the head scientist turned at footsteps, attention leaving the porygon-2’s script. she blinked at the babysitter, not having expected one. after her initial meeting with young eris, she’d been under the impression that the child was simply given free roam of the submarine at all times.

she wasn’t sure what she thought about it. certainly, she figured, it wasn’t a bad idea to keep a set of eyes on her. eris was, perhaps, too smart for her own good.

”eris,” she greeted plainly.

the laptop was powered on, and lulu waited patiently, sipping her coffee and idly watching the process. once the porygon had appeared on the screen, she leaned down to get a better view of it.

”i’ll be damned,” she remarked. ”impressive work, eris.”

after a moment of watching, gauging the smoothness of its movements and actions, she looked at eris again.

”will you show me its code? i’d like to compare it with one of my own.”

Eris Halla

☉

she bent at the hip, lowering a little to get a better look at the screen at eris’ level. for some time, she was quiet, remarkably quick with code but wanting to take in each note, each detail, and fully absorb all of it.

in the end, things made more sense than they had before. she wasn’t quite there. there was still something missing that made it different than the originals—but her problem-solving shined in what clever deviations she was able to applicate.

”marvelous.”

as long as the framework was solid, smoothness could come later.

she looked down at eris.

”i’m curious. what do you make of porygon-z, eris?”

Eris Halla

☉

an individual or free will was something which had, until recent technological and scientifical advances, been an element exclusive to the natural world. here was an AI impossibly programmed to the brink of autonomy (more or less), but to lulu, its erratic movements and twitching around were stark reminders that the code was wrong. most importantly, and perhaps most frustratingly, was that in its wrongness, the code was unfinished. unresolved. without answers.

unacceptable.

”oh, much more than that.” whether this was fact or speculation hardly mattered to her. she believed. ”porygon, as you know, has the unique ability to travel between cyberspace and our three-dimensional world. its upgrade was intended for outer space exploration—but it was clearly just the second phase in a project with a much more substantial goal.” her energy seemed to shift a hair towards feverishness. ”its latest software was intended to enable it to pass through other dimensions. to other universes, realities...”

such a wonderful creation, which had gone in a terrific direction. porygon still was, perhaps, the greatest human success in space travel—just not the kind typically talked about.

”it’s a real shame that no one’s invented a patch for it yet.” lulu reasoned to guess someone, somewhere, probably had and just not said anything. like the military, maybe. or dr. holo. she would continue her own attempts.

”why don’t you give it a try? i could lend you this one.” her hand gestured to the glitching mess in question.

Eris Halla

☉

lulu watched the child’s eyes light up with interest and recognition. it gave her… hope? no, that wasn’t it…

”very good.”

at her questions, the scientist nodded.

”yes, and i’ll continue looking for the answers, of course. pryde and i are quite busy with a number of projects,” like exodus, ”but he is privy to the work.”

in fact, the porygon studies were only one component to a much larger project. there were still a number of things she still had yet to reach to Raphael Pryde for. something that would soon change, as she moved much of her research on-board.

eris’ theory echoed some of her own. however, she had not before thought of porygon-z’s potential to track down the report’s source inter-dimensionally. smart.

with a small smile, she nodded.

”i would say that’s a genius idea, eris, granted we’re able to successfully patch it.”

Eris Halla

☉

lulu watched, impressed by eris’ skillfulness as usual. if fostered and taken seriously, she saw the possibility of it benefiting them all greatly. it could also go terribly wrong.

”keep trying. if not today, then whenever.”

the porygon-z would be made available to her.

her question revived old curiosities and those still persisting in her research.

”there’s an upgrade for the original. it’s fairly easy to perform, but depending on what you’re using it for, sometimes it’s better to keep the earlier version.”

she stared at the mysterious problem.

”as for porygon-z, i’m not sure. if i knew, i imagine we'd have a better idea of how to move forward.” if only she’d been able to get more out of FERNANDO SILPH before (she guessed) things had gone to shit. 

Eris Halla

☉

a sludge monster? like a muk, maybe? but how?

”interesting.” she made a note to discuss it with Kano Iyona .

”evolutions are reversible, yes. just like there are stones that activate evolution for some, there are de-evolution stones. they’re quite rare and sought after." everyone wanted their puppy back.

she watched as eris revealed her unown report. she had warned others. Cillian Quinn , Martín del Mar , THEO BECKETT . for at the child, she held her tongue, for she had more faith in her than any of the other three to manage the device competently.

with a nod, she agreed.

”why not? have at it.”

she observed.

Eris Halla

☉