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Now. What if Gardenview never closed? What if Dandicus had never lashed out and caused the incident that made the museum shut down in the first place? Well. Everyone would be happy, of course! And… well, except maybe for two toons.
Vee inevitably had to get an update.
The day before it, she was chatting with Shelly while organizing some boxes. . . Which was quite strange because this time she was talking a whole lot more and her tone was shaky, unlike her usual calm "it is what it is" demeanor.
"What're you so scared about?" Shelly hummed, dusting her hands of and turning back just in time to see Vee tugging at her antennas. Vee's cooling system was kicked on. She took a moment to think about her answer.
"I'm not sure. Just a bit worried it won't be me after that upgrade," her voice was staticky. Shelly felt a pang of empathy, hesitantly making her way over. Vee nearly jumped at the sudden contact on her shoulder.
"It's okay, Vee! Just a update and—who knows? Maybe you'll get faster with better extendable limbs and thermal vision! That'd be cool! Lots of dinosaurs had thermal visions… some reptiles have them today!"
Vee relaxed at Shelly's attempt in cheering her up. She brushed Shelly's hands off, "I appreciate it, Shelly. Though… I still can't help but wonder if I'll just be replaced," her light flickered, dimming. "I wish I could say I'm not just a machine because… I think I'm not but … Delilah might say otherwise."
Shelly found it hard to even imagine Delilah being cold-hearted enough to blatantly replace Vee with another. "Pfftt— Delilah would never do that! You are more than your code. To replace a living being would be far too cruel!"
Vee seemed to untense, even if it was barely noticable.
Shelly gave her a cheeky grin.
Well. Vee got her update. She was wittier, more analytical, observant, responsible, emotionally intelligent, all the good traits a parent would want influenced on their children. She was a big hit after her update. A lot of toons that disliked her began to tolerate her.
Shelly should be happy. Vee became… 'better!' Got that annoying update stress over with! … but she couldn't help but feel as if her every twitch, word, movement, was scripted and mechanical.
She was 'flawless' and that was a flaw itself. She didn't want a perfect version of Vee, she wanted the Vee who could be charismatic yet awkward. The Vee who sometimes didn't think her words through and would then have to make an overcomplicated apology that sounds back-handed unintentionally even when she proofread it again and again.
At the end of the day. Vee was imperfect. Alive. Not just a machine for entertainment. That's what made Shelly fell for her in the first place. The fact that something mechanical can be so alive and riddled with flaws… oh how she regretted keeping her feelings shut.
That "thing" in Vee's hardware isn't her, and if she could turn back time; she would tell her everything without a second thought.
She couldn't help but grieve for someone that was still technically alive. Her throat tightened at the thought of the old Vee and each time it always ended with her on the brink of tears. So she tried avoiding Vee as much as she could.
She was in her museum, dusting off a dinosaur replica fossil , peacefully minding her own business because VeeV2 came waltzing in.
"Shelly!" Vee chirped, "How you doing?" She smiled, not giving Shelly time to answer. "I need an extra pair of arms in the warehouse, just some simple boxes. We don't talk a lot and I want to know more about you so… wanna help and chat?"
Shelly looked at her blankly. This 'thing' had Vee's metal. It had her face. However the behavior was all wrong. It's more like Poppy in a Vee suit. It's not her Vee.
Oh she must've be staring for a bit.
"…sure." She muttered hesitantly, getting up and cracking her back. She wasn't sure why she didn't rejected the offer immediately. Guess she just wanted to pretend this was Vee for a bit to fill in that empty space.
"Perfect! C'mon!" Vee took Shelly's wrist. Didn't ask. Just took it roughly. Not gently nor tender.
It's infuriating seeing it pretend to be Vee.
On the way there, it asked endless questions. Shelly answered them half-heartedly. Tired. Regretting her decision on accepting.
Vee honestly did not know what she was doing wrong. According to her data the two were pretty close friends! They had an entire episode based on their past and future dynamic! She was usually the person Vee would go to to organize some boxes so…
Why does she look so stiff around her?
She doesn't want to be near her. Unlike the other toons. When she should be the one closer. Is Vee presenting herself wrong? Speaking too out of tune? Is she not perfect yet? How much more should she change? Ehhh she'll think about it later.
Shelly's eyes were quite reddish. As if she had cried. Must've been a while though. However, this begs the question, what is she crying about? She can't have her crying, no way! She's gotta find out but—
… well she can't exactly focus.
Shelly's too beautiful in this lighting.
"…we're here?" Shelly's voice snapped Vee out of her trance.
Vee laughed, "Right! Sorry, I was too distracted in our conversation to notice!" She turned the knob, coming in first.
"…you were quiet for quite a bit," Shelly mumbled, though Vee didn't hear. She just went inside.
Vee immediately began with the boxes… what was that thought from earlier? That's not something one should think about friends. Wait she should explain what they're doing!
"…uhm.. just move these… to the small room there, uh. It's cleaning day so… the custodian is gonna … just mop this area," Vee's voice was uncertain for the first time since she had gotten her upgrade. . . TALKING JUST MADE THE ENTIRE SITUATION WORSE!
Shelly tilted her head. "Okay?" She snorted a bit at how nervous Vee's tone was. It was familiar. That was nice.
As Shelly walked away to place the boxes in the room, Vee tugged on one of her antennas. "What's wrong with me…" she grumbled before finally taking in a deep breath to steady herself. She didn't need to breath she just felt like pretending she was taking in a deep breath like toons and humans.
She'll search up whatever this was later.
After a consultant with… well, herself since she's probably the most knowledgeable toon around… Vee eventually decided that she displayed signs of attraction towards the ammonite. So obviously she should start making those scripts in her head! Things will go according to plan!
Recently Vee has been really adamant on bothering Shelly.. right now, the poor ammonite is hiding behind a box, holding her breath as if she even breathed too loud she would get impaled before she could even blink. Usually, Shelly liked getting attention from anybody willing to be around her, but seeing Vee's face just felt wrong. She couldn't stop thinking of Vee before her update… okay maybe it's safe outside now. She peeked out. No signs of the green T.V in sight. She let out a relieved sigh.
Vee appeared right beside her.
This never used to happen before. Vee's footsteps used to be too loud and her light far too obvious to sneak up on someone like this.
Oh, right. This isn't Vee.
"Shelly! I've been looking for you!" Vee patted Shelly on her head. "For a second there I thought you were hiding from me!"
"Yea…haha," Shelly strained her laughter. "…so what do you need?"
"Oh!" Vee bluescreened for a moment. "Well, wanna hang out?"
"Seriously?"
"Mhm!"
"You've been jumpscaring me for three days just to… alright!" Shelly couldn't help but think 'Vee would've never done that.' She should stop thinking about the past… maybe it's still Vee.
So. A few days passed. Vee initiated most of their interactions (to Shelly's dismay) and eventually concluded that her statistics of being accepted if she confessed was high enough.
It wasn't.
"I'm sorry," Shelly's voice seemed to echo in Vee's head. "You're not my Vee."
Version 2 tilted her head, buffering a bit before speaking, "I'm… I'm Vee though? I remember memories— the data," she tumbled over her words, stepping closer towards Shelly. Her antennaes were drooped and her face display was pitiful with wide eyes. "I'm still me. Why are you talking as if I got replaced by someone entirely new?"
Shelly swallowed, her eyes darting everywhere but Vee's face. No matter how much she tried convincing herself that 'Vee just got an update. She didn't get replaced,' her gut said otherwise. She couldn't stop that nagging thought. "Vee… I…"
Liar.
It's a liar.
That thing just has Vee's metal drooped over its endoskeleton.
It's not her.
…'fuck. I'm a horrible person,' Shelly thought in her head. She thought she'd love Vee no matter what even when she knew Vee would've never felt the same. Yet now, this 'Vee' claims otherwise. Her words were stuck in her throat. She should say anything. Her silence probably hurts more.
"You're just a machine," she muttered, trying to convince herself more than reject Vee gently. "You can't… you're not alive."
"…what?" Vee's voice crackled.
"Can you tell me you're alive and not a machine. Just tell me that."
"I… am a toon."
"Tell me you're alive and not a machine."
Vee's system wouldn't let her say that. The words stayed stuck in her vocal cords because saying it would be a lie. Lying isn't allowed.
"I'm sorry." Vee's voice was quiet, her head drooping. Shelly nodded in resignation, turning her back on Vee.
"It's… okay," Shelly nodded, biting her tongue a bit. "Don't apologize. There's no need to." Her voice was soft.
Her mouth quivered a bit, "I'll be in my museum," she mumbled, heading for the exit. She wanted to bolt out, but she kept a steady pace.
Then, metal fingers grabbed her wrist. It was firm but soft enough so if Shelly wanted to pull free, she could do it with ease. Vee's cooling system was kicked into overdrive considering how loud it was. "…please," her voice was soft but kept its robotic tone. Her eyes darted around, as if trying (or pretending) to find the correct words to say.
She let out a shaky sigh, holding Shelly's wrist with both of her hands now. "Accept my version of love."
As much as Shelly would love to give in, she knew better; Vee was just a machine. Robots couldn't feel. Sure she might've thought otherwise in the past, but it was the past. Yet she couldn't help but feel her heart throb at how forlorn Vee looked.
"I'm just a machine. I know that. I'm sorry." Vee didn't bother displaying anything on her screen at this point. "But could you treat me as if I'm more than my code for just a few days?"
"…"
"I see the way you look at me." Her grip tightened at bit, "Your gaze is always hard… judgemental—but I couldn't figure out why. Though now I have a guess," she flipped Shelly's hand over, comparing her metal hands to warm ones. "I wish you'd would look at me like how you used to in the past."
Vee's body was shaking. If she could cry, she would. Perhaps this is her way of sobbing or something. Shelly used her free hand to pat Vee's back. It seemed like she needed it anyways. Vee caved in and leaned her head on the ammonite's shoulder.
"…I'm sorry if this comes across as guilttripping," Vee whispered, wrapping her hands around Shelly.
"It's fine."
If the original Vee was deleted, but her files were copy and pasted into another robot that's more advanced; would it still be her or another robot with a similar coding?