[Special 008: Voice/Action]

[no_use_running]

[Voice/Ami]

This may seem sort of a strange question suddenly, but please tell me about your families.

[Ami's having one of those days where the distance between herself and her family and friends seems too vast and too real. Later, to focus her mind, she'll train in the battle dome, partners and visitors welcome.]

Comments

[Voice]

[semper_cogitans]

[It takes Robert some time to psyche himself up enough to say anything to Ami again. He needs to talk to her, but he's terrified. He's afraid to ask her if she likes him anymore.

He wants to say sorry so badly, but...

The question. It's an excuse. He answers it stumblingly, haltingly.]

... I was an adopted child, like most Terrans. My parents, Akila and Frederick Hastings, brought me up in Linden for the entirety of my life. They were both very kind people... loving, patient parents who nurtured my love of science ever since they were aware of my aptitude. I must confess that I likely caused them many problems at times with my insatiable desire for knowledge.

...

It... has been awhile since I spoke to them, at home.

A very long while.

[He falters uncomfortably then. Is it strange to not want to talk to them...? To not want to feel that pity, that shame, that undertone of barely-suppressed disapproval?

Or what he feels as such?]

Re: [Voice]

[no_use_running]

[Ami takes the answer at face value.]

It's the same for me. Of course I love Mama and want to see her, but we both have very busy careers.

It'd be nice if I could see her more, I've always thought.

[Voice]

[semper_cogitans]

[Ami obviously cares very much for her mother. Robert... isn't sure how to empathize with it.]

Well... my career took me away from my parents entirely. [A half-truth. Robert used it as an excuse to get away.] Though I still keep... contact with them. [Occasionally.]

Re: [Voice]

[no_use_running]

[She takes the answer simply again.]

I see. It's the same for me. I write Mama and e-mail her as much as I can. Usually every day. [Just like the whiteboard growing up.]

[Voice]

[semper_cogitans]

Every day? You and your mother must be very close... [Robert is both glad and kind of... unsure how to feel, hearing that. It represents a social dynamic he doesn't really understand, that he has no real connection to...]

Is your family a relatively typical one, in your world, Doctor Mizuno?

Re: [Voice]

[no_use_running]

Not exactly. My parents divorced when I was young. [And in Japan in the 1990's, that still hadn't been too common.]

[Voice]

[semper_cogitans]

Ah, I see... [Robert is vaguely conscious of this being a difficult topic for most people.]

It does not matter much. Families are all equally valid.

[Robert really wants to tell Ami he's sorry. Sorry for offending her or whatever he did. Sorry for not being a good friend like Mike. Sorry for being a failure.]

Re: [Voice]

[no_use_running]

Mm. Mama raised me on her own because of that. Maybe that's why we're close. But in the end, she and Papa weren't compatible.

[You can't tell that a part of her worries she was the problem, right?]

[Voice]

[semper_cogitans]

[No, he can't tell.]

That is an unfortunate occurrence... but sometimes it happens. At least your parents were able to separate amicably? ... I hope so, at any rate.

I am not sure if my parents are still together or not. [Does this admission reveal just how little Robert speaks to them anymore?]

... I suppose it wouldn't matter much, either way.

Re: [Voice]

[no_use_running]

[Yes, that was pretty revealing, and she can't help being a bit surprised. But then, Rei doesn't really have a relationship with her father; and Ami hasn't seen her own father for years.]

I suppose as an adult, it's a little different. But I can't help wishing it had worked out better.

[Voice] | Filtered 100%

[semper_cogitans]

I wish many things had worked out better. [It's a painfully vague statement that says so much and so little all at once, for Robert.]

...

[He needs to say something before it's impossible to say. Needs to say something but can't let it be heard elsewhere... So many seconds of silence pass in which he composes the best filter he can, and then he tries to force himself to speak again.]

S-Speaking of which. I... I wanted to... apologize, to you, Doctor Mizuno.

... Ami. [He doesn't know if it's okay to call her by her actual name, but... suddenly the formality doesn't seem right; it's too distant.]

I... After speaking with Leonardo, I... came to the conclusion that I must have... said something disagreeable to you, and... I... I'm sorry. I... I didn't mean to... to cause whatever trouble I might have caused, and...

[He trails off, ashamed of himself. He's so terrible at this and it all sounds wrong and stupid even now.]

I-I, I understand if you're still upset. I... I just wanted to try to make amends. However that is possible. [If

Re: [Voice] | Filtered 100%

[no_use_running]

There's nothing to make amends for. Everyone has their own viewpoints. I understand that.

[Voice] | Filtered 100%

[semper_cogitans]

[Robert tries awkwardly to rephrase himself.] W-Well, yes, but... I could have been less offensive. Perhaps. [Though he still isn't sure what offended Ami, if anything.]

And at the least I owe you an apology for... being bothersome.

With my... inability to read social cues, I often cause problems...

[Voice] | Filtered 100%

[no_use_running]

Please don't worry about it too much. [She's not comfortable being the focus of someone else's angst.]

[Voice] | Filtered 100%

[semper_cogitans]

[But Ami, Robert has been angsting over this for several weeks now!]

... I will try not to.

I... I just don't want to be a poor friend for you. And I know that I am not like him - [And Robert cuts himself off, ashamed. He's being petty, isn't he?]

[Voice] | Filtered 100%

[no_use_running]

[Now you've lost her, Robert, and the confusion creeps into her voice.]

When you say 'like him'... who do you mean?

[And for that matter, what do you mean?]