurriedly sputtered. “I need you to go into the Axiom, get up to the bridge, and wake up AUTO for me. Just tap the wall twice, since you can’t clap, and everything should come on. Ask him about EVE, all right?”

WALL•E emphatically agreed to do what he was told.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” McCrea continued. “And wait there for me. Don’t leave EVE and don’t touch her, either. See you soon.” He threw the phone back into its cradle and jumped to his feet. By then he noticed the nurse had fallen asleep. He couldn’t just take Rylee from the hospital without anyone knowing… that would be stupid!

It’s for her own good, he decided, taking his arm out of the sling, despite the fact that it still needed to heal. He needed both arms to carry Rylee, and that stupid sling would only get in the way. As gently as he could, he quietly eased the girl out of her bed, detached the IVs from her arm and tiptoed from the room. People didn’t even seem to notice him as he casually walked down the halls of the hospital with a limp girl in his arms, and once he was out of doors, he ran as fast as he could towards the Axiom.

The elevator was activated and ready when he got there, and when he stepped onto the bridge, WALL•E and AUTO turned to face him.

“Captain,” AUTO said, moving towards McCrea, “Probe1 is enabled for repair.”

McCrea raised his eyebrows. “You mean you got her fixed already?!”

“Negative,” AUTO objected. He shot back to the other side of the room and hovered over a MV-R vehicle, on top of which EVE was placed. She was still in her inactive state, but all of her panels had been removed and exposed her computer internals.

McCrea glanced up at the computer screen, which he hadn’t noticed until now. On it was displayed various videos and lists of information on surgery. Cocking his head, he turned to AUTO.

“What… are you doing?” he slowly wondered. AUTO motioned for Rylee.

“Human is needed to complete procedure,” he flatly stated. McCrea’s heart began to pound. Did AUTO have the same idea…?

He tenderly lowered Rylee to the ground beside the MV-R, and AUTO immediately began attaching probes - which were all connected to EVE’s computer - to different places on the girl’s head.

“Can you explain to me what you’re doing before you… do… what you’re… doing?” McCrea wondered, his voice shaking.

“Computer will run a program that sends electrical impulses from Probe1 to the human,” AUTO explained. McCrea wondered if the robot had ever said that much in one shot. “Probe’s memory should be sent to the human brain.”

“Ingenious,” McCrea said in awe. AUTO hovered over the computer, pressed a combination of buttons, and all of the videos disappeared. The words OPERATION 2909 flashed on the screen.

“Preparing for Probe Memory Allocation,” the computer announced. A progress bar appeared on the screen, and it slowly filled as EVE’s memory was extracted.

Will this even work?! McCrea suddenly thought with alarm. What if it only makes Rylee’s condition worse? I don’t want to be accused of killing her or something…!

But it was too late to wonder that. The computer displayed a new progress bar under the first one, which now read Allocation completed.

“Beginning procedure,” the computer said. McCrea held his breath as the new bar displayed the progress made. Seconds flashed underneath the bar, indicating the estimated amount of time it would take before the procedure was finished.

When the computer finished, AUTO took control again. He carefully popped the probes off of Rylee’s head, turned on his taser, and gently touched the girl’s chest.

Whoa.

I wasn’t expecting that to happen…but I love it! This story is getting better all the time.! :smiley: Now I’m really curious about what’ll happen, especially EVE’s interaction with WALL-E in her human form. :stuck_out_tongue: Spectacular work, little chef! :smiley:

wow…

Excitment is building…your story is going to bring about many different situations. I can just feel it. Hopefully Walle will understand about Eve being in human form…that might be hard to figure out.

Review-9.5/10

I forgot to read chapter 3 so its included in this review…

Whoa, that was so cool. I just caught up on recent previous chapters, and I love where this is going. It was unexpected and a really amazing twist. Reading about what EVE will do when she wakes up in Rylee’s body will thrill me.

Haha… all of you were like “whoa!!!” I know, and I told you all - with my writing, expect the unexpected! (Guess you did, huh? haaha…)

I am just beginning on Chapter 5 right now. Sometimes I have to think about how I want to start it, though, and it may go through several drafts before I actually decide to keep it. (I am picky. :unamused:) But as soon as I find the time, I promise I will get cracking on that chapter. It’s going to be a crazy ride, guys, so hold on! :wink:

off topic - yay… my 100th post…! <img src=“{SMILIES_PATH}/grinandwink.gif” alt=“;-D” title="Grin and

Wink" />

buckles my seat belt

Ohh, and happy 100th post! :smiley:

I want to apologize to everyone who has been patiently waiting for a new installment of my fan fiction. As most of you already know, I had my computer crash on Wednesday, and that has halted not only the progression of my fanfic, but also my schoolwork; which was also done entirely on the computer. :frowning: I have my mom’s trusty laptop to get caught up on, but it will take me a little while to get back into the swing of writing (my brain has NOT been there since my computer has been taken from me - it was like losing another part of my brain!). So please, please PLEASE be patient with me; and don’t give up on me or this story. I promise you that it will be finished - I PROMISE you!!! It just may take more time than I initially planned.

For now, please read through the author’s notes at the beginnings of Chapter One and Chapter Two - Sections 1 and 2. :slight_smile: The best way to enjoy these notes is to read them, and then read through the chapter all over again immediately following. You may find things in the chapter clarified by the author’s notes. :wink:

To all who believe in me and appreciate this fluent talent of mine, I thank you ahead of time for standing by me and not giving up on me. Right now, I’m really needing that kind of support!!! :smiley:

Sincerely,
little chef :slight_smile:

sounds good…don’t rush yourself its okay.

If there is one thing we can do…its wait…we here at pixar planet are patient.

It’s okay…I understand. Pace yourself. Better a good story worth waiting for than a rushed one. Give yourself time to settle down on it. I can wait. :slight_smile:

Okay guys, I really need your help.

I was just about to get back into writing this fanfic when I thought, “gosh it’s been all this time and I still don’t have a name for it!” So here is what I’m going to do…

I’m going to edit the first post and change this thread to a poll for a while. I wanted the title to have something to do with “directive”, because the whole story is basically about these robots discovering a new directive. But the one I thought of is kind of cool, and I want to know what you think of it. Basically, “Psyche” is referring to a person’s soul; their thoughts and feelings. And you will probably only understand the meaning of “OS X” if you are currently following the flow of this story. :wink:

EDIT: At first, I wanted to name my fic “Reboot”, but that was until I found myself browsing through the various WALL•E fanfics on PP, and I saw another with the same name. I’m wondering if the author of that small micro-story would mind if I decided to use that title (this is why I did not put it in the poll). Is this okay for me to do? What do you guys think?

Vote on it and tell me all what you think. You can PM me with any ideas for new titles if you so wish. Thank you all so much!!

little chef

Please note: This poll will only run for 30 Days.

UPDATE: (Apologizing for the double post… :blush: hope the mods don’t freak out…)

Thanks to a creative idea from C-3PO, I’ve decided to add the title Directive: Restore to my list of ideas. I wanted to add it to the poll, but apparently I can’t. :frowning:

Right now, I’m torn between this title and Psyche OS X (Psyche is pronounced “syk-ee”, for those who weren’t sure. :wink:). But I’m going to patiently wait just a while longer to see if any other great ideas pop up. I know you guys are always full of great ideas, and I’m sure I’ll get some great suggestions from you all. :slight_smile:

Thanks again, you guys! Let me know what you think! :wink:

little chef

i like the Pysche OS X…i think it sounds like a mac. It reminds me of Eve.

I will vote for that one…

I’m glad you caught on to the idea. :wink: I’m actually really considering that one, too. Here are my current choices, though:

Directive: Restore*
Psyche OS X
Restoration**

*Thanks to C-3PO for this idea!!!
**Thanks to JesusFreak for this idea!!!

I am still open to any suggestions anyone may have, so please vote or PM me with any ideas. :smiley:

little chef

PS: I will be posting up Chapter Six within the next few days, so apologizing in advance for a possible double post… man, I wish I could stop doing that… :blush:

I voted Psyche OS X. I liked how it sounded, as Al-Bob said, like a Mac operating system. For some reason I keep reading Psyche as Psycho and imagining Eve going ballistic or something. :laughing: But yeah, I liked the sound of it, so I chose that. I know I should read your fanfic before deciding on the title, but I’ll try my best to read the first few chapters and give you a review time permitting! :slight_smile:

I’ve been really thinking about this all week, and I think I’ve decided on Psyche OS X. It was an honest toss-up between that and Directive: Restore, since they both related so well to the story. But I’m just really getting attached to Psyche OS X, so I’m going to choose that one. :smiley: I thank all of you who threw out your great ideas - I took each and every suggestion into mind and gave them all great thought. Thanks again!


I had posted up the beginning of Chapter Six earlier.... and I realized later that I had made a HUGE mistake....!!! I was [i]supposed[/i] to post [i]Chapter Five instead...!![/i] I apologize to those who may have read that part and felt sort of disconnected.... please pretend you've never read it yet.  :blush: Wow... stupid me... :frowning: I think I was still asleep earlier... :blush: 

I don't have time now to post Chapter Five, but I promise to get around to it sometime on Sunday or Monday. Again, apologizing sincerely... I still can't believe that I did that....!!! UGH!!  :blush: 

[b]little chef[/b]

It’s great that you chose a name for the fanfic! Now you don’t have to worry about it. :smiley: Psyche OS X is a great name for the story. :wink:

Gah, I did read Chapter 6 so I got a little confused there, but no worries! Eagerly waiting to see what happens next.

I also like the sig you created for this fanfic. Radically changes the context of that image.

Good choice. I’m glad that you finally settled on a name. Now you can focus on writing the rest of it… :smiley:

  • C-3PO

All right, here it is everyone… Chapter Five! Again, an apology to wayne and anyone else that might have read through Chapter Six… like I said before, just pretend it was never read… :blush:

Chapter Five

An intense feeling of new life and energy surged through her body. In that one moment, she wondered if she had ever felt more alive.

She could feel a steady force throbbing inside of her; calling her to awaken. It was unlike anything she had felt before, but it was invigorating and full of energy. What was going on to make her feel like this? Was she being recharged?

No, she was being rebooted. She remembered shutting herself down and leaving everything behind, and she never imagined that she’d ever wake up. That was how she wanted it. Why was she awake now?

“Rylee…?”

Someone was talking. The voice sounded familiar. But who were they talking to?

But the voice that spoke up moments later was as clear as ever. She didn’t doubt for a moment who it was…

“…Eeeva…?”

Her eyes flew open at the word, and she blinked several times once they were open. Something wasn’t right about her vision. She shook her head and opened them wider, this time meeting the sad eyes of the one who had said her name just moments ago - faithful little WALL•E. He clapped his metal hands together to see that she was awake.

“Eeva!” he cried, more happily this time. Glancing the other way, she saw McCrea standing on her other side, his hands clasped together tightly.

“It worked,” he breathed, taking a cautious step forward. “Ry… I, I mean… Eve?”

Her heart leapt. She knew these people! Looking around, she was struck with familiarity. She knew where she was, too! But how did she get here?

“Eve, you all right?” McCrea wondered, kneeling beside her. WALL•E got closer as well, looking more confused now.

Why is he looking at me like that? she wondered. He knows it’s me. What’s his problem?

“Eve,” McCrea repeated. She turned her attention to him again. He helped her up and looked her in the eye, smiling. “Look down and tell me what you think.”

Eve was a bit confused at the command, but she did what she was told. The first thing she noticed made her heart jump into her throat.

She was standing on two legs like the humans.

She held out her hand. She no longer saw that familiar glass arm held out in front of her, on the end of which floated magnetic fingers. No - there was a slender human arm extended in front of her, and she wiggled her five dainty fingers to make sure this wasn’t a dream. She shook her head and hair fell in her eyes; beautiful, rich locks of blonde hair. Using her fingers, she pulled it out of her face and looked back over at McCrea.

His face fell slightly, and his smile looked more disappointed. “This is what you wanted, right?” he asked her. She was still speechless, and all she could do was drop her mouth in response.

That was when she realized something - her mind may be filled with billions of words and phrases, but she didn’t know how to speak them. She had already had this problem a long time ago: her computer was only able to repeat so many words she heard, and she was never capable of speaking full sentences. But now that she was a human, she could say all she wanted. Just how she was to do this was the problem…

It seemed as though McCrea could sense what she was thinking. “Let’s pretend this is our first time meeting, okay?” he said, turning her to face him. “I’m Brandon. What’s your name?”

She opened her mouth, knowing that humans used their mouth to speak. She assumed that the words she thought would automatically come out; at least, that was how it worked when she was a robot. This was all so confusing!

WALL•E gave her a poke from behind, and startled at the sudden action, Eve let out a short yelp.

“Yeah, that’s how ya do it!” McCrea said. “That vibration you just felt in your throat? That’s your voice.”

Eve reached for her throat and repeated the noise. So that was how you did it!

“So, can you tell me what your name is?” McCrea repeated, folding his arms. Eve furrowed her brow and attempted to make out the word she already knew so well.

“Ee…ee…Eve…?” she managed with some hesitation. McCrea smiled at her, and WALL•E clapped again. She smiled. “Eve!”

“Who’s he?” McCrea asked her, pointing to the bewildered little garbage bot. She lovingly looked down at him.

“WALL•E,” she replied, a little smoother than her first word.

“And who am I?”

Eve paused. “Br…andon…?”

McCrea was overjoyed, and he took her into his arms for a hug. “Yes, yes! Oh my God… I can’t believe this…!”

Eve began to laugh at McCrea’s enthusiasm, and at the sound of her sweet giggle, tears came to McCrea’s eyes. The two stood there at the front of the Bridge for a long time, just hugging each other and still marveling at the feat that had successfully been accomplished.

WALL•E and AUTO watched this scene from a distance, beginning to wonder what all of it meant. WALL•E was starting to question whether or not it really was Eve. She was supposed to be a sleek, white robot with magnetic fingers that magically fit between his own metal ones - not this petite, blonde-haired, blue-eyed human who was being loved on by McCrea.

AUTO stared intently at Eve and silently watched as she pulled away from McCrea to brush the hair from her beautiful eyes. There was something about this young woman that made him stand back in part fascination, part awe. The fact that he had effectively completed the memory reload was something to be in awe of, but it wasn’t just that. He was left in a stunned silence; a mysterious intrigue of the young woman’s human vitality and integrity.

After a long while of hugging and crying happy tears on each other’s shoulder, McCrea grabbed Eve by the shoulders.

“Oh my God,” he gasped. Eve’s happy demeanor immediately changed to that of concern. “Mo! I’ve been up here all this time while Mo was probably dying in the hospital…! I have to go back!”

WALL•E cocked his head at the name. “M-O?” he wondered, referring to the microbe-obliterator.

“Yeah, you know - Morgan?” McCrea replied. WALL•E shook his head, now appearing more on the distressed side.

“No,” he wailed. He pointed towards the door. “M-O!”

“You mean the robot?” McCrea asked him. WALL•E nodded. “What about him?”

WALL•E continued to moan, pointing adamantly at the door. McCrea sighed and shook his head. He turned back to Eve.

“Listen, you can follow WALL•E back home to see what’s going on while I go and check on Morgan, okay?” he instructed her. “I’ll try not to be very long, but depending on what’s up, that may change…” He paused. “I’ll call you and let you know when I hear some news.”

Eve smiled and nodded. She gave McCrea another hug before he headed out the door, then turned to look back at WALL•E.

“What’s… what’s wrong with M-O?” she slowly wondered, testing her speaking once and again. WALL•E let out another moan and tugged on her arm to lead her out the door. Obviously, something bad had happened, and by now Eve was starting to worry. She willingly followed WALL•E to the elevator and looked back at AUTO before the door closed, who was still turned on and staring at them. With a soft smile, she shyly waved at him.

“Thank you,” she quietly said, just before the door to the elevator closed shut.


McCrea went back to Morgan’s hospital room only to find him still in a deep sleep. The doctors and nurses told him that things weren’t looking good for the young man, which only helped to sink McCrea’s already crushed spirits. After they gave him a quick run-down of Morgan’s current condition, they left McCrea alone with the boy.

“You can’t die, Mo,” he whispered to Morgan, whose face was pale and clammy. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I can’t lose you now. And Eve will love you to pieces when she meets you.”

Morgan seemed to stir a little bit at McCrea’s words. Maybe if he continued to talk, Morgan would eventually wake up.

“It’s really incredible what AUTO did to make Eve wake up,” McCrea continued, acting as if Morgan were completely awake and listening intently. “He figured out a way to transfer all of the EVE Probe’s memory to the human brain by using electrical impulses and little probes that he stuck to her head. So basically, EVE is a human; which is something she’s always wanted.” McCrea gave a wistful smile. “She seems so happy. I hope she finds everything she hoped for in being a human…”

Morgan turned over slightly. “Uncle McCrea,” he managed, his voice just barely scraping a whisper. McCrea leaned forward and took Morgan’s hand.

“What is it, Mo?” he wondered. Morgan opened his eyes a crack.

“Can you tell Eve and WALL•E and M-O that I’ll miss them?” he asked. McCrea shook his head violently.

“No, you’re not going anywhere,” he cried. “You’re going to be okay, I promise…”

He paused after his voice had trailed off. At the mention of M-O, he remembered WALL•E expressing his concern about the small robot. Had something happened? Maybe he should give the house a call and find out. Besides, he had promised Eve that he would.

She picked up the phone, but it was several seconds later before she answered. “Hello?”

“Hey, Eve,” McCrea said. “Do you know what’s up with M-O?”

She hesitated at the words. “Well… I think he, um, fried his circuit board…”

McCrea furrowed his brow. “What?! How did that happen?!”

“I think he went outside,” Eve replied. Obviously, she had been practicing speaking while McCrea was gone, for she sounded much smoother in her speech. “When we got here, there was smoke coming out of his vent.”

McCrea rubbed his forehead with his hand. “That’s just great,” he sarcastically muttered. “Is there anything you can do to fix him?”

“No,” Eve replied. “I tried his reboot button. It didn’t work. I took a look at his board and it was black.”

For a long while, McCrea didn’t say anything. He was thinking of something they could do, but he wasn’t sure if it were actually a good idea or not. After all, it had already been tried and tested, and it had worked.

“I think I know what we can do,” he finally spoke up. “Bring M-O back to the Bridge and ask AUTO to run OPERATION 2909. Hopefully this will work again.”

“Well, what are you going to do?” Eve asked.

“You’ll figure it out when I get there,” was all McCrea told her.


“So whatever AUTO did to me, he’s going to do to M-O?” Eve wondered, wringing her hands as McCrea put Morgan down on the floor. The boy grimaced in pain when his neck was set straight, so McCrea got down on his knees to hold Morgan’s head up.

“You okay, buddy?” he softly wondered, brushing Morgan’s hair out of his eyes. Morgan lifted his glazed green eyes up to meet McCrea’s concerned gaze.

“I think I pulled something real bad in my neck,” he replied, closing his eyes again. “Whatever’s going on, I just want it to be over.”

McCrea looked back up at Eve as AUTO prepared for the procedure once again. “Yeah, basically,” he said, replying to her inquiry. He held Morgan in his arms and leaned close to his ear again. “I love you, Mo. I promise you’re going to be okay. Just close your eyes and don’t worry about anything.”

Eve was afraid to watch as the program began to run, and she sat on the other end of the Bridge next to WALL•E. She was staring into his sad camera eyes, wondering why whenever he looked at her, he seemed to sigh.

“WALL•E,” she gently whispered, “are you okay?”

He slightly turned his head, as if unwilling to reply.

“WALL•E, have I done something wrong?” she wondered, desperation beginning to emerge in her tone of voice. “Do you not believe that it’s me… Eve? Are you upset that I’m a human?”

WALL•E sighed again, and he looked directly into Eve’s beautiful blue eyes. He reached into his trash compactor, pulled out a small, shiny object and held it up. Eve gulped on a sudden lump in her throat when she recognized what it was: the small BnL lighter that she had found when she first explored WALL•E’s trailer full of treasures.

He flicked it on, and the small flame danced in the air. Tears pooled in Eve’s eyes as it immediately sparked memories and feelings from that day all over again. The words from a song from WALL•E’s favorite movie began to reel in her mind as she and WALL•E both intently watched the flame.

“It only took a moment… to be loved a whole life long…”

WALL•E put the lighter away and clasped his hands together, still sadly looking into Eve’s teary eyes. “Eeeva?”

She was hesitant to respond. She knew she loved WALL•E, but why didn’t she get that same fluttery feeling she always got whenever WALL•E wanted to hold her hand? Ever so slowly, she reached out with her own trembling hand and went to place her fingers in between his metal ones.

But it wasn’t right… her fingers no longer easily fit like her glass, magnetic ones had. Her new slender fingers only got pinched in between WALL•E’s fingers, and she pulled back when pain shot up her arm.

The same thought flashed through their minds at the very same time: this wasn’t going to work anymore. With her a human and he a robot, their relationship was never going to be the same.

“Mo?” McCrea’s voice broke into WALL•E and Eve’s thoughts, and they both turned to see what was going on. McCrea was lightly patting Mo’s cheeks and speaking his name. “Are you awake? Can you hear me?”

Cautiously, Eve and WALL•E approached the scene. Mo’s eyes fluttered for a moment, then they snapped completely open.

McCrea smiled. “Hey there, buddy! You feeling okay?”

Mo furrowed his brow, uneasily glancing around the room. Eve knelt down next to him and smiled at him, taking his hand into hers.

“It’s okay,” she assured him. “You’re just on the Bridge.”

This time Mo sat up, his eyes wide. He had noticed M-O on the ground closeby with various wires hooked up to his hard drive. AUTO had pulled out the micro processor from the small cleaner bot, and as Eve had said eariler, it was almost completely black. He pointed to M-O, appearing extremely frightened. McCrea was slightly confused with Mo’s behavior, but Eve completely understood. With a slight chuckle, she rubbed Mo’s hand.

“Yeah, you were dead,” she answered his silent question. “You’re in Morgan’s human body now.”

McCrea lifted Mo back into his arms. “Yeah, he may be safe in Morgan’s body, but Morgan’s body has broken bones in it that need to heal,” he said, walking towards the elevator. “I’ll take you back to the hospital so they can keep an eye on you, and we’ll introduce you to the world later.”

Eve had started following WALL•E and McCrea out the door, but she happened to pause and look back at AUTO all over again.

He was still staring at her.

For a few moments, she stared back. There was something about his steady gaze that made her wonder if he was curious. Sure, he may have been able to carry out the painstaking procedure of memory reloading, but was he now wondering what it would be like for himself?

It was only a thought that flashed through Eve’s mind. Besides, there was no way to know exactly what that blank-faced, emotionless robot was really thinking at any given moment.

And it wasn’t like anyone really cared, anyways.