Delta

Chapter Twenty-Five: Forgotten Memories (Part 1)

Okay, I'm getting out of here, I thought, not wanting to hang around with another potentially dangerous robot. 

"Wait! Please don't leave!" The robot pleaded as I turned to walk away. "I swear I'm not dangerous. In fact, I think I might even recognize you."

I paused. His voice was definitely more human than the other robots I had heard. It was male and sounded slightly child-like, but not in the creepy way that the other robot who had terrorized me earlier was.

Just go! It's probably going to try and kill you like everything else here!  My mind screamed at me. But for some reason, I kind of felt like this thing wasn't dangerous, like it had said. The way it talked, it sounded more human than the other robots I had encountered. Not only its voice, but what it had said. Begging me not to go. Maybe I had even heard desperation in its voice. None of the other robots, besides Amy and Lee, and I guess Elsa, had really had any emotion in their voices.

I slowly turned back around. "How do you recognize me?"

"I think-I think you were one of the kids in my group!" It said excitedly. "Yes, we were in the elevator together, and we talked!"

I was majorly confused. "Um, I don't think that's me."

"Of course you're older now. How old are you though? I'm not sure when they, well..."

He trailed off, and I was left trying to come up with an answer to his question.

"I guess I'm eighteen...or was when I was put into stasis. It's pretty complicated."

I tried not to think about how I was technically actually hundreds of years old, because it freaked me out. But I had been, preserved  I guess, when I was eighteen, so was that still my age? 

This is too weird, I thought, deciding not to put too much thought into it.

"So...who exactly are you?" I asked aloud. "And why do you know me?"

"I'm Jasper! We were friends in the, well, very brief  time we spent together. You remember me right?"

My mouth hung open dumbly as I struggled to find something to say. Why would I have been friends with a robot? He expected me to remember him?

"I uh, I don't exactly...remember. Anything," I quickly added, hoping I wasn't insulting the robot. Or Jasper, as he called himself. 

"What? What do you mean you don't remember anything?" He asked, sounding very confused, and a little hurt. Uh oh. "So you don't remember when we met, or what we had to do, or anyone else?"

"I think I had my memories wiped," I explained, completely baffled. Did this mean that Jasper knew something about me? Did he have answers about my past?

"Oh. Interesting. That's too bad. I just...have been sitting here for such an utterly long time, all alone, and I was so excited when you came in, because I recognized you. But I guess if you don't remember anything, then that's not really your fault."

An awkward silence stretched out between us as I struggled to find something to say.

"Um, no offense but, what exactly are you?" I asked. "Maybe if you tell me a little about our past, then I will remember you."

"Well, I guess this actually works out really well, considering what I can do," he said. "But I have a few questions first. Do you really not remember anything at all? Not even your name?"

I shook my head. "Absolutely nothing. I go by Reagan though." A thought suddenly occurred to me. "Wait, do you know my actual name?"

"Yeah! It's-well, maybe I'll just wait to show you."