Lost and Found (BEN x FtM reader)

Ch. 1: Lost.

I bit at my lip as I tried to turn on my computer for the twelfth time today, fruitlessly as ever.

Lost connection!

The message flashed upon the screen with a cute sound effect to accompany it, and I groaned.
"That doesn't even make sense!" I yelled, to no one in particular. "You can still turn on without internet, you fucking..."

That was it. Enough was enough. I pulled away from the computer for now.

I'd already done everything I knew how to do. A PRAM reset. A hard reset- a regular reset! I'd even cleaned out the fans- to no avail, of course. The router was fine. The computer's memory was fine, and my antivirus subscription hadn't run out.
I couldn't figure out what was wrong. I'd have to ask my dad, when he got home in about...

I paused, glancing to the calender.

Right. A week.

I had to occupy my time somehow. Dragging myself out of my bedroom reluctantly, I made my way downstairs to the kitchen.

I lived in a large house built into the side of a mountain. Dad loved it- he had a job at the goldmine nearby, and he insisted that we move out here to make a living. It made sense, I guess- he was a single dad from a modest background. We needed all the money we could get.

I stared out the window, eyeing the miles upon miles of trees that painted the mountain slopes before sighing, grabbing a can of fruit from the fridge and heading back upstairs.

I wondered, as I headed back up, how he'd react to hearing I'd broken the new computer I'd just gotten. I supposed I'd have to dig the old one out of storage, now- the thought was daunting, but it wasn't impossibl-

My thoughts came to an abrupt halt as I noticed my computer screen was lit up with a dull, green, hue.

I tried to turn off the monitor. Nothing happened.
I tried to turn off the computer tower. Nothing happened!

I drew my hand across the keyboard in hopes it'd snap it out of whatever weird sleep mode it was in. Nothing seemed to happen at first- it took me a few moments to notice any change.

"An address bar?" I asked, deeply confused. The letters cl had been entered- I'd drawn my hand across the keyboard from left to right, so it made sense, but... why had only those letters activated?

I squinted at my keyboard. "Is it broken?" I muttered, attempting to backspace.
Nothing happened. The mouse wasn't even working.

I drew my hand across the keyboard again in hopes of finding out which other keys worked.

clev

Was it spelling something out? I sounded it out in my head, hesitating for a moment before speaking up. "Clev..er?" I wondered. "Is it going to be-"

I jumped as the keys on my keyboard began to move on their own, pulling back from my desk with a nervous chuckle as my eyes flicked up to the screen again.

cleverbot.com

The computer still hadn't started properly- I hadn't even accessed my profile. The fans began to hum loudly, as if the system was under immense stress as it loaded. I hesitantly approached, eyeing the only features on the website.

A bar to type in, a colorful title and an illustration of a brain.
Hm.

I pulled the keyboard closer to myself, trying not to tense as the lights abruptly went out.

Hi. Is this a bot?

I'm not a bot.

I chuckled. That was a typical response for any bot, really- either because denial made it seem more real, or because enough users said the same thing to it.