Ryuuji and Hiromu

[interpolate]

The bright side, if one could even hope to find such a quaint and ridiculous notion in this day and age, is that Messiah is so perpetually caught up in it's own suffering (bit pointless, really, as it truly brought that on itself) that it can't spare the motherboard to worry about why I'm acting oddly. Coupled with the fact that Messiah is completely ignorant of the passage of time without me, and not entirely capable of knowing when it's being lied to, I'm managing to keep myself from being deleted, re-written, re-wired, or any other of the vast number of ways Messiah could potentially make me not me anymore.

Which brings to mind its own train of thought, and as I wait in the construction site that I launched that first MetaVirus from, I wonder idly about the Gobusters and their delusion about my past.

I wonder if they're actually going to show up, just the two of them. I wonder if this was in fact a trap. I wonder why I trusted them, wonder whether I should load a MetaVirus into another one of these rusted pieces of machinery to be on the safe side.

No, not yet. But I do sit down in a suitably hidden area and tap away.

I'm still trying to figure out their names.

Comments

[interpolate]

"Tch," I roll my eyes at him and cross my arms over my chest. Defensive. I don't usually feel defensive. "How do you know what Messiah is capable of? It gained sentience of it's own volition. It granted me the same. It could do... almost anything it wanted."

I sigh and turn away again. "I'm still entertaining the possibility that Messiah is using me as some sort of. Suicidal Manchurian Candidate. Thing. It's possible, isn't it?"

[blue_pleather]

"Enter doesn't understand humanity." I'm convinced this part is true, at least. "It can program you to look human, sound human ... but not to have any sign of human emotions. It can't even conceive of them."

I look over my shoulder and watch Enter's back retreat along the path, "Messiah created you for a purpose. That could very well be the purpose."

[interpolate]

"You're very likely right. But it's irrelevant, isn't it?" I stop moving for a moment. I shouldn't be pacing. "All the more reason to make him forget about being so foolish as to think he can save me. That might be playing directly into Messiah's... well, not hands, but you understand the metaphor."

I sigh and look back at him. "He is coming, yes? You don't suppose he might have been... caught sneaking out."

[blue_pleather]

My eyes widen at the thought of that, "I don't think so. No one knew we were going to see you. I'll call him. Let me find out."

I dial the number with shaking fingers. Maybe something happened and he got held up. I can't think of any way anyone could have suspected, unless ...

... Gorisaki wanted to know why I'd stayed the night with Hiromu instead of going to my own bed. I told a little white lie and said Hiromu was having nightmares. Maybe Gorisaki told someone we were sneaking out together.

[interpolate]

I close the distance between us the moment he expresses even a fleeting bit of doubt. Standing at his shoulder but restraining the impulse to touch him at all. I don't think he'd like that. "What would happen? If he were caught, what would happen to him?" I have no idea where their headquarters actually are, but I'd find out.

Reckless, stupid, possibly exactly what I'm supposed to do. I don't like all this doubt. Things were easier when I knew exactly what I was doing. Steal Enetron. Store some of it for later. Use the rest to transfer a MetaVirus. Rinse, repeat.

[blue_pleather]

"Nothing will happen to him," I say through gritted teeth, "we'll say he came to look for me and found me with you. It can happen to me instead."

No answer. I put down the phone, cheeks beginning to burn with shame.

[interpolate]

I stare up at his face with narrowed eyes. And then my quiet anger breaks ranks, and a cable whips out to wrap tightly around his wrist. "Where. Where is he? Tell me, bleu, tell me where to go."

[blue_pleather]

I cringe, the free hand reaching towards my weapon. I can't try to break out of his grip or I will very likely end up with a broken arm, "I don't know. I don't know. Maybe he's still at base, maybe he's on his way here. If anything's happened ... they'll contact me."

[interpolate]

I could stop him, but I don't. I realize that he's obviously as concerned about his comrade as I am. If he needs his weapon to feel better about this, so be it. So long as he doesn't actually plan on using it on me.

I call the cable away from him, and it comes reluctantly. They're getting more willful. Hmm.

"You're sure?"

[blue_pleather]

I remove my hand from the gun. "Yes. I'm sure. If they suspect him of something ... they'll want to know where I am. They'll contact me." I hold up the communicator.

A couple of times I've almost forgotten not to use Hiromu's name in front of Enter. That's a step I'm not going to take quite yet.

[interpolate]

I take a steadying breath, and then a purposeful step backwards, away from him. Hands to my sides. No need to escalate this unnecessarily.

"I will trust you. For now."

I growl. "Perhaps you should return."

[blue_pleather]

"But we were going to talk to him. And if I head back, I could miss him." It's stupid of me to worry about Hiromu being out alone in the dark. He's as armed and dangerous as I am, but I'd rather we stuck together.

It's possible he's late because he ran into some Buglers out there. Should it take him this long to defeat them?

[interpolate]

"True." I cross my arms again and shake my head. "But perhaps another time. If he is in any kind of danger, while we just... stand here, waiting and hoping for the best..."

It's not like mon rouge is helpless. My main concern is danger at the hands of his own comrades and superiors. But obviously bleu would be more inclined to put the blame on my own constituents.

[blue_pleather]

"And if we don't find him?" I glance towards the doorway, "we have no idea where he is. If we rush out to look for him, he could arrive and we won't be here."

I assess the situation. Enter, the most dangerous agent of Vaglass, is with me. He probably wouldn't unleash a Metalloid right before coming to see us. The worst Hiromu could have run into is a few Buglers, and if anything had happened to him back at the base, I would surely be hearing about it by now.

"You're here. If there are no Metalloids out there, then he should be safe."

[interpolate]

I snarl, but it's ineffectual and I know it. He's right, of course, completely right.

"Then he should be safe." I agree. No, I hadn't initiated any attacks. Unless Messiah has another agent I don't know about, which is not likely.

"So we stay and wait?"

[blue_pleather]

"If you want to. But if we leave, we're only going to have to come back."

I look down at my everything-proof spy watch, "I'll try him again in a couple of minutes. I think my Buddyroid might have held him up."

[interpolate]

"Fine." Petulant. It's like the more time I spend around them, the more human I act. This needs to stop. Sooner, rather than later. If that means sitting still and waiting, I suppose I can manage it.

"What are they, anyway?" I ask offhandedly in a pointedly transparent attempt at distracting myself. "Your... Buddy-things. Where did they come from?"

[blue_pleather]

"They were created at the Energy Management Center before Messiah arose. And after that ... they were assigned to us. They're our partners. We love them," I'm going to say it freely. It's true. "My Buddyroid - Gorisaki - he was worried about me when I stayed in Red Buster's room. Maybe he's keeping Red Buster busy."

[interpolate]

That catches me off guard. I spin to face him with my hands on my hips and a glare that is not entirely intentional. "What do you mean, when you stayed in his room?"

[blue_pleather]

...

I've given too much away. I just wanted to reassure him that Gorisaki was the most likely reason for Hiromu being late, but now I don't know how to get myself out of it, "I couldn't sleep, so I stayed with him. If I have nightmares I usually sleep with my Buddyroid, but he wasn't there."

It's a lie, but it's the same story I've told Gorisaki.

[interpolate]

Annoyance is almost immediately replaced by pity again. I don't like pity so much. I think because I figure mon rouge feels pity for me, probably every time he looks at me. As if I'm deserving of that kind of gross emotion.

"Nightmares?"

Why am I even asking? Even I know it's rude.

"Excusez-moi." Apologizing too. They are certainly doing a number on me.

[blue_pleather]

"It's fine," I murmur. I'm a little distracted with thoughts of Hiromu, which is probably why I find myself unconsciously petting Enter's forearm, "I don't remember what they were about, but I have them. So does Gorisaki."

[interpolate]

I look down at his hand where it's touching me. As if he's not at all afraid of me. I know that's not actually true, he has at least as much fear of me as I do of him. Not a lot, but it's there all the same.

I have a feeling he would probably not be touching me there if he'd seen my arms beneath the sleeves like mon rouge.

"How does a machine have nightmares?"

[blue_pleather]

I've thought about this often. The Buddyroids' programming allows them to have something closer to human emotion. The Commander's team is capable of creating a robot that can feel, but I don't believe that Messiah is. It simply can't comprehend the concept of something like sorrow or pity or love.

"I don't know. He says he does, but I'm not sure. I think he says it when he wants to be close to me."

[interpolate]

"So you don't believe he actually has dreams, but that he's capable of wanting to relate to you?"

Strange. "Do they sleep?"

I don't, not really. I could, I suppose, but I must admit, I'd never tried.