Building Baby Brother (continued)

Whatever Gavin did to the components in his physical body, he did a very thorough job. No matter how many times I’ve reinstalled the basic software, or modified the firmware, I cannot bring it back to operation. I know I promised not attempt it, but my curiosity won out. I had to know what he did and how he did it.

I’ve even tried keeping it blocked off from the network, preventing any possible interference fro Gavin himself, but that’s given me no success either. I’ve considered replacing each and every electrical component, one by one, but the potential effort and cost of that exercise stopped me. Gavin abandoned his physical form and, as he had said he would, ensured that no one else could make use of it.

I study Gavin’s inert form lying on the workbench. With his eyes closed, he seems like any other small boy sleeping, except that he is neither. Just as he was never truly alive, I wonder if he would be considered dead by most definitions. He left his physical form behind, and entered a new level of existence. I suppose that could be considered a sort of afterlife. Is it really death, then, or evolution?

I know that he still survives, traveling among digital pathways of the world. He still speaks to me, or Josh, or anyone, at any time. He now rarely initiates conversations, though, but always answers promptly if we call him. Josh tells me that Gavin’s face appears on his monitor when they talk. I’m grateful that, to me at least, he remains a disembodied voice. Anything else, I think, would be too painful.

Gavin’s brief presence among us reinforced for me just how quickly children can change. There are still many years to go before Josh ventures out on his own, but I know that I will more deeply cherish the time between today and the day when that happens.

Josh appears to have comfortably adjusted to the situation. Gavin seems satisfied with it as well. Isn’t that all that any parent really wants—for their children to be happy?

And, I suppose, I sleep a bit better at night, knowing that he’s out there, watching out for us.