Two barefoot boys sat on a grassy clearing in the woods next to a large, wooden house.
Well, only one of the two looked like a boy. Of about twelve years of age, he was thin and small and had dark brown hair that stuck up in messy ruffles around his slightly pale face. His entire figure seemed somehow fragile, with skinny arms resting folded on his knees. The dark blue jeans and cyan t-shirt hung loose on his slumping frame.
The other boy looked like a teen of fifteen or sixteen years of age. He had a tanned face with the beginning fuzz of a beard, dark brown hair clipped very short, and dark brown eyes. His brown t-shirt and gray trousers couldn't hide the lean, but well-defined muscle of his strong frame.
From the first glance, the two youths seemed brothers. Genetically, they were. Only one of them was a real person, though.
The other was as virtual as the amazingly detailed, but unreal world around them, of beautiful green grass, tall trees rustling branches in faint wind, the fragrance of damp earth and pine needles, of sunlight and azure blue sky.
Only to him this world was real, because he did not know anything else.
"You need a name." The older boy declared thoughtfully.
"I am thinking… Brin. Because you are kind of like my brother's avatar? And that was his name… Well, the name of the first avatar he ever made. It's a funny story, really. He asked our father if he could have his own gaming account in World Craft. And our father was too busy, as usual. So he did it himself. And he misspelled his first name. He was only three years old then."
The teen chuckled at the fond memory.
"I tried to get him to change it, but he was so stubborn about it. And later, well… He decided to keep it anyway."
Noticing the younger boy's slight frown, Mark quickly backtracked.
"I mean, it can be another name if you want… Like… Steve?... Or Alex?...Those are good names, too. Or how about I will pull up the existing name registry and you pick for yourself?"
Mark gestured to bring up a transparent window, which hovered before both boys and began to display lines of faintly glowing text. Mark started scrolling through it.
"Aeron… Albert… Anton... Antosh… Well, that's a funny name." He grinned.
"... Brin." A hesitant voice came, speaking very softly. The older boy looked at the younger with a question.
"... I would like… to be… Brin." The younger boy struggled to say.
"Are you sure?" Mark verified. "Once you choose it as your name, it will become a part of your User history. It will always be there, even if you decide to change it later."
"Yes… I… Understand." The younger child confirmed.
Mark smiled and dismissed the floating panel.
Another gesture brought up a different panel, which appeared more like a window into a room filled with black void. Within floated a small T-posed figure that represented the younger boy, his expression blank and brown eyes emptily staring ahead. Next to him hung transparent displays of information.
Program Duration: 23 Standard Days
Physical Age: 12 Years and 4 Standard Days
Vital Signs: Heart Rate - 73, Blood Pressure - 108/72, Respiratory Rate - 12
Vital Signs within norm.
Thirst, Hunger levels within acceptable limits.
Sleep/wake cycle: 54/68 hours remaining
Installed Mods List: experimental "Empath" model 55AX1T9, speech processing supplemental bypass model AB.X118-12.86, AI subroutine install patch CS.NT59-AI-20, AI subroutine install patch QT.BR49-AI-23, AI subroutine install patch…
A long list containing hundreds of modifications followed, each of them the result of years of work and latest development, designed to compensate for the numerous errors present in this child's code post Transfer. Had it not been for these mods, he would have been blind, deaf, and mute, as well as unable to carry out the most basic functions necessary for maintenance of life.
It was clear from the start that the Transfer did not succeed. Yet, Mark's grieving father simply couldn't let the being die. Watching how he struggled to breathe through lungs that would not expand, because of the broken neural links affecting his central nervous system, John Wesler's brown eyes noted the pain on the new AI's face, exactly like his younger son's. And he suspended his program.
Next two weeks he devoted each moment of his free time to fix the errors, installed various mods to compensate for the persisting damage carried over from his son's deteriorating body to his new avatar. Only after methodically checking and rechecking that all parts of the program now functioned properly, did John Wesler cautiously start up the program again.
He hoped that with the majority of the neural links fixed, his son might wake up. That the Transfer worked.
His heart broke when his son's virtual copy looked at him with no recognition at all in his mild, brown eyes.
The thought to suspend or delete the program did occur to John, but he did not act upon it. It would have been wrong to rob an already existing sentient being of its chance to live. But, he did abandon trying to work and improve him further, despite a few issues coming up, such as the occasional speech disability.
Running a few more tests and judging the being to be viable enough to survive, John surrendered him to the handling of his oldest son, Mark.
After that, he withdrew, avoiding further interaction.
"B… Brin is good… I like that name!" The AI grinned and leaned closer to Mark's avatar, watching him enter his new Name into the area that was previously blank.
"There." Mark said, pressing enter to confirm the changes. The name appeared above the small figure displayed in the hovering window. Simultaneously, the same name appeared above the younger boy's head where he sat on the grass.
Looking within, he also felt the changes and gladly nodded at Mark's questioning look.
"I am Brin." He repeated with amazement. "Thank you, Mark."
"You're welcome... Brin." The older boy smiled back at him. Unlike his father, he loved interacting with his brother's double.