Been listening toĀ āMy Goodbyeā from Epic and Iām having such brainrot about the fallout between Rutherford and Buenamigo.
Like Iām picturing a backstory where Buenamigo's been mentoring Ruthie and they have a genuinely friendly if slightly strained relationship. But heās also pushing Sam harder and harder to design the code until eventually Sam recognizes that no, heās actually not skilled enough as a young cadet, no matter how talented, to design an entire fucking AI Starship.
And Buenamigoās likeĀ āno, Samanthan, I believe in you! Believe in yourself!ā and Samās like,Ā āNo man, listen to me, I canāt, I am literally not capable of doing this and if we try itās going to get people killed.ā And Buenamigoās like,Ā āPeople die in Starfleet all the time, this AI will save lives in the long runā and Samās like,Ā āNo, Iām an engineer, we have ethics about these things, if it doesnāt pass quality control Iām not letting you use it!ā And Buenamigoās likeĀ āUh I wasnāt asking your permission,ā so Sam says heās going to quit and take his code with him. And since this has all been an off-the-books partnership between an admiral and a cadet (definitely no opportunities for financial and professional abuse there, amirite?) Buenamigo canāt exactly stop him.
And it devolves into this huge, ugly argument where Buenamigo tries to emotionally blackmail Rutherford into staying on the project (perhaps mockingly pointing out that Ruthie has been using him as a replacement father-figure or something? idk) and Rutherford says that Buenamigoās been chasing advancement so long that heās basically alone with only a cadet thirty years his junior for a friend.
Buenamigoās shocked for a moment, and then is likeĀ āYeah okay, go then. Youāll figure out someday that I was right all along.ā
But wait, itās a trap! Because he tricks Rutherford into going back into the lab and locks the door on him after launching the program, basically telling him that itās sink or swim time and truly believing, right until the moment the engine explodes and blows half of Rutherfordās face off, that his genius prodigy cadet will somehow magically fix the problem in time.
And in order to cover his own ass and save himself from whatever the Federation version of a hefty lawsuit is, he has to put Rutherford under the implant. And then obviously he steals the imperfect code because, hey, Ruthie canāt remember it anyway. And thatās how their mentorship ends, with a bitter admiral taking a buggy stolen code as a consolation prize and a young cadet with forged graduation documents and a hazy memory he somehow canāt get himself to care about being assigned to a Cali-class ship.
