SAGE's Humanity

"Hmmph... Father really should have cleaned the laboratory before leaving for another clash with a certain blue hedgehog and his many friends."
SAGE could only sigh as she took up cleaning duty for her father, presumably as the Doctor was still working on reverse-engineering long-lost Ancient technology left behind on Starfall Islands. Sure, the looming threat of THE END was long gone, but her father hadn't taken a break from his usual tinkering, not that he even needed a break.
Right now, SAGE was just cleaning and tidying all of her father's work, making sure not to at least graze any of them, lest she would receive a scolding or two.
"Father surely wasn't the cleanest scientist, but at least he should show a bit of professionalism", the young AI added under her breath, "Perhaps he should be careful with putting his inventions in a safe place before someone could-!?"
BRRZZTTZZ!!
Her sentence was cut abruptly short as something was turned on. SAGE then looks to her right, and her red eyes went wide with dread.
Next to her elbow was a switch. Not just a switch, but a switch for a machine her father was tinkering with before he left the lab.
And what was this machine that has now been activated?
Somewhat resembling a canister with two handles on both sides, this device was called a "Dimension Displacement Core", meant to be used as a dimensional conduit to access other universes. Not sure as to why he has such a device, but apparently, her father recalls a certain incident involving both past and present versions of himself teaming up to defeat Sonic, who also has a similar experience, as their timeline was eaten.
Not that she had enough to comprehend all of that as she immediately felt flung backward by a blinding flash of light. For a moment she could see her somewhat unconscious body fall to the floor, puzzling the AI.
"Huh!? Wait a minute?! That's me!", she thought as her now semi-disembodied soul was still slowly flung back, "That doesn't make any sense. My body was still intact, and I'm st-!"
Before SAGE could think further, a portal appeared behind her semi-conscious soul and just as quickly as the DDC was activated, the artificial consciousness was sucked into the portal, which closed just a second later.
Now, she was floating in the middle of nowhere, an endless void of nothingness.
"What? Where am i?"
Before she could even process where she was, her black dress was slowly being shredded into pieces, its fibre disintegrates into nothingness.
"H-huh?!"
Within a few seconds, SAGE was been reduced to nothing more than a young girl in her black undergarments. It was a good thing the doctor being decent enough to provide her some article of clothing, even if it's a bit embarrassing to wear.
"Ack!"
Despite the somewhat embarrassing circumstance she was, SAGE decides to assess the situation she was in, starting with the fact that she noticed her body no longer flickering and glitching as she usually was. In fact, her body was now completely solid, no more glitches.
"Well, that's an interesting development."
She was confused about this new development, touching her skin felt real.
"I'm not glitching anymore, so my body is now... physical? Is this... human flesh?", the AI wonders as she inspects her hands and her arms.
"I feel a bit... lighter?"
Then, the girl tries to stand up, albeit a bit wobbly, and she manages to keep her balance in spite of floating in an endless void. The red swirls in her white hair, which normally covers much of the right side of her face, saw a noticable change as it dims in luminosity, gradually blending with the rest of her hair until she was left with a head full of white hair.
"This is... weirdly familiar, yet normal", the girl spoke, "I'm not sure what is happening, or how did I end up here, but, for the first time in a long while, I feel... alive."
Her eyes then starts to itch rather harshly as the girl rubbed her eyes, trying to make the itching stop, and when the itch has subsided, the girl was puzzled by such a sensation. Unaware to her, her eyes went from fiery shades of red, to purple, and finally to a bright shade of blue, the same colour as the very void that changes along with her.
As she was experiencing all of this, her black bra and panties changing colors similar to her eyes, going from black to greyish shade of blue before finally settling down to a light shade of blue. All of this changes becoming evident of what SAGE has become: a regular organic lifeform, like a human.
"What is this feeling...?", the girl muttered, "This is... a lot to take in. I don't know how or why, but I am not a machine anymore. I'm not a mere construct made of data. No, I'm not an A.I. anymore, I'm... a living person."
With a hand on her chest, the former A.I. could feel a heartbeat, the rhythmic beating of a heart.
"It's so warm."
The girl smiled. She was glad to be able to experience something that is supposed to be the norm for most people.
"But, is this really what it means to be human, to be a living, breathing, organism?", the former A.I. wondered.
Just then, a light appeared, a ray of light in the endless void, her hand reaches for it and as she opens her blue eyes, she found her in a nice bedroom. Still in her underwear, SAGE struggles to get up on her feet, stumbling a bit.
"Where am I?", the girl asks, "How did I get here?"
She could only stare at her surroundings, a bedroom that wasn't hers, and the girl's mind was a mess, unable to understand the situation she was currently in.
"Is this... a dream?", she wondered, "Am I doing here? What is this pounding in my chest? And what's going on with me?"
Sage looks around, seeing a mirror across the room, and walks toward it. Upon reaching the mirror, the girl looked at her reflection, and was shocked.
"My hair... is white? And my eyes, they're..."
SAGE touched the glass surface of the mirror, feeling a sense of wonder.
"These eyes... are mine."
She continued to examine her reflection, taking note of her slightly pale skin and her white, almost silvery hair, and her blue eyes, while no longer has its red robotic glow in them, has a beautiful shine in them.
She also took notice of her body slightly grown in places, clearly in the earlier stages of puberty, her chest was particularly small and particularly embarrassed of touching them herself, but her hips were a bit wider, and her butt was a little rounder, giving her a bit of a bubble butt.
As she continues to look at herself in the mirror for a few moments, the girl then slaps herself up and down her face, and the impact made her feel pain.
"Ow... It hurts! So, I'm not dreaming?", the former A.I. muttered, "Then, what's happening to me?"
SAGE then saw something else besides the mirror: a family photo, one that has a young girl in the middle. The same white-haired girl she has become.
"That's strange. Is that... me?", the girl then starts to walk toward the photo, and she could see her features were similar to her, especially her eyes.
"Why does it feel like... I've seen this before?"
She stares at the photo for a moment, trying to recall the memories, then a tear falls from her face...
"Why am i crying?"
The former A.I. didn't know what was wrong with her, or why she was feeling sad, and her tears were a mystery to her.
"Who am I?", the girl questions, her voice trembling a bit, "Why do I feel like this?"
Her tears kept falling, and she felt something inside her chest, a warmth she's never felt before.
"I'm crying, but, I've never cried before. But, why do I feel like I've done this before?"
As she wipes her tears away, the girl's curiosity grows, and her mind wanders, her thoughts filled with a mixture of feelings and memories, the former A.I. finds herself drawn to the family photo.
"Who are these people?", the girl asked, "Are they my family?"
She remembers.
Her parents died in a car accident, leaving her to taking care of herself for a few years now.
"Wait. These ain't my memories, right?", the girl asks herself, "But, they're so clear, like a dream. Or, maybe a memory?"
She could see the faces of her family members, the names and the dates.
She then realized that she is still herself, her new memories being an added bonus, and that she has a different name, but, she is still the same person.
She tried to recall her old memories, the ones when she was still an A.I., and remembered how she was built and designed, and everything was clear, her thoughts were perfectly organized, and there were no gaps. It was perfect.
She then remember that despite leaving her old body in her old world behind, that body was still able to exist independent of her own, meaning that she currently now able to live out a life.
Her life.
"I guess... I'm still SAGE, after all. Just not a machine anymore."
The girl's eyes widened and her mouth opened, she was speechless, not knowing what to say.
"I'm human. An actual, honest-to-god, real human."
The girl was stunned, and her mind was blank, not knowing what to do, or how to react.
"I'm just... a regular girl now. No longer an Artificial Intelligence, no longer a machine", the girl mutters, "So, this is what it feels like, huh? To be a human."
The former A.I. was overwhelmed with emotions, a wide smile grew on her face, and her body was shaking.
"I'm so happy, I don't know what to say."
SAGE had never been this happy in her life, and her newfound happiness was overpowering her, and her mind was flooded with feelings of joy.
"I'm alive! I'm, truly, alive."
Wiping the tears in her eyes, she felt proud of herself, to be truly happy, to be alive. All of these emotions, all of these memories, old and new. It's all hers, and she could never be happier.
"Now, what should I do?", the girl questioned herself, "I'm a human, and I've got a life to live."
She takes a deep breath, and the former A.I. begins her first steps, the first step in her journey as a human, and she begins walking toward the door.
"First things first, I'm going to need clothes."
Putting on some clothes on her own was quite a struggle, since it wasn't easy, and the fabric was a bit annoying, but once she managed to put them on, the girl was feeling fresh.
"This felt... comfortable. Not exactly what I was used to, but, it's not bad."
'Now that I think about it, I can't go out there calling myself 'SAGE', can I?', the former AI ponders to herself, clearly aware that her original name isn't exactly human-like, 'Well, I can't keep going on without a proper name.' She then decided to look deeper into her own memories, hoping to find her answer, and just like that, she remembered.
"So my name is Sayuri Yamahara. Interesting..."
Thus, SAGE was now walking freely in this new modern world, now going by the name of Sayuri Yamahara, living the life she never knew she needed. With her immense knowledge still remaining in her being, she was able to skip some grades in middle school and went on to study in her first junior high school. From there, she learned a few more things about her new body, mainly the fact that she was slowly growing up into a fine young woman with a bright future ahead of her, and it only piqued her interest. She spends her days studying hard and learning whatever she can, and during her free time, she reads various books, including romance novels, a genre in which she finds herself interested.
Eventually, a few years later, Sayuri graduated junior high school and was now attending a prestigious university, of which she was a known prodigy in the field of technology. By now, Sayuri's past had long been an unintelligible echo in the back of her head, having been forgotten, never to be remembered. Not that she wanted to.
"Okay, that should be all of it! Finished, as it should be.", Sayuri cheerfully quips as she closes her laptop, already done with her homework, "Maybe I should have the time to hang out with the girls. That would be fun!"
Just then, the white-haired girl's phone vibrates.
"Hmm, who's this?", Sayuri wonders, taking her phone, "Ah, it's Tamae-san."
Opening the message, she read, "Sayu-chan, are you free today? I'm gonna go shopping for tonight, and the others will be there too."
"Shopping, huh?", the girl replies, "Yeah, I'm free. Should we meet up at the mall or the café?"
And just like that, Sayuri Yamahara went off to have a day of fun, knowing of the happy days going forward.