Tape #7
Click.
A sigh. Itās a little shaky.
āā¦Probāly shouldāve waited a bit to record this.ā
A few seconds of silence. Then thereās rustling sounds, and then silence again.
āā¦No, itās- I should⦠I should go ahead anā do it.ā The rustling returns, but only for a moment. āSo. ā¦Um.ā
A pregnant pause.
āI⦠just got back to the base. ā¦From- running off.ā
ā¦
āSo⦠Lately, Iāve⦠been havinā trouble. With- yāknow, fighting ān all that. Thought I wasnāt makinā out to be any good of a soldier, which⦠if Iām tryinā to help win this war, then I should be a good soldier. Should at least be able to take care of myself. Well, itās⦠I thought I was startinā to do alright, with savinā that one guy, but⦠then some stuff happened. A lotta stuff. I almost got captured, or- well, I basically was, anā then Kale swooped in anā saved me. Not only that, but he knocked out Kid, anā we took him with us. Had this- this really intense fight on the way back, someone tryinā to save Kid I guess⦠but. We beat him. ā¦Kale did- pretty⦠brutally.ā
The sounds of someone shifting.
āSo I talked some with Kid, once⦠everything got settled out. Turned out heās got some protocol or somethinā bc heās a robot? Anā⦠he canāt attack me. Or anyone in the Resistance. Would go against his programming now. So heās⦠been tryinā to train me, anā we had our first āsessionā; I got a bit worn out after the first one anā went to go visit Sy-ā Here the voice cracked, and there was a shaky breath in, and a smoother one out. āI went to go visit Sytri, like I always did whenever I wanted to unwind anā relax a bit. ā¦Long story short, Kid followed me, anā he recognized Sytri. From the Rivals. Turned out heād been one of āem the whole time anā never- he just- let me-ā Another sigh. āā¦Kid ān I had a short lil argument thing, Iāunno, anā⦠I ran off. Said I was done tryinā to be somethinā I wasnāt, anā left a note, anā ran off.ā
āGuess what they say is true, with the past repeating itself.ā
āThen I ended up actually gettinā captured on the way to Willowdale. Like knocked out ān tied up ān everything. Kale came swooping in again. Brought Kid with him, too. But I was still- especially after that- having doubts about everything, so Kale took me home.ā
āAnd⦠Sheila told me everything.ā
āAnd thenā¦ā The voice sounds a little more upbeat now. āI had⦠the most interesting thing happen. Kaleās god showed up.ā A small laugh. āNever gonna forget that, I donāt think. They talked to me for a minute, said Iād done a good job against that Rival. Even though it ended poorly for me. But then they asked if I wanted to be a Unit. Like- like Kid. Anā Kale. I-I thought thatād mean like⦠not beinā able to think for myself anā havinā to follow protocols anā programming ān all that, so I- freaked out a little, heh. But it wasnāt that it wouldāve been like that, though, but⦠I still didnāt wanna do it. I wanted to learn to do this myself. Anā not by⦠by cheating. So I got a headband instead. Shows me all kindsāa neat stuff ābout most everything.ā
ā-Scratch that, it shows neat stuff about actually everything. Even them. Showed their⦠uh⦠their name, I think⦠and⦠somethinā else, maybe?ā
āA-anyways. But then I mentioned fixing Kaleās arms ān legs after that fight a while back, anā they gave me blueprints- actual blueprints- to all of Kaleās mechanisms! Iāve been lookinā over āem whenever I can, anā I honestly donāt understand quite everything, but⦠Iāll figure it all out eventually.ā
āOnce I got back, Kid anā Tab were there, too. Guess they couldnāt wait any longer for me, huh? Heh. Hadnāt seen Tab in a long while. It was⦠it was really nice to see her again. So now weāre rooming together again, anā now sheās got this lil bird with her. Dunno where it came from, but itās pretty cute. S-so anyway, thatās⦠I guess thatās really all I wanted to say. It was a lot, but⦠Iām back, and⦠anā Iām determined, absolutely determined, that Iām gonna make it work this time.ā
āIāve got to.ā
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