Champ Otter
patreon
Daily Free-Write September 18, 2022: Love-A-Bunch
🕑 Added 2022-09-19 07:03:41 +0000 UTCThere's one sad thing about toys. They're always bound to be more devoted to their owners than their owners are to them. Anyone who has a toy is bound to get bored and abandon it eventually, but a toy will never, ever forget its first owner. It's a little bit sad, but if you were to ask a toy, they would surely say that brief time of intense joy was worth it. And they would be satisfied with just that. But what happens when those toys decide enough is enough? When the owner comes back to the nursery and they decide that they aren't ready to to be forgotten again?
It was the question the fair citizens of Love a Bunch were pondering now, with the unexpected arrival of their old friend, Benjamin.
"He's here! He's here!" Baby Bear came running into the castle, where all the other bears were asleep. "Wake up, everyone! He's here!"
"Who's here?" said Grumpy Bear, rubbing his eyes.
"Benji!"
"Benji?!" Cheery Bear practically fell out of his bunk when he heard that name, and even Grumpy Bear's eyes took on a little of that old magic sparkle.
"He's here!"
"He's here!"
The room was instantly abuzz. Not for a moment did they doubt Baby's words, because no one would ever joke about such an important event.
Bears were bumping into each other and falling on their padded tushes as they ran around, practically beside themselves.
"Is my diaper on straight?"
"How is my fur?"
"Bears, bears!" said Softheart. "Get a hold of yourselves! We need a plan. Benjamin could be here any minute!"
"Plan? What's the plan?" The bears all wondered.
"We need to plan an adventure."
"An adventure, yes, yes!"
Everyone liked that idea. It had been so very long since their little friend Benji had visited. But they sensed him sure as day. The sensors had picked up his arrival in the nursery.
"How a trip though the scary swamp?" asked Scare Bear.
"No, no," said Happy Bear. "Everybody knows Benji's favorite place is Sunshine Meadows."
"That's too boring," said Grumpy Bear, crossing his arms. The room was a clamor of competing ideas, until Softheart spoke up.
"I've got it! I know just the thing..."
*****
Benjamin hadn't been home in a very long time. It wasn't for lack of trying. His parents had simply refused to speak to him ever since he told them the truth about who he was.
"Just when I thought I had gotten over them, part of my life, they have to go and do a thing like this," he said, putting the car in park. He looked at the home. His childhood home, empty now.
He had told the lawyers to just liquidate everything, but that just wasn't how it worked. He had to go in person for some stupid reason, and look over the property at least once before giving his handshake and signature.
A woman in a pencil-skirt and a blouse was there to meet him when he rang the doorbell.
"Hey, there! Thanks for coming."
"Let's just get this over with," said Benjamin, frowning.
The woman, named Molly, scratched the side of her head and looked down.
"I know, it's a big inconvenience to come out all this way. We'll have you out of here in no time."
And true to her word, they went from room to room quite quickly. Benjamin kept expecting to find memories of him in the house. Some possession. A picture. Anything. Bitterly, he saw that they had erased all traces of his existence from their lives. That is, until they got to the nursery.
"This is..." He stepped in, enchanted. "It's all here... they haven't changed a thing..."
"That's good," said Molly. "Shall we go on to the next room?"
"Not yet," said Benjamin. "I... I need a moment."
"Of course," she said. "I'll be outside when you're ready."
Benjamin didn't even respond as she stepped outside, smiling to herself. There was always one," she thought.
Benjamin was enthralled. They had kept everything. Everything from... from before. He picked up his teddy bear from the bed.
"Stuffles... I remember you..." He looked over to the toy chest. "Oh! The train tracks!"
His childhood hadn't been all bad. This was a happy place with happy, joyful memories. Benjamin smiled as he looked around. That's when he saw it.
"I can't believe it! My first haptic VR set. I'll bet it still has that old account on it as well. I wonder if it still works..." It flashed in his hands, and his eyes lit up.
"It does! And it's loaded up with all those old games as well! I wonder if... Ah, what the heck. I'll give it one last look before I have to say goodbye."
*****
"Hello? Anyone there?" Benjamin had jacked into Love-A-Bunch, his favorite program from back in the day. He had expected to drop right into the hall of happiness with the 'Love-A-Bunch Bears' themselves. Instead, he found himself engulfed in a white fog. He was sure that his favorite program was more colorful than thi. These old games had been a bit more creative, though - and the older AI was a bit more human. Maybe they were hiding. Maybe it was a game!
"Oof!" Benjamin said, as he felt a hug against his waist and heard a crinkle. He looked down. As the fog cleared, he saw a familiar friend, though they weren't quite as big as he remembered them.
"Benjamin! Thank goodness you're here!" came Cheery Bear's familiar voice. "After all these year's I never thought I'd see you again..."
"It's been a long time," said Ben, looking at the adorably diapered bear. "It's good to see you."
He saw more bears waddling over now. "And you too Softheart! And you, Sunshine! And even you, Grumpy."
"Even me, he says," said Grumpy crossing his arms but still smiling.
"Wait a second. Can this really be Benji?" asked Softheart. "He's so big!"
"Yeah! What gives?" asked Grumpy bear, tilting his head. "Why aren't you wearing your playsuit, or... oh my gosh, you're not even diapered!"
"Oh, this just won't do," said Softheart, shaking his head.
"Friends! Friends!" said Benjamin. "It's allright. I am bigger now. Because I'm a grown-up."
"What?! That's impossible!" said Grumpy Bear.
"It's the truth," said Ben.
"Why didn't you ever visit?" asked Cheer, looking a little sad.
"Well, it's a long story," said Benjamin, scratching the back of his head. He realized he was getting in a little too deep. This was the danger of old AI. These days most programs had emotional limiters to keep the user from getting too hooked in, as well as the AI.
"Well, it doesn't matter now, Benji," said Softheart. "What matters is that you're here, now, and you're just in time too!"
This was Smart Bear's cue, but Ben cut in.
"I won't be here long. I just wanted to see my favorite program one last time."
"Oh, but you have to stay," said Softheart. "Tell him, Smart Bear!"
Benjamin looked over to a small bear wearing glasses and smiled sympathetically.
"Oh, it's terrible, Benjamin. The witch of Apathy is planning to take all the love from Love A Bunch! We need your help to-"
"Nope, sorry, no time," said Benjamin, pushing away Cheery bear. "I've got no time to play with baby bears."
"What do you mean? You've got to!" said Grumpy bear, stomping his foot. "You've been gone so long!!"
"Yeah!" said the others, and there was a general cacophony of unsatisfied voices. Ben crossed his arms and shook his head.
"I'm sorry, but you're not real. None of this is real. You're a simulation, a child's plaything, nothing more." The bears looked at each other. This wasn't what they had planned at all!
"But you used to love our adventures!" said Softheard, finally.
"But I was a baby back then. I'm all grown now. It's not enough for me anymore."
"But why aren't we enough?" Grumpy said with a pout.
"I'm a grown man. I've got things to do, people to see. I don't have time to play with you all."
"Oh, please, please, please!" they all said.
Benjamin sighed. Against his better judgment, he decided to make a compromise.
"I'll tell you what. There are some things I have to take care of first, but I can take you with me so I can visit you later. Does that work?"
Reluctantly, the bears agreed, though they weren't happy. On the other hand, there was a silver lining.
"Don't worry, it'll give us something to look forward to!" said Cheery Bear, putting on a smile for everyone once Ben was gone. "We'll have more time to prepare the bestest welcome ever for our friend Ben!"
"Yeah!"
"All right!"
Cheer's enthusiastic outlook animated the bears, and they set to work.
*****
Benjamin jacked out of the game. He couldn't believe it was still here. He thought all the old AI games had been destroyed years ago, but here was his old game just as he had left it. He would have to figure out a way to sneak it out. These things were contraband at this point - all thanks to the AI Regulation Authority. But what harm could one little kid's game really do? He stuffed it inside an old tote bag along with Stuffles, his teddy, a couple story books and a few other favorites.
"Found some things you want to keep?" asked Molly, as he stepped out of the nursery.
"A lot, actually," said Ben. "But there's only so much I can carry."
"You know, we can always have it shipped-"
"That's quite alright," he said, shaking his head. His happy glow was already fading, as he found himself back in his present reality, far removed from those happy days. Molly saw it and felt sorry for him. "Let's just get this over with."
"Alright," said Molly, and she showed him the rest of the house. A signature later, it was all done, and he said goodbye to the last vestige of his past life. Well, except for what he had put in his bag.
Ben looked over to the passenger's seat as he started the car. It was a little island of color in the otherwise grey interior of his vehicle. He smiled, feeling a little warm inside, and drove off to the hotel where he was staying.
Meanwhile, the bears were hard at work, making changes here and there. They weren't just gussying up the Love-A-Bunch kingdom, they were linking up to his wireless systems - and installing a few overrides as well.
Molly got a message on her phone before Benjamin even made it onto the highway. It directed her to ship the whole nursery to his current address.
"Huh!" she said with a smile. "I guess he wanted to keep it after all. That's a nice surprise. I thought for sure he was going to be another grump."
She happily typed some notes onto her tablet, signing over the items to be omitted from the liquidation process and to be sent straight away. They would be there waiting when he got home, along with a few other fun changes.
*****
Finally back in his hotel room, Benjamin sat on his bed, looking at the illicit headset. He knew he really shouldn't get to attached to it - it was highly illegal to have, and the soonr he got rid of it, the better. Still, he had made a promise. And he wasn't one to break a promise.
No, he had to remember that they weren't real! He looked down at his teddy, who seemed to be silently judging him.
"Come on, Stuffles, don't be like that." He shook his head and sighed. "You're right. A promise is a promise."
Despite how silly it felt to argue with a stuffed bear, he pushed past all that. He closed the curtains. He locked the door. Finally, he put on the headset.
