Kai.

I looked around for any sign of Kelly, but there was no one here. I was alone this time. The area around where I stood looked different too. Sand had blown in and collected in corners and around some of the rocks – an odd thing to happen since the beach was far below me. I stepped up to the edge of the cliff and looked back down to the shore. The flourishing forest of my memory was now just a decimated region of dead and dying trees, and most of the beach had appeared to have washed away too. Something had gone awry, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was.

Struggling to understand, I walked back to the door of the casino, prepared to return to my regular life and never think of this place again. However, as I opened the door, I caught a reflection of a shiny object in the distance behind me. I turned around and atop a pile of rocks was the observation platform Kelly had shown me. The binocular telescope was still mounted on the edge. Intrigued, I let go of the door and started walking back to the platform. I was careful as I climbed the rocks, but eventually I made it to the top. I immediately noticed where the telescope had rusted in place, forever pointing out to sea. The curious explorer that I was, I stepped up and once again placed my eyes into the viewfinder. When the stubborn thing finally focused, all I could see was my own reflection. It was upside-down and slightly blurry, but it definitely was me on the platform looking back at myself.

Suddenly, I heard someone shout, “No-o-o-o!!!,” and before I knew it, a hand had grabbed my coat and pulled me backwards. As I fell to the ground, I looked up in time to see Cliff Brooks lose his balance and stumble over the side. I reached out to grab him, but it was too late. This was the man by whom I was awestruck when he came to the casino, a fellow novelist who had given up on his goal and convinced me to do the same. Why was I trying to save him from stopping me again? I wasn’t sure, but I failed to do so, and as a result he succumbed to an unfortunate demise.

“Damn it, I tried to catch him!” I exclaimed to myself. “Why couldn’t I? Why did he have to go and try to stop me like that?”

“You wanted him to prevent you from continuing,” answered a mysterious voice.

I looked behind me, and in a shadowy hole I saw two glowing eyes staring back at me. I dropped to the ground and pushed myself away in fear, almost falling over the side myself. “Who are you?” I demanded with phony assertion.

“You do not remember me, do you Evan?” The thing stood up and walked toward me and into the light. It looked like giant mechanical cross between a man and a dog. The creature had sleek, slick body armor covering every square inch of its frame except for robotic joints and servos that looked like they were left intentionally exposed. If it indeed was a robot, it was none like I had ever seen. This was more like something out of a futuristic sci-fi T.V. show.

“You probably are not aware of our first encounter,” he told me. “I was much different then.”

“Our first encounter?”

“In the garage of my master; you were with four others.”

What he was describing was starting to sound eerily familiar, like another part of my story. “Phocus?” I asked.

“Phocus. Yes, he was my builder and creator. Now do you remember?”

I knew instantly who it must’ve been. “Chimera.”

“Yes, I am Chimera, only now I refer to myself as Kai. I am an upgraded version of my former incarnation.”

“What happened to Phocus?” I inquired.

“Like all things, he became obsolete. My earliest programming instructed me to disassemble him if that event ever occurred, and I was to augment myself with Phocus’ reusable components in order to evolve myself. In doing so, I have been endowed with his knowledge and history.”

“So…you’re Phocus?”

“No, but I believe I have his essence within my database. His soul live inside me, inside my neuromatrix.”

I was slightly confused. I remember characterizing Phocus as an artificial lifeform that believe he was a product of God, by way of being a creation of Man. I asked Kai about that aspect of his former master.

“Upon learning more about my own history, I learned more about Phocus’ as well,” he informed me. “Phocus was indeed built by a Human, and in turn possessed the knowledge required for constructing me. However, he never was aware of who originally programmed him. I was able to discover that information.”

He peaked my interest, and curiosity got the best of me. “So who was it that built him?” I asked.

“You did, Evan. Or rather, you will – eventually. It is apparent that you have no memory of creating Phocus’ original program. Since it does not seem you are involuntarily forgetting such a memory, I can only assume you have reverted to a point in your life before that event.”

Although he left me thoroughly confused, I listened to Kai’s words carefully, treating the experience like it wasn’t actually happening. However, every sensory perception I was having told me it was. Kai was real, or at least I convinced myself he was for the purposes of asking him to reveal even more information.

“So what point is this, anyway?”

“It is important to continue your journey. I have come back to convince you.”

“Convince me to do what? Finish my story?”

“It is vital th4t y0u d0 s0…” Kai began to say, but an electronic slurring noise prevented him from communicating clearly. We both quickly began to notice that he was fading in and out of existence, or at least what my mind was substituting for existence. “Y0u…must…m4k3…4…d3c1s10n. 1…1mpl0r3…y0u…t0…g0…0n…” he said.

Kai sat back down and started tweaking various internal components of his until he was in sync once again. I could sense my concern for him was beginning to show.

“What if I don’t finish it?” I asked him.

“It will haunt you for the rest of your life. This project may chase you, and at times it may consume you, but for your sake…f1n1sh 1t…”

Shortly thereafter, Kai began fading away again. This time though, he was unable to stop himself from disappearing completely. “I’ll finish it!” I shouted, just as he vanished into thin air, possibly to return to the time in my mind from which he came.

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