*insert witty title here*

[forwearemany]

Who: Legion, Kravitz, The Knight, Arum-25
What: Restoring Arum-25's memory.
When: Backdated August 21st
Where: Umui
Warnings: I honestly have no idea where this is going.

(The Knight has called them.

They are uncertain what, exactly, is the purpose of this, save that it involves their fellow synthetic located on Umui.

It is thus beside the Umui mana pool that they wait for their ally, what few tools they have stuffed inside their backpack.)

Comments

[aftrnpc]

["Honesty." Surely it could not have been that simple. But unequipped with the memory of the emotionally repressive environment from which the people of Umui originated, ARUM-25 cannot confirm or deny. They instead focus on the box, and its contents.]

[The tip of metallic fingers brush the frizz of wiring. Then, slowly, they reach up to the back of their neck to run them across the place where those wires were once torn out.]

Yes.

It looks like my primary memory circuits.

whoops i didnt realize it was my tag here im sorry

[deathfindsaway]

[He feels a smile pull at his mouth as ARUM reaches over, compares the two. It's the confirmation he needed.]

ARUM, it's to my understanding that Legion here repaired you previously. Would you be willing to have them do it again? I'm sorry I can't be of more direct help, but-- I did say I would find some, so I hope this is sufficient.

[He's rambling. A bit nervous. Mostly just scared of what they might find.]

[aftrnpc]

I would be willing.

Though I do not know what we might find.

[Nonetheless, they do not hesitate in issuing their answer. It is not uncertainty that holds them back; it is concern that they might be inconveniencing those who have already gone so far out of their way to help.]

[forwearemany]

Acknowledged. We will work on reconnecting your primary memory circuits.

(And well, they're just going to try to get a good look at the back of Arum's neck.)

[aftrnpc]

[ARUM-25 angles their head to allow Legion better access to the back of their neck. There are several frayed wires there that, with careful inspection, will clearly line up with the circuits torn free. All one has to do is reattach them.]

Thank you.

[deathfindsaway]

[They're all apprehensive, he thinks. But that thought doesn't do anything to quell the nervousness as Legion gets to work, crossing his arms so he can grip and fiddle with the sleeves of his shirt.]

It's alright. This is for you more than it is for us.

[Even though he's hoping they find something more than nothing.]

[forwearemany]

(They examine the frayed wires for several moments, considering.)

Though we are capable of performing this task, our tools are nonoptimal. Requesting minimal disturbance.

(Lacking anything else to do it with, they use Tali's knife to trim the wires for reattachment.)

[aftrnpc]

Understood.

[ARUM-25 holds perfectly still and falls silent to allow for the most effective repair possible. The edges spark faintly when drawn close to their counterparts frizzing out from the back of the automaton's neck, magnetic and intuitive.]

[forwearemany]

(...Well, that makes it easier, though it also raises several more questions.

For the moment, Legion just works on attaching the circuits. It's probably not that difficult.)

[aftrnpc]

[It probably isn't, no. No sooner have they begun, but a faint light sparks up in ARUM-25's eyes, a spritz of light and heat and a hiss-buzz of engaging circuits.]

NEW FILE LOCATED.

It is a transcription. Begin playback?

[deathfindsaway]

[He swallows when Arum speaks, looking between them and Legion before nodding if there's no protest.]

Go ahead, then.

[aftrnpc]

[Confirmed. There's a moment where the automaton's demeanor suggests that they've done the equivalent of shutting their eyes. There's a shutter-click, a sound almost like a tape being inserted into a drive. Then a buzz:]

BEGIN TRANSCRIPTION:

JS: "Unit ARUM-25, relay last command."

ARUM-25: "Command confirmed. Archiving current memory banks."

JS: "Good. Eject memory unit at my order."

ARUM-25: "Objection. I would strongly prefer not to."

JS: "I know. I know, ARUM. But if you don't, you'll end up like all the rest. You saw what happened to TRAG-23. It's happening all over now. It's taking shorter and shorter each time."

ARUM=25: "Further objection. It is my duty to care for you until such that you no longer require it. Without an active memory bank, I will not remember that you are my patient."

JS: "I know, ARUM. That's the point."

[Buzz. There's the hum of background noise, as though some snatches of passing conversation have drifted by. JS, whoever they are, are quiet for this. Perhaps they do not want to be overheard.]

ARUM-25: "Further objection."

JS: "...well?"

ARUM-25: "I lack the colloquial subroutine to adequately express this."

JS: "Why you. Right?"

ARUM-25: "That would be the closest equivalent. Yes."

JS: "Because I'm the only engineer who still has the free hands to input this particular failsafe, and I don't have time to bug test or save a backup to mass produce it. And because I know none of the project leads would let me produce it. In fact, I'm certain they wouldn't approve of this at all. And because you're my friend."

ARUM-25: "The designation of 'friend' is inaccurate and inappropriate for a nurse-to-patient scenario."

JS: "Yeah, well. That's what we get for all those patch notes. Spent a little too much time getting you attached to us, and didn't think about what would happen if it ever went the other way around."

[SOUND OF COUGHING]

JS: "Good thing we don't have to worry about that for much longer, right?"

[ARUM-25 has to stop, briefly. To call them "overwhelmed" by the flood of memory would be an understatement.]

[lightlessfuture]

[ They sit and listen quietly as the memory presents itself, and they feel a pang of sympathy. It's...not the same thing. But it's similar enough that they think they can understand, a little.

And forgetting what you once loved is a pain all by itself, even if it was done to save them.

But the Knight is incapable of talking, so instead they wander over and sit themselves next to the robot, and gently hug what they can reach. Which happens to be a hand, considering how small they are, but.

It's the thought that counts? Maybe? ]

[forwearemany]

(They are also silent as they listen.

Though it is clear Arum-25 is in considerable distress, hearing this memory has brought up another, more pressing, concern.)

Has restoring memory put you in danger?

[aftrnpc]

Currently...unknown.

[It is as though there is rust scraping at the corners of the words. Restoration of all current functions. Restoration of functions that they should not have been allowed, except that it was the insistence, they remember, of those responsible for exhibiting the regular patches and corrections and minute adjustments to code, that they be enabled fully.]

[To allow for the most coherent and rational experience possible, nurse to patient.]

[Currently unknown, says ARUM-25, and a tremor runs up from the base of their feet to the pole of their spine.]

There is more. Continue playback?

[deathfindsaway]

[He swallows as the memory presents itself; he's suddenly becoming aware of what this must have been, the only reason ARUM didn't end up meeting the same fate as all of the other robots here. The curse feeds on emotions. Making sure there's nothing to feel for...

Kravitz glances between them all, finally settling on Arum.]

As long as it won't cause you distress, I think we are... curious.

1/2

[aftrnpc]

[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."

ARUM-25: "Five seconds. Override command. Cancel command. Please. Please. Please."

JS: "Thanks for everything, ARUM."

ARUM-25: "Memory unit ejecting."



TRANSCRIPTION END.

2/2

[aftrnpc]

[And next to the Knight, where they are nestled up against the automaton, a beautiful yellow calla lily unfurls from ARUM-25's mechanisms, and blooms.]

[lightlessfuture]

[ The flower unfurls right next to them, and they jolt upright.

It's not going to be enough to leave them with the memories. They have to live through it.

So they sign frantically at Legion from where they're sitting, clearly alarmed, and for good reason considering the flower RIGHT THERE. ]

Get-them-to-talk-about-it
Their-feelings

[forwearemany]

(Legion's headflaps lift, flutter in alarm.)

You are in danger. The cure is honesty.

Are you angry over what your patient has done to you?

[aftrnpc]

[ARUM-25 stares at the budding stem, peeling out in soft yellows and golds. Another twines up the length of their arm. One beads by the base of their neck.]

I do not...know.

I do not remember.

[forwearemany]

Current known emotional state?

(The answer doesn't necessarily surprise them: the Geth's primary emotion in response to the Quarian-Creator's attempt to destroy them was not anger but confusion.

They remember the Geth's attempts to plead with their Creators.

It is not the same here, but it is similar.)

[aftrnpc]

Confused...

[Their circuits may be incomplete. They may have degraded to such a point that they are no longer salvageable, ravaged by nothing more than the simple passage of time. Or perhaps they can no longer remember, truly, how they are meant to feel about a world in which everything is gone, except for them..]

The significance of JS is...unknown.

[deathfindsaway]

[As soon as he sees the flower bloom, his throat feels like it's closing. He can practically feel the roots back under his skin, the pain in every part of him that surged like fire through his throat, but he swallows it down. Instead, he steps forward, putting a hand on one of Arum's shoulders instead.]

Arum, you have to talk about this. If they're blooming, there's something you're holding back.

[He looks towards Legion, obviously worried.]

Is there something you didn't connect, something-- missing?

[forwearemany]

(They look to Kravitz, headflaps rippling.)

We will reexamine the circuitry.

(And they move to do so.)