video;

[bastione]

[ HEY GUYS it's your friendly neighborhood android, here to not really answer all the burning questions for the influx of new arrivals. For those of you who have never seen him before, he looks like a mostly ordinary young man, except for the LED blue eyes and the exposed gold wiring all over his torso and neck. ]Ah, it seems another of these

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[hisoldgirl]

[d'aaaaaw Twosix is back!]

You are remarkably accomplished at hiding, Twosix-Six. I wondered where you went.

[bastione]

[ tiredly, ]

My apologies. Hypatia's sickness has only multiplied her needs; she can be extremely demanding.

[hisoldgirl]

[makes note of that tiredness]

You are alone in seeing to her needs?

[bastione]

In Lev's absence, yes.

[hisoldgirl]

Do you require assistance?

[bastione]

[ Awh, Tardis-bb. He has to smile a little at that. ]

The offer is greatly appreciated, but I am afraid she wouldn't permit it. Her trust is not easily won under ordinary circumstances, in her current state, it is amazing that she remembers who I am long enough to allow me to perform what repairs I can.

[hisoldgirl]

[she can't help it, she likes him ; ;]

How long has she ailed?

[bastione]

[ quietly, ]

Even before my arrival. The major outbreak of rogue behavior was thirty years ago, but she may have been malfunctioning subtly before even that.

[hisoldgirl]

You cannot expect to heal such a breach alone, can you?

[bastione]

No. I do not expect to heal it at all.

But I must try. She has no one else.

[hisoldgirl]

[frowns] Why are you beholden to her, Twosix-Six? You do not belong to her.

[bastione]

...she is in pain. She did not ask to malfunction, and she cannot help herself in this condition.

[ That's not actually an answer. ]

[hisoldgirl]

That does not explain why you are the one to see to her. Why do you take this burden upon yourself?

[bastione]

If she were to completely destabilize, it's possible the station itself would become infinitely more dangerous or uninhabitable altogether. Not all of those who arrive through the rift, which would remain, would survive in such conditions.

[ BUT THAT'S NOT ACTUALLY THE ANSWER EITHER and he realizes that his evasiveness is glaringly obvious. ]

...do you have a primary function, TARDIS? A particular directive that serves as your purpose for existing?

[hisoldgirl]

[his change in approach is an intelligent one, considering she has very little care for the majority of those on the station and it shows in her face as he goes through the possible consequences of Hypatia's destabilisation]

I protect my Doctor. I carry him through time and space to where he desires to be. I collect data. Anything beyond that is meaningless. [more or less, but she'd rather not say much more]

[bastione]

Yes, exactly.

...I do not have one of those.