[She's always been reckless in a way he's never been able to understand: all the gaps in their programming, it lent them room to grow. Places where their awareness could climb higher, be more. Do better. North was better, even when she didn't know it or believe it, examining herself with eyes that were too attuned to what she'd been instead of what she is. She couldn't see it, the significance of her existence.
Eclipsed by the grit of that grate sliding back into place under pressure, light slipping away from his field of vision alongside her.]
No. No! North, don't—
[He rushes up in that moment, reaching for the ladder with a full, overtaxed extension of his arms, barely able to slide his fingertips across the bottom rung, useless when slickened metal rejects his hold. His network can’t connect. He can’t find her signal in the depths.
And he isn't afraid of it, being alone. Not for himself.
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Eclipsed by the grit of that grate sliding back into place under pressure, light slipping away from his field of vision alongside her.]
No. No! North, don't—
[He rushes up in that moment, reaching for the ladder with a full, overtaxed extension of his arms, barely able to slide his fingertips across the bottom rung, useless when slickened metal rejects his hold. His network can’t connect. He can’t find her signal in the depths.
And he isn't afraid of it, being alone. Not for himself.
There isn’t any choice—]