goneawaycomms | Agent South Dakota

I don't know. Maybe if they're programmed to be stupid, they can be.

Be pretty dumb to program an AI to be stupid. Before you even start, Delta, yes, I know dumb AI are a thing and I know they're not actually dumb. Geez.

[ If Delta had a mouth to close, he would be doing so. ]

Why were you talking about me? Fuck, [ snort ] thought you two'd want to do anything but.

We were just interested in comparing notes on what we've seen being in your mind. I know I didn't spend much time there, but...

[ Theta pauses, then swings his arms back and forth, thinking. ]

You really don't know what to do with what North said about me.

Nope. [ Her lips pop on the 'p' sound. She's still not quite fully awake, her guard not fully up. ] Not at all, kid, not at fucking all.

[ Theta continues to swing his arms back and forth as he responds. ]

I think he likes thinking that we'd eventually get along. He always likes for people to get along, even when I don't think it's a good idea to make them try.

Fuck, isn't that the fucking truth.

[ She almost laughs, but it's interrupted by another yawn. Sighing, she stretches to try and wake herself up a bit more now that she's up anyway. ]

S'pretty much always been a thing he does. Not fuckin' surprised he's trying to hold out with us despite, y'know. Everything I did. The dumbass.

[ The insult is said with one part affection, one part annoyance. ]

Edited 2021-01-19 04:05 (UTC)

Yeah.

[ Theta stops swinging his arms, moving his hologram a bit closer, in order to 'sit' on the edge of the bed nearest her. ]

I told York some stuff about him. You don't really know some of it. I mean, some of it you do. Like about how he always wants to help everyone and feels guilty if he doesn't manage it. But the thing is...

[ Theta pauses. ]

He was kind of upset I said it, afterwards, but he really doesn't like himself very much. Because he hasn't been able to help everyone he wants to help. But he also...kind of feels like he has to help, even when he doesn't want to. Does that make sense?

[ She quirks an eyebrow at that. Theta dragging this stuff out into the open in front of York of all people is almost something she wishes she'd seen. ]

Kid, I've been stuck with him for thirty-one fuckin' years. Yeah, that makes sense. He's always... fuck.

[ She sighs, rubs her eyes. ]

He makes everyone else's problems his problem. All. The. Time. Mine, historically. Fuck, he drove me nuts... and he'd clearly fucking hate it, sometimes, but I never asked him to fucking help. He knew if I ever actually asked him, I was in deep fucking shit, but that didn't happen often. He just kept...

[ She makes a frustrated noise in place of words. ]

[ Theta is kind of surprised this conversation is going so well. But he's definitely willing to roll with it. ]

Yeah. That's why I brought it up, because he has a problem he won't talk about, because he's always trying to solve everyone else's and ignore his own.

[ She tilts her head, just slightly, and squints at Theta. She almost wants to ask what this specific problem is, but if North's hesitating to admit it even with Theta, if it's something he hasn't discussed with her before... ]

Yep. That's him alright. Never been able to knock it out of him. Y'know, seeing as I'm basically one big fuckin' giant living problem he kept trying to fucking solve and...

[ She sighs. Shrugs. ]

Anyway. Yeah. People think I have a problem with looking like I have fuckin' weaknesses, but hoo boy. Fucking Drew. His trick is making himself look perfect on the surface to hide all the fucked up shit underneath. Hypocrite.

[ Theta looks at her for a long moment. ]

That must hurt. Thinking he sees you that way.

[ Well that catches her off guard.

She looks back at him in return, eyes a little more awake now. Processing. ]

I— I mean it's fucking true. I know what kind of person I am, kid. I've been a troublemaker since I was a kid. And there he was, all the fucking time, trying to fix my messes no matter how much I told him I could handle it.

I lived it. I know who I am, I know what he's like. I don't pretend to be anything else.

[ Theta dangles his legs, considering. ]

I know some of his memories about it. The basketball court and things like that.

Do you think if I talked to him about it, it would help?

[ The way Theta moves is so much different than Delta, South realises, so much more... natural. Human. Like an actual kid just sitting there, swinging his little legs. ]

Help what, kid? Him confront his bullshit? I don't know. If I knew that... well, shit would never have gotten as bad as it did.

He needs to. And I'm with him all the time, I can bring it up over and over until it does help.

[ She opens her mouth to snark that there was a time where she was with him almost all the time, but closes it and bites her tongue. ]

He can be as stubborn as me when you hit the right buttons, but... maybe. I don’t know, maybe. Maybe he’ll listen better to you because of the whole... son. Thing.

[ Saying that aloud herself is even weirder than hearing North or Theta say it. But if he thinks of him like that, he’d want to do right by the kid, right? ]

[ Theta's little legs are still dangling. Swish, swish, back and forth. ]

Maybe, yeah. It's just...

[ Theta pauses, thinking. Then he scrambles up and stands on the edge of the bed. ]

Why haven't you asked me what the problem he has is?

[ South sighs. Her brow furrows to disguise a flash of something else. ]

We’re barely stable right now as it is. If this ‘problem’ is something he won’t even talk about to you or to York, then... doubt he wants me to hear it. Especially second-hand. I don’t know.

Okay. That makes sense. He's kind of private about that kind of thing.

Exactly. I’m a lot of things, kid, but nosy isn’t one of ‘em. Besides, I don’t fuckin’ solve problems, remember? I cause them. Wouldn’t do him any good even if I knew. [ snort ] Hell, knowing us, somewhere down the line I probably fuckin’ helped cause it.

[ It’s not only North who’s set in one half of a dynamic they don’t know how to change. ]

[ Theta doesn't respond right away, because he nearly replies with 'Yes,' but he doesn't think saying that would be a good idea. ]

Do you want to go back to sleep? I don't mean to keep you up.

[ South quirks a brow, just a little. This isn’t exactly high on her list of conversations she wants to have at ungodly hours of the morning, but that was one hell of an obvious topic shift. Does she care enough to call him on it? No, but she notices. ]

Ugh, once I’m awake that’s easier said than fuckin’ done. There’s a reason I didn’t want to get woken up.

[ It’s not as sharp as she might usually be towards him, and it’s also not a ‘no’, even if she doesn’t immediately move to stop sitting up. ]

Oh. It's just that I can feel North's sleep cycle and we're going to wake him up if we keep talking.

Didn’t say I wouldn’t try.

[ She briefly considers heading out to wander the halls for a while, but she doesn’t need any more space for her mind to wander. So she shuffles quietly as she can yo lay back down, staring up at the ceiling.

After a long moment of silence, she quietly speaks up: ]

...will you let me know if shit gets really bad, kid? Not... details, but. I do love him, despite how much of a fuckin’ hypocrite he can get, and... well, everything else. And fuck knows he won’t tell me himself.

[ Theta moves his projection to sit on North's chest. ]

Yeah. I will.

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ownperson - 2021-01-19 16:35 (UTC) - Expand