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“Good and evil are human constructs, Reginald. I was merely attempting to be courteous.”
Delta’s voice faded as he spoke, the words coming slower and deeper, as if he was falling in slow motion off a cliff and far away. The hologram faded as well, the image of Tex growing dimmer until there was nothing left at all.
He retreated back into York’s mind.
He wasn’t gone. Not yet. The armor was beginning to shut down, but York was breathing shallowly, his good eye closed, still hanging on faintly to the edge of consciousness.
York, Delta thought at him, and there was a faint press of emotion sent his way, gratitude and affection and an undercurrent of fear. I don’t want to die, D.
I am sorry, York. I am attempting to make you comfortable.
He couldn’t actually administer any pain medication, but then, he didn’t actually need to. Instead, he manipulated York’s cerebral cortex directly, blocking the messages of pain shooting up from his side.
“You always do, D,” York murmured, the words so slurred that Delta may not have been able to make them out at all if not for the echoing thought in York’s mind: you always do, D, you’re always there for me. What would I do without you? Delta did the mental equivalent of bowing his head, focusing on shutting down York’s pain receptors.
Please do not put excess strain on yourself. There is no need to speak.
No, I guess not, and there was amusement behind the thought, tired and quiet but there. Delta imagined York smiling at him, and he tried to imagine himself smiling back. Or at least his hologram, tilting his head, responding with wry amusement of his own to something York had said.
Somehow, he couldn’t quite manage it.
Hey. York’s mental voice was concerned now; he’d picked up on Delta’s mood. Don’t be like that, D. It’s gonna be okay.
I am afraid that is not true in this case. York was losing blood fast. Even if Tex had stopped everything else to help him, even if she hadn’t still had Wyoming to deal with, it still would have been too late. I am sorry, York. There is nothing more I can do.
S’all right, D. Don’t worry about me.
You said yourself you did not want to die.
“Course I don’t,” he said out loud. His voice was a dry rasp now, and he rolled his head to the side, coughing blood. It spattered inside his helmet, and York made a face at the coppery smell. “But you can’t let that get to you, yeah? We had a good run, didn’t we, D? While it lasted.”
“Indeed.”
The armor was now almost completely shut down, but there was a small amount of energy left available to power the holographic projectors. Delta brought his hologram online, appearing in front of York’s visor, and York did smile now, the corner of his mouth lifting weakly at the dim green glow.
He dragged his hand up, seeming to take a million years, and cupped it gently around the hologram, shielding it from the world. A pang of sudden loss surged through Delta - York was not gone, not yet, but he would be soon, and Delta did not want him to be. He moved his hologram closer, though there was no logical reason to do so. He could not save York. And yet...
Is this what grief feels like?
“Fraid so, D,” came the answer, fainter and more slurred than ever. “Never - wanted you t’have to feel this. You were - always the best of them.” He squeezed his hand a little tighter around the hologram, his fingers passing through it slightly, and let his eyes fall shut for the last time. “Lucky - lucky to have you.”
“No, York,” Delta said quietly, head bowed. “It was I who was lucky to have you.” The hologram dropped to one knee, and Delta did something he’d never done before. He reached one tiny green hand out, and held it up to York’s visor, watching the small fingers spread out against the gold. There was no way to actually touch him, to actually feel him, not for Delta. But he could do this, at the very least.
“Thank you.”
Nothin’ to thank me for, D.
York. You must know that - There was so much more to say. Delta had seen how the other Freelancers had treated their AI, how they had spoken of them, even if he had not been permitted to speak to the other AI themselves. Some, like North, seemed to truly care for their AI. Others were not as...understanding. Delta had been grateful every day that he had been paired with York. They had had their differences of opinion, their conflicting priorities, but York had always been patient. He had always listened to Delta, respected his ideas, and done his best to teach him what it meant to be human.
They had been more than partners. They had been friends.
York -
I know, D.
The response was steady and sure, the fear gone now. York sent another burst of emotion Delta’s way, and now the fear was gone. There was only gratitude. Pride. Love.
Stay with me.
“Always, York,” he promised aloud, but there was no one left to hear it.
The hologram winked out.