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

[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.

[blue_pleather]

"The Buddyroids are more efficient than humans, but they have reactions very close to human emotion. They have some level of self-awareness. Gorisaki isn't programmed to obey mindlessly. He wants to be close because he cares for me," I explain. "They do sleep. I'm not sure how. They're programmed to shut down at night and if they use a lot of energy. But, if they detect excessive noise or activity, they'll wake up." Gorisaki snores, too. I'm sure whoever coded that into his wiring thought it was hilarious.

[interpolate]

"Hmm." I'm not sure how I feel about this. It is making a lot of things clearer, however. Mainly, mon rouge's insistence that a machine with a program can be as sentient and free willed as a human being.

"How do you know he actually cares for you, and isn't just following programming to protect and defend you?"

[blue_pleather]

"Because he sometimes does things that he thinks are right, but aren't in my best interest. He makes unwise decisions that wouldn't be included into the programming of an efficient machine. And he was created for general use, long before I became Blue Buster. He chose to be my friend."

This is just making me feel worse about lying to Gorisaki. I'll hang out with him later and try to do something nice for him.

[interpolate]

Interesting. I still pity them, strangely, but I am also pleased that at least they have someone looking out for them that isn't entirely dedicated to using them in a hopeless battle. Even if they are machines.

"Your world and mine are very different, you know that?"

[blue_pleather]

"Yeah. They definitely are." I haven't forgotten his definition of the subspace.

I manage a weak smile, since any physical gesture of friendship still feels way out of place where Enter is concerned.