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[glassbox]

-- ain't puttin' up with this again.

[ the camera jostles a little before the feed becomes steady, focusing on lillian crawley's aggravated face.

it's hard to tell what's making her mad -- the list of things that could set her off probably stretches around the earth twice -- but you might notice on the couch behind her is a humanoid woman with vibrant blue dreadlocks and white eyes. she's dressed in a large sweater and little else -- and judging by the scratches on her arms and her throat, it was a fight for lil to get even that on her. ]

I ain't. Someone else can babysit her goddamn bot ass. If she thinks I'm gonna let her stay here after she comes waltzin' in, tellin' me my husband's really gone an' she's upset about it --

[ lil purses her lips. her face is angry, but the slight break in her voice suggests she's choosing anger over more miserable feelings right now. ]

Someone come an' take her. Before she blows her own goddamn head off again.

Comments

VIDEO;

[professorlionface]

[Hank stares at the camera with some surprise, then behind him at the blue robotic husk lying on one of his examination tables. He does this a couple times.]

Well. That's interesting.

[heartlessglitch]

[ she leans close to the screen, her attention on her metal body more than hank himself at first.

finally: ]

Yes.

Hello, Hank. I suspect I inconvenienced you.

[professorlionface]

This is hardly about me being inconvenienced. Are you alright?

[heartlessglitch]

I am recovering physically, yes.

[professorlionface]

Well, the physical is hardly the sole concern. After examining the, uh... [He looks behind him again. "Corpse" doesn't sound like the right word when he's actually talking to her.] ...injuries, I've made a few guesses at the cause, but I'm mostly still speculating.

What happened?

[heartlessglitch]

I experienced a severe hardware malfunction. I attempted to repair myself, but my processing code was disrupted by Madison's sudden removal from this dimension and I was not capable of approaching the repair procedure rationally.

[professorlionface]

A lack of rationality? I suppose I had assumed it was a feedback issue, especially given the surge you had sent through the rest of the building.

The cause, well...that's what I thought it might have been.

[heartlessglitch]

[ in a short and quiet tone: ]

Yes. I underestimated the possible effect his absence would have.

[professorlionface]

Are we talking psychological or physiological? ...In as much as that term could apply to a synthetic lifeform. You mentioned an "irrationality" that seemed to cause it, which throws my original conclusion in question.

[heartlessglitch]

It was primarily a hardware error, but my code was also affected. It is difficult to articulate properly. There was no filter between our minds. We shared in everything.

[professorlionface]

Sort of like having a piece of your own psyche torn out, I'd imagine. Or at least how I would imagine that must feel like to begin with.

To...hmm. To what degree does your code remain intact in this form?

[heartlessglitch]

I am uncertain. When I was restored to my mechanical form after my previous death, integration of my human experiences and re-initialization was-- [ a half-beat ] Strange.

I can only say that I feel relatively functional now.

[professorlionface]

I suppose it's partly a curiosity how the code translates, exactly. But I also suppose this isn't quite the time to ponder that.

Do you have anywhere to stay?

[glassbox]

She's drivin' me crazy, Hank.

[professorlionface]

It is a little curious that she chose to see you first. But it's alright, she's not your responsibility to keep for the longterm.

[glassbox]

[ a pause, then with some annoyance: ]

I figure it's 'cause I took care a'her last time. And. [ in a way that suggests she's trying to stay angry, at least in her voice, but failing a little: ] She wanted t'tell me personally that Maddie's really gone.

[professorlionface]

I was afraid that might be the case.

[He pauses, frowns, and looks back at the screen.] How are you holding up?

[glassbox]

I ain't. I don't know that t'do.

[professorlionface]

Dealing with these kind of departures can be heavy work. There's nothing you really can do, except to continue your life.

[glassbox]

I don't know how.

We were fightin' so much. I think about him all the time.

[professorlionface]

You miss him, probably only exacerbated by missing what you used to have before. It's understandable in the circumstances.

But it can't last forever, either.

[glassbox]

[ aggressively, as if even the idea of getting over it makes her upset: ]

I need t'be upset about this, Hank.

[professorlionface]

I understand. It deserves some time.

But you can't let it take everything, either.

[glassbox]

Ain't much left t'take anyway.

[professorlionface]

That's part of the problem. You've been mourning the loss for a while already, even while he was still here. You've both been mourning each other so much that you let it consume you.

I know it isn't easy to be told, much less to do act on, but I really can't stress the importance enough.

I'm not speaking as someone without experience, either. Not necessarily in the same context, but I know what it's like to have everything in your life suddenly become something it was never supposed to be.