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[She's had her angry outburst at the actual machine, and after a couple of days of thinking about it, now she's just irritated. Naturally, the slightly hypocritical angle of her annoyance given what happened between her and R doesn't occur to her while she's squinting at the rest of Hadriel.

Julie, of all people, should understand that one individual in a horde can make all the difference.]

Are any of you actually trusting this Null that was so conveniently left here? Seriously, anyone believing a word it says must have hit their head. For all we know it's just tricking us so it can send its location back to the others and they can find us again.

Should just set the fucking thing on fire, bury it in a hole and forget about it.

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Yes.

[He agrees.]

Knowing its here lets us react accordingly. You spoke with it, didn't you?

Yeah, I did.

[So did a lot of others, but his conversation with Name was kept from most prying eyes. Can't hide that kind of stuff from the gods though, so no sense in lying about it.]

[There's a pause, and he switches the feed to private.]

Are you sympathetic?

[Now that's unexpected.]

The jury's still out. Would you be surprised if I was, knowing what I am?

I suppose not.

[Though it's painful to admit it.]

Don't let your similarities fool you. I'll admit that we were apprehensive of you when you first arrived here, but you've proven your differences from them time and again. You're nothing like the Null. You would never do what they did. So don't-

[Fear hesitates there, takes a deep breath. When he speaks again, it's through gritted teeth, and more than a little swallowed pride.]

-so don't risk them coming back. Please.

[It's good to know the gods have been paying attention to what he's doing, even if he does try to keep off the radar sometimes.]

You might not believe me, but no one wants to see this place survive as much as I do.

[Well, there probably are others who do, but given what he's been going through with Rey, with what's waiting for her if she gets sent back home, he can't help but feel pretty damn strongly about it.]

That's one reason why I don't think we oughtta destroy this Null if we find it. Not immediately.

[His jaw sets at that, not pleased with the answer, even if he understands the intent behind it.]

I doubt it will have information that would prove useful to us.

[Just a hunch.]

And it's a danger to keep it alive.

Did you doubt Delight's loyalty toward the rest of you? Or were you like Hope, so sure that it was one of us who was betraying you?

[He's got hunches too, and so far, he's done better than the gods on figuring out where the leaks are.]

[Not. Fair.]

Do you think it was a joy to realize that, after all this time, she-

[Fear cuts himself of there, teeth grit. He won't let himself be baited.]

...you bring up our trust in Delight as a weakness in the same breath you use to say we should spare this Null. That seems hypocritical to me.

Edited 2018-04-16 02:15 (UTC)

I bring it up in the hopes that maybe you'll trust my judgment here. Maybe we're wrong to want to see what we can learn from this lone Null, but you aren't infallible either.

[He pushes a quiet sigh through him.]

Look. You yourself said I'm nothing like the Null, but I know a thing or two about how machines work. Probably more than you folks, judging by the insides of those scooters. I've dealt with mass-produced synths back home, and the Null aren't all that different. That black-and-white logic, the kind that says that we oughtta kill this defective unit on sight without seeing what information we can get from it? Without seeing if it might be willing to help us? That's what the Null would do.

This is the second time now that someone has said that dispatching a robot who would stop at nothing to see me dead makes me just like the Null.

[It's quiet, unpleasant.]

You may know what they're like, but after all this time, you have no empathy for us. I'll admit, that was never my goal- but all the same, it's discouraging to know that your kind can be so heartless. To look at what the Null have done to us and then say that we aren't justified in taking preventative measures?

[He shakes his head, refocusing.]

If I'm wrong, we lose a source of information. If you're wrong, my species goes extinct and all of you and your human friends die. I know which risk I'd rather take.

I never said you weren't justified. Hell, knowing you guys can be as afraid as any of us is comforting, in a way. But there's preventative measures, and then there's building a brick wall around you and being surprised when you don't see the enemy coming.

[As is anything to differentiate them from the Null they're so afraid of.]

Believe it or not, I don't want you dead, either. Not even the gods whose interference I could do without. [He means you, Love.] If you're wrong, it's not just information we lose. That information could be what saves us all in the long run.

Edited 2018-04-16 03:15 (UTC)

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