thisavrou | 03 | audio; forwarded to the 8th

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03 | audio; forwarded to the 8th

It’s almost funny how you guys are rallying around Rinzler lately. All this talk about how what we did wasn’t right, how we need to fix the system here, how we need to be better people. So much outrage, you guys seemed like you really cared a lot about free will and doing the right thing.

And I could have bought it, I really could have, if it weren’t for what happened a few months ago. When the captains did the same thing to someone on board and well, I checked because surely if you’re so upset now it must have been all out war back then. [A small, hollow laugh.] But no. You guys were pretty calm about it. Not even a peep.

And so I started thinking, why? I mean, free will matters right? Justice matters.

There had to be some reason you cared more about what we did to a robot than a mutant, right? Because that’s what he was. A mutant. You even voted to suppress his mutation. Cure him. Temporary of course, because you’re not evil.

It's just, we are. We’re threats. We’re uncontrollable, dangerous. It’s not like we’re real people. Not like Rinzler. [He starts to get louder, faster. Something close to hysteria starting to seep through.] Our free will and DNA and heads, they’re okay to mess with! It’s okay to go after us! Not with a person like Rinzler though. I mean, there’s just a few of us, so it makes sense right? There’s so many of these robots and computers, and you humans out there made them. And that computer can attack and hurt people like us and whatever! The rest of you got to protect your tools. Got to be able to use them again.

We’re different and everyone always fears what’s different. That’s what it is right? Right? Either that or you’re just a bunch of damn hypocrites pretending majority rule has ever been good for the rest of us. Just rather call out people like me and sit on your asses than ask yourselves why this kind of shit was let go on so long and why you never did anything before! Rather take it out on people trying to do something, trying to survive than fix your own damn mistakes!

So come on. [There's no pretense of calm anymore, but the rushed tone is gone. He speaks slowly, pronouncing each word with vitriol. He wants to be sure he's not misunderstood, that people are listening.] Which is it?

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[The taunt of personhood is laughable. Rinzler knows he's a tool. His usefulness is all that matters, and it takes the barest scan of network traffic to recognize when this system flagged that as not worth it. He killed users. He exists to delete threats. And certainly, he won't argue that this user has made one of itself.

But as much as he's wanted to hunt this glitch down—since he met it, since it publicly flagged him as an animal in need of leashing on its first day—there's one assumption he's growing increasingly sick of. It's not something there's any point in defending against the system at large—users don't care, and as soon as he killed one of them, he lost any right to be acknowledged.

But when this glitch throws its lies on his communicator? No.]

You attacked.

[This guy.

What a perfect way to end an already shitty day, to have to deal with this jerk on top of it. Before he bothers replying, he has to laugh about it. Everyone's angry, everyone hates him. His world is falling apart, here and at home. And it's his fault. He just keeps making things worse, no matter what he tries.

So what's the point in trying?

He's supposed to leave Rinzler alone. That had been the plan. But there was no point in that anymore. For every way the people here were upset with him, they were glorifying Rinzler. The poor program. He needs help, Peter. He needs your understanding, Peter. Why weren't you trying to save him, why didn't you try to be his friend? Why do you keep picking on poor Rinzler?

Whatever.]

The last time, in the aft? Yeah. I did.

[If there were the slightest point to audio from Rinzler, Peter would find his sentiment more than returned. The program's noise is a seething, ticking snarl, loathing flaring up all the stronger for every word it speaks. Probably it's for the best it can't hear.

That was how all of this had started, after all.]

Attacked on observation deck.
In maintenance.
During spacewalk.

Results: your fault.

[All of them.]

You threatened my sister on that walk. You should have expected it. You knew what you were doing or you would have backed down and let it go. You know that's what this was all about, don't go trying to play innocent now that's it's all worked out in your favor.

You got to win asshole! What's the point in trying to pass off the blame now? The crowd is already on your side.

Lie.

[The line flashes back immediately. He hadn't threatened her. She hadn't done enough for him to care. The 'crowd' matters just as little, but if this user thinks that his position counts as winning, Rinzler would only be too happy to trade places. He'll fight it in a moment; kill it and feel only satisfaction at the deed. But every time he's landed a hit, he's wound up in a cell—or dragged in pieces to his creator to be made incapable of fighting. And when Peter_Maximoff hunts him down and smashes him apart? No consequences.

Not unless a user had been damaged.]

First encounter: termed an animal.
Second: threatened to put down like one.
You never needed an excuse.

["I'll hunt you down and show you what happens to rabid dogs." "Some dogs just can't keep to their training." "Not sure how much you really get out of these little chats. Like, you understand this, right?"

Rinzler understood. The enforcer's always known what this was about. He knows the user's pretense, too, the thin film of righteousness it tries to hide behind. But he'd never touched its sister, and it wouldn't have made a difference if he had. Rinzler is a tool, and Peter_Maximoff is a user, and nothing it's done has been unexpected. None of it is even new. That doesn't mean he doesn't hate it. He always has, and here, for once, his code doesn't force him to submit.]

Not yours.

[Alan has been keeping an eye on Peter’s post ever since it appeared on the network. Its actual contents provoke a complex mix of emotions -- shock, anger, sadness, guilt -- but he refrains from commenting himself. There’s a hysterical edge to Peter’s voice and Alan gets the feeling his intervention would only push it farther. He merely watches the rest of the crew’s response, feeling relief and trepidation in equal measure at their response: relief that it seems almost all of the other crewmembers seem to reject Peter’s attempts to stir up animosity -- trepidation that their dismissal might drive Peter to lash out on his own.

The latter fear is only heightened when Rinzler of all people adds to the backlash. Alan blinks in surprise seeing the program’s name appear among the other commentators and it’s with some apprehension that he follows their conversation.

Alan has peered into Rinzler’s network exchanges before. He’s used to the fact that the program is far more expressive with others than he is with him. But even knowing that, Alan is stunned by his words. Not just for the quantity, but for what he’s saying. When he had first learned about Rinzler’s attacks on other crewmembers, Alan had asked him directly if any of his targets had been threats to him and Rinzler had answered in the negative. In fact, he refused to give any reason for why he had attacked them -- and that had been one of the first reasons Alan had suspected the attacks were the result of a coded error.

Of course, Alan knows the truth of the matter now. This revelation comes more than a week too late. But if there’s nothing he can do to change what happened in the past, he can at least try and prevent it from repeating itself in the future. Which means not allowing this to spiral into violence.]

Both of you, stop. [His voice is stern, reproving, and far more assured than he feels. He’s not breaking up a teenage argument -- he’s trying to prevent another altercation between two people who’ve shown themselves both willing and able to destroy each other.] Are you really going to let this happen again?

You-

[There's malice in his voice, more so than even when he was arguing with Rinzler. When making this post.

He's upset with everyone, with himself most of all. But Alan's come a close second to his own self-hate. Alan is at least someone he can lash out at, that he can let that ugly feeling out at.

Alan just had to go and give him the opportunity.]

You really want to try talking about what I'm letting happen?

[Alan stiffens at Peter’s tone -- so Alice had already told him. It’s unsurprising, but he feels dread at the implications nonetheless. Still, he doesn’t back down.]

It’s not that simple. What I told you about Rinzler’s code in the hold, that was wrong. He’s not programmed to fight you, he’s choosing to -- in the same way you’re choosing to fight him.

[If it’s a harsher perception of Rinzler than Alan had originally held, it’s also one that has more potential to change -- without any need to touch his code. Rinzler’s actions aren’t the unprovoked thrashings of faulty programming, but the decisions of someone who’s been without choice for far too long. Certainly they’re not justified decisions, but they do have some basis on the actions of others. And judging from the back and forth between Rinzler and Peter, that basis is steeped in anger and misunderstanding.]

Neither of you are being forced into this. You’re two people willingly lashing out at each other and getting others hurt in the process. Both of you-- [And he’s sure Rinzler is still listening in on the conversation, even if he’s no longer participating.] --have the ability to stop this before it spirals out of control again.

And your point is? He's still choosing to hurt people! Twice you said you'd do something about it and twice you haven't. So why should I listen to anything you've got to say? You didn't even have the balls to tell me you backed out yourself.

[And as far as Peter was concerned, all that made Alan was a coward and a traitor. A maker of empty promises.]

I'm not trying to fight him! Didn't you listen to me yelling at him? He won! People are on his side!

[...Rinzler “won?” If Alan thought Peter was being irrational before, that statement is enough to convince him that Peter is being more than just unreasonable -- he’s completely out of touch with the situation.] Do you really think this was a victory for him? People aren’t defending him because they approve of what he’s done -- they’re defending him because of what we tried to do. They don’t see it as making repairs or fixing an error; they see it as a group of people deciding on their own to take away someone else’s free will. And from what I saw of his code, they would have been right. [The question of how much Rinzler knew has plagued Alan for the past few days. Is that why he had tried so hard to get away? Because he knew that the only way to guarantee an end to the violence would be to remove his ability to disobey entirely? Whatever the truth may be, if Peter had seen the state Rinzler was in during and after the attempt, he would know that this wasn’t a victory. Not for anybody.]

I never should have promised you anything. There was nothing in Rinzler’s code to make him indiscriminately violent. Even if he wasn’t right to attack or threaten you -- to threaten anybody, -- there would still have to be some kind of provocation.

[And then, coldly.] I think you knew that.

Yes. Nothing happened to him and the whole damn ship thinks he’s some kind of martyr. He’s free. He escaped what happened to Ade. He could still go after my sister and the people here are fine with that. How isn’t that a win?

[All he can see is that Rinzler still has the free reign to go after Wanda, to retaliate against his family. Did he realize what River’s visits meant to Peter? Would he hack back through Peter’s conversations on the MID and find out about Billy? How long would it be until Rinzler hurt one of them?]

Do I? I didn’t provoke him into threatening her. He did that on his own. And I still have no fucking idea why he attacked me the first time. I didn’t make him come after me or my family, I just did what I had to. You think that he was acting out because of provocation? Well at least we’ve learned one thing Alan. You don’t know jack shit about Rinzler.

I should have never trusted you to deal with this.

[Rinzler would love for this to happen again. He's never regretted fighting this user, win or lose—only everything before, and everything after. Combat is what he's for, and he'd rather be destroyed than sit through this for any longer.

Combat is what he's for. It's what defines Rinzler. And it's what Alan-one wanted to cut out of his code. Rinzler hears his (~~user~~) (programmer)'s censure and he freezes, every process locked with (terror) (loss) (unwanted/failed/why).

There's half a micro of stuttered formulation, desperate refusal that never makes it to words, let alone the network post. Then the program's ID vanishes. Fight: stopped.]

You don't stab somebody because they tell you to stop growling at them! And I threatened you because you threatened her! I told you to leave her out of it, not to hurt her. I told you what I'd do if something did happened to her. You told me to try to stop you and guess what dumbass?

[He lets out a haughty noise that could have been a laugh if not for the tight rage squeezing his throat. In his mind, this would have ended on the hull. Rinzler just another annoyance in his life, someone he wouldn't think twice about other than to make directionless complaints to friends. Nothing would have happened if not for the issue of Wanda. If not for his terror at the smallest thought of losing her.

He'd fought for her, for the family he'd always had to be the one to watch over. He wanted to protect her from his problems, from this problem, because if she was hurt by someone who held a grudge against him it would be no different than if he'd hurt her himself. He couldn't live with that.]

I did.

[He tried with everything in him, up until that moment of hesitation that still haunted him. What could have been, if he'd only waited another few seconds to grow a conscience?]

You want to call me the liar? This is on you. You're the one not owning up to the whole truth.

[It is a liar, and Rinzler hates every word, every twisted justification. But any new truths from Rinzler's side are going to have to wait for another day. After Alan speaks, Rinzler doesn't. There won't be any answer.]

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03 | audio; forwarded to the 8th

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