The Intelligence Sphere

[yoursassyreassembly-blog]

Something was… off. He felt the back of his head.

…Control. This was a lesson in control. Sure, his hair was uneven and gone. And he could see that his drawers had mixed labels. And his dyes…

Where were his scissors? His measuring tape?

No. Do not scream at the child/best friend. Do not brutally dismember the child/best friend.

Calm. Remain calm. Control. He could do this.

A big breath was taken in, and out.

"…Who did you have in mind?" He asked calmly. 

[electromagneticimagingrhubarb]

That was a very happy smile from her, even another giggle! See? She wasn't so bad when people catered to her every whim.

"I don't know. Someone better than her," she told him, happily moving to take his hand. Best Daddy. Unlike Iris, he could be trained. She could keep him, Iris could go out with the trash.

Really, at this point, Claude ought to just be proud that even as a child, she was as cruel hearted and manipulative as ever before.

[yoursassyreassembly-blog]

"Iris? Well, okay. We’ll call her Iris." He cooed as the machine doors closed.

"Now, I’m going to close my eyes for a bit while I fix her. Only one consciousness can remain in the machine at a time. I’ll be right back."

That said, he closed his eyes, and began to work on Mora’s repairs.

[electromagneticimagingrhubarb]

Was he off? Completely? Good. Off his lap she hopped. What to do first, what to do...

By the time the others came to again, Athena had well since finished her work. Claude's tools had been helpfully rearranged (what, scissors didn't go behind the lounge chair? Even after cutting off all his hair? Someone really should have told her!) and labels had been scrambled, reapplied to whatever looked similar enough that he might think them correct. The dyes in opaque containers alone would take forever to fix.

And there she stood, the complete center of innocence. Away from the hair, it wasn't like any if her masterpieces were immediately visible.

"Can I have a better babysitter yet? "

[yoursassyreassembly-blog]

"Unfortunately, dear, she’s our only available one." He chuckled, tying off the braids. 

"As for you, Morality… I don’t know how. We’re recognizing her as the true Athena. We might have to just wait this one out for a while. You, however, look like you need fixing. Go on, hop in."

[electromagneticimagingrhubarb]

"Her name's not Morality. It's Iris," Athena stated stubbornly, pouting. All she wanted was every little thing that came to mind, and a better babysitter was one of those. Why couldn't he give her that? "Morality is a purpose, not a name. So I gave her one. A nice one. And then she was still mean afterward."

[yoursassyreassembly-blog]

Athena? Calling him daddy? He could work with that. The child was given a kiss on the forehead, and put in his lap to have her hair braided.

"Well now! This is an interesting turn of events. What’s happened to you?~" He cooed, looking at the disheveled AI across from him.

[electromagneticimagingrhubarb]

"She was being mean and wouldn't play right. Can I have a better babysitter next time?" Athena asked, giving Claude the biggest, bluest eyes she could. It was almost as if she hasn't just happily admitted to causing Iris rather notable burns and pain. "She almost needed a time out in the freezer."

[electromagneticimagingrhubarb]

yoursassyreassembly:

Claude, in the meanwhile, was measuring a few pieces of fabric. ‘Tis the season for ice skating outfits! And these were going to be fantastic. He just had to learn to skate on ice without breaking it, that’s all.

The doors opened, and he looked up from the royal blue spandex he was pining. 

"Hello?"

Athena peered in curiously. There was a guy in there, alright. He looked similar to her own make, though his hair was several shades darker than her own. Still, he was handsome. And he had a pretty room. And he was even making clothes!

At least Iris could do one thing right. If this guy wasn't her father, nobody could be.

"Daddy!" Claude quickly had armfuls of happy, giggling child hugging him tightly.

[electromagneticimagingrhubarb]

Shakily points down the hall, Athena, she could walk, carefully. They'll take the safe path, no catwalks or deadly spikes. The walk would be a little slower as Morality tries to bite the pain and gimply goes forward. Athena is still cute. For now.

Athena did indeed make for the stereotypical cute child when she wasn't hurting anybody. That was even a giggle as she started walking again. After all, the silly Iris brought this upon herself; Athena HAD told her not to pick her up.

[electromagneticimagingrhubarb]

Adorable, no matter what. Even when kicking her injuries. And what an ugly noise in contrast that Morality made!

"I don't want up, thank you. Can I please just see my mom and dad now?" Picture of innocence. Hasn't been causing anybody pain, nope.

[electromagneticimagingrhubarb]

It seems Morality didn't care if Athena wanted to picked up or not, as she went ahead and tried scooping her up regardless. It was for the best she figured. And of course now she understood why the child was so damnably adorable, only Athena could possibly be so.

Damnably adorable? Yeah, that certainly explained why Athena's first and immediate reaction to Iris reaching for her was to aim a sharp kick for those burns.

[electromagneticimagingrhubarb]

She nearly trips as the name was mentioned and stopped to stare, how could she not of known?? It made sense! Now it was even more dire to get her to Claude. And the thoughts she had been having towards the child; oh so horrible. "Up?" she managed, offering her arms out as if to pick her up. Carrying her would be the safest way. What if she tripped and scrapped her hands? Or, feel over a catwalk. Or ran into a wall. Or a turret. Or a mashy-spike plate?? "Up?!" insistent!

"I don't want up, thank you." Knowing what little she did of Iris, she would probably wind up dropped somewhere dangerous. Athena didn't need her hand, and didn't need to be carried, and didn't need any of it. She just needed her parents and a much better babysitter.

[electromagneticimagingrhubarb]

It wasn't going to be a very chatty stroll to their destination, not that Morality was much of a talker but after a minute or two she looked down while gimply making her way, "Name."

"You’re a really, really bad babysitter if you don’t even know my name." Athena frowned up at her, but this was hardly news to either of them. Iris had already well established she was a crummy babysitter.

"I’m Athena."

[electromagneticimagingrhubarb]

Good. Now she didn't exactly know, of course, anyone could see that (except the child apparently), but she knew someone that could tell her, and maybe, just maybe, she could ditch her on them too. Hopefully she can keep up with her walking.

Considering Iris's (Athena now refused to think of her by any other name) burns, the small girl had no issues keeping up with her. Then again, it may have helped that she had always been built to have a light, agile frame. In the end, it boiled down to the same, which was that it would be quite hard to get rid of her without pawning her off upon another.

[electromagneticimagingrhubarb]

How did she get into this again? Continuing her stare at the door, an idea came around. "I remember. Follow me?" White lies are fine for children, how else do you coax them into things.

"Okay." Was there really any other option here? Nope. No choice but to follow the idiot babysitter who would probably get them lost. Then she would REALLY be in a lot of trouble.

[electromagneticimagingrhubarb]

Waves her hands to gesture calm, "Who?" Where would she find the parents?! No one in this facility had children! "Who." a pleading look to the door.

"You should know where to find them! You are the babysitter, they would have told you." Athena had to have parents, she knew she should, but... who? There was a blank spot in her memory. Most likely a glitch? Maybe?In the end, she figured she would just know them when she saw them, and until then, that's what the babysitter was for.

[electromagneticimagingrhubarb]

Morality dropped her hand and some how continued to have the patience to deal with this. "Rude."

"I tried being friends. You were mean. I want my parents!" There was a dangerous look in the child's eye. Probably not a good thing from someone who had already harmed Iris in the past hour.

[electromagneticimagingrhubarb]

She nearly took out of a shelf when her head hit it at the child's request. The fridge door was shut and she stared at her, not prepared for what she was asking. "Okay." quiet. Okay, what? Morality stood frozen until she held out her hand, "Come."

Athena's gaze settled on Iris's offered hand for only a few moments before flicking back to her face. Her own hands? They were neatly clasped behind her back."I don't like you," she stated plainly. "You're a terrible babysitter. You cannot even play correctly."

[electromagneticimagingrhubarb]

"It is." she quietly defended. Really Morality was being pretty nice, considering the options available to her. A few things where grabbed out the storages and sat on the counter. Then a rummage through the fridge was made again. What else, what else? Oh. The cool air felt wonderful.

"It is not." The ingredients went ignored for now. This babysitter couldn't learn, could she? Maybe it was better to get a new one, and get Iris in trouble at the same time."I want my parents."

[electromagneticimagingrhubarb]

Being lectured by a child? How positively lovely. Morality's response to that was a condescending, overly done smile as she impatiently slide off the stool; not a good feeling. The quicker they got this milkshake thing done the sooner should get the child out of her hair. "Milk." she repeated. There was a pause, she was nearly tempted to find those magnetic shavings, it crossed her mind for a second before she dug around for chocolate of any kind.

"That's not very friendly." Well, Athena had the milk now, setting it down on the counter. Whenever she found her parents, she was definitely demanding a better babysitter. One that would get her the milk themselves.