Lucas went to the terminal to see if there was a way to reverse the program. Despite being the machine's creator, he was a bit fuzzy on the software controlling it. Shortcuts had been taken and most of it was cobbled together from repurposed pieces of other programs.
Quickly he realized that while the system could back up and save what had existed before reality is changed, it had not been set to do so. There was no way to restore Daniel, Doll Zero is all that remained. As he thought about this, Lucas had trouble remembering who Doll Zero had been. Memories of Daniel were fading away, being replaced by ones of having a sentient Doll as an assistant and companion. Reality was healing the damage done by the machine, erasing all traces of a person who had never existed.
As he worked he noticed an active process that was taking an inordinate amount of system resources. Opening its settings he saw:
Cascade Repetitions: NULL
First Iteration Processing Time: 15 minutes, 10 Seconds
Efficiency Gain Per Cascade: 1%
Cascade Subject Selection: Proximity
Current Iteration Processing Time: 14 minutes, 56 seconds
Time Remaining: 3 minutes, 37 seconds.
Cold fear filled Lucas' stomach. With repetitions undefined, it was going to repeat infinitely. With every cycle, breaching reality became easier, letting it cycle ever faster. Doing quick math, in an hour there would be 5 fox Dolls. In twelve hours there would be 65. In twenty four hours, 307 fox Dolls. At hour 25 the exponential curve would go vertical, starting the hour with 500 Dolls and converting all of humanity before the hour was up. The machine had many safety mechanisms to prevent it from shutting off or failing mid change, as that would potentially destabilize space-time.
Time Remaining: 3 minutes, 11 seconds.
He realized that selection by Proximity means it would pick the nearest person to the previous transformation - in this case he would be next. He had just over three minutes to avoid David's fate. Or had it been Dalton? Daniel? Lucas realized it was too late, even in his memories there was only Doll Zero now.
He couldn't stop the machine, especially not with the time remaining. The risk was far too great, reality itself could tear if it shutdown in an uncontrolled manner. He got to work, trying to set up a backup file of himself to restore after it transformed him. Lucas quickly ran into problems, the system couldn't back up everything in time. He quick set it to copy his personality and as much of his memories as he could. Without spending any time to check his work, he started the backup running.
Time Remaining: 1 minute, 33 seconds.
'Doll Zero!' Lucas turned to the frozen figure behind him.
'Yes Owner, what may I do for you?' Doll Zero said in its soft and feminine voice.
'I created a personality backup file. As soon as the device transforms me, load the personality file into the Doll i become.'
'Your wish is my command.' Doll Zero walked over to the console.
Lucas watch the doll cross the room. Despite its smooth and featureless crotch, everything about it screamed female. Its ample chest, while devoid of nipples, formed the shape of two melon size breasts which did not bounce or sag as it walked. A narrow waist and wide hips completed the hourglass figure. Its head was smooth and streamlined, lacking even any attempts to show hair or other texture. While made of hollow plastic, its body had full range of motion and some softness to it. There were no seams or articulation to ruin its smooth sleek form. Doll Zero's digitigrade legs added extra bounce to its walk and feminine sway, the large tail swaying like a pendulum with every long legged stride.
The Doll daintily tapped the keyboard with white rubber claws, and Lucas could see white rubber paw pads on its palms and fingers.
Time Remaining: 1 second.
White hot terror filled him.