⚙ 004;

[fuhgeddaboudit]

Characters: Labrys and open
Setting: Dorm floors on Thursday and floor 25 on Friday.
Format: Starting with action, your choice.
Summary: You want guilt? We've got guilt.
Warnings: Standard Individuation warnings with 99.9% chance of character death on Friday.


[thursday; dorm floors]

[She was trailed by so many of them. The robot girl carried a dull look in what were usually vibrant scarlet eyes as she staggered around aimlessly, swarmed by dozens of shadows. A tattered piece of red fabric was held close to her chest, Labrys seeming to take very little notice of the actual people around her.]

['It's your fault. You killed us all, #031.' 'Why do you get to survive? What makes you different from the rest of us?' 'If one of us had lived instead, the world wouldn't be in this state.']

[Voices. Voices she'd never heard yet were encoded deep within her, under lines and lines of programming. The other 'mechanical maidens' of the fifth generation--the others that had not survived to become 'Labrys'. The shadows were so many voices she hadn't before heard...and some that she had.]

['Like an empty tin can could've done anything? Please.' Yosuke's voice cut through the murmurings of units designated only with a number, cold and dismissive. 'Leave saving the world to us--oh wait, it's kinda late for that. You just had to save yourself.']

[Labrys finally stopped her halting and shaky steps, leaning heavily against a wall. She tried to speak or argue, but words refused to come out. A programming error? No, she realized, this was more likely to be the human trait known as 'cowardice'.]

['All you do is cause trouble,' came Yu Narukami's voice in agreement. 'Twisting the TV world wasn't enough for you? I almost thought you could fight with us. But I guess you'd rather save your own life. If machines are even alive at all.']

['You are obsolete.' Her own 'sister', who had once owned the tie Labrys held tightly. 'The fifth generation should have been eradicated. An out-of-date prototype can not save or protect our world.']

St-... [Could she even have argued, if she had the voice for it? What were they saying that was wrong? She had killed her sisters. She was the only one of their world left. How could she protest when they only confirmed the truth? They resented her for 'living', for existing when they couldn't.]

['Who would ever trust a machine to protect them?']

[And didn't she deserve to be resented?]

[At the last voice--Yukiko's voice--Labrys seemed to break both literally and metaphorically. Her arms dropped limply to her sides, legs giving out as she slid down the wall to her knees. It hurt--it hurt, and her programming was racing to detect what it could only have determined as a system malfunction. Nothing else accounted for the sudden interruption of motor functions and processing programs.]

[Raising her hands and the ruined fabric to her head, Labrys gave a scream of frustrated anguish and dissolved into broken sobbing.]



[friday; floor 25]

[This place was nice--full of organic life and vibrant color. It was a location Labrys had enjoyed since her arrival and one that she came to often. She didn't really know why she'd bothered leaving her room...she didn't really want to be seen by anyone. She couldn't smile like this, she couldn't help anyone at all. What use was a machine that couldn't help people?]

[She just laid on her side surrounded by flowers...and one single shadow.]

['It's alright, #031.' The shadow spoke in a gentle female voice, kneeling silhouette vaguely discernible as someone similar to Labrys herself. 'It's alright that you can't be forgiven. You did do some terrible things, so it's just to be expected.']

...I don't wanna be forgiven. [Labrys muttered half under her breath, turning over a yellow hairclip in her hand.] Ain't nobody left to forgive me, yeah?

['Not a single one. You killed all of us, I'm afraid--at least you had the decency to do most of it yourself. Everyone you ran away from didn't even get that much.']

And there ain't anythin' I can do for 'em? I was really hopin' maybe--

['Things like you can't even understand humans, never mind save any of them.' A soft laugh, as though the shadow found the idea so absurd as to be amusing. 'You already knew that, #031.']

...guess I did, didn't I? [Labrys smiled in some empty, broken gesture, her yellow collar's pale color going unnoticed. She did notice an odd sensation...'fatigue', she thought it was called. Maybe if she just shut her eyes and put her systems in reserve for a moment or two it would go away.]

Comments

Friday; Floor 25

[immortalia]

[ Sertoria thought that after chaos died, she could relax somewhat, but no. Her shadows were more and more relentless because she let someone die and while spending time with Rick helped, it didn't drive them away completely. ]

"I don't know why you keep bothering, CXEV5001. Everyone around you is dying, but that's what you deserve anyway? You're nothing more than a cold, heartless murderer. Fitting, though. ♥"

[ As Sertoria opens the door to the meadow, she thinks she could relax right here. Maybe close her eyes and set her system in to a stasis... That would be nice.

Her head lifts up and she takes notice of Labrys, eyes widening before she finds some strength to make her way over to her. ]

L-Labrys! Please... please hold on!

[ She kneels down next to her and shakes her shoulder. ]

I-It is me, Sertoria. Please tell me you are oper--I mean, okay.

[fuhgeddaboudit]

Huh...? [She opened her eyes and blinked dazedly, looking from Sertoria to the shadow of 024 that seemed to back away slightly at the new presence.]

I'm...I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be?

['Are you going to kill this one too, 031?']

[immortalia]

[ Either it's because she's been through hell this entire month or this event has really worn her down significantly, but Sertoria can't help but hug the other girl to her tightly. ]

I-I will try to save you. I swear I will.

"Do not make promises you cannot keep. You make me sick, Sertoria."

How faded is your collar? Maybe... maybe I can reverse it.

[fuhgeddaboudit]

...y' ain't gettin' it. [Labrys seemed to be mostly dead weight, physical body largely unresponsive and voice lacking its usual energy. Her collar had degenerated a great deal by now, probably a quarter as vivid as it should have been.]

I ain't gonna be saved. I don't wanna be, even if ya could. Somethin' like me don't even deserve that much.

['If you hadn't killed me, I could have been 'Labrys'. You said yourself I was far more developed than you. Do you think I could have saved what you didn't?']

[immortalia]

[ Sertoria knows well enough to not try to mess with anyone's free will, but it's Labrys. Her surrogate sister in the tower and someone that she felt close to regardless of ties.

So, of course she feels selfish for wanting to save her... but she has to at least try. ]

What are you even saying, Labrys? Of course we all deserve to be saved. A-Are you not the one who said that we are both human, despite what people think?

[fuhgeddaboudit]

...I ran away. I killed my sisters and I ran from all a' the people that said they'd forgive me. What kinda human does that?

I ain't got any right t' exist. Maybe I never did.

[immortalia]

I... killed my own sisters by even existing in the first place, Labrys. You are not the first.

Of course you have a right to exist. People like you give me hope that androids are treated equally. Your friends do not hate you.

[fuhgeddaboudit]

How d'you know? They can't even hate me anymore 'cause they're all dead!

[immortalia]

They are in the tower, are they not? If they are here and alive, then they are not dead.

[fuhgeddaboudit]

They ain't the same. That ain't the same Yukiko or anybody else from back home--they ran away too. Their friends are all as dead as mine an' my sisters.

[immortalia]

[ Sertoria sighs irritably as she pulls Labrys up to look at her directly in her eyes. ]

Labrys, do you want to let the administrators win? This is the learned helplessness that Jason was talking about. If you give up now, you will only be proving them right.

In... in that same vein-- [ She grips her shoulders tightly, sighing heavily. ]

Would your friends forgive you if you gave up so easily? No. They would hate you even further. Do you want to give them even more ammunition to use against you?

"Who are you preaching to, Sertoria? You should believe your own words first before spouting off pointless wisdom. But, that is okay. You are just a robot. Your programming is not that advanced."

[fuhgeddaboudit]

['You'd deserve it, you know.']

[Labrys didn't really respond to the hands on her shoulders, red eyes dull and mostly blank. 024 was right--she couldn't be forgiven anyway. She couldn't understand humans at all. There was no point.]

...I can't save anybody. It ain't gonna matter whether I let 'em win or not. Somebody else can try fightin' 'em...I just wanna talk to 024 alone.

[immortalia]

[ It pains Sertoria to give up on yet another friend like this, maybe Labrys' shadows made her want to give in. ]

...You can too. You saved me from myself, Labrys. You helped me out.

[fuhgeddaboudit]

['There's no one left alive that would want to save you.']

...there ain't anyone that'd save me anymore.

['Maybe you should just give up, 031.]

I oughta...just give up.

[immortalia]

What do I look like, last year's model?

"That is what you are, Sertoria. It would be better to just give up."

Do not give up... Please? We...we can find some way to survive this.

[fuhgeddaboudit]

...I don't wanna survive it.

[immortalia]

I do not want you to die, either... It is selfish of me, I know, but you are important to me.

[fuhgeddaboudit]

Then you oughta hold me accountable for everythin' I've done, if I'm so i-i-important.

[Speech subroutine operating at 85%. Processing power and motor functions holding at 50% and 32% of capacity. Cause: unknown. Scanning for hardware errors... None found. Scanning for software errors... None found.]

I-I-if I ain't got a-anywhere t' go back t-to, what's the point?

[immortalia]

Do you honestly believe I am any different? Labrys... You know that I have killed many people during my time. If it will save you, then I will, but please do not go.

[ A pause and Sertoria bites down on her lip. ]

You still have to have hope! Would your friends want you to give up?

[fuhgeddaboudit]

They ain't my f-friends. I let 'em down when they n-n-needed me.

[immortalia]

Do you honestly believe that or have your shadows convinced you that is the case?

[fuhgeddaboudit]

What's it m-m-m-

[She stuttered and faltered for a minute, voice processors clearly encountering some kind of error.]

...matter, anyway? They're r-right.

[Pause. When Labrys spoke again, her voice was cut with a static and inorganic tone.]

S-Sertoria, I ain't feeling so great.