Ash Lives On

In the Black Mirror episode "Be Right Back, " we meet Martha and Ash. Your ordinary couple that has decided to take their relationship to the next level by getting a house together. They decided to move to the countryside where Ash spent his childhood. Emotions are high and the couple is excited for the new step they are in the midst of taking. They make the drive to their new home safe and sound, however that contradicts the next event to come. The couple was working on getting settled in their new country home and Ash left the house. Unfortunately, he never made it back.. by that I mean the REAL Ash never made it back. He died tragically in a car accident. Being that this upsetting event happened only hours after moving in, Martha was devastated. She had her suspicions that something had happened to Ash but it wasn't confirmed until she saw the eerie glare of police lights outside her front door. The officers knocked on her door to reveal the sad news to Martha, but instead of listening, she ran from them. After this, she went on a downward spiral. She was in a really dark place with absolutely no hope. Common for someone who lost the love of their life. One of her friends tried to push her to a strange coping mechanism she had heard about. Martha was so distraught at the situation and bothered by how disturbing the idea presented by her friend was. According to Martha's friend, there was a certain type of software that worked to collect all possible online information that belonged to someone who had passed away. The system allowed you to converse with the person you had lost. After some heavy convincing and thought processing, Martha gave in and decided to speak to Ash's digital clone. What really pushed her to use the software was her coming to the realization that she was pregnant. I personally would not communicate with my deceased significant other through email. I feel that that would just be playing a sick game of make believe. However, I operate and think as a realist would, so imagining that it was really him would be difficult for me. Martha decided to upgrade this software she had been recommended to use. Upgrading this sort of software creates an extremely accurate representation of the person you program it to be. However, do not be fooled by the realistic characteristics, it is only an android. At first this was incredible to Martha, but after a while she started to become bothered by the iea of Ash's clone. She was so unsettled by it that she attempted to force the android to commit suicide. I understand everyone has different ways of grieving personally but this method was disturbing to me. Since the android refused to jump from the cliff, she made the decision to go about her life and house the android in her attic. Once she had her child and she was an age where she could fully understand things, Martha allowed her to visit with the android in the attic. The little girl called it Ash, almost as if he had never even died.