Inbox: Mask or Menace

[megabytes]

"You've reached the comms device of Megaman.EXE. I'm not available at the moment, so please leave a message and I will respond as soon as I am able! Thank you!"

Comments

[megabytes]

I don't know. Everything got all weird all of a sudden. He kept acting like he didn't know how to treat me anymore.

[microbrobotics]

... Oh. Yeah, that'd probably make it a little strange. But - he had to have gotten better eventually.

[megabytes]

Kind of? I mean, things have kind of gone back to normal, but...it's been almost a year, and it still feels like everything's complicated now.

[That's right - Lan has known for less than a year, they've been together since they were five, and they're currently twelve. Have fun with that math, Hiro.]

[microbrobotics]

[ That's a hell of a long time to just be a navi to your brother. Hiro opens his mouth to ask a question - and hesitates. He wants to know, but he doesn't want to push... He decides to set it aside for now. ]

Complicated could be better. IF you figure things out.

[megabytes]

Maybe.

[He shrugs and looks away. He's not entirely sure he believes that. As nice as it is that he can actually be brothers with Lan now, it still feels like everything was easier when he didn't know. At least he'd never had to wonder if Lan was saying or doing something just because they're brothers; the ever present fear that he cared about him more now, that being "just" Megaman hadn't been good enough.]

[microbrobotics]

... Maybe. I guess that depends on you guys.

[ He looks down at his hands, fiddling with his fingers for a moment. Unsure if he should even say it. ]

I don't feel like we're worse.

[megabytes]

...I hope we're not.

[Granted, he's not worried about things being worse so much as just different. Only time will tell.

Megaman's quiet for a moment. He can tell something's making Hiro uncomfortable, and, well, there's really only one thing he can think of.]

We don't have to talk about this, if you don't want. I just... [He curls up, laying his head on his knees.] I wanted you to know.

[microbrobotics]

[ Hiro shakes his head again, just as vehemently as the first time. ]

I want to talk about it. I don't want to bully you again.

[megabytes]

And I don't want to make you uncomfortable. If you don't want to do this, then I don't want to make you.

[microbrobotics]

... Promise you'll tell me if I'm asking too much, and I'll promise to let you know if you're making me uncomfortable?

[megabytes]

[He nods, reaching over to try and grab one of Hiro's hands. Mostly he just ends up hooking a couple fingers - not quite a pinky promise, but whatever, close enough.]

Deal. I promise.

[microbrobotics]

[ Eh, close enough. He smiles warmly back over at Megaman. ]

Me too. I promise.

[megabytes]

[He squeezes Hiro's fingers, gently.]

Okay. Ask away.

[microbrobotics]

[ He nods, then, and thinks carefully about what he wants to ask next. ]

Why did your dad tell him? Did something happen?

[megabytes]

Yeah. I, uh, I got damaged pretty bad [A hole in his chest where his crest should be and then everything collapses into error messages] and, well. I can't restore from backup, so dad made this emergency repair file. But using it would change part of my code and give us synchro, so...so dad wanted Lan to know. So Lan could choose what to do. To- to fix me or not.

[microbrobotics]

[ Hiro sucks in a sharp little virtual breath. ]

He - he chose to fix you, right?

[megabytes]

[He nods, looking away.]

Yeah, he picked me. He knew what'd happen and he still picked me.

[microbrobotics]

... What would happen? The synchro? What's that?

[megabytes]

Synchro has a...a backfeed. If we're in synchro, and I get hurt...

[microbrobotics]

... He gets hurt too.

[megabytes]

Yeah. That's why dad added an offset to my code at first, so that couldn't happen. But he...he couldn't copy out my code after I went online for the first time, so the only thing he had to make my repair file with was the copy from before he added it.

[microbrobotics]

So you got stuck with it on, huh.

[megabytes]

And it's always there, on some level. Not always bad enough for it to hurt him, but...I don't know how to keep it that way.

[microbrobotics]

... Anything could happen? If you were hurt badly enough, he'd just - collapse?

[megabytes]

It could...it could kill him.

[And because of the differences in how human and navi injuries work, something that that could cause a fatal backfeed might not necessarily be something that could kill Megaman.]