no_fastolfe

Have so many of the faces I was used to gone? I had not realized how I would feel their loss. But some of my old acquaintances are active, and I am pleased to see you. Doctor, are you--well? [His last network post looked downright miserable.] It has been a period of years, in my timeline, how long last since I was here?

For the many that I see and do not know- hello, I am Doctor Vasilia Aliena of the Auroran Robotics Institute. I spent several months aboard this vessel as an inmate; I return now in hopes that I can be as successful as my wardens.

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From:

nolongerhollow

[Dracula appears onscreen, in the same somber uniform he used to habitually wear, having put on a smile that looks fake because his eyes are dead.]

Hello again, Vasilia.

From:

no_fastolfe

[She gives a soft exhale, as if a burden has been lifted from her.]

Vladislaus. I have missed you in the past years. Are you not well?

From:

nolongerhollow

I missed you as well.

Oh no, I have finally found a way to beat this nightmare place and keep it from doing me harm. That is all.

From:

no_fastolfe

[She looks vastly dubious, but she's learned a little tact since she was first on the barge. She just nods.]

Would you join me in a walk through the greenhouse tonight? I already miss Aurora's trees and flowers.

From:

nolongerhollow

[He doesn't seem to react to her expression. Merely the same benign but empty smile.]

Of course. Shall I meet you after supper then?

From:

no_fastolfe

[She's not hiding her worry very well, but her pleasure at seeing him again is still there as well.]

Directly after; and thank you. You can tell me what has been going on.

From:

nolongerhollow

I will meet you at the greenhouse door, then.

[spam]
[He stands outside the greenhouse, so perfectly still that a random moth lands on his coat and just sits there, wings pumping, undisturbed.]

From:

no_fastolfe

[Vasilia approaches quietly, as if not to disturb the insect She has to speak, however.]

May I embrace you, Count?

From:

nolongerhollow

Of course. [He finally moves, sending the moth fluttering away; he opens his arms, though the warmth in his smile still doesn't reach his eyes.] I have missed you. How do you fare? [His voice is soft, but still strangely remote.]

From:

no_fastolfe

[She clasps him tightly. It's been a long time: casual physical contact is not an Auroran cultural staple.]

You're distant. What has driven you so far? I expected that you might be gone when I returned.

From:

nolongerhollow

[A wintry smile with just a touch of bitterness.]

My first Warden was dead wrong. There turned out to be no point in learning to feel again. Especially to love again. Emotions are a weakness and a burden. The only way I can endure this hellish place is to turn them off.

From:

no_fastolfe

Oh, my friend. [She tightens her arms around him, face hidden against his shirt.]

I am sorry. I...

[Would it have helped--should she have stayed.]

From:

nolongerhollow

What? There is nothing for you to be sorry about. You did not turn this place into the miserable, hopeless shithole that it is. You did not murder my Brides and all my kin; nor did you try to tell me that I deserved such a loss. You didn't discriminate against me constantly and try to bait me into fights. You didn't murder one of my best friends and then prevent me from avenging him. I shut down because this place is Hell and most of the people here are bastards who aren't worth caring about. I should have done it sooner. It would have saved me a lot of suffering.

I do not understand why this upsets you. But I am sorry that it does. But it is my only option. I must preserve myself. I must remain functional enough to graduate.

From:

no_fastolfe

That the barge has been so hostile that this is your necessary recourse-- that I am sorry for! It is not my doing, but I regret it.

[She pulls back, looking at him sadly.]

Have I so much to answer for, as a warden? Is my presence here meaningless--useless to any inmate who might be as beseiged as yourself?

[It's not even remotely rhetorical.]

From:

nolongerhollow

I don't believe your presence here is meaningless or that you will be unable to help someone else. I just...have every reason to stop feeling and no reasons to continue. I am hated here. Not universally, but universally enough. Most of the Wardens here don't actually believe in second chances; no matter how much we progress we are still hated and discriminated against. The so called "heroes" are the worst, with their self-righteousness and black-white thinking. It is as bad as being imprisoned as a child was. And just as I did when I was small, the answer is to hide my heart again.

From:

no_fastolfe

I know what it is to feel as if every stranger is an enemy. In my case, an illusion of chemical imbalance. I responded with rage, incoherence. But I am no physical threat and was left to myself.

I did ... value time spent in your company, the knowledge that I could impart mundane pleasures to another.

From:

nolongerhollow

[He reaches to unlock the greenhouse.] I value it greatly. You taught me so much about being friends, I cannot even begin to explain my gratitude. [There's a little life to his eyes for a moment.]

Come in. We've changed things around a bit.

From:

no_fastolfe

As you did me. It was... I have no friends like you on Aurora. I have begun to work with my robots, to develop their individuality and assess them for potential true free will, but they are still proto-sentient. I cannot order them to love me, cannot impose upon them and remain true to my principles.

[She brushes a hair away from her eyes.] I have been alone. I am glad to see you again.

From:

nolongerhollow

Well, even in my current state, do not doubt that I care for you. What I do is meant to defend myself, not cause you trouble.

[This smile is a little more genuine.]

I have faith in your genius and your ability to create artificial people. It is merely a matter of time. As for me...perhaps I can go back to my old self when I am no longer imprisoned here.

[The greenhouse looms over them, its lights in night-cycle.]

From:

no_fastolfe

That I never doubt. [She reaches out to grip his hand briefly.]

I hope that you can find peace-- here or outside. [She moves carefully among the flower-beds, minding her feet in the reduced light.]