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

[abandonware]

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[extirpator]

[ he waits for her to speak. once when she does, his expression doesn't shift all too much — they merely soften with disappointment, something of a sigh leaving him. ]

Weiss is gone too.

[ there's a beat. ]

I can look for her with you.

[abandonware]

[She shakes her head.]

No. Her black box is gone. She's not anywhere.

[Weiss...where had she heard that name before? In the rift, she thinks, with the boy and...]

That talking book?

[extirpator]

[ he doesn’t know what to say. there isn’t anything to say. ]

I’m sorry.

[ for a moment, he wonders why she asks that — until he remembers. the dreamscape. ]

The witch brought him here. He was a human again. But he’s gone.

[ his eyes flutter shut. ]

Wherever he is, I know he’s at peace now. I hope she is too.

[abandonware]

[She doesn't know why he bothers apologizing. She'd killed 2B. The fact that she'd been allowed to at least attempt to clumsily make amends was more than she would ever deserve.]

At peace.

[She scoffs, derisive. Hurt, and unwilling to admit to it.]

Right. [Dead was dead, no matter what she'd told 9S and Simon to comfort them. 2B had nothing to look forward to but oblivion. The same as those people on Akvos, the same as her. Maybe that was some kind of peace, but she finds little comfort in it.]

If you say so.

[A muscle in her jaw jumps.]

What a useless mission. She should've never sent us into that goddamn disaster.

[extirpator]

[ her dismissal rouses something within him. it's a prick of anger that threatens to boil over into a wave of rage, an indignant "i'm trying to deal with this too," but he doesn't say that. for a moment, his brows knit together, features hardening as his fists clench.

but nothing more. ]

It's over. If you keep looking back, you'll regret it.

[ he speaks tiredly; bluntly. ]

The people here still have a future. I want to protect that future.

[abandonware]

So do it.

[She says, well on her way to peevish now. She notes his detachment even as he says this, and recognizes it for what it is.]

What do you want from me, anyway? I'm not supposed to be here. You're not supposed to be here. We're killing time until she screws up again and sends us back.

[She turns away from him, arms crossed, shoulders tight.]

I know it's over. This place, these people — they'll be gone too. Eventually.

[extirpator]

They still matter. This place, these people.

[ he speaks firmly, but his eyes narrow, threatening to flit towards the ground. his fingers curl into his fists. ]

Even if we all disappear one day, the things we do right now matter.

[abandonware]

What matters to me is killing machines.

[She's still got her back turned, defiant. Then her gaze cants off to the side; she sighs.] ...Can't even do that here.