@incalescens // continued [x]
once again, the human's clever quip sent his program reeling, unable to pinpoint what to say that would be the most pleasing or agreeable. whatever the 'human condition' was, he was quite certain he was incapable of experiencing it - even as that familiar sense of urgency and 'panic' welled up again and left him feeling more lost than ever. no one had ever spoken to him so...well, that was just it - there wasn't a way to label or define it because he'd never experienced speaking to anyone other than benny for any length of time, and benny had never desired a two-way conversation. he wanted results, and yes man did his best to give it to him.
tony seemed to want to talk - or at least to have genuine, real input from him, and that only added to his anxiousness. for all his programmed smiles and enthusiasm, yes man didn't know how to hold an actual conversation where someone did not merely want his undivided attention and agreement. he didn't know how to be spoken to as if he were a person. attempting to quiet the thousands of horrible scenarios in his mind, he focused on tony's work on the mister gutsy unit for a few moments, before finally - finally - hearing something he knew how to respond to.
" oh, it wasn't benny that reprogrammed me! he had help - from someone in freeside! but i guess i just don't remember her, and benny didn't seem too keen on talking about it. i guess she didn't leave a very nice impression on him! " yes man pointed out. " but when i was a regular securitron, benny just gave me an EMP grenade! that shut me down real fast - and let him find someone to reprogram me to be helpful! " not that he was able to remember anything before that, but benny had spoken of it - scarcely - and he was able to piece it together. " i don't actually know who did all the work, but i guess they weren't very good at it, huh? " it was as much a jab at his reprogrammer as it was at himself - thinking of himself as being flawed or broken in the human's eyes wasn't pleasant. it meant that he had to strive to be even more useful - which meant understanding what the man wanted him to say and do, but that was no easy feat either. he wasn't benny - and that alone was terrifying.
" really? i would have thought that would be mr. house! but you're right - you do seem like you're knowledgeable on that sort of thing! but that sure would make you old - almost like a pre-war ghoul, except you still have all of your skin! " clearly, he happened to be unaware of the negative connotations of being called 'old', and the overall unsettling nature of his second statement.
vaporwave
ellievsbear
jbbartram-illu
