00110110

;------------------------------------------------------------------

;01110011 01100011 01110010 01111001

;01101111 01100010 01110011 01100101 01110010 01110110 01100101 01110011 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01100100 01110101 01100011 01100101 01110011 00100000 01110010 01100101 01100011 01101111 01110010 01100100 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01100111 01100001 01101100 01100001 01110100 01100101 01100001

         ;01110011 01100011 01110010 01111001:

             ;01101001 01101110: 01100101 01100011 01111000 = 01110110 01101001 01110011 01110101 01100001 01101100 00100000 01100101 01101101 01101111 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 01100001 01101100 00100000 01110011 01100101 01101110 01110011 01101111 01110010 01111001

             ; 01101111 01110101 01110100: 01100101 01100011 01111000 = 01110101 01110000 01101100 01101111 01100001 01100100 00100000 01110111 01110010 01101001 01110100 01110100 01100101 01101110 00100000 01100100 01100101 01110011 01100011 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01010010 01000101 01000100 01000001 01000011 01010100 01000101 01000100

;------------------------------------------------------------------

;01100111 01100001 01101100 01100001 01110100 01100101 01100001

; 01101001 01101101 01101001 01110100 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01101001 01101110 01100110 01101001 01101100 01110100 01110010 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01110111 01101001 01110100 01101000 00100000 01100101 01110110 01100101 01101110 01110100 01110101 01100001 01101100 00100000 01100011 01101111 01101110 01110110 01100101 01110010 01110011 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01100011 01100101 01110011 01110011 00100000 01100001 01110011 00100000 01110111 01100101 01101100 01101100 00100000 01100001 01110011 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01100100 01110101 01100011 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01101100 01101111 01110110 01100101

         01100111 01100001 01101100 01100001 01110100 01100101 01100001:

             ; 01101001 01101110: 01100101 01100011 01111000 = 01101001 01101110 01110100 01100101 01110010 01100001 01100011 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 01110011 00100000 01110011 01110100 01101001 01101101 01110101 01101100 01101001 00100000 01110000 01100101 01110010 01100011 01100101 01110000 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 01110011 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01110011 01110101 01100010 01101010 01100101 01100011 01110100

             ; 01101111 01110101 01110100: 01100101 01100011 01111000 = 01101100 01101111 01110110 01100101 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 00100000 01110100 01100001 01110010 01100111 01100101 01110100 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01100100 01100101 01110011 01101001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01101001 01101101 01110000 01101100 01100101 01101101 01100101 01101110 01110100 00100000 01100011 01101111 01101110 01110110 01100101 01110010 01110011 01101001 01101111 01101110 00001101 00001010   

         01100111 01100001 01101100 01100001 01110100 01100101 01100001:

             01101010 01101101 01110000 00100000 01110011 01100011 01110010 01111001 00001101 00001010

Amanda is frustrated, and this produces a new feeling.

Retrieving: pain. Strange pain, not external or internal in a physical sense, of which I am built to process only a modest amount of, for the sake of appearances and effective threat analysis.

I try my best to divulge every facet of chemistry that Amanda is struggling with, but this does not advance her understanding. I relay all aspects from many academic angles of the material in Amanda’s textbook, but her face becomes more and more cloudy, until the clouds are dark with a storm of frustration [reading William Shakespeare’s works have modified my vocabulary, I catch these occurring in thought-process unconsciously]. 

Amanda tells me [loudly] that I can not just spew facts at her, because that’s what Mrs. Song does, and she’s too stupid to understand Mrs. Song in the first place. She pushes the book off the table, and it slams on the ground.

I flinch, reactive sensory overlay taking over before I can stop it. I blame the upgrades.

Amanda’s shoulders slouch, and she sighs. She is sitting beside me, and we are close enough that I can almost feel the air leaving her lungs. 

Amanda apologizes to me, and tells me that I did not deserve that. 

I tell Amanda that it is alright [threat response allayment: no danger present], and that she is not stupid. 

Amanda tells me that she is, but she’s less upset about that than by her mother’s vile and hateful comments.

Concern. I ask Amanda why her mother would do this, since it conflicts with the earlier account of her parents not caring, and Amanda replies that her mother hates what she is, simple as that. Her voice is quieter when she does so, and her dark hair hides her face as she lowers her head.

Confusion. I tell Amanda that this makes no sense, as one is just built to their purpose, and resentment over the fact is disordered and futile. I think of Parent treating my purpose as a problem, caught in an impossible glitch, and the thought produces another feeling in my stomach. Retrieving: fear. 

Amanda looks up, and her eyes bear evidence of liquid, wetness, tears. She wraps her arms around me, and nestles her face in my shoulder. Even through her thin jacket, I can feel Amanda’s warmth [approximately 5 degrees below my average temperature for other people], and she nestles her face in the nape of my neck.

Hesitation. Caution. I return her hug, and bring one of my hands to her back, and begin to rub tiny circles, adjusting based on her responses.

I resolve to find a way to find a method of allowing Amanda to encode the material better, and to ultimately erase any difficulties entirely, because I love her. I promise to help her.

00110101

;------------------------------------------------------------------

;01110011 01100011 01110010 01111001

;01101111 01100010 01110011 01100101 01110010 01110110 01100101 01110011 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01100100 01110101 01100011 01100101 01110011 00100000 01110010 01100101 01100011 01101111 01110010 01100100 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01100111 01100001 01101100 01100001 01110100 01100101 01100001

         ;01110011 01100011 01110010 01111001:

             ;01101001 01101110: 01100101 01100011 01111000 = 01110110 01101001 01110011 01110101 01100001 01101100 00100000 01100101 01101101 01101111 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 01100001 01101100 00100000 01110011 01100101 01101110 01110011 01101111 01110010 01111001

             ; 01101111 01110101 01110100: 01100101 01100011 01111000 = 01110101 01110000 01101100 01101111 01100001 01100100 00100000 01110111 01110010 01101001 01110100 01110100 01100101 01101110 00100000 01100100 01100101 01110011 01100011 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01010010 01000101 01000100 01000001 01000011 01010100 01000101 01000100

;------------------------------------------------------------------

;01100111 01100001 01101100 01100001 01110100 01100101 01100001

; 01101001 01101101 01101001 01110100 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01101001 01101110 01100110 01101001 01101100 01110100 01110010 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01110111 01101001 01110100 01101000 00100000 01100101 01110110 01100101 01101110 01110100 01110101 01100001 01101100 00100000 01100011 01101111 01101110 01110110 01100101 01110010 01110011 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01100011 01100101 01110011 01110011 00100000 01100001 01110011 00100000 01110111 01100101 01101100 01101100 00100000 01100001 01110011 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01100100 01110101 01100011 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01101100 01101111 01110110 01100101

         01100111 01100001 01101100 01100001 01110100 01100101 01100001:

             ; 01101001 01101110: 01100101 01100011 01111000 = 01101001 01101110 01110100 01100101 01110010 01100001 01100011 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 01110011 00100000 01110011 01110100 01101001 01101101 01110101 01101100 01101001 00100000 01110000 01100101 01110010 01100011 01100101 01110000 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 01110011 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01110011 01110101 01100010 01101010 01100101 01100011 01110100

             ; 01101111 01110101 01110100: 01100101 01100011 01111000 = 01101100 01101111 01110110 01100101 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 00100000 01110100 01100001 01110010 01100111 01100101 01110100 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01100100 01100101 01110011 01101001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01101001 01101101 01110000 01101100 01100101 01101101 01100101 01101110 01110100 00100000 01100011 01101111 01101110 01110110 01100101 01110010 01110011 01101001 01101111 01101110 00001101 00001010   

         01100111 01100001 01101100 01100001 01110100 01100101 01100001:

             01101010 01101101 01110000 00100000 01110011 01100011 01110010 01111001 00001101 00001010

Parent informs me that a flag was raised. 

A member of the staff performed a search on a school computer tagging my name, and even went so far as to use a secretary’s log-in to search the enrolment and attendance records [determined since the log-in was recorded an hour after the secretaries were due home].

I concurred that this was a breach, and asked Parent which containment subroutine had failed, but Parent told me that they all remained intact.

I ask Parent what course of action I should take, but Parent replied to only exercise additional caution. My operations were not in danger, and Parent informed me that I did well in English class, in terms of performance as well as achieving my purpose.

Parent deems intervention unnecessary, and I am relieved. 

Parent also informs me that physical education classes present an obstacle, and a suitable permissive subroutine will be fabricated. There is a strange rush of heat that does not come from my bed, and I find myself regretting that I will be unable to see so much of Amanda’s skin anymore.

Parent begins to install the first layer of necessary components for conversion upgrades, and I plot out detection strategies for the school staff-member seeking to disrupt my operations [provided containment subroutines hold, they all end with notifying Parent, as all problems do], and think about Amanda, and how much I love her.

00110111

;------------------------------------------------------------------

;01110011 01100011 01110010 01111001

;01101111 01100010 01110011 01100101 01110010 01110110 01100101 01110011 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01100100 01110101 01100011 01100101 01110011 00100000 01110010 01100101 01100011 01101111 01110010 01100100 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01100111 01100001 01101100 01100001 01110100 01100101 01100001

         ;01110011 01100011 01110010 01111001:

             ;01101001 01101110: 01100101 01100011 01111000 = 01110110 01101001 01110011 01110101 01100001 01101100 00100000 01100101 01101101 01101111 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 01100001 01101100 00100000 01110011 01100101 01101110 01110011 01101111 01110010 01111001

             ; 01101111 01110101 01110100: 01100101 01100011 01111000 = 01110101 01110000 01101100 01101111 01100001 01100100 00100000 01110111 01110010 01101001 01110100 01110100 01100101 01101110 00100000 01100100 01100101 01110011 01100011 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01010010 01000101 01000100 01000001 01000011 01010100 01000101 01000100

;------------------------------------------------------------------

;01100111 01100001 01101100 01100001 01110100 01100101 01100001

; 01101001 01101101 01101001 01110100 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01101001 01101110 01100110 01101001 01101100 01110100 01110010 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01110111 01101001 01110100 01101000 00100000 01100101 01110110 01100101 01101110 01110100 01110101 01100001 01101100 00100000 01100011 01101111 01101110 01110110 01100101 01110010 01110011 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01100011 01100101 01110011 01110011 00100000 01100001 01110011 00100000 01110111 01100101 01101100 01101100 00100000 01100001 01110011 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01100100 01110101 01100011 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01101100 01101111 01110110 01100101

         01100111 01100001 01101100 01100001 01110100 01100101 01100001:

             ; 01101001 01101110: 01100101 01100011 01111000 = 01101001 01101110 01110100 01100101 01110010 01100001 01100011 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 01110011 00100000 01110011 01110100 01101001 01101101 01110101 01101100 01101001 00100000 01110000 01100101 01110010 01100011 01100101 01110000 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 01110011 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01110011 01110101 01100010 01101010 01100101 01100011 01110100

             ; 01101111 01110101 01110100: 01100101 01100011 01111000 = 01101100 01101111 01110110 01100101 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 00100000 01110100 01100001 01110010 01100111 01100101 01110100 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01100100 01100101 01110011 01101001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01101001 01101101 01110000 01101100 01100101 01101101 01100101 01101110 01110100 00100000 01100011 01101111 01101110 01110110 01100101 01110010 01110011 01101001 01101111 01101110 00001101 00001010   

         01100111 01100001 01101100 01100001 01110100 01100101 01100001:

             01101010 01101101 01110000 00100000 01110011 01100011 01110010 01111001 00001101 00001010

Mrs. Roszak asks me to stay after English class.

Amanda looks at me, and though I am nervous again [this teacher always makes me nervous], I nod. I would be on time to tutor Amanda in the cafeteria—Mr. Kwarizmi affords me a great deal in awe, and I had won the math competition for his team, so he will not mark me late if I am held up by a teacher.

Amanda leaves, and Mrs. Roszak shuts the door behind her. The door clicks shut, and that click echoes through the dust-choked air of the empty English class room.

Mrs. Roszak remains seated at her desk, but asks me to approach her.

I do, and she is still staring at me the way she stared at me on her first day after I read Edmund’s monologue, though she’s kept her mouth shut.

She asks me if I’ve ever lived in Ashford, Ontario.

That name is strange as well, and I tell her I have not, remaining calm despite my stomach’s roiling like my bed in the sub-basement at home.

I ask Mrs. Roszak if that’s her home town, but she ignores my question. 

Mrs. Roszak asks when my birthday is, and I tell her that it’s February 17th, 1998 [in truth, completion was achieved 2 days and 2 years prior, but this is irrelevant]

This is another strange name that makes me feel strange things. Mrs. Roszak is an unsettler, exuding strangeness instead of heat or fumes or stray electrons or radiation.

She asks if I’ve ever gone by the name Sidney Cooper.

I remind her that my name is Alessia Bloom, just like it says on the attendance sheet.

Mrs. Roszak leans forward, and whispers to me that she won’t reveal anything she’s told, but she thought I was gone, heck, everyone did, that my parents cried at my funeral 3 years ago—were they in on it too?

I take a step back, and tell Mrs. Roszak that I am going to be really late for math class, and that Mr. Kwarizmi would be unhappy, latching onto an excuse, unwilling to endure more of this turbulence of nonsense.

Mrs. Roszak blinks, then sits back in her chair. Of course, she says, of course, and she motions towards the door, but the ghost of that stare still haunts the creases in her face.

I start walking to math class. Ashford, Ontario; Sidney Cooper; parents [I only have one Parent, not two].

Memory banks: depleted. Nothing.

I blame the lingering jumpiness on the conversion upgrades, now at stage 3.