♈ 03 ( VIDEO )

[destinist]

[Good morning, Sacrosanct! It's Christmas! Have you opened your presents yet? Aradia sure has, and she's sort of regretting it now. The enormous person-sized package addressed to her and placed next to the tree can't have meant anything good. And it hasn't. Thanks, Hypatia.The video feed offers a very bizarre sight. First, there's Aradia, still by

Comments

[Text; 1/2]

[equinerotica]

> Equius: What.
What.

[Text; 2/2]

[equinerotica]

D --> I
D --> C001d
D --> Assist
D --> Data retrieval

D --> If you
D --> Wished

[Text]

[destinist]

[ohhhhh god she didn't know if he would reply and this is just really, really awkward, like even more awkward than things were before, and things were really awkward.

but she's actually extremely relieved for the offer. who would know how to copy what's in the soulbot's memory banks better than its creator?

she doesn't bother entertaining the notion of asking him to assist in destroying-- no, dismantling it later; something tells Aradia that that is a thing Equius would never be able to do.]

i would really appreciate that

[Text]

[equinerotica]

D --> My sched001e is
D --> Fairly open

D --> You know where to find me

[Text]

[destinist]

would now be ok with you?

[Text]

[equinerotica]

D --> Yes
D --> Yes, of course

action;

[destinist]

[she sends nothing more message-wise. less than an hour later, there's a knock on his window. Aradia is floating outside with the soulbot hovering next to her, held up by her telekinesis.

doors are for people that aren't awkward, okay.]

action;

[equinerotica]

[Equius really should have been expecting that, but he wasn't. He nearly jumps out of his gray skin as he is startled and realizes what the sound means all within a millisecond. He slides the window open, stealing a briefest glance at the Aradiabot before looking past them both uncomfortably.]

C-Come in...

action;

[destinist]

[she's still in pajamas, too, which makes this totally even more not awkward. Aradia climbs in through the window and drags the soulbot after her. it hangs heavily in her arms, eyes still flickering, and its head droops towards the ground.

its condition is pristine. whatever point of time or timeline it came from, it seems to have suffered no damage.]

Hi.

action;

[equinerotica]

[Thankfully Equius is properly dressed. His clothes are soaked in sweat regardless.

Time to get right to business to try and get this over with.]

What... Exactly did you need? All of it? I can locate. Specifics. But that would require me to... Go through it.

action; 1/3

[destinist]

I wanted to retrieve everything. I... collected a lot of data over the course of our session. I made notes and videos and memos. It may still all be in the memory banks of this one, depending on what point of our timeline it came from.

[she lifts the cable connected to the soulbot's temple, adjusting it to a standing position. and she's about to say something else except-]

action; 2/3

[destinist]

[just then, the soulbot's eyes light up and it begins to play back a recording in a staticky voice.]

Get it out get it out get it out get it out g. G. G. G. G. G-g-g-g-ggggggget it out. Get. I-it. Outoutoutoutoutoutout. Get it out getitoutgetitout-

action; 3/3

[destinist]

['horrified' is an understatement for Aradia's expression. she goes pale, and then dark red, and then she punches the soulbot in the face.

.....of course, this does absolutely nothing, not even a dent, given its durability, but there is a sickening crunch as Aradia's knuckles make contact with it and she hops back, shaking her hand and wincing. it'll just heal right away, so she's not worried about that.

at least it's stopped the recording, though. Aradia's gone very silent, staring at her double.

finally she speaks.]

...It keeps... doing that.

Playing things back.

action;

[equinerotica]

[Oh ffffff-]

...

...

[Concern is plainly visible on his face even though Equius knows just as well she'll be fine. That's eventually just replaced with mortification, however. He feels as hollow as the robot body is.]

...Echoes. The body is. Active. But lacks a host. It merely plays back memories to compensate. Like dreaming.

[Throat clear. Back to business.]

May I... See your wearable?

action;

[destinist]

...My wearable?

[she hadn't really expected that. Aradia gives him an uncertain look, but she's glad for the topic change. she slips it off of her wrist and holds it out to him.]

action; god why do you have so many icons like that

[equinerotica]

To transfer the... Data to.

[He probably should have clarified that first. He holds it up to the soulbot's cable and nods.]

I... Suspected as much. Whoever delivered this... Machine... Also modified it so that it can interface with our wearables.

[He plugs them in then pauses. This is Aradia's wearable. He hesitates to actually press anything, but eventually wills himself to.]

This... Will take a while. You could... Come back later if you wished.

[An uncomfortable pause before he quietly adds:]

...Or sit down.