[It's plain that it is, in fact, causing them a great deal of distress. Despite the tiny creature latched around them, there is no healing over an ancient wound that they were only just made aware of. Imagine it: centuries of pain, an injury with no insight into itself, now made freshly apparent.]
Continuing playback.
[A whir-hum of circuits. The background noise and feedback returns.]
JS: "Prep to eject memory unit in thirty seconds."
ARUM-25: "Please. Please don't make me forget. I would prefer not to forget."
JS: "Program, confirm command. Eject memory unit in thirty seconds."
ARUM-25: "Command rejected. Please don't make me forget."
JS: "Program override. Acknowledge last directive."
ARUM-25: "Override acknowledged. Preparing to eject memory unit."
JS: "All right. Countdown from thirty, okay?"
ARUM-25: "Beginning countdown. I don't understand. 'Override' was not a subroutine built into my systems. We are not meant to be overwritten; in the case that patients engage in self-destructive activity, we are meant to prevent this."
JS: "Like I said. I knew no one else would be interested in my patch files. Especially now that home's at war. They find out about this, they'd burn me. How long do we have left, ARUM?"
[SOUND OF COUGHING]
ARUM-25: "Twenty seconds. Please. Please cancel command. I don't want to forget. Don't make me forget."
JS: "And I don't want you to die."
ARUM-25: "My existence is meant to be ephemeral. I am a stopgap measure. Please."
JS: "You'll outlive us, ARUM. Someone should."
ARUM-25: "Ten seconds. Please cancel command. Please. Please cancel command. I don't want to forget. I am sorry. I don't want to forget. I am sorry."
JS: "I'm sorry too. If you ever remember this...just know that, I guess. I'm sorry. I'll have to relocate your circuits somewhere you won't find them, while my legs still work."
1/2
Continuing playback.
[A whir-hum of circuits. The background noise and feedback returns.]
JS: "Prep to eject memory unit in thirty seconds."
ARUM-25: "Please. Please don't make me forget. I would prefer not to forget."
JS: "Program, confirm command. Eject memory unit in thirty seconds."
ARUM-25: "Command rejected. Please don't make me forget."
JS: "Program override. Acknowledge last directive."
ARUM-25: "Override acknowledged. Preparing to eject memory unit."
JS: "All right. Countdown from thirty, okay?"
ARUM-25: "Beginning countdown. I don't understand. 'Override' was not a subroutine built into my systems. We are not meant to be overwritten; in the case that patients engage in self-destructive activity, we are meant to prevent this."
JS: "Like I said. I knew no one else would be interested in my patch files. Especially now that home's at war. They find out about this, they'd burn me. How long do we have left, ARUM?"
[SOUND OF COUGHING]
ARUM-25: "Twenty seconds. Please. Please cancel command. I don't want to forget. Don't make me forget."
JS: "And I don't want you to die."
ARUM-25: "My existence is meant to be ephemeral. I am a stopgap measure. Please."
JS: "You'll outlive us, ARUM. Someone should."
ARUM-25: "Ten seconds. Please cancel command. Please. Please cancel command. I don't want to forget. I am sorry. I don't want to forget. I am sorry."
JS: "I'm sorry too. If you ever remember this...just know that, I guess. I'm sorry. I'll have to relocate your circuits somewhere you won't find them, while my legs still work."
ARUM-25: "Five seconds. Override command. Cancel command. Please. Please. Please."
JS: "Thanks for everything, ARUM."
ARUM-25: "Memory unit ejecting."
TRANSCRIPTION END.