abandonware | i n [B] o x . // acata.

I mean... It's not my name, so I can't say that, but...

[Konoha's expression is undoubtedly troubled, trying to think of how to say what she felt... If it was even her place to? But... the more she learns about the metal pe- androids... the more she worries.]]

It doesn't bother you? Not to have a real name? [wait, was it species-ist to call those things "real" names?] I know you don't have a mother, but you could pick a name yourself if you wanted to, right? Or find a mother, I guess...

[Or, uh, a mother figure... Or something... ?]

[A2 listens, and gradually her expression flattens. Konoha's concern does not escape her notice, but so accustomed to a lack of a name — a lack of an identity, really, outside of what task she could fulfill — it cannot reach her.

Almost.]

A long time ago...

[She tugs at her sleeve again, uncomfortable.]

I was told it was against the rules. We weren't allowed to have names. Nicknames. Whatever. There was an older model — an android like us, but from a generation far behind — she had a human name. Gave them to her team.

[A pause.]

...Her name was Rose. She wanted to give my team names too. [Her gaze drops. She stares at the pumpkin, then at a wall, so as not to have to stare at Konoha.]

When she was gone, it stopped mattering to me.

[Against the rules to have a name... Konoha can't help but react, a "that's horrible..." barely audible, more a movement of lips than actual sound. The more she found out about the world A2 came from the less she liked it, the bleaker it seemed... But first, she listens. Tries to digest it, fingers knitting together anxiously.]

Rose is a really pretty name.

[She starts there. Even though it seemed this Rose person was gone, by the way A2 talked about her... all Konoha can do is just forge ahead, hoping she wasn't being too forward, too positive.]

You know, I'm named after that kind of thing, too! "Konoha", it means like... when you look up in the woods and see all the leaves above you... my village had lots of nature names like that.

[It just seemed so sad. Not to be allowed a name. Not to... no, she couldn't believe A2 didn't want one, because she said... it had mattered to her once. So it could matter again!]

How about... I start thinking of some names? I'm really good at it. And that way, when you feel like it... you can just ask me and I'll have one ready that you can use if you like it!

["When", not "if".]

[A2 hears it, the softly uttered words, and thinks it must surely be horrible to someone who was someone, who meant something.

She can hear too, the sympathy in Konoha's voice, and her eyes take on an odd glassiness before she turns away and waits for the moment to pass.

Konoha is too kind. She doesn't deserve it, she thinks. She had told Simon what she'd done, and Nier had delved in her head to find it, and in this moment the thought comes that she should tell Konoha too. How much she did not deserve even the dignity of a name.

But she doesn't. It has never been in her nature, to be cruel.]

It's a nice name. It suits you.

["When you feel like it." A2 doesn't think she will, but all the same...after a moment, she manages the ghost of a smile.]

Okay. ...If that's what you want.

Edited 2018-11-02 19:30 (UTC)

[It was horrible to someone who was someone. To see someone who meant something to them acting like they didn't mean anything at all.]

I'll tell my father you said so. He picked it.

[But somehow, Konoha doesn't feel like she can handle this the way she handled Nier. Doesn't feel like shouting or shoving will do it, like she can just push the other woman into saying something that will mollify her, something that at least sounds kind of like a promise to try and see value in life. A2 is... well, maybe it's just a feeling. But Konoha's gut instincts have done her far better than her straight intellect has, so...

She tries to smile back, despite how incredibly sad she finds the idea of worlds where people don't even get names.]

I'll have to hang around you even more so I can make sure to pick a fitting one- but that's okay, right?

[There's a strain to Konoha's smile that wasn't there before, and A2 feels bad, at being the cause of it but not knowing how to resolve it. This feeling is nothing new, though never pleasant. Perhaps the simple act of letting Konoha keep her company would alleviate some of the discomfort she's caused, she thinks.]

...That's fine.

[The strange and elaborate gourd she sets carefully near the entrance of her and A4's room, knowing the other android will see it when she returns.]

Thank you.

[It's said after a pause, clumsily, like she isn't used to saying it.]

You're welcome.

["That's fine" from someone like A2 feels a bit more like "that would be great"... or at least a "that would be good"... So Konoha's smile grows a little more confident. She might not know everything the other woman (metal woman) went through, or what made her like this, but...

They were here now. Just like she'd told Nier... It didn't have to be the same.

And now that A2's hands are free... She holds out a hand, one pinky extended.]

It'll be fun- I promise!

[Fun...she isn't sure about that, though she'd be lying if she said she didn't at least enjoy Konoha's company.

Even though she's holding out her pinky at her expectantly.

...

The smallest of headtilts.]

What's that for?

[Oh- She should have known after her talk with Connor about "thumbs up". Konoha laughs a little at herself before waving her pinky at A2 to try and get her to mimic the gesture.]

It's how you seal a promise. One that definitely won't break.

[A promise.

A2 thinks of vows and oaths, and contracts residing in weaponry, but this feels like less of a burden.

She reaches out and curls her pinky finger around Konoha's own.]

Alright.

...Then it's a promise.

i n [B] o x . // acata.

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