Upgrading (Challenge No.18 winner)

TheDisciplinarian, March 16, 2013; 23:42 / FB 9702
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Upgrading

"All right, little guy. Time to wake up."
>You press the power button on your Fluffy desktop tower.
>...
>Nothing.
>You press it again.
>Still nothing.
"Son of a..."
>You slap the furry tower in the side, hoping a bit of negative reinforcement will make it wake its lazy ass up.
>Still nothing!
>Thing doesn't even cheep to let you know it's POST-ed properly.
>Son of a bitch. Probably a problem with the Mummehboard.

>The fluffy computer tower has a face on the front but no legs.
>You chose blue because everyone knows Blue fluffies go faster.
>Laying it on its side, you pop its side open and pull it up.
>Jesus fuck, when was the last time you cleaned this thing?
>Picking up a can of air, you blast some of the dust bunnies from its innards.
>Holy shit, cotton fluffs!
>You grab them out the air and give them a squeeze.
>Don't need them reproducing in your walls.

>You check all the connections inside the computer.
>The brainy thing is asleep, the look-good processor is asleep. Everything inside your fluffy computer is asleep.
>You press the power button again and again but the damn thing won't POST.
>Reaching inside, you flick each little component.
"Nu...wan sweepies..." says the brainy thing.
"Gu 'way...nu wan' wendah Wowwd uv Tankies..." says the look-good processor.
"Nu mowe speshah-huggies pickshas..." whisper your two storage-fluffs, snuggling together in their little cubicle.
"Plbbbbttt...ppllbbbtt..." snores the power-octofluff, its many limbs giving juice to the other components.
>Sitting back on your knees, you rub a hand over your face.
"Goddammit...looks like I've gotta dig her out again."

"Wh...wha? Whewe fwuffy? How wong been sweepies?"
>You have an ancient Flufftop in your lap.
>Her fluff is showing signs of greying and her eyes blink lazily from their place just above the keyboard.
>Your dad got her as a present for you about eight years ago.
>She'd been bubbly and vivacious back then, fast as could be and eager to help.
>But years and years of low-level gaming, internet use, and constant drive rewrites have worn her down.
>Her power fluffy won't even keep her going when not plugged in. Five minutes unplugged and she's dead asleep.
>She takes forever to load to desktop, the whole time staring up at you with milky eyes.
"Daddeh? Daddeh pway wif fwuffy 'gain?"
>She asks hopefully, smiling up at you.
>You sigh and shake your head.
"No games, sweetie. The big fluffy has owwies again."
"Oh...otay, fwuffy hewp..."
>She sighs and dutifully loads up FireFluff, your Internet Browser.
>Ever since your built your own gaming fluffy, you've used her less and less.
>Ultimately she was relegated to being a glorified troubleshooter for your gaming fluffy.
>At first she cried and begged you to pay her more attention.
>But eventually she was just happy to be used at all.

>After a few hours, you're at your wits end.
>Nothing seems to be working. Sometimes you can get it to POST, but then it just hangs on the startup screen.
>After dithering for a while, you hook up to NewFoal and begin to order some new fluffy components.
>You'll need a new Mummehboard, that much is for certain.
>And since there are new connectors these days, a new Storage Fluffy.
>Probably gonna need to back-up your content onto a FlashRunt.
>You'll keep the Look-Good Processor. He's still a good fluffy.
>Definitely gonna need a new brainy thing; he wouldn't fit on the new Mummehboard.
>Wait, aren't you forgetting something.
>Ah, that's right. WAM. Definitely need a few WAM fluffs.
>8 gbs oughta do.
>Total all that up and it's $480. Not too bad.

>Sighing you lean back, your Flufftop still on your lap.
>She's purring along as best she can. Programs are slow to load, and when you try to minimize or maximize you can hear her straining.
"Hnnnn...hnnn...f-fwuffy do dis...fwuffy c-can du dis...fo' daddeh..."
>You pet her screen and tell her she's a good fluffy.
>She really is. She's doing the best she can.
>You reach up and rub your head.
>You could really use a good movie right about now...
>Wait a second.
>Pulling a TV tray over, you set her down on top of it.
"Wha' Daddeh doin'?"
"We're gonna watch a movie, sweetie."
"...w-weawwy?"
>You can see her beginning to tear up, smiling big.
"Weawwy watch moobie? Wike we used'ta?"
>You smile, picking up your copy of Wreck-It Ralph.
"Sure, sweetie. Oy, Disc Fluffy. Open up."
>You tap the button her side. Dutifully the disc fluffy pushes open, babbling something about 'wub moobies.'
>You drop the disk in and slid it back inside.
"Hnnn...hnnnnnnnn...woad, mistah moobie...woad so fwuffy an' d-daddeh can watch 'ou..."
>It takes about a full minute for her to load up Fluffy Movie Player, but when she does, her screen is still as crystal clear as it always was.
>Her Loud Talky fluffs aren't too bad, either. They were always the best part of her, after all. Sometimes you could swear you were in a movie theater.
>The two of you watch the movie all the way through, Flufftop having more fun than she's had in ages.
>Later on, you fire up your IM clients and have some chats with some friends.
>You even visit some websites that aren't just variations on 'what the fuck is wrong with my gaming fluffy?'.
>As the night draws to a close, you pet your flufftop and yawn.
"Well, that was fun, Flufftop, but Daddy needs to go to bed."
>Your yawn gets her to yawning as well.
"Mmmm...Fwufftop need sweepies, tuu...wub Daddeh..."
>You give her nose a little boop before shutting the screen.
"Night, sweetie. Love you, too."
>You go and flop into bed, dead tired from the stress of the past six or so hours.

>You wake up the next day, half-in and half-out of your bed covers.
>After a shower and some breakfast, you pop open your Flufftop and go take care of some chores while she boots up.
>Coming back some time later, you're surprised to find her still booting up. Her eyes are closed and her screen is showin the startup window.
>Shit, wait...blue screen for just a second then she reboots. Goddammit.
>You start her up again, and quickly hit F8.
>You disable automatic restart on bluescreen and restart.
>When the bluescreen comes on, you just stare at it for a while.
>UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME, it reads.
>You know enough about fluffy computers to know that this is very bad.
>The storage fluff inside Flufftop can't boot properly.
>And you don't have a copy of Fluffdows XP to perform the new install required.
>You put your head in your hands and rub your temples.
>Flufftop just sits on your TV tray, the BSOD still on her screen.
>Reaching up, you hit her power button and hold it.
"Sorry, girl..."
>You sigh as she powers down again, giving her fluff a gentle stroke.
"We had a good time though, right?"
>Of course she doesn't answer, but you're pretty sure she'd agree.
>Picking her up, you close her and disconnect her from her power cord.
>With another soft pet to her fluffy body, you slip her back into her carrying case.
>You'll dispose of her. Some day.

"Wh...Wha...fwuffy am wakies?"
"That's right, big guy. Welcome back."
>You pet your Fluffy tower and smile, leaning back in your chair.
>Looking down, your heart skips a beat. You push the box filled with the dead components that used to fill your Fluffy desktop, out of its range of view.
>Don't want him having a shit fit that you killed his 'babbehs'.
"Fwuffy feew...guud! Fwuffy feew weawwy weawwy guud!"
>Good. He damn well better feel good after all the money you spent.
>You pat his head.
"Well, your babies needed a little bit of love, so I gave it to them. Isn't that right, fluffies?"
>The fluffy components inside your fluffy tower babble their assent.
>Your fluffy tower smiles up at you.
"Whewe Fwufftop? Wanna see fwend Fwufftop! Show Fwufftop how stwong Fwuffy towah is!"
>You sigh and give his mane a little rustle.
"Fluffy...I'm sorry, but Flufftop had to go away."
>Fluffy tower is confused.
"G...Gu 'way? Gu whewe? Why Fwufftop gu 'way?"
"Well, she was really old and needed to go someplace where she could rest. But don't worry, big guy. She's really happy there."
>This seems to assuage Fluffy tower's fears, as he smiles.
"Wan' pway game, Daddeh?"
>You give one of his ears a scritch, getting a soft coo.
"Sure thing, big guy."

>Somewhere under your bed, Flufftop is already gathering dust.
>You'll throw her away.
>Some day...

(Based on actual events from the past few weeks. RIP, Compaq Laptop, 2005-2013)