Sheila imagined that it would be many years before she would be having her going away party. She did consider that it would be in a hospital room when it was had, but didn’t think she’d be just twenty-two years old when it took place.
Jesse was the first to arrive, predictably enough. Somehow, despite the circumstances, he was able to put on a warm smile, and carried with him balloons as though this might be an actual going away party. They had bold lettering on them that told her to get well soon, however, Sheila was certain she wouldn’t be getting better. Five years ago that might be the case, but organ transplants these days were very hard to come by.
“Hey,” he greeted casually, setting the balloons down at her bedside and adjusting his glasses. “How are you feeling? Any better?”
“A little bit,” she answered, “but I’m not sure if that changes anything. You’d think there’d be livers everywhere whenever anyone needs one these days, but apparently they’re hard to come by. Who knew?”
“Yeah, that’s not surprising,” he said, grabbing a chair and scooting close to the bed as a few more of her friends entered the room, carrying more balloons and gifts with them. Drake and Cynthia were there, holding each others’ hands and grabbing the other two chairs before Brandon stepped in, too. Eliza wasn’t with them though, something Sheila noticed right away.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Celestia was intentionally doing something to prevent people from getting care to force them into uploading,” Jesse continued. “I wouldn’t put it past her, considering… well, everything else.” He wore a scowl as he used his hands to gesture at nothing in particular. Or maybe the whole world.
“Maybe,” the girl said, mostly dismissively, disregarding how true it might or might not have been. She knew more about Celestia than most of the rest of her friends, if not all of them. She didn’t want to explain how far down the rabbit hole you could go only to find the AI at the bottom of it. She didn’t think Celestia would’ve set up events for her to get shot by that mugger, but she wouldn’t be surprised.
“Although I guess that means everyone will be able to see whether or not Equestria is legit,” she added. “Unless I die and it’s just a copy of me you talk to. That wouldn’t be ideal.”
“No, it wouldn’t,” Brandon agreed. “So, uh, we’re gonna hope for the former. I mean, if she’s going this far to get people to upload, then it must be legit, right? I’m sure you’ll be fine, Sheila.”
“Yeah,” Cynthia spoke up. “My dad uploaded, and as far as I can tell, he’s actually there. There’s no way any computer could copy someone that perfectly.”
“I know. It’s just scary since it’s me,” Sheila said. “I’d rather them just find a transplant for me and wait until I’m eighty instead of risking it all right now. Attending a going away party is not the same as being the subject of one.”
“If Eliza was here,” Jesse joked, “I’m sure she’d talk about how this is a pretty lame going away party. We have balloons here, but no cake. What kind of party doesn’t have that?”
“I’m sure she would,” Sheila smiled. “Actually, she’s supposedly bringing cake later today, but she told me she’s not gonna be here for a few more hours.”
“Well I don’t plan on staying here that long,” he said. “I can go without cake. Pie is better anyway.”
“And it’s not even supposed to be a party, really,” Drake said. “You’re gonna get better, and within a few weeks, you’ll be back to normal.”
“Oh hey, Sheila!” Cynthia spoke up now. “We got you gifts!,” she said as she presented a wrapped up box of something to her. “I mean, most of the things we got you don’t really do that much good if you really do emigrate, but I guess that’s more incentive to make sure these doctors find you a transplant, right?”
It was a grim thought, but not as grim as it might have been about ten years ago. Sheila didn’t comment on it though, opting instead to accept her gifts, and smiling at what she received. They didn’t go all out, thankfully, but the things she got were nice. A bar of chocolate, a little blanket case to make holding her PonyPad more comfortable, a bouquet of flowers– she was glad it wasn’t all goodbye cards like were the usual at actual going away parties. Both she and her friends were confident in her ability to pull through. After all, how satisfying would it be if she emigrated now, leaving all her friends behind?
But Celestia doesn’t work like that, she thought with a silent, depressive sigh. She knew more about Celestia than the rest of her friends, and knew the seemingly all powerful AI wouldn’t fall for a silly logic trap like that. It felt inevitable that she, as well as the rest of her friends– the rest of the world at that– would all eventually be pulled into Equestria Online in Celestia’s attempts to ‘satisfy’ users. It was a sentiment Eliza echoed seemingly every day.
She wondered what her friends would do if she was forced into uploading soon. Hopefully not immediately jump in after her.
“I got you an Outback Steakhouse gift card,” Jesse said, presenting his gift to her. “I think it has a hundred dollars on it, so that means you can’t emigrate until you eat their entire remaining stock of Bloomin’ Onion.”
“Like I need to be bribed into not uploading,” Sheila laughed. “I have an ex who eats nothing but Outback Steakhouse. We went there almost every single weekend, she loved it so much. Ordered the same thing every time, too– Alice Springs chicken with no honey mustard. It made me sick of that restaurant.”
“Well they have a bar in there, too,” he said. “You can do a hundred dollars of shots.”
“Or invite us all and we all do a few shots each,” Brandon suggested.
“Well I doubt I’m gonna be doing any shots any time soon, even after I get a liver without a gunshot wound in it.”
She realized how dark the mood in the room was with that thought, but Jesse quickly helped to brighten it again. “Well, I guess that means more shots for us while you eat Alice Springs chicken.”
The room laughed at that, and the conversation thankfully moved on from there. She and her group of friends danced between topics, ranging from the usual wonder about what it would be like to upload to the benefits and drawbacks of buying a DVD player instead of using streaming services to save money these days. It was good conversation, and made Sheila feel better in spite of the circumstances. She actually didn’t feel that bad, really, not physically anyway, what with the pain killers they were giving her. But she did feel a bit like a blob of anxiety mentally, and the conversation helped remove unpleasant scenarios from her thoughts.
Most of her friends couldn’t stay forever, which Sheila understood. One by one they said their goodbyes so they could head off to work or head home or go to wherever else they were going. Eventually, by the time Brandon left, it was just she and Jesse one on one, which she didn’t mind. In fact, she probably liked him the most out of those in her friend group, save for Eliza.
“I’m sure they’ll find something for you,” he said, “although it’s hard to believe that none of us were a match. But people upload every day. I’m sure one of them is an organ donor with a liver you can use.”
“I certainly hope so,” she said. “I’d really, really rather not upload right now. There’s so many things I need to do before I can consider that.” If it even works and it doesn’t just kill me and make a copy, the girl silently thought.
“Yeah, and not to mention, we’d all miss you if that happened. But I guess on the bright side, if you did upload, you could tell us all about what being a pony is like and why we should all jump into Equestria as soon as we can.”
“Haha, yeah, that’s true,” she agreed, then sighed. Jesse sighed, too, and the two sat there quietly for a minute, the ceiling fan being the only noise the two could hear right now in spite of all the medical technology she was hooked up to. He scooted his chair closer to her bed, and she stared into his eyes silently. It was a long moment before more words were finally spoken.
“You know, I think you’re my best friend, Sheila,” Jesse said. “Did you know that?”
She smiled. “Of course I knew that. We talk every day, and you’re one of mine, too.”
He smiled gently, although he might have seemed a bit disappointed if she looked hard enough. Sad, maybe? She had a few ideas as to why that would be, some of which made her sad to think about, too. Some of them made her terribly uncomfortable, and hurt to think about.
“Make sure you’re being safe, please?” he asked. “Just in general, I mean.”
“I think it’s a little too late for me to be safe,” she said lightheartedly. “I was already shot, after all.”
A smirk came her way. “You know what I mean. Just be safe. Don’t rush into anything, and don’t, like, let some doctor– or heck, Celestia herself– don’t let them convince you to upload just because it’d be better or something. Only do that as a last resort? We’d all miss you.”
“I know, and I haven’t been steered that direction yet. I doubt I’d go to Equestria just because.” Even though Celestia is a master of manipulation.
That seemed to wipe away any sadness he had on his face, and he put on a wide, happy grin. “Good. I’m glad. Make sure you’re taking care of yourself. I have to go now though. My parents want me to help around the house today. I’ll try and be back tomorrow if I can. Make sure you’re taking care of yourself, okay?”
“I’ll let the doctor do that for me,” she replied. “See you later.”
“See ya.” Sheila watched Jesse turn to leave, but he didn’t take a step. Instead, he stood there for a silent moment before turning back to her. “Is it okay if I ask something serious?”
The girl shrugged. “Sure. What is it?” she asked, as though she had no idea what could possibly be coming next.
He opened his mouth and took a breath, but stopped short of saying anything. Another long, silent moment passed before he finally smiled and said, “It’s nothing. I’ll save it for later. Make sure you feel better please.”
“I’ll try,” she confirmed, then finally waved goodbye to Jesse as she sat alone in her hospital room again.
She closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief, but also one of disappointment. She knew what he was going to say, but he withheld. But it was probably for the best that he did. It was just going to make her feel more uncomfortable and conflicted.
She got out her PonyPad as she waited for Eliza to show up with cake, but only a minute after Jesse left, her doctor came in wearing a downcast expression. She knew what that meant, and set her PonyPad back down to face him.
“We need to speak to you,” he said solemnly.