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Joy and Other Things Also
[Nick had never really thought of himself as a guy who liked drama, but damned it he wasn't getting used to it. Even without their various catastrophes the missions and errands they went on with the Vaultie weren't exactly walks in the park. He'd gotten up to more nonsense with those two than in the preceeding 80 years. Couldn't complain, though, he's also been happier than he's been in that whole span.
The last foray they took into the virtual space had been a rough one for a variety of reasons. (Not the least of which being how close they both came to being overwritten like a spare USB drive.
In truth, Nick felt he ought to be a little more hesitant to load himself back in, but he wasn't really. He was a little hesitant to load Hancock in with him, but once the ghoul had demanded to come along, Nick couldn't tell him no. Nick needed the interface to debug his emotional capacitance (Joy) and check the registry changes that program had written into him. The moment he'd casually mentioned that was what he had on the schedule, Hancock insisted, and so here they were. Nick had put it off for a week or two, just to give him time to convalesce, but he couldn't exactly put it off forever.
When he was finally starting to get buffering problems, Nick bit the bullet and hauled his paramour along with him to the seventh floor. Having those pods installed in Neon Flats was useful, if a little...tangentially traumatic. Without the drama, the VI turning things into a haunted maze, and the Vaultie dressed up in Hancock's skin with his rabid Id behind the wheel...well, it wasn't so forboding. It was just...a little dusty.
Nick loaded in first (after double checking the locks on the doors) and then Hancock did at his liesure, and despite all the strange errors, the environment seemed stable. The representation of his CPU, that great, big dark, domed room with a consetallation of thoughts and templates above, loaded in crisp and clean as anything. That was a good sign, even if the plinths and the walls failed to load in around them. ]
Don't say I didn't warn you: this is going to be one boring date.
[Nick stops at the podium and pulls up the menus and an array of windows. His processes are all running as intended, the only odd man out is Joy, so the only one who will load outside of him will be her...unless his thoughts start really wandering.]
Just doing diagnostics today, not a daring heroic to speak of.
The last foray they took into the virtual space had been a rough one for a variety of reasons. (Not the least of which being how close they both came to being overwritten like a spare USB drive.
In truth, Nick felt he ought to be a little more hesitant to load himself back in, but he wasn't really. He was a little hesitant to load Hancock in with him, but once the ghoul had demanded to come along, Nick couldn't tell him no. Nick needed the interface to debug his emotional capacitance (Joy) and check the registry changes that program had written into him. The moment he'd casually mentioned that was what he had on the schedule, Hancock insisted, and so here they were. Nick had put it off for a week or two, just to give him time to convalesce, but he couldn't exactly put it off forever.
When he was finally starting to get buffering problems, Nick bit the bullet and hauled his paramour along with him to the seventh floor. Having those pods installed in Neon Flats was useful, if a little...tangentially traumatic. Without the drama, the VI turning things into a haunted maze, and the Vaultie dressed up in Hancock's skin with his rabid Id behind the wheel...well, it wasn't so forboding. It was just...a little dusty.
Nick loaded in first (after double checking the locks on the doors) and then Hancock did at his liesure, and despite all the strange errors, the environment seemed stable. The representation of his CPU, that great, big dark, domed room with a consetallation of thoughts and templates above, loaded in crisp and clean as anything. That was a good sign, even if the plinths and the walls failed to load in around them. ]
Don't say I didn't warn you: this is going to be one boring date.
[Nick stops at the podium and pulls up the menus and an array of windows. His processes are all running as intended, the only odd man out is Joy, so the only one who will load outside of him will be her...unless his thoughts start really wandering.]
Just doing diagnostics today, not a daring heroic to speak of.
no subject
[ That soft and adoring expression is absolutely cherished; Hancock recognizes the gamble Nick took here, it was the same one he just endured. Hancock might not have tried to understand what Nick was telling him with all these bedrock memories; Nick might not have empathized with Hancock's explanation of his fickle urge to abandon the memory of his mother's death; they might not have tried to understand each other.
But they did. They constantly do. ]
Yeah? Well good, makes me lovin' you much less awkward [ He doesn't always pass the phrase back like a reciprocal trade, because it's not; this time he makes a point to return the sentiment readily, and with his entire heart. ]
Guess I don't talk about her too much, but... yeah. Suppose I could fill in the better parts of the story for ya, if ya wanna know 'em. Maybe later. We still got boxes to tick off in here, don't we?
[ Those half-finished installations from his evil duplicate have been politely waiting all this time. ]
no subject
Gotta go snag the tape from the lobby if I wanna finish that.
[They haven't gotten either of the things Nick wanted to complete done, but he's not going to suggest loading joy back in just yet. That feels like a bridge too far, frankly.]
I think this might be enough virtual reality for one day.
no subject
I ain't gunna argue that. Feel like smokin' somethin' that'll knock me on my ass after that experience. Can't believe ya just... walk around with all that bouncin' around inside your skull.
Pretty sure the feeling's mutual at this point
[ It's an odd shift in his own perspective to settle with the idea that Nick would enjoy hearing about his memories of mother-- it would have been a hard bottom line to swallow even without all the accompanying math that drove the conclusion. Sure Hancock has stories, and damn interesting adventures worth sharing... but memories of his family are not those; they're coded different, valued different. ]
Ya wanna hit the roof and split a spliff with me? Feel like I could use some fresh air
no subject
I'd love to split one. Let's go.
[The world is a sea of stars, of new and vibrant experiences, but none of them really compare to this one. To staring at the face of the ghoul that he adores and seeing that adoration reflected back. It warms the very center of his core, the cold and lonely place where he only existed as ViMA. Now he knows who he is because he can see his reflection in those black beryl eyes.]