And one!" Edward's disembodied voice called out. Cyril's eyes were wide and childish joy burned in them. A large white wolf, the size of a lion, and fur pure as clouds towered before her. Beautifully crafted amethyst eyes stared unblinking forward. After her father had finished his count down, the wolf's head slid silently down to hers. The wolf bowed with a knightly grace before it returned, then it laid down on before her. Its head held up as if it awaited its new master's commands.
She finally had a pet!
"Say hello to your new friend!" Her father laughed. "It's a learning AI that's mainly here to help keep you right." That was an understatement. Humans were designed to go long periods of nothing, which was the state their VR technology was at.
Edward looked down at the screen were a finely crafted model of his daughter stood as she clung to the wolf's fur. The collision boxes and graphics had been fine-tuned, but her world was still just some pretty meadow that was only half a mile in diameter. Devoid of life, and human interaction aside from talking to disembodied voices, Cyril was slowly going insane inside that world. They were in the process of developing more VR capsules for him and her mother, but in the meantime, he had his company "Comendeer" an AI from one of their sub-companies that worked for the military.
He had them repurpose a copy of one of their smart AIs to be a welfare monitor, and friend, for his daughter. He hoped it would help lighten her days from now one.
"Hello!" Cyril beamed, that small nine-year-old model was vastly different from the husk that laid in the VR Pod in front of him.
His hands gripped the edge of the console, his hands turning white. His eyes stuck on his daughter's real body in front of him as she clung to the wolf and touched his fur. She could only register pressure, and yet, she seemed so happy about it. It pained him. A primal rage grew inside when he thought about how he failed to protect her. A failure he would never let happen again. He finally tore his eyes from his sweet little caged bird, and turned to the doctor.
"Do you think this will be enough?" Edward asked.
"It will have to be." She said. "For now at least. I still stand by my recommendation to have either you or Mrs. Bailey here to talk with her. I don't know if its the lack of physical human contact or parental love, but we don't have any historical data to go off of. Your daughter is the first human to live within a virtual world. We can only move forward by trial and error."
"So I give her a damn virtual puppy?" He sneered in his heart, more at himself. He blamed himself for this. Every day he relived what happened. To his daughter. To his wife. Why was he the only one spared from harm... He restrained the rage as he let go of the screen. Cyril's innocent and joy filled the room once again as she tried to teach the wolf how to fetch. She had been asking him for a puppy that year too...
"You're doing all you can do." The doctor said as she pitied the poor man. "I'll say it straight, you're the only rich parent I've seen try and turn the world on its head to get their daughter back because of how much you love her. Most of the time, its because they don't want to be embarrassed, or put caps on their care. Some times, they just open up foundations. If you need something to be proud of, be proud of that."
"I don't need too," Edward said as he stepped away from the screen. "That girl... She is my pride and joy. My reason to live. My purpose." The microphone had already been muted, so she couldn't hear their conversation. He only watched her try and teach a computer how to act like a dog. She even got on her hands and knees to teach her how to bark. Of course, the program already knew all that. He chuckled to himself.
"I see." The doctor said no more. There was nothing to add. The pain was as clear as the rising sun. The old man's face gaunt and tired, as a few tears streamed down his face.
"I'll name you Fenrir!" Cyril exclaimed. "Yeah! Just like that wolf god Jax keeps going on about! Dad said you're going to be my best friend forever and you'll never hurt me! I'll hold you to that!" She laughed as she tried to play with its paws, only for the wolf to prance around her playfully.
"That's a stupid name," Edward said as a tired smile bloomed on his face.
"Not very creative." The doctor commented as well. "But regardless, Fenrir is apart of this place now." She turned to the newly added console that sat beside her VR pod. It was rugged and modeled to fit right into a military base. A status screen above it displayed the AI's designation. "Guardian SAI IV". The name then disappeared, replaced with its new name. "Fenrir".
"You're going to be my best friend, but you can't replace Jax. Dad said when the new pods come, Jax will get to play and you can't hurt him either! He's my best friend too!" Cyril began to prattle off about the boy she liked. A child of one of his friends.
"I should have gotten her that puppy..." Edward broke down. Old and worn, it couldn't keep it together anymore.
For his regrets.
His failures.
His heart lived in a virtual cage.
Out of his reach...
Out of his touch...
Out of this world...
"If she gets out... I'll get her every fucking puppy in the world..." Edward whispered as he seemed to grow smaller before the doctor's eyes.