[7rings] catchall for mahito

[shiftingwinds]

Comments

[shiftingwinds]

We went wrong somewhere, I'm just not sure where.

[a beat.]

I really thought it was Fukuda.

[touchups]

I mean, it's not like he did himself any favors by acting the way he did and, uh...

[Saying all the

shit he said

on top of everything else that came out in those last few minutes. Hm.]

But it's still pretty bad. That means we've got, like... what, anywhere from two to four killers just roaming around?

[shiftingwinds]

[hm indeed!

anyway, shi qingxuan just nods along with him, because fuck math, i'm not double-checking.]

...something like that, potentially. All we can really hope for is that now that they've gotten away with it, they won't feel the need to do it again, but... I think getting away with it would just embolden most people.

[touchups]

[shakes your non-math brain hand fastly with mine

Mahito's head tilts to the side a little, his nose wrinkling.]

More than that, if it's an indulgence thing, wouldn't they just keep going even if they weren't given an ego boost by not getting caught?

[shiftingwinds]

It seems a risky sort of indulgence, though... there are so many things you could indulge in that wouldn't result in lost life.

[touchups]

Some people are just like that. [He says with a shrug. Drill man hand hole drill...] Maybe they get off on the thrill or something.

[shiftingwinds]

...eugh, I hadn't thought of that.

[touchups]

It really takes all sorts, huh...

[UNFORTUNATELY. He reaches out and pats her arm, looking sympathetic.]

[shiftingwinds]

I suppose so.

[god i just abruptly remembered the tying-up conversation at trial.]

[touchups]

[closes my eyes fastly DO NOT PERCEIVE!!!!!]

Hopefully there aren't too many people like that around, if any at all, though.

[shiftingwinds]

Hopefully not. The robot seemed like the most likely candidate for that, at any rate.

[touchups]

[immediately flashing back to horny robot elevator banging]

Yeah... Though it kinda sounded like he was acting on someone else's orders to at least a degree, right?

[shiftingwinds]

I don't know if I'd believe that, necessarily. I wasn't... uh, exactly in a position to be able to contradict him that day, but...

[because she was like 2 seconds from dying]

The night before, he'd claimed not to have been given any instructions to kill people. And he lied at the first trial, too.

It... seemed like he was enjoying riling us up, honestly.

[touchups]

Yeah, that's true...

[Ah, murder robot. What a great example of things humanity creates that represents the worst of them.]

Robots aren't really my expertise or anything so it's not like I can say one way or another what seems more real, y'know? But I guess he'd have to make choices on his own if he ended up here in the first place.

[shiftingwinds]

Right... they don't have them where I'm from at all, so... I don't know. He seemed like the type to be able to make his own choices, no matter what he's made of. And pretty much everything else here, that's been about what we ourselves choose to do, right?

[she shrugs]

So... I don't know. The idea that he was forced into it somehow doesn't seem right to me. Maybe he interpreted "Well, I can't stop you from killing if you choose too" to mean he ought to do it.

[touchups]

Nah, if he has autonomy to begin with, he probably decided from the second he got here that he was gonna try culling our numbers.

[HE SAYS, HOLDING HIS HANDS UP. Look... Look. If they're going to say murderbot can choose to murder at all, they might as well just go the whole way. Anyway, curiously, almost as an afterthought:]

I wonder if they have souls...

[Machines in general. Wild concepts from distant futures.]

[shiftingwinds]

...

[hm.]

If he was enough of a sentient being to agree to come here... probably, right?

[touchups]

Probably...

[There's a soft little sound, like a sigh.]

Too bad I can't see it for myself.

[HIS STOLEN SOUL EYES!!! And also their dead murder robot... He'll never meet another again (until he inevitably fucking dies and gets trapped in the graveyard with one).]

[shiftingwinds]

...can you, normally?

[BITCH, NO. FLEA FOR ENDGAME.]

[touchups]

[HAHA!!! :)]

Oh! Yeah, I can. That's how I know what comes first, between the soul and body.

[It wasn't just random philosophical waxings of a weirdo!]

[shiftingwinds]

I see - it must be strange not to see it, here...

[touchups]

[There's a brief pause and then a little quirking smile, since Shi Qingxuan is the first person to pick up on that.]

Yeah. Kinda like losing any other sense, you know?

[shiftingwinds]

Aaah... that's not an experience I've had, but I can imagine it must be disorienting.

[touchups]

Yup! It's really annoying. Trials would be way easier if I could still see them too, since I can tell when someone's not being honest.

[HIS MAGIC LIE DETECTING SOUL EYES.]

[shiftingwinds]

Really? What a useful skill!

[...she's kinda jealous]