[Humans liked to convene around food, that's all he was thinking, honest!]
Copy that. [9S smiles as he disconnects their transmission, and off to the mess hall he goes. He'd been hanging out at the Observation Deck, so it wasn't too far of a walk. When he arrives, 2B is already standing there waiting.]
Hey, 2B. [He raises a hand when he sees her, before trotting over.] You're here early.
I was nearby, and we don't have any real tasks to complete that would be keeping me busy. It didn't make sense to wait the full ten minutes, so.
[So here she is, standing beside one of the tables. She hasn't gotten anything to eat and doesn't correct that now, just takes a seat and looks up at him expectantly.
He is the one who wanted to meet in person, after all. She's assuming he has a specific reason for that.]
[After a moment of hesitation she sits down as well, slipping down onto the bench opposite him and resting both arms on the table. With her visor to block her eyes from him she's free to look him over without worrying about him realizing it, and she's quick to assess for damage, for any signs of stress.
She knows now that he didn't see her die, didn't see the end as she did, but there's still a part of her that wants to make sure he doesn't suffer any more than he has to.]
[They both know that she doesn't ordinarily share her thoughts and feelings with him no matter how many times he may ask, and 2B is well aware that any deviation from that usual coarse will tip him off to something being wrong. It has before, after all, but at least this time it's less likely to result in death.
But at the same time, they're far removed from the Bunker, from a future that 2B won't be a part of, and she's just-
She's tired. Tired of lying, tired of holding him at arms length. At some point, he deserves something real and not her trying to keep her distance because as much as she might insist emotions are prohibited, she still feels them just as strongly as any human would.]
It's been strange, but I wouldn't trade this chance to go back to what we had before. I want to stay with the humans.
2B... [Her name comes out in a breath, shock clear in his voice. That had been the last thing he expected her to say. She was always so stringent and dedicated to the mission, he thought for sure that even in the presence of humans, she would be thinking of the ones they had left back home. As for 9S, he wanted to stay here despite knowing he can't, and that's exactly why he expected 2B to say the opposite.]
But what about the humans back home? They need us too.
While we're here we can't do anything for the humans back home, so we need to focus on the ones here.
[That seems so obvious to her, so there's a faint frown on her lips now as she looks over at him.]
I've already told a small group of them they can ask for anything they might need. Eventually I want to make sure the whole station knows it, but I don't want to make a public offer. Some of them look human, but aren't.
[He can't argue that the humans in the closest proximity to them should come first. They all have to survive on this space station together, and the humans were much more vulnerable than any android.]
It sure gets confusing with all these humanoids around, huh? Some of them "used to be" human, some aren't technically human, but I'm pretty sure they're related...
I met one who was an alien, but looked like a human. Her eyes glowed red like she was infected with a virus, but instead of it causing instabilities she shot lasers from her eyes.
[Yes, that really happened, and no, 2B still doesn't know what to think of it.]
Recently I've met a "half vampire" and a gemstone that projects a body for itself via hard light.
[He lets out a grumble.] It turns out the vampire opened a clinic too. I figured we would continue to let it operate, since there's no other human health establishment on the station, but we should keep an eye on it.
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Don't worry, 2B. I can focus on both. How about we rendezvous?
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Well, it's going to work because she never paid nearly as much attention to the things humans did recreationally as 9S has.]
Very well. I'll meet you there in ten minutes.
[Efficient as always, though, she's there in eight.]
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Copy that. [9S smiles as he disconnects their transmission, and off to the mess hall he goes. He'd been hanging out at the Observation Deck, so it wasn't too far of a walk. When he arrives, 2B is already standing there waiting.]
Hey, 2B. [He raises a hand when he sees her, before trotting over.] You're here early.
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[So here she is, standing beside one of the tables. She hasn't gotten anything to eat and doesn't correct that now, just takes a seat and looks up at him expectantly.
He is the one who wanted to meet in person, after all. She's assuming he has a specific reason for that.]
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[9S takes a seat on one of the benches, swinging his legs in front of him.]
Well, since we're not in any rush let's sit down. It's kind of nice to be able to take a break whenever you want.
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She knows now that he didn't see her die, didn't see the end as she did, but there's still a part of her that wants to make sure he doesn't suffer any more than he has to.]
You seem like you're settling in well.
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Well, the first week was pretty rough, but it hasn't been too bad. What about you?
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But at the same time, they're far removed from the Bunker, from a future that 2B won't be a part of, and she's just-
She's tired. Tired of lying, tired of holding him at arms length. At some point, he deserves something real and not her trying to keep her distance because as much as she might insist emotions are prohibited, she still feels them just as strongly as any human would.]
It's been strange, but I wouldn't trade this chance to go back to what we had before. I want to stay with the humans.
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But what about the humans back home? They need us too.
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[That seems so obvious to her, so there's a faint frown on her lips now as she looks over at him.]
I've already told a small group of them they can ask for anything they might need. Eventually I want to make sure the whole station knows it, but I don't want to make a public offer. Some of them look human, but aren't.
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[He can't argue that the humans in the closest proximity to them should come first. They all have to survive on this space station together, and the humans were much more vulnerable than any android.]
It sure gets confusing with all these humanoids around, huh? Some of them "used to be" human, some aren't technically human, but I'm pretty sure they're related...
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[Yes, that really happened, and no, 2B still doesn't know what to think of it.]
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[There were all sorts of oddities around here.]
Recently I've met a "half vampire" and a gemstone that projects a body for itself via hard light.
[He lets out a grumble.] It turns out the vampire opened a clinic too. I figured we would continue to let it operate, since there's no other human health establishment on the station, but we should keep an eye on it.
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Are vampires dangerous to humans?
[Included in that question is also: what's a vampire.
Because for real what have you been researching in your spare time on the Bunker bro.]
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Kind of...? It's complicated. Apparently he needs human blood to sustain himself, but he says he'll only take it willingly.
Not that I really believe him...