[Peter frowns, eyebrows drawing together and head snapping up to stare at Rinzler like he'll gleam something from the blank face plate.]
Report you? [Rinzler must have made a typo. Peter struck first. If anything, he should be worried Rinzler might report him and there would be a repeat of the anger people had shown to him all those months ago. Maybe worse, if this place was serious about keeping the peace.]
Why would I report you for a fight I started? Didn't you hear me? I'm not wanting any more trouble from this.
[Typo? No. It takes far too much work for Rinzler to claim any sort of self at all for that to happen by mistake. Rinzler's helmet might not reveal much, but the clipped scrape behind his noise sounds distinctly irritated.]
Fought.
[No pronoun this time, but the sharp duck to his mask is hard to misinterpret. So is the upwards jab right after.]
User.
[A user, apparently, who even after all of this, has no idea how it works.]
[Peter may never be able to wrap his mind around Rinzler's idea of how their world works. The way things had unfolded after their worst encounter had marred Peter's view, given Rinzler, his kind, more importance than that of the user. It had balanced somewhat, with time and circumstance to his ideals. But it still prevented him from honestly understanding what Rinzler meant.
He shakes his head, an aggravated gesture.]
You still think that means something here? Half the ship would have me strung up if they knew what I did!
[Well, one thing should be getting pretty familiar, at least: that irritation is mutual. Rinzler's helmet slants to one side, stubbornly returning the inquiry.]
Didn't.
[Talked at him? Certainly. There'd been any number of people upset—at J's death, and the circumstances that came with. Even a few (programs, largely) objecting specifically to the attack and what came after. But they hadn't attacked the user. They hadn't rewritten him.
It hadn't been entirely legal for them to try.
It doesn't take an analyst to guess what loops of self-righteousness that argument might lead to, though, and Rinzler jerks his own head to the side, still typing.]
Ship: dead. Local system standards in effect.
[And if Rinzler didn't estimate them very different... well. No point saying so.]
Risking deletion of users (reference: 'murder'): illegal.
[Peter could give a million reasons why he didn't face worse consequences. He'd surrounded himself with the kind of people who wouldn't allow it, too powerful to be trifled with. He was still a kid, technically, and that always offered a certain leniency. The captains were a big one, their refusal to deal with situations with the seriousness needed at the time.
He'd been lucky to come out of it with nothing but wounded pride. Part of him could admit that. But he didn't believe that would happen again.]
You don't think it wouldn't be murder if I killed you? Even here?
[It's a near curiosity now, listening to Rinzler deny himself. Hits a little too close to every argument he'd had with Alan about it, a little too close to other AIs defining their ideas of life. It makes something squirm in his stomach.
Empathy, maybe.
It's something Peter never wanted for someone he didn't like, makes him take a step back. Physical distance to promote emotional distance. Remind himself how little he's meant to care. This is about keeping the peace, nothing more and nothing less.]
I don't believe that. Don't think anyone here believes that.
[As little value as Rinzler saw in the practice, the pretense of fear or consequences had at least made sense. It's what the user did before: pretended that anyone cared to target its subclass. Pretended that its sister was at risk. Lies so thick and solid it could convince itself. So sharp as to be weapons.
This? This is much more inexplicable. Rinzler makes no move at all to follow as Peter_Maximoff steps away. The sideways twitch (and flat stare) of his mask is more from bitter incredulity than any retort. Since when?]
Program.
Deletion: everyday event.
[The Savrii wiped systems of his kind just for cleanup. If it hadn't been for Nihlus, the Moira would have done the same, before. No, killing him would barely register on any of their metrics, if he were where he belonged.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Rinzler
Report you? [Rinzler must have made a typo. Peter struck first. If anything, he should be worried Rinzler might report him and there would be a repeat of the anger people had shown to him all those months ago. Maybe worse, if this place was serious about keeping the peace.]
Why would I report you for a fight I started? Didn't you hear me? I'm not wanting any more trouble from this.
no subject
Fought.
[No pronoun this time, but the sharp duck to his mask is hard to misinterpret. So is the upwards jab right after.]
User.
[A user, apparently, who even after all of this, has no idea how it works.]
no subject
He shakes his head, an aggravated gesture.]
You still think that means something here? Half the ship would have me strung up if they knew what I did!
no subject
Didn't.
[Talked at him? Certainly. There'd been any number of people upset—at J's death, and the circumstances that came with. Even a few (programs, largely) objecting specifically to the attack and what came after. But they hadn't attacked the user. They hadn't rewritten him.
It hadn't been entirely legal for them to try.
It doesn't take an analyst to guess what loops of self-righteousness that argument might lead to, though, and Rinzler jerks his own head to the side, still typing.]
Ship: dead.
Local system standards in effect.
[And if Rinzler didn't estimate them very different... well. No point saying so.]
Risking deletion of users (reference: 'murder'): illegal.
no subject
He'd been lucky to come out of it with nothing but wounded pride. Part of him could admit that. But he didn't believe that would happen again.]
You don't think it wouldn't be murder if I killed you? Even here?
[It's a near curiosity now, listening to Rinzler deny himself. Hits a little too close to every argument he'd had with Alan about it, a little too close to other AIs defining their ideas of life. It makes something squirm in his stomach.
Empathy, maybe.
It's something Peter never wanted for someone he didn't like, makes him take a step back. Physical distance to promote emotional distance. Remind himself how little he's meant to care. This is about keeping the peace, nothing more and nothing less.]
I don't believe that. Don't think anyone here believes that.
no subject
This? This is much more inexplicable. Rinzler makes no move at all to follow as Peter_Maximoff steps away. The sideways twitch (and flat stare) of his mask is more from bitter incredulity than any retort. Since when?]
Program.
Deletion: everyday event.
[The Savrii wiped systems of his kind just for cleanup. If it hadn't been for Nihlus, the Moira would have done the same, before. No, killing him would barely register on any of their metrics, if he were where he belonged.]
You just don't like having to watch.
no subject
[No one that he had heard of. Surely there would be a mass outcry if people were being taken out left and right. Even if those people were AI.
Especially AI.]
I don't know what you're talking about.