Agateophobia: Your muse thinks they're going crazy, and mine is trying to talk them down.
[[You’ve adhered to protocol regarding virus scans and debugging?]]
[[You still feel something’s wrong.]]
[[If you were, I would have said so before now.]]
[[What manner of programs are they?]]
required in order to keep the mainframe from optimal operation.>
[[Perhaps it’s a dead line--code that goes nowhere. Perhaps its maker erroneously entered it and never returned to clear the mistake.]]
<...I don’t know if I could believe that.>
[[I wouldn’t expect you to take me at my word. Not even you.]]
<...perhaps I’m merely imagining it. Going crazy.>
[[I highly doubt that. If you sense there’s a compromise somewhere in the coding, for whatever reason, there probably is. You weren’t assembled last cycle.]]
[[Oh? You often think you’re going off the deep end?]]
[[I wouldn’t make the mistake of confusing diligence with insanity. It takes more than that.]]
looking for them? They’ve proven to be nothing sixty-three times.>
[[And the sixty-fourth incident could be the one with a virus attached.]]
<....is that not excessive?>
[[Paranoia does not entertain the notion of excess.]]
breems now. I know if I keep looking, I’ll find an error.
[[When did you last refuel?]]
<...sometime before six sols ago.>
[[And you wonder why you’re seeing things.]]
[[Refuel. Recharge, and come back to it. I’d make it an order if I thought it’d make you more keen to obey.]]
[[I know. But your systems may be crashing. Have you checked?]]
<...I am well within the parameters of safe function.>
[[Soundwave. Get away from the screen, take the time to fuel and rest, and then look at the code again.]]
<.....very well. I could...use the energon. End of transmission?>