Metal Whispers
Title: Disappointed
Word Count: 587
The silence of the cockpit was normally a welcome thing for Keelin, especially after the noise of the morning briefings and the general chaos of the bay, but now it only bothered her. She floated in the small space, her knees pulled to her chest, not really paying attention as Aria stretched and prepared for training.
"Ari, can I ask you something?" she asked quietly. She saw the lights flicker across the console, changing from orange to blue as Aria tuned her thoughts inward.
[ Of course, ] she replied.
"When you shut down for the night, is it like sleeping?"
[ Well...] Aria was quiet a moment, thinking. [ It's hard to say. I don't know what your sleep is like, and how mine compares to it. But I suppose by the definition of the word, yes, I sleep. ]
"Do you dream?" Keelin stretched her legs out and leaned back, floating parallel to the floor, staring at the seamless metal ceiling. Lifting her head just briefly, she saw the vision across the viewport change as Aria left the dock and headed across the bay, toward the desert.
[ By definition? I suppose so, yes. ]
"What do you dream of?"
[ Cadence, mostly. ] Keelin stomach twisted and she sucked in a breath, perhaps a bit too loud. [ Why does that upset you? ]
"It doesn't upset me, it just..." She curled into a ball and rolled in place, stretching her arms out so that her fingertips touched the floor. "You miss her, don't you?"
[ Yes. ]
"Are you angry about what happened?"
[ I am... disappointed. ]
"With what Reagan did?"
[ No. There was no uncertainty about the delicacy of Reagan's mental state. She should not have been allowed to pilot. ] Aria's vision twirled again as she leaned over to touch her toes, her armor shifting and adjusting as it secured for the combat simulation. From the corner of the mech's vision, Keelin could see Tristan stretch her arms high above her head and lean to the side, a startling black mass against the burning morning sun, and beside her, Morrigan's beautiful gold and navy armor. [ My disappointment is primarily directed at how the situation was handled. ]
"By the Council?"
[ By Daxen. ]
This time Keelin managed to mask her surprise, though she still noticed a pulse in the console lights as Aria no doubt waited for a reaction. But how was she supposed to answer that? She knew so little about what had happened to the ex-Captain, and what she did know was mostly based on gossip she'd heard around the bay, or in the tabloids.
"I'm sure he only did what was necessary," she said cautiously. "And I'm sure he didn't want to hurt Cadence."
[ I'm sure it was necessary as well. ]
"Do you at least dream of happy things?"
[ My memory is designed to process the most recently recorded information, ] Aria told her. [ Before she was deactivated, Cadence begged that we appeal her case to the Council so that she might live, perhaps as a trainer or tester for prototype equipment. The Council would not allow us to contest their ruling on her behalf, and she was decommissioned. ] In the distance, the first of the ranged holo-targets lit the sky, rings of violet and orange shimmering in the sunlight. [ She died, begging for her life. That is what I dream of, Keelin. Every night. ]
Word Count: 587
The silence of the cockpit was normally a welcome thing for Keelin, especially after the noise of the morning briefings and the general chaos of the bay, but now it only bothered her. She floated in the small space, her knees pulled to her chest, not really paying attention as Aria stretched and prepared for training.
"Ari, can I ask you something?" she asked quietly. She saw the lights flicker across the console, changing from orange to blue as Aria tuned her thoughts inward.
[ Of course, ] she replied.
"When you shut down for the night, is it like sleeping?"
[ Well...] Aria was quiet a moment, thinking. [ It's hard to say. I don't know what your sleep is like, and how mine compares to it. But I suppose by the definition of the word, yes, I sleep. ]
"Do you dream?" Keelin stretched her legs out and leaned back, floating parallel to the floor, staring at the seamless metal ceiling. Lifting her head just briefly, she saw the vision across the viewport change as Aria left the dock and headed across the bay, toward the desert.
[ By definition? I suppose so, yes. ]
"What do you dream of?"
[ Cadence, mostly. ] Keelin stomach twisted and she sucked in a breath, perhaps a bit too loud. [ Why does that upset you? ]
"It doesn't upset me, it just..." She curled into a ball and rolled in place, stretching her arms out so that her fingertips touched the floor. "You miss her, don't you?"
[ Yes. ]
"Are you angry about what happened?"
[ I am... disappointed. ]
"With what Reagan did?"
[ No. There was no uncertainty about the delicacy of Reagan's mental state. She should not have been allowed to pilot. ] Aria's vision twirled again as she leaned over to touch her toes, her armor shifting and adjusting as it secured for the combat simulation. From the corner of the mech's vision, Keelin could see Tristan stretch her arms high above her head and lean to the side, a startling black mass against the burning morning sun, and beside her, Morrigan's beautiful gold and navy armor. [ My disappointment is primarily directed at how the situation was handled. ]
"By the Council?"
[ By Daxen. ]
This time Keelin managed to mask her surprise, though she still noticed a pulse in the console lights as Aria no doubt waited for a reaction. But how was she supposed to answer that? She knew so little about what had happened to the ex-Captain, and what she did know was mostly based on gossip she'd heard around the bay, or in the tabloids.
"I'm sure he only did what was necessary," she said cautiously. "And I'm sure he didn't want to hurt Cadence."
[ I'm sure it was necessary as well. ]
"Do you at least dream of happy things?"
[ My memory is designed to process the most recently recorded information, ] Aria told her. [ Before she was deactivated, Cadence begged that we appeal her case to the Council so that she might live, perhaps as a trainer or tester for prototype equipment. The Council would not allow us to contest their ruling on her behalf, and she was decommissioned. ] In the distance, the first of the ranged holo-targets lit the sky, rings of violet and orange shimmering in the sunlight. [ She died, begging for her life. That is what I dream of, Keelin. Every night. ]