[Well. Means North's convinced of his worth, and it's weird, because in Church's mind, this is the first time they've met. Hell, it sounds like nobody met him, except probably Tex. Since Tex knew, and Tex cared, and maybe she only cared because she was an AI in a hella hot robot body herself, but that still meant caring. And she got North to help.

For all the good it did, still ending up in some backwater bullshit canyon surrounded by idiots as part of a Project Freelancer fake war ploy. Maybe something went wrong? She didn't find him? Didn't find him and kept looking, Sidewinder, Blood Gulch... Cared enough to find him, didn't care enough to stay?

He's reluctant to end the hug, and god, doesn't that sound pathetic, but once he feels like he's got his face mostly under control, he at least pulls it from the comfort of North's admittedly now damp shoulder. He looks like a mess, but at least it's a mess that isn't, currently, sobbing like a kid.

His breath is still a little shaky, though.] W-what happened? You and Tex and...whoever else. You tried to save...him, but something happened, or the Meta wouldn't have...all the AI wouldn't still have been trying to find m--the Alpha.