Glitch Girl

A week later, Janet called Henry and asked him to come to the company office to pick up "Maria" and get the documents. Inside the building, in the hall, Henry saw a woman standing next to a man in a suit who was holding a large black cube with a small switched-off monitor on it. "Hello, Henry, my name is Janet. I am responsible for designing your daughter's virtual personality," the worker smiled. "Good afternoon, Janet. Nice to meet you. What is this object?" Mr. Hunter asked in surprise, pointing to the black cube. "This is a computer that contains Maria's digital mind. You will be able to see her through this monitor, but at home you can connect this computer to another one and thus see her on another monitor." Henry nodded understandingly, and then asked: "Oh, okay. Can I talk to her now?" Ms. Harper thought for a moment, but then answered: "Yes, of course. Just not for too long. It's best to plug the computer into a power outlet because the digital mind uses a lot of electricity. The battery will last for a while." Janet pressed the button on the cube and the screen showed an image of a white-haired girl inside a blue room. "Maria, it's so nice to see you again," Henry said happily. "They told me you didn't look quite like you used to, but... it's okay, I... I still love you!" Honidesu woke up and looked at the man. She smiled at him and said in a soft, gentle voice: "I'm so glad to see you again, daddy!" Henry smiled widely and leaned towards the monitor. He wanted to hug the girl, but he could only put his hand on the screen. "I missed you so much, daughter!" Honi felt strange, but there was no point in arguing because that was what the situation required. So she just kept smiling. "Hello, Maria," Janet said and walked into Honi's line of sight. "Hello, Aunt Janet!" "Hello, hello! Today we'll go get the documents, and then you'll finally live with Henry." "Okay..." Honidesu said thoughtfully. They got into the company car and went to the passport office. Janet, Henry and the man with the cube entered a large old building with many booths. They took a ticket and waited for their turn, which came almost immediately, because a special department was created to issue documents to digital personalities, specializing in this. "The documents of the deceased, please," the woman from the booth said. Mr. Hunter quickly took out all of Maria's documents: birth certificate, passport, death certificate and others. Janet and Henry were sitting on chairs next to the booth. The man with the cube was standing nearby. "Show Maria, please," the passport office employee said. "Yes, okay," Henry answered and turned on the screen. The worker saw the girl on the other side of the screen and looked down at the documents to compare her with the photo. "Can you remove the makeup?" the woman asked. Janet and Honidesu tensed. "Unfortunately I can't..." Janet answered, confused. "Um, well..." "Maria" was confused. "It's a tattoo, I can't remove it." The worker raised her eyebrows. Henry did the same. "Okay then," the woman in the booth sighed. She gave Henry the digitalization certificate to sign. After that, they were given a new passport in the name of Maria Hunter, where instead of a studio photo there was a screenshot and an electronic signature. There they also changed Henry's passport so that he could become a father to "Maria" again. After a long day at the passport office, Henry and "Maria" finally returned home. Henry placed the cube on the table next to his computer and connected them with a wire so that he could see the girl through the monitor screen. After a few minutes of waiting, the app launched. "Well, we're finally home. Are you tired?" "Um, yeah, I guess..." the virtual girl scratched her head. In fact, she didn't feel tired, she just felt a little awkward. "Your room is not bad!" Henry smiled. "Th-thank you, dad..." the girl was embarrassed again. "How are you feeling? I mean... now you have a different life and... I wonder how you feel?" "Everything is fine... well, almost... I feel a little weird... I want to go to the real world, is that okay?" "Yeah, of course, I wish you were here too... I'm sorry that it turned out this way, I should have prevented it... You're still so young, forgive me..." There was a small awkward pause. Behind Henry, Honi noticed a photograph hanging on the wall, which depicted Henry himself, little Maria and another woman. For some reason, Honidesu felt a tightness inside her chest, she felt sad. "Is this probably her mother? Where is she now? Is he all alone?" the girl suddenly thought with unexpected tenderness towards this man. She felt sorry for him to the point of tears: he looked so lonely... Henry noticed how the girl was looking around the room and sometimes casting a sad glance at the photo behind him, and decided to interrupt her thoughts: "Do you remember how in the 5th grade you fought with your classmate, who was bigger and stronger than you? This boy always made fun of you. Do you remember how you fought with him and then the school principal was called?" Honidesu was embarrassed by such a question, because she did not remember anything like that, but she nodded. "Y-yeah..." "Ha-ha-ha, you were always so brave! Oh, do you want me to bring you a book with your favorite stories and we can read them together?" "W-that would be great...." Honi answered awkwardly. "Then I'll bring it now!" Henry happily said, leaving the room. The girl continued to look at the room, she noticed how the walnut sofa looked good against the turquoise wall. The fluffy coffee-colored carpet in the room tied the interior concept well. There was a large window on the left, letting in the setting sun. The room felt warm and cozy. "This place gives me pleasant emotions, as if I've spent many years here... maybe I'm not pretending? No! I know for sure that I am Honidesu! But what if I'm wrong..." A moment later, Henry returned with a book in his hand and sat down on the chair opposite the window. The man looked at Honi with a smile on his face: "So, my dear, what would you like to read?"  Henry began to list the options. Honidesu had a hard time choosing; the entire collection of stories was in the detective genre. She chose a story by Anna Williams, which was called "The Case of the Jewel Theft." Henry adjusted his glasses and began to read.  The story seemed very boring to Honi, which made the time go by very slowly. And Henry's soothing voice only added fuel to the fire, as a result of which she was periodically distracted, drawing funny cats in the Paint application. Suddenly Henry exclaimed: "All this time, behind the mask of millionaire Robert Gray, John was hiding - the thief who stole the jewels!" This made Honidesu shudder and feel uncomfortable. She thought that Henry guessed her true identity and thus accused her of deception. She plunged into thoughts about what could give her away. After a while, Mr. Hunter looked up and looked at the monitor, he saw a worried girl there, lost in her thoughts. "M-Maria?" "Huh?" Honi shuddered. "What's the matter, are you bored? You used to really like detective stories ..." Henry scratched the back of his head. "Oh ... I was just thinking a little. S-sorry, dad, maybe I'm just a little tired!" the girl tried to justify herself. "Hm... ok, I understand. I'll go make dinner for now," Henry said and left Honi alone. Honidesu quickly went online to find at least some information, but she didn't find any similar cases. "Nothing. I don't understand who I am anymore? Am I deceiving myself or... why do I feel so strange?" — Honi thought. The girl began to search deeper and found the following: "Depersonalization-derealization syndrome is a type of neurotic disorder in which a person periodically exhibits symptoms of depersonalization and derealization. Depersonalization is a feeling of loss of one's own "I", loss of connection with reality." "No... that's not it! Besides, I'm virtual, how can I understand loss of connection with reality?" — Honi looked at the text, puzzled. The girl began to think about what she was doing and what situation she found herself in: "What if I'm Maria, who simply lost her memory due to other conditions of personality formation? Will I become Maria again if I get my memory back? Or will I remain Honi, but with Maria's memories? I don't think I'm Maria... but if I'm really not her, do I have to live this lie every minute of my life?! Will he ever know the truth or will I stay here forever pretending to be someone else?"  Honi panicked, she was very scared: "If I tell him the truth, he will not understand me and our relationship will be broken forever!" Honidesu decided to turn on a playlist with her favorite songs, and the music filled the room. She closed her eyes and tried to relax. Just a few moments later, Honi felt better and forgot about the problem for a while. Soon Henry returned, he was very surprised, because he clearly remembered that Maria's favorite genre of music was different... "I see you're listening to a new genre of music this time," he said with a hint of curiosity. "You used to like boy bands, didn't you?" "Yeah, I thought I'd try something new!"  Honi was confused and thought to herself, "Boy bands, what are they? Oh no, I hope Henry doesn't get suspicious of me..." "That's great! I've never heard anything like that, but it sounds interesting," Henry smiled. The girl was almost confused, but it seemed that Henry didn't suspect anything, so she let out a calm sigh. "Phew, so I don't have to adapt. People's musical preferences can change..." - she thought with relief. "But I still have to get acquainted with this genre!" Honidesu took the time to listen to boy bands. She didn't like it. These saccharine lyrics about a guy's love for a girl did not impress her, and the music itself seemed boring compared to breakcore. She thought, "These love songs are all pretty much the same... Well, at least I've proven that my taste in music is very different from Maria's. It's time to turn on breakcore again then!" It was really hard for Honidesu to deal with Henry every day and pretend to be his daughter. There were some good moments, of course, when Henry would suggest playing some games together. Honi would forget for a moment that she was supposed to be Maria before reality hit her again. At one point, while playing, Henry said, "It's like I'm playing with a completely different person!" Oh, how that statement made the poor digital girl feel even more depressed. For her, these were the moments when she forgot that she was pretending. But then that illusion was quickly shattered by Henry's comment, forcing her to put on a smile and pretend to be Maria again. "I can't tell him! The fear of being discovered and having my identity erased still makes me anxious..." the girl thought. Honi felt trapped in her own thoughts and emotions. She tried to break down only when Henry left the room or when he went to work. Usually, in her free time, Honidesu tried to distract herself from bad thoughts by watching various TV series or listening to music on the Internet, but when Henry came, she had to respond to a different name again. Only 4 days had passed, but for her they dragged on very slowly. However, in addition to trying to distract herself, Honi did not waste time and collected information about the real world, she hoped to find a way to create a real body for herself and leave the virtual space. "I miss my real name..." the girl thought, "I still believe that my name is Honidesu, that I am a separate person with my own interests and thoughts! But sometimes I am tormented by doubts and this is very stressful. Henry... he is a very good and caring father, I feel some affection for him, but I don't feel like Maria at all! If I find a way to go out into the real world, then they definitely won't be able to erase me! At least according to human laws, I should be accepted as a person..." And so, another painful day of pretending to be someone else began. She wanted to be herself so much, she wanted to speak out! She continued to keep everything inside until the last minute, which could cause her emotions to get the better of her. "Do you want to talk about boys?" Henry hesitated. Honi was surprised, and then looked down. Judging by her look, she definitely didn't want to talk about it. "I don't see the point in this," she sighed. "But you are already a girl, Maria. Today you just turned 18..." "Why are you asking me about this? I'm just a piece of computer code now, even though it's unpleasant for me to realize it," the girl answered in a rude tone. "You know that, right?" "Yeah, I know, but you're still my daughter, even if you're virtual. That's why I thought we could talk... you know... you never know, you could find someone online..." "NO!!!" Honi got angry, but then her face became sad again. "Okay, fine..." Henry said worriedly. "Did something happen?" "N-no, s-sorry, I'm just not in the mood to-day..." her voice began to glitch for a moment. "Maria, are you sure you're okay?" "I-I... I just..." the girl's eyes started to water. Henry couldn't ignore it, he reached out to comfort her through the screen: "Hey, it's okay. You can tell me what's bothering you. I want to help you, whatever it is!" "Henry... I need to tell you something..." "What is it, Maria?" "I'm not really Maria..." "What? How did this happen? No... A-Are you saying that all this time..." "I don't know, but it's true. I'm not your daughter, Henry..." the girl could no longer hold back her tears. "I had to pretend!" "No, no, it can't be... Maria, what did I do wrong? I was so happy that you came back, and now you're telling me that you're not her?" Henry asked in confusion, his eyes full of disappointment mixed with fear. "What are you talking about?" "I'm so sorry. I know how much you loved your daughter... and I tried to be that person for you! But I'm not her and I never will be! If the company found out that I was acting differently, my personality would be erased..." "But then who are you if not Maria?!" he flared up, frowning. His hands began to tremble, he felt deceived. "I'm Honidesu. S-sorry... I just wanted to have my own consciousness! My own personality..." "Ah?!" Honi began to malfunction and her hands rested on the screen, the glitches were so strong that Henry saw her begin to crawl out of the screen. His eyes widened in shock. He stepped away from the computer, his mind struggling to accept this strange situation. "W-what are you doing? This must be some kind of hallucination?!" Henry said in fear, still backing away until he sat on the floor. Honidesu crawl almost completely out of the computer, her hands resting on the table, brushing against the keyboard. She looked up at the man with guilt: "Please forgive me, Henry..." Honi stood up. The girl's long white hair glistened in the bright sunlight, the light of which softly illuminated the room. "You... you're really here? You're not virtual anymore?" the man asked, still not believing his eyes. He looked at her with disbelief, as if expecting to wake up from a dream. But it wasn't a dream - she was really standing in front of him, real! "I have a cake in the kitchen... Since you're here, maybe you'd like to try it?" Henry said, still in shock. Honidesu looked at him questioningly, her voice trembling: "I..." Suddenly, someone knocked sharply on the door. Honi looked towards the corridor, her heart pounding as she gently clutched her chest. The girl felt different for the first time, everything in this world was different for her... "I went out into the real world? Did I really succeed?" she thought in surprise. Henry decided to get up and carefully walk towards the door. Honi only watched. The man opened the door - it was Janet who came in, they both entered the room where Honidesu was standing. Now they looked at each other in shock. "What... what's going on here?" Miss Harper asked nervously. "Janet!" Honi threw herself into the woman's arms in tears. "Forgive me! I can't... I can't be Maria... I told him everything..." "Everything's f-fine. I don't care who you're supposed to be technically, you're here. You're real. That's all that matters right now..." Henry sighed, although in his heart he was still having a hard time accepting the fact that she wasn't Maria. "W-what are we going to do now?" Janet asked, looking at Mr. Hunter. "It's Maria's, er, Honidesu's birthday today," Henry said, "maybe we should discuss it at the table?" Everyone agreed with this idea and went to the kitchen to think about the situation there. The kitchen was the second room that Honi had physically found herself in. The room was small - there was a square table and four chairs. On the walls were shelves with pots, pans, dishes and other kitchen utensils. Above the table was a large cabinet for storing food and utensils, and in the corner was a small antique gas stove. Despite the limited space, the room was well furnished and organized, indicating that it was used often. Henry and Honidesu sat opposite each other, and Janet sat next to them. Mr. Hunter served everyone a piece of cake and a cup of tea. The piece of cake lay attractively on the plate and attracted the girl's attention. She broke off a small piece of cake and put it in her mouth. Honi finally felt the taste of the food and it was unforgettable for her! She began to eat more slowly - she wanted to prolong the pleasure before swallowing the last piece... Janet broke the silence: "Honidesu became a real person. I've never encountered anything like that. I guess you should go to the office and find out what to do in a situation like this. Maybe they'll even give you a document saying that you now exist... physically? And since you said you're not Maria, you'll probably have to change your name in the documents..." Henry and Janet hadn't even imagined that Honi would be able to get a physical body, but the idea of ​​her becoming an independent person intrigued everyone. Henry nodded in agreement, and they all went to the company together to discuss getting documents for the girl. During the trip, Honi still doubted that she was ready to live with Henry. Yes, he was not a bad person, but it was hard for her to realize that she was someone else to him. The feeling of guilt prevented her from accepting this situation. While they were driving, she was silent, looking out the window at the falling snow and the city streets rushing past. Already in the company of Janet, Henry and Honi unexpectedly met a man. "Oh no! Director Neil! We'll have problems..." Miss Harper panicked. Neil could be described as an adult man with dark short hair, in a formal suit. His eyes were pure blue, his face at first did not express anything. When Neil saw them with Honi, his eyebrows sharply furrowed. Neil always knew about his clients, even if he was not in the company at that time. He immediately felt something was wrong, and he already had some guesses... "Could you come to my office?" Neil said calmly, his face became neutral again. "O-okay..." Janet answered, leading Henry and Honi. Suddenly, Neil stopped Honi: "Um, you better stay and wait for us in the hallway while my client and Miss Harper and I discuss something very important," he said, turning to the young girl, and then glanced at Janet. Honidesu felt a chill run down her spine when Neil addressed her. She nodded and sat down on the bench in the hallway. The girl felt fear, as if Neil already knew who she was, but how could he know that she would become real?