["North, do you think the Alpha would be proud of me?"
"I think he would be crazy not to be."
"Are you proud of me?"
"Of course I am, Theta."
North takes a step back when Church swings his arm out through the holograms, and something like a sick, cold anger hits him when he sees the Theta hologram flicker.
But he can't bring himself to be angry. Not at Church. Not at the Alpha. The Alpha was as much a victim of the Project as any of them, possibly even more. The AI had talked about the Alpha for a while, but none of them knew what had been done to him until it was too late to stop it.
So he lets Alpha yell and scream, storm around and rage. He walks around the holograms to cross over to Alpha. He takes the man's shoulders, stops him in his tracks. Looking at him, he hesitates for only a second. There wasn't much of Theta in the yelling and screaming. But nonetheless he acts, doing what he always wished he could have done when Theta stayed awake whimpering in the middle of the night, scared and alone and attached to North only through their neural link.
He wraps his arms around Church's shoulders and pulls him into a tight, strong hug. His voice is barely above a whisper.]
He was worth chasing. He was worth rescuing. We all deserved better, but especially him.
[If Church was going to keep calling the Alpha "it," then North would honor the distance he wanted to keep. Even if it was purely lip service at this point.]
no subject
"I think he would be crazy not to be."
"Are you proud of me?"
"Of course I am, Theta."
North takes a step back when Church swings his arm out through the holograms, and something like a sick, cold anger hits him when he sees the Theta hologram flicker.
But he can't bring himself to be angry. Not at Church. Not at the Alpha. The Alpha was as much a victim of the Project as any of them, possibly even more. The AI had talked about the Alpha for a while, but none of them knew what had been done to him until it was too late to stop it.
So he lets Alpha yell and scream, storm around and rage. He walks around the holograms to cross over to Alpha. He takes the man's shoulders, stops him in his tracks. Looking at him, he hesitates for only a second. There wasn't much of Theta in the yelling and screaming. But nonetheless he acts, doing what he always wished he could have done when Theta stayed awake whimpering in the middle of the night, scared and alone and attached to North only through their neural link.
He wraps his arms around Church's shoulders and pulls him into a tight, strong hug. His voice is barely above a whisper.]
He was worth chasing. He was worth rescuing. We all deserved better, but especially him.
[If Church was going to keep calling the Alpha "it," then North would honor the distance he wanted to keep. Even if it was purely lip service at this point.]