The mechanic's mouth was set in a thin, firm line as he shook his head in response to what had to be her deflections. "You know I mean neither of those things, Melissa. You're smarter than that."
Prying information from the attendants, Atticus, and Melissa about what that monstrosity was, had been like pulling teeth. Pieces of information pried from one individual, then another. Sometimes a careless word muttered under the breath; other times a simple sentence that seemed harmless, yet clearly wasn't from how it was spoken in hushed tones, and only then under the promise that no one else be told.
But now he felt he truly grasped the situation, and it made him sick to think about. Solarflare, or "Sol" for short, was more than a twisted reflection of the pair of Attendants on a physical level. It- Jonathan refused to think about the nightmarish thing as a "he"- was a twisted reflection of their personalities as well, right down to Mel's relationship with them.
He had seen Sol carry her away, sometimes in person, sometimes on the cameras. He had seen the way the animatronic had no problem with taking her whenever it wanted, even while tending to the children in her care. He had seen how Sun and Moon were unnerved by this, yet did nothing to stop it, only sighing in relief when she returned. To make things worse, he couldn't think of a single time where she returned without a new wound, or a reopened one. This had to stop.
Kneeling down beside her, he asked, "Do you really tell yourself that this is 'playing'? That it's okay?" He gingerly took hold of her arm, putting it between them to "remind" her of the bandages. "Sol isn't getting any better about this. If anything it's getting worse. How long until it does something you can't recover from, or worse? What if it gets bored of you, or gets greedy enough to try for another person? I couldn't live with myself if I stood by and let that happen."
He inhaled and exhaled through his nose to avoid getting too worked up. "I care about you, Mel. Very much. Sacrificing yourself like this is needless and dangerous, both for you and the ones you're looking to save. If you don't stop playing Andromeda... Then I'll have to play Perseus. Understand?" He let go of her arm.
