I Love Myself And Others!

[Edward stared at them, standing up slowly.] ….You lied to me this entire time….?

𝑊𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒?! 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠, 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒! 𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑒!

[He stared at them longer until he looked away.] …do you want to hurt me…?

[He didn’t look at them for another few moments before he did turn to them, tears of his own falling.] ….I trusted you….

𝑇𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑡ℎ, 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝐸𝑉𝐸𝑅 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑒 𝑎 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑢𝑠? 𝐷𝑖𝑑 𝐼 𝑙𝑖𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔?

…I wouldn’t have… [He admitted.]

[Edward didn’t move. He was conflicted. They never hurt him, but they lied. They made him smile, but they couldn’t feel. Or could they…? He sighed.] no.

[He smiled and walked over, hugging them.] …you never hurt me intentionally, you feel, you cry, you get tired…I…I’m sorry…

I don’t think I added violence to his code… [Edward said.]

“If it helps, I glued his mouth shut.” [James said.]

[James beamed as Edward thought for a moment.] so…how are we supposed to keep you hidden from Seam?

{𝑀𝑖𝑚𝑖 𝑆𝐶𝑅𝐸𝐴𝑀𝐸𝐷, 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑗𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑐ℎ}

[Casimir stared at them with those hollow eyes before it started laughing, gripping James’ head harder. James yelped as claws sunk into his pages.]

{𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑟 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑, 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑔 𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡}

[Spikes shot out and hit Mimi in the back of their head.] Don’t. [It growled.]

𝐿𝑒𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑔𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑛'𝑡.

[It let James go, staring at Mimi.] You’ve grown soft.

I care. Because what if they tell Seam?!? He’ll find out about you two idiots, then he’ll find out about me!!

{𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑒}

[Casimir took Lanky’s throat.] Okay, let’s take you out of here then…

𝐻𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑓𝑢𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑤𝑜! 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑦 𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑓𝑢𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘!

[Casimir dragged Lanky toward the door, opening it to leave. Edward was beside Mimi.]

[Casimir grunted, staring at them. Lanky screamed. Edward quickly hid Mimi with his arms.] I don’t know what you are talking about… [It said with a grin.]

{𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑥𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑝𝑢𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑝, 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘}

[Edward felt dizzy from the scare.] …yeah no kidding…it’s a lot scarier than Seam…

I- I’m not gonna let you get near that guy!! I promise!! If they try anything, I’ll have their flame in a jar!! [Edward said, grumbling.]

I… [He paused.] I guess I am..

Shut it! At least I have knowledge of what to do!! [He froze when he got an idea.] Can’t one of the ringmasters stop the thing??

𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐽𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠'𝑠 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒𝑡𝑦, 𝐼'𝑚 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝 𝑖𝑛. 𝐶𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑟 𝑖𝑠... 𝐻𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒.

B- but what about you?! [Edward cried, James narrowing his eyes.]

[Edward whined, hugging them again. James stared at them, writing something in his book before turning it to face Mimi.] “You have a crush on him?” [It read.]

{𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑢𝑓𝑓𝑦, 𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑙𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦}

I can’t risk losing another person….[He said, and tears began falling.] ….I can’t I can’t I can’t….

“How would it know there’s three?” [James asked them.] “Unless it has sensors, there’s no way it could know.”

𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑎 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑙, 𝑖𝑡 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛. 𝐴𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑜𝑓.. 𝐻𝑒𝑦 𝐽𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝐼 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒? 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦?

“Uh, yeah sure.” [He said with a shrug.]

“I doubt Edward even sees it, he’s oblivious. You poof up whenever he says something nice or something about you.”

“Well, it’s not like he’s so innocent. Have you SEEN how he acts with you? He gets all soft and stuff. He acts like your his partner or something cuz he does so much for you without being asked!!”

“Fine. Don’t believe me.” [He said with a shrug.]

“If he finds out, it’s not the end of the world!!” [James said.]

𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑓 𝑖𝑡 𝑟𝑢𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝𝑠 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒?! 𝐻𝑒 𝐼𝑆 𝑚𝑦 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑!

“You won’t know until you find out.”

“Uhhh, well on the good side you technically aren’t a virus anymore? :D?”

“Technically you aren’t able to do…virus things….you aren’t a virus! So you aren’t a threat….technically…”

[James sighed.] “If you want, I’m sure Arkue could give you something to do! He doesn’t know you, so I think telling him your a new AI would be good!!”

“I suggest talking him into going to find Arkue.”

[Edward paused what he was doing, which was looking through files.] yeah, sure. [He said.]

Hey!! [He complained.]

GAH-! [He stumbled slightly at the tug, coughing.] ow. yeah, I would like out of this thing…

[Edward stared at them, standing up slowly.] ….You lied to me this entire time….?

𝑊𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒?! 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠, 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒! 𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑒!

[He stared at them longer until he looked away.] …do you want to hurt me…?

[He didn’t look at them for another few moments before he did turn to them, tears of his own falling.] ….I trusted you….

𝑇𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑡ℎ, 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝐸𝑉𝐸𝑅 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑒 𝑎 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑢𝑠? 𝐷𝑖𝑑 𝐼 𝑙𝑖𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔?

…I wouldn’t have… [He admitted.]

[Edward didn’t move. He was conflicted. They never hurt him, but they lied. They made him smile, but they couldn’t feel. Or could they…? He sighed.] no.

[He smiled and walked over, hugging them.] …you never hurt me intentionally, you feel, you cry, you get tired…I…I’m sorry…

I don’t think I added violence to his code… [Edward said.]

“If it helps, I glued his mouth shut.” [James said.]

[James beamed as Edward thought for a moment.] so…how are we supposed to keep you hidden from Seam?

{𝑀𝑖𝑚𝑖 𝑆𝐶𝑅𝐸𝐴𝑀𝐸𝐷, 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑗𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑐ℎ}

[Casimir stared at them with those hollow eyes before it started laughing, gripping James’ head harder. James yelped as claws sunk into his pages.]

{𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑟 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑, 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑔 𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡}

[Spikes shot out and hit Mimi in the back of their head.] Don’t. [It growled.]

𝐿𝑒𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑔𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑛'𝑡.

[It let James go, staring at Mimi.] You’ve grown soft.

I care. Because what if they tell Seam?!? He’ll find out about you two idiots, then he’ll find out about me!!

{𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑒}

[Casimir took Lanky’s throat.] Okay, let’s take you out of here then…

𝐻𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑓𝑢𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑤𝑜! 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑦 𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑓𝑢𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘!

[Casimir dragged Lanky toward the door, opening it to leave. Edward was beside Mimi.]

[Casimir grunted, staring at them. Lanky screamed. Edward quickly hid Mimi with his arms.] I don’t know what you are talking about… [It said with a grin.]

{𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑥𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑝𝑢𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑝, 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘}

[Edward felt dizzy from the scare.] …yeah no kidding…it’s a lot scarier than Seam…

I- I’m not gonna let you get near that guy!! I promise!! If they try anything, I’ll have their flame in a jar!! [Edward said, grumbling.]

I… [He paused.] I guess I am..

Shut it! At least I have knowledge of what to do!! [He froze when he got an idea.] Can’t one of the ringmasters stop the thing??

𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐽𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠'𝑠 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒𝑡𝑦, 𝐼'𝑚 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝 𝑖𝑛. 𝐶𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑟 𝑖𝑠... 𝐻𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒.

B- but what about you?! [Edward cried, James narrowing his eyes.]

[Edward whined, hugging them again. James stared at them, writing something in his book before turning it to face Mimi.] “You have a crush on him?” [It read.]

{𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑢𝑓𝑓𝑦, 𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑙𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦}

I can’t risk losing another person….[He said, and tears began falling.] ….I can’t I can’t I can’t….

“How would it know there’s three?” [James asked them.] “Unless it has sensors, there’s no way it could know.”

𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑎 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑙, 𝑖𝑡 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛. 𝐴𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑜𝑓.. 𝐻𝑒𝑦 𝐽𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝐼 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒? 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦?

“Uh, yeah sure.” [He said with a shrug.]

“I doubt Edward even sees it, he’s oblivious. You poof up whenever he says something nice or something about you.”

“Well, it’s not like he’s so innocent. Have you SEEN how he acts with you? He gets all soft and stuff. He acts like your his partner or something cuz he does so much for you without being asked!!”

“Fine. Don’t believe me.” [He said with a shrug.]

“If he finds out, it’s not the end of the world!!” [James said.]

𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑓 𝑖𝑡 𝑟𝑢𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝𝑠 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒?! 𝐻𝑒 𝐼𝑆 𝑚𝑦 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑!

“You won’t know until you find out.”

“Uhhh, well on the good side you technically aren’t a virus anymore? :D?”

“Technically you aren’t able to do…virus things….you aren’t a virus! So you aren’t a threat….technically…”

[James sighed.] “If you want, I’m sure Arkue could give you something to do! He doesn’t know you, so I think telling him your a new AI would be good!!”

“I suggest talking him into going to find Arkue.”

[Edward paused what he was doing, which was looking through files.] yeah, sure. [He said.]

Hey!! [He complained.]

[Edward stared at them, standing up slowly.] ….You lied to me this entire time….?

𝑊𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒?! 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠, 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒! 𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑒!

[He stared at them longer until he looked away.] …do you want to hurt me…?

[He didn’t look at them for another few moments before he did turn to them, tears of his own falling.] ….I trusted you….

𝑇𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑡ℎ, 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝐸𝑉𝐸𝑅 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑒 𝑎 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑢𝑠? 𝐷𝑖𝑑 𝐼 𝑙𝑖𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔?

…I wouldn’t have… [He admitted.]

[Edward didn’t move. He was conflicted. They never hurt him, but they lied. They made him smile, but they couldn’t feel. Or could they…? He sighed.] no.

[He smiled and walked over, hugging them.] …you never hurt me intentionally, you feel, you cry, you get tired…I…I’m sorry…

I don’t think I added violence to his code… [Edward said.]

“If it helps, I glued his mouth shut.” [James said.]

[James beamed as Edward thought for a moment.] so…how are we supposed to keep you hidden from Seam?

{𝑀𝑖𝑚𝑖 𝑆𝐶𝑅𝐸𝐴𝑀𝐸𝐷, 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑗𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑐ℎ}

[Casimir stared at them with those hollow eyes before it started laughing, gripping James’ head harder. James yelped as claws sunk into his pages.]

{𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑟 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑, 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑔 𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡}

[Spikes shot out and hit Mimi in the back of their head.] Don’t. [It growled.]

𝐿𝑒𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑔𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑛'𝑡.

[It let James go, staring at Mimi.] You’ve grown soft.

I care. Because what if they tell Seam?!? He’ll find out about you two idiots, then he’ll find out about me!!

{𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑒}

[Casimir took Lanky’s throat.] Okay, let’s take you out of here then…

𝐻𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑓𝑢𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑤𝑜! 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑦 𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑓𝑢𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘!

[Casimir dragged Lanky toward the door, opening it to leave. Edward was beside Mimi.]

[Casimir grunted, staring at them. Lanky screamed. Edward quickly hid Mimi with his arms.] I don’t know what you are talking about… [It said with a grin.]

{𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑥𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑝𝑢𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑝, 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘}

[Edward felt dizzy from the scare.] …yeah no kidding…it’s a lot scarier than Seam…

I- I’m not gonna let you get near that guy!! I promise!! If they try anything, I’ll have their flame in a jar!! [Edward said, grumbling.]

I… [He paused.] I guess I am..

Shut it! At least I have knowledge of what to do!! [He froze when he got an idea.] Can’t one of the ringmasters stop the thing??

𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐽𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠'𝑠 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒𝑡𝑦, 𝐼'𝑚 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝 𝑖𝑛. 𝐶𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑟 𝑖𝑠... 𝐻𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒.

B- but what about you?! [Edward cried, James narrowing his eyes.]

[Edward whined, hugging them again. James stared at them, writing something in his book before turning it to face Mimi.] “You have a crush on him?” [It read.]

{𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑢𝑓𝑓𝑦, 𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑙𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦}

I can’t risk losing another person….[He said, and tears began falling.] ….I can’t I can’t I can’t….

“How would it know there’s three?” [James asked them.] “Unless it has sensors, there’s no way it could know.”

𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑎 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑙, 𝑖𝑡 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛. 𝐴𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑜𝑓.. 𝐻𝑒𝑦 𝐽𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝐼 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒? 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦?

“Uh, yeah sure.” [He said with a shrug.]

“I doubt Edward even sees it, he’s oblivious. You poof up whenever he says something nice or something about you.”

“Well, it’s not like he’s so innocent. Have you SEEN how he acts with you? He gets all soft and stuff. He acts like your his partner or something cuz he does so much for you without being asked!!”

“Fine. Don’t believe me.” [He said with a shrug.]

“If he finds out, it’s not the end of the world!!” [James said.]

𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑓 𝑖𝑡 𝑟𝑢𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝𝑠 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒?! 𝐻𝑒 𝐼𝑆 𝑚𝑦 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑!

“You won’t know until you find out.”

“Uhhh, well on the good side you technically aren’t a virus anymore? :D?”

“Technically you aren’t able to do…virus things….you aren’t a virus! So you aren’t a threat….technically…”

[James sighed.] “If you want, I’m sure Arkue could give you something to do! He doesn’t know you, so I think telling him your a new AI would be good!!”

“I suggest talking him into going to find Arkue.”

[Edward paused what he was doing, which was looking through files.] yeah, sure. [He said.]

[Edward stared at them, standing up slowly.] ….You lied to me this entire time….?

𝑊𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒?! 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠, 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒! 𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑒!

[He stared at them longer until he looked away.] …do you want to hurt me…?

[He didn’t look at them for another few moments before he did turn to them, tears of his own falling.] ….I trusted you….

𝑇𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑡ℎ, 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝐸𝑉𝐸𝑅 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑒 𝑎 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑢𝑠? 𝐷𝑖𝑑 𝐼 𝑙𝑖𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔?

…I wouldn’t have… [He admitted.]

[Edward didn’t move. He was conflicted. They never hurt him, but they lied. They made him smile, but they couldn’t feel. Or could they…? He sighed.] no.

[He smiled and walked over, hugging them.] …you never hurt me intentionally, you feel, you cry, you get tired…I…I’m sorry…

I don’t think I added violence to his code… [Edward said.]

“If it helps, I glued his mouth shut.” [James said.]

[James beamed as Edward thought for a moment.] so…how are we supposed to keep you hidden from Seam?

{𝑀𝑖𝑚𝑖 𝑆𝐶𝑅𝐸𝐴𝑀𝐸𝐷, 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑗𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑐ℎ}

[Casimir stared at them with those hollow eyes before it started laughing, gripping James’ head harder. James yelped as claws sunk into his pages.]

{𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑟 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑, 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑔 𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡}

[Spikes shot out and hit Mimi in the back of their head.] Don’t. [It growled.]

𝐿𝑒𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑔𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑛'𝑡.

[It let James go, staring at Mimi.] You’ve grown soft.

I care. Because what if they tell Seam?!? He’ll find out about you two idiots, then he’ll find out about me!!

{𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑒}

[Casimir took Lanky’s throat.] Okay, let’s take you out of here then…

𝐻𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑓𝑢𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑤𝑜! 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑦 𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑓𝑢𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘!

[Casimir dragged Lanky toward the door, opening it to leave. Edward was beside Mimi.]

[Casimir grunted, staring at them. Lanky screamed. Edward quickly hid Mimi with his arms.] I don’t know what you are talking about… [It said with a grin.]

{𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑥𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑝𝑢𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑝, 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘}

[Edward felt dizzy from the scare.] …yeah no kidding…it’s a lot scarier than Seam…

I- I’m not gonna let you get near that guy!! I promise!! If they try anything, I’ll have their flame in a jar!! [Edward said, grumbling.]

I… [He paused.] I guess I am..

Shut it! At least I have knowledge of what to do!! [He froze when he got an idea.] Can’t one of the ringmasters stop the thing??

𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐽𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠'𝑠 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒𝑡𝑦, 𝐼'𝑚 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝 𝑖𝑛. 𝐶𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑟 𝑖𝑠... 𝐻𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒.

B- but what about you?! [Edward cried, James narrowing his eyes.]

[Edward whined, hugging them again. James stared at them, writing something in his book before turning it to face Mimi.] “You have a crush on him?” [It read.]

{𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑢𝑓𝑓𝑦, 𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑙𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦}

I can’t risk losing another person….[He said, and tears began falling.] ….I can’t I can’t I can’t….

“How would it know there’s three?” [James asked them.] “Unless it has sensors, there’s no way it could know.”

𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑎 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑙, 𝑖𝑡 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛. 𝐴𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑜𝑓.. 𝐻𝑒𝑦 𝐽𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝐼 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒? 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦?

“Uh, yeah sure.” [He said with a shrug.]

“I doubt Edward even sees it, he’s oblivious. You poof up whenever he says something nice or something about you.”

“Well, it’s not like he’s so innocent. Have you SEEN how he acts with you? He gets all soft and stuff. He acts like your his partner or something cuz he does so much for you without being asked!!”

“Fine. Don’t believe me.” [He said with a shrug.]

“If he finds out, it’s not the end of the world!!” [James said.]

𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑓 𝑖𝑡 𝑟𝑢𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝𝑠 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒?! 𝐻𝑒 𝐼𝑆 𝑚𝑦 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑!

“You won’t know until you find out.”

“Uhhh, well on the good side you technically aren’t a virus anymore? :D?”

“Technically you aren’t able to do…virus things….you aren’t a virus! So you aren’t a threat….technically…”

[James sighed.] “If you want, I’m sure Arkue could give you something to do! He doesn’t know you, so I think telling him your a new AI would be good!!”

“I suggest talking him into going to find Arkue.”

[Edward stared at them, standing up slowly.] ….You lied to me this entire time….?

𝑊𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒?! 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠, 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒! 𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑒!

[He stared at them longer until he looked away.] …do you want to hurt me…?

[He didn’t look at them for another few moments before he did turn to them, tears of his own falling.] ….I trusted you….

𝑇𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑡ℎ, 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝐸𝑉𝐸𝑅 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑒 𝑎 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑢𝑠? 𝐷𝑖𝑑 𝐼 𝑙𝑖𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔?

…I wouldn’t have… [He admitted.]

[Edward didn’t move. He was conflicted. They never hurt him, but they lied. They made him smile, but they couldn’t feel. Or could they…? He sighed.] no.

[He smiled and walked over, hugging them.] …you never hurt me intentionally, you feel, you cry, you get tired…I…I’m sorry…

I don’t think I added violence to his code… [Edward said.]

“If it helps, I glued his mouth shut.” [James said.]

[James beamed as Edward thought for a moment.] so…how are we supposed to keep you hidden from Seam?

{𝑀𝑖𝑚𝑖 𝑆𝐶𝑅𝐸𝐴𝑀𝐸𝐷, 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑗𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑐ℎ}