and holy heck do I want to write it

So there's this VR game called Farlands (spoilers ahead in next 2-3 paragraphs), where you're a school cadet sent to this new planet to research sentient life. You're teamed with this robot named Zoe and an alien professor who I've forgotten the name of. You and Zoe explore different zones of the planet and "scan" (take photos) the native life. You also feed them, name them, play with them, and, in one species's case, take part in ritual dances with them. It's awesome.

There's an event a bit after meeting the ritualizing species where Zoe, who's normally bubbly and encouraging and happy as all heck, is remotely stripped of her personality by the group that's running the mission, since they don't want you to be researching the ritual species - they'd already "proven" they weren't sentient, although you figure out yourself that they are.

The story idea I had is based on this bit of story. Zoe never gets her personality back in this story (although she does in the actual game), and working with the emotionless robot is painful for the cadet, who I need a name for. She (the cadet) plans to abandon the mission and disappear without a trace in the wilderness of the planet, building a life for herself and observing and interacting with the wildlife on her own terms.

I'm having a bit of a decision crisis here. Should the cadet leave Zoe behind, destroy her, or attempt to fix her on the planet? All three could be viable options - to my knowledge, the cadet could have any amount of robotics knowledge, so repairing Zoe's personality could be a viable path. However, Zoe probably has a tracking beacon of some sort installed in her systems, which would counter the cadet's plans for abandoning the other worlds. At the same time, I don't want to destroy Zoe. She could also leave Zoe behind, but Zoe could be tasked to head down on the planet to try and recover the cadet, which would not be good - cadet would likely be tried in the interplanetary systems courts for treason or some such, and the professor could also be tried for aiding and abetting her.

help. Abandon, destroy, or save? Also, I need a name for the cadet. If you guys could help me out here, that'd be great.

—Ruby