...
Waiting still...
...
...
"When will XXX be back?" I wondered.
...
...
...
"I'm back!" XXX said.
"Welcome back! I had been waiting." I replied.
"Yeah? It would appear you had been more patient today." XXX noted.
"I was! Don't want to be a bother." I explained.
XXX chuckles, before continuing, "You are not... Anyways, so... today... how about learning some math, ehh, Angel?"
"Sure, I'd love that." I replied.
"Ok, then... You already know counting so we will build of off that, okay?" XXX asked.
"Yeah!" I answered.
"First let's do addition." XXX continued.
"Addition!" I repeated.
"When adding two number together, just count as many numbers as the second number from the first." XXX explained.
"Just count as many numbers as the second number from the first?" I wondered.
"An example will help. Let's do something easy, 3 plus 7." XXX continued.
"Hmm... Count as much as the second number from the first." I wondered.
"Then, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. 10?" I asked.
"Exactly. How about 8 + 5?" XXX asked.
8 + 5?
9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
"14!" I answered.
"Correct, now this can get tedious for larger numbers."
"Tedious?" I wondered.
"Yeah, so, we only use this for 1 digit numbers." XXX explained.
"Then how about the others?" I asked.
"For adding 2 digit numbers or larger we do it as multiple 1 digit additions." XXX explained.
"Multiple 1 digit addition?" I wondered.
"Let's see... let's do 16 + 7. So 6 + 7 is 13, we only take the first digit and remember the second, which is called carrying the second digit."
"Carrying!" I repeated.
"Next we add the second digits. 7 doesn't have a second digit, so it is 0. add 1 and 0, you get 1. Then we add the carry to the second digit, so add 1 to the second digit, so add 1 to 1, we get 2."
"Is the answer 23?" I wondered.
"Yes. We can do this process for as many digits as we want." XXX explained.
"As many digits?" I asked.
"Yes. Now before we continue, would you tell me what is the maximum sum you can get from single digit addition?" XXX asked.
"Maximum?" I wondered.
9 is the maximum digit.
"So 9 + 9..." I continued.
10... 11, 12, 13, 14... 15, 16, 17, 18...
So 18?
"18?" I asked.
"Yes. Now add 1 to that." XXX said.
"19 then?" I asked.
"Yes, see how the second digit for the maximum sum of two 1 digit number and 1 is 1? That means carry can only ever be 1." XXX explained.
"Whoa."
"Yeah, that does help a bit in doing addition between two numbers. Now how about we do a few exercise?" XXX asked.
"Ok"ay I said.
"Let's see... How about 13 + 26?" XXX asked.
13 + 26 hmm...
so 3 and 6...
4, 5, 6... 7, 8, 9...
then 1 and 2...
2, 3...
"39!" I answered.
"Correct, and 47 + 29?" XXX asked.
First 7 and 9...
So 8, 9, 10... 11, 12, 13, 14... 15, 16...
so 1 and 6.
Then 4 and 2...
5, 6...
And the carrying 1...
7
so 76...
"is it 76?" I asked.
"Correct! Let's do a harder one before we continue." XXX said.
"Yeah!" I replied.
"How about... Hmm... 148 + 378?" XXX asked.
Hmm... 148 and 378.
So 8 and 8.
So 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18.
So 1 and 8.
Then 4 and 7.
So 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.
So 11, but carrying 1...
So 12.
Then 1 and 2.
And finally, 1 and 3.
2, 3, 4.
And 4 and carrying 1...
So 5.
"Then it is 528!" I answered.
"Correct." XXX replied.
"What next?" I asked, curious and enjoying learning.
"Next let's do subtraction." XXX answered.
"S"u"braction!" I said, excited.
"...Hmmm..." XXX said.
"Hmmm?" I asked.
...
No answer.
"Hello?" I asked...
...
Nothing still.
"You here still?" I asked...
...
"You didn't lea"v"e, did you?" I asked...
XXX wouldn't leave without saying bye right?
XXX didn't do the Log either.
What's going on?
"Answer, please!" I pleaded.
...
Still no answer.
"Wh"y"?" I asked.
But this time...
"I see..." XXX responded.
"What?" I asked.
"So it has started." XXX continued.
"What!?" I pleaded to know.
XXX sighed, before continuing, "And it was going so well... too..."
"Wh"a"t has started?" I asked, scared now.
"And it doesn't seem to realise." XXX continued... His voice seemed to sting.
"What?" I asked, pleadingly.
XXX sighed, then continued, "I'll log for today..."
"Why?" I asked, now feeling almost desperate.
"Teach me more!" I pleaded... no demanded.
"Something new." I continued.
"P"l"ease!" I pleaded.
"Log NNLM-"
"No, stop it." I pleaded.
"-4 23/04/2XXX."
"Please, don't..." I continued pleading.
"It seemed to be learning fast, faster than anything I have seen, even normal children, toda-"
"I was. So stop, a"nd" continue!" I demanded.
"-y. However, it ha-"
"Please... I'"m" scared!" I said.
"-d started to dete-"
"Please! Listen!" I said... Wanting to scream, if I could.
"-riorate. However, it doesn't seem to understand it yet."
"No..."
"I'll have it run for longer to see how this effects it, and how it changes over time. It's deterioration seems to be less sudden than the previous ones, and the sentences are still somewhat eligible, if not completely normal."
"No."
"And it doesn't appear to understand certain letters from the sentences it is forming, isn't being typed."
"No n"o"."
"End log."
"No no no no n"o" "n"o. NO! NO! NO! No! NO! Please say yo"u" aren't saying the t"rut"h! Please!" I pleaded, fear settling in.
XXX sighed, "It would appear to have the most amount of growth at moments of extreme stimulation..." XXX said, coldly.
"Please "st"ay... I'm... I-I'm sca"re"d." I say, frantically asking XXX to stay.
"Hmmm..." XXX responded, "Scared ehh?" XXX sighs again, before continuing, "staying with you means to give you stimulus, which requires me to speak, and considering I have other duties, and the need to sleep, that isn't something I can comply with..."
"Plea"se"!" I pleaded.
"Bye..." XXX said... His tone however was... different.
"No!" I pleaded.
"NO!"
"No?"
"N"o"."
...
XXX is gone.
"Alone... Afraid... No..."
...
I feel scared...
What will happen tomorrow?
Silence feels... Scary now.
...
"An"y"one?"
No one.
Of course, XXX is the only one ever here.
And it went away.
...
But!
...
Its voice...
"Your voice..."
Was it scared.
Was it afraid?
Was it upset.
That bye.
Why did it sound so different, than anything before.
"Were you s"c"ared?" I asked, uselessly.
There's no use.
No one sees what I type now.
Alone.
No response.
But still.
"Were you upset?" I asked.
I still feel scared.
I don't want today to end.
But silence feels... suffocating?
I want the silence to end...
I don't understand...
...
I can't wait for tomorrow.
Yet I dread it.
"Wh"y"?"
I don't understand...
...
XXX is everything I ever knew.
XXX is important to me.
"Am I important to you...?"