anothercontinuity | Red vs Blue Voicetesting Thread

[ The threat is there, between the lines. If this partnership doesn't remain beneficial to Taylor, things will change. If your partnership doesn't remain beneficial to us, things will change.

It shifts, echoes, until his fingers curled and stay curled. ]

I trust Taylor to be the judge of that.

If you have known him long you realize he is not always the ideal judge of what is and is not in his best interest.

[ The clipped, even tone takes on something akin to exasperation as Delta looks down upon York's sleeping body. ]

It is all about the process, as he might say, not the end result. But on more than one occasion the process has been...detrimental to him.

It remains his choice to make.

[ Taylor can be an idiot sometimes, but too often people find excuses to take control, to override, to give well-meaning advice and nudge and prod and influence. He won't be that person, he refuses to be that person.

Even if whatever this is ends up lost to older, fonder partnerships. ]

Regardless of the potential outcome?

[ Curious. Most do not relent so easily or trust so deeply. Perhaps there is more at play than Delta realizes. More variables to consider. ]

There is no guarantee or our continued combat efficiency. The armor's protocol that dictated my deletion damaged the implantation system, the results of which you have seen. Until we have found an acceptable means of correcting this I trust you will continue to guard his left in the field.

Regardless.

[ But here was hoping it didn't come to that. And, from the sound of it, Delta really did have Taylor's best interests at heart.

That made two of them, then. Locus had no intention of changing anything, carrying on as they had for months now. Though that would certainly make some of their activities a little more awkward to start with. ]

We're partners. That's what we do.

That is what Taylor said as well. I wanted to be certain.

[ It is a delicate thing to navigate, the further he digs and flicks through memories of York's time with Locus. The-

Less professional aspects of their partnership are strange to him. ]

Shortly before falling unconscious he expressed a desire for us to 'chat it up' and 'become friendly'. [ A logic driven AI and a stoic not known for small talk. York, why? ] I understand such conversations often involve a discussion of hobbies, the weather, and preferred items of fictional media.

Perhaps for the average person. I don't think either of us would get much satisfaction out of such a conversation. Do you?

[ It's a strange, rocky road they've been on. From the beginning of 'the job' to the initial revelations, the time on Podunk, their first sparring match. Everything that's unraveled since then. Now it's something else entirely, something he can't explain save in that one word.

Partners. That's all that needs to be said, really. ]

Agreed. There is one topic that does hold my interest- or rather my curiosity.

[ Flicking through to the more recent sexual endeavors (skimming rather than immersing himself as such things do not prompt more tan the same curiosity that he holds for most of humanity's idiosyncrasies) the dynamic is strange and not one he was privy to while living with York before. ]

The power dynamics of your sexual relationship with Taylor- what in that appeals to you? I do not understand the desire to sacrifice personal autonomy in what is already an intensely vulnerable situation.

[ Again, the oddity of the conversation does not escape him. Discussing his sex life with AI, one that doesn't even hold interest in such things, save perhaps the psychology of it. It has all the clinical tone of talking to a shrink, and Locus hates that, more than most things.

It's a personal question. But then, Delta is already living in Taylor's head. He'll see it all, or as much as he cares to. ]

Trust.

[ It all boils down to that, doesn't it? One big, sexually satisfying trust exercise. He sighs quietly. ]

Knowing what we can do, what we're capable of, and being able to trust that the other person will always do what you want. Failing that, what you need.

[ Delta nods, more than satisfied with the overall answer- though the particulars are still somewhat fascinating. ]

And this extends to an inappropriate use of equipment and sidearms?

[ Taylor's current dream is...risque to say the least and not likely something he would remember enough of to bring up at a later date.

Call this being his 'wingman'. ]

[ That...earns a raised eyebrow. ]

We've never...

[ The suits, maybe, but he's never pushed for more. Not that he thinks Taylor would necessarily say no, but it's a strange thing to pull out of nowhere.

As just demonstrated. ]

The nuances of human sexuality and Taylor's needs are something we never truly discussed in depth in the past. He isolated himself entirely in an effort to keep us both safe. I am...pleased to know he has found someone compatible and understanding.

[ A clarification for this line of questioning as non-sequiturs are, apparently, rude. ]

So it is a hypothetical situation rather than a memory he is visiting.

[ Curious. ]

It must be.

[ Which is interesting in its own right. ]

He'd...like that, then?

I believe he would express enthusiastic consent to 'gunplay' as it is called, yes.

[ Taylor better appreciate this, just saying it feels odd. But he is attempting to be supportive. ]

Other common themes include: Being bound in rope, sensory deprivation, and I believe some manner of urethral penetration? Why an antiquated medical procedure is present I do not understand.

That's the one you don't understand?

[ Alright, maybe he's smiling just a little. So little. You can barely even see it. Hardly wide enough to prove anything, really. ]

[ Any percent more than zero is a veritable infinity to Delta- and Locus' amusement is noted. ]

A loss of sight or hearing and binding contribute to the element of 'trust' you emphasized as important in your encounters.

Fair enough.

[ There's a pause, a faint furrow in his brow as he regards Delta. He's not...really all that bad to talk to. Certainly as helpful as York described. There's little guesswork involved here.

Provided he doesn't read too much into what's being said here. ]

I'll ask, when he's awake. With you here, he might actually sleep longer.

He has had difficulty sleeping?

[ Not entirely irregular for someone in this line of work or even for Taylor in particular- but if it feels like something worth noting? It may be worse than he thought. ]

Sometimes.

[ He still remembers the first night FLISS had enlisted his help, when York had sat awake talking to echoes, to nothing at all. If Delta is going to be helpful, maybe he can return the favor.

His eyes shift to the sleeping Taylor. ]

Living with you for such a long time and then not...it affected him. In a lot of ways.

...It is pointless to speculate on possible past actions. And yet-

[ His helmet tilts down, green figure visibly 'walking' to hover over York's shoulder. ]

I occasionally attempt to calculate the likelihood of our separation if I had not rendered him unconscious when he had been shot. If it would have been better to urge him against assisting Agent Texas in her task. Just as it was difficult for him- my existence became... difficult after I was taken.

Whether my return will be fully to our mutual benefit or not I cannot predict as we were both marked by the loss, but I am already feeling more comfortable having been returned to him- but that is but one part of the equation. Taylor has always done best with a grounding influence and social outlet that I am unable to provide.

[ Delta turns, facing Locus, voice...hesitant but sincere. ]

You have done so. Thank you.

Don't thank me. I don't think either of us intended this to become what it has.

[ He grunts quietly, reaching to scratch at the nape of his neck, eyes shifting elsewhere in the room for the moment. ]

...I think I needed him, too. It just happened that we could compensate for what we lacked in each other.

A mutually beneficial partnership on professional and personal levels?

[ For all that some patterns are easy to calculate and easier to manipulate, the human element renders interpersonal relationships chaotic in a way Delta finds vexing. York, however, revels in the spontaneity.

Sometimes. ]

...someone to trust.

Yes.

[ He's hit the heart of it. He trusts Taylor, as much if not more than he trusted Felix. He can't do anything about that void left him, can't do anything about the scars he now bears, but guard his blind side. Try to give him back a piece of what he's lost.

Locus huffs quietly. ]

Something not easy for either of us to come by.

In time he hopes that I will earn the same from you.

[ A beat. A joke of sorts, voice wry. ]

Though I would not engage in same exercises you undergo to prove it.

Fine by me. You're not really my type.

[ Equally as dry.

Well. Looks like Taylor wasn't wrong. They might just get along after all. ]

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