You start to sense you're slowly becoming someone else

[double_discs]

Who: Ram and Rinzler
When: A few days after this.
Where: End of Line?
What: After a fews days everything seems to go back to normal. And then--there he is again.

Comments

[namesram]

Ram, for his part, had been assiduously staying away from End of Line since their last meeting, aside from a single visit during a time when he knew Rinzler had been occupied in the Games. The club was, however, not far afield from his usual route home from the sector where he carried out most of his daily tasks, so when he turned a corner a few blocks away from it and found himself staring directly at the back of a familiar helmet half a block away, he really wasn't surprised at all.

When he let himself think about it, he'd been expecting this to happen. The city wasn't big enough for a program to avoid Rinzler forever; and without being able to understand their first encounter, he couldn't fool himself into thinking there might not be another. Still, he found his systems cycling faster as he slowed his pace and hoped he wasn't part of the Monitor's plans for the day.

[double_discs]

Rinzler stared up at the building that housed End of Line and ran a precursory scan over the programs inside. He had a feeling the one he was looking for wasn't within even though he knew it was easy to hide signatures from this far away. He just had this feeling...

Unfortunately, he didn't know where else to go. He started to make a system request to find out where the program housed when he got another feeling--this one of being watched--and turned around to find the offender. He was surprised then to find that it was exactly what he was looking for.

The request faltered on his processors and he negated it altogether as he began to slowly move forward. He didn't want to spook the other program.

[namesram]

Too late. Ram was already spooked. He kept moving for a few steps, until it was clear that Rinzler had specifically turned to focus on him.

Part of him wanted to run -- or fight -- but he knew how much good that would do in an open space like this. So he simply waited, grateful that he had gone with his instincts and taken himself out of contact with anyone who could be endangered by Rinzler's attention.

[double_discs]

Rinzler approached Ram with what he tried to make a casual gait and nodded in greeting. "Ram."

As before when he'd been around the other program, Rinzler found himself at a loss for what to do with Ram now that he'd found the actuarial program. He stood there awkwardly before accessing a much disused conversation algorithm.

"Is this a good cycle?"

[namesram]

Ko had not been pleased with the situation. Once they'd reached the end of the conduit, Ram had had to do some fast talking to stop her from derezzing Rinzler right there; as it was, she refused to believe the Monitor didn't have some way of tracking where he'd been, operational or no, so that was another escape route that could never be trusted again

[double_discs]

It was cycles later before anything of note happened. Then a small beeping noise started up--almost inaudible at first--and from the side of the room where Rinzler lay prone a soft red, almost pink, light started to glow and pulse in time with the sound. It was clear after a moment that the Monitor was receiving some sort of external signal, some .exe command from an outside party

[namesram]

Ram had looked up when the sound became audible, blinking out of the reverie his processes had slipped into. A quick glance at the door confirmed that it was still closed; he'd considered waiting on the other side of it, but if his companion ended up recovering completely and wanting to get out, that little door wouldn't have helped at all

[double_discs]

Rinzler tilted his head to one side much like a curious bit at the casual statement. Oddly, the tone seemed to work on the security program and after a short moment the near-permanent rumble settled down into a low purr. He relaxed, shifting his weight around so that he wasn't pushing Ram so forcefully into the ground.

"You would have simply complied?" If the question itself wasn't an odd one then the naive tone in which it was asked should have sent weird signals all up and down the actuarial program's sensors.

[double_discs]

The Monitor came online with a start. He jerked awake and was immediately on alert though nothing more than a stray file of temporary memory had woken him. He went through a hurried reboot, checking his internals and running external scans on the local sector all at once to ascertain the state of things. Everything checked out negative, calm and usual, and he settled back down the tiniest bit, chagrined at his own overreaction

[namesram]

When Ram finally began to reboot, it came with a mild storm of memory defragmentation that made his breathing hitch as energy was diverted from his outer processes. Coming online with a shudder, the first thing he became aware of was Rinzler's low, distinctive rumble: a calm sound, as Rinzler sounds went, and... very close at hand.

[[I'm almost sorry for arguing you into this fluffness. ALMOST. :D]]

[double_discs]

The rumble grew louder as Ram came online and Rinzler silently greeted him back into the world. He waited patiently for the other program to reboot completely, not moving in the slightest so as not to disrupt the process and startle his slighter companion. His hand still rested lightly on Ram's chest as he sat next to the actuarial program as close as physically possible while he guarded him.

[[Because we all know "almost" only counts with horseshoes and hand grenades. So there's a null statement.]]

[namesram]

Okay. Make that really close.

The situation was unexpected, but perhaps resting had increased Ram's awareness capacity. Though unsure of how or why, he knew that Rinzler's status was much better than it had been a millicycle ago. He understood the protectiveness written into the lines of the still figure, almost as well as if he'd been able to see through the ever-present helmet. Rinzler's hand was warm, and at least for the moment, Ram wasn't afraid.

Tron. Thank you.

As much as he didn't want to break the equilibrium the Monitor had achieved, he slid up onto his elbows, shifting under Rinzler's touch but not moving away from it. "You're looking better," he said, for lack of anything else that made sense.

[[Oh dear, you saw through my strategem. :D]]

[namesram]

Ram started, his circuits flushing brighter, shaken out of his calculations not just by the redefinition of several important variables but by the comforting certainty in Rinzler's words. Belatedly, he realized what the Monitor had perceived in his silence; without meaning to, he'd increased the pressure, possibly even forced the new balance through. He wouldn't have done it on purpose, but in retrospect, it was probably fortunate that it had happened

[double_discs]

"I know you wouldn't," he said and it too held conviction. The assurance that his friend wouldn't abandon him no matter what happened echoed in his tone from the same thought that the security program processed. He was sure of it.

Which was why he couldn't turn Ram in. The other program was his friend; Rinzler had never had any friends before but he knew that the concept was a good one and that he wanted to keep the one that he had made. Or perhaps already had all along.

He glanced down and shook his head clear.

"But you won't have to. We'll find another way."

[It totally worked. It worked so well it fooled me again when I reread it tonight! Way to go! o/]

[namesram]

Both the words and the tone helped to quell Ram's worries. A program like Rinzler, unalloyed, probably had little reason to expect more than obedience from lesser entities. When he said things like this, how could Ram not hope -- how could he not do everything in his capacity to draw the hero he remembered, the friend recovered from oblivion, further out of his shell

[double_discs]

Rinzler was quiet a moment--his usual calculation time when answering direct questions it seemed--and processed the past millicycle as a total rather than in its broken down parts. It was a lot to process and he knew this quick run-through wasn't going to do him much good, but he wanted to start and maybe eventually he'd finish. One cycle.

But certainly not this millicycle. Because in the meantime the external scan he'd started had come back with something different than the last couple of pings had returned. He instantly perked up, all processing power going towards the new data and analyzing it as he went on alert. His focus left Ram as he looked towards the exit as if listening to some unheard noise. Which is exactly what he was doing.

"...No time," he said in a clipped tone, his focus still elsewhere. "Calculate: four sentries, working in pairs, heavy and agile combinations. Estimated time to arrival: three nanocycles."

He glanced at Ram. "They're slow to pick up on the trail but fast when they hit. I can take them if..."