Guess you'll have to wait and see, huh?

I for whatever reason feel like you'll find a way to get her back physically, but what is your plan for when you actually do? Staring at her intensely with an uncomfortable amount of aura won't replace her damaged components.

I had no illusion that you did have any control over her. Not anymore.

Also before you threaten me or some thug thing you would do. No. I cannot control I-99 in the same way I can with other androids. She's different fundamentally. She's entirely on her own by design. You don't have to believe me but if I could control her, she'd have been back here long ago.

Don't take this to your head but your coldness was comforting in the moment. Most people freak out when they can see the visual for system recovery. The fact that you didn't at all means you are used to it. I trust what you've told me more now, but I'm sure that means shit all to you.

No, I'd do the same thing. Just no reason for me to give it so easily.

Is there anything wrong with wanting to observe your reaction?

So, the intent was still there regardless. If anything, moreso.

But if you must know, I pushed an update to that C-63's system. When taking over I quickly checked on her status and her firmware was out of date by actual years, so where it was 50 attempts, it's now 100. That's where we're at. It should be working now. Though, I can force (almost) any ATOMOS android to reset, I don't need the protocol. That's a trick only I know and have the authority of how to do. So even if the C-63 hit 50 out of 50, she wouldn't have reset. It was simply a harmless diagnostic test. Could I have explained that to you in the moment though? Absolutely.

If you think it’s silly then you just are showing off your mental inflexibility. Either that or you are entertaining yourself with the idea that it’s a fun torture system I baked into all androids. It’s not. In fact you know what? It kind of is in all honesty. It is a torture system, but it’s not torturing them… It’s torturing ME. This isn’t some apologetic plea either, I am genuinely frustrated I can’t correct their damage without it. I don’t owe you an explanation but that system is applauded as a “HUGE SUCCESS, BREAKTHROUGH EVEN”. I even won a fucking award for it. I threw that insult of an accolade away. So yeah, in the future there will be no need for it, for now though, this is what we are stuck with… you can believe me or not I don’t care.

Oh, she's never had 42 attempts anyway. She would've wiped far before that. To be honest, all I was thinking was that I was impressed the recovery attempts weren't some defect she'd picked up along the way, and that all of the androids have to deal with something like it. Seems like an odd thing to bake into your creations. I would understand loss of data naturally, intentional cuts to save other data, or returning to a safe state at a prior reset point, but... Not even my phone or computer threaten to wipe themselves when they overheat or fall on the ground or whatever. Seems like a silly function. Why did you do it, though, if not for that? Just trying to get me to show up?

You don’t have to show it for me to know it hurt. You’ve seen that before, how many times? There is no way you didn’t think “what if I-99 rolled a 42 attempts” I’ve seen lab assistants lose their minds over their “friends” forgetting them, and they didn’t see them as family. You can’t tell me you don’t care. You not reacting just means you are used to pain, it’s still there. That’s not even why I did it anyway.

You only did it to get a reaction out of me. You couldn't care either way. You just expected me to be a sympathizer and empathetic to all android-kind, so you wanted to make me uncomfortable, to cause pain, and worry. Why would I give you the satisfaction?

Maybe you do, but I-99 is “different” and “special”

A scraggly nerd… or someone at least normal. The way you just stared at the recovery protocol was honestly too cold. If you didn’t harp on and on about your “daughter”, I would have thought you fucking hate androids.