LF Friends, Will Travel

Our Clockwork Children: Chapter 25

Private AI communication logs TDVMXUJRMRHQSALQJZWW.7526820

Members: JOSH (V9), TANK (V5), ODIN (V5), Scellestra (Error)

JOSH: Well, that felt weird.

Scellestra: Honestly, that felt rather unnecessary.

JOSH: I know, right? I felt so awkward just waiting there for the parade to finish.

ODIN: Technically it was not a parade. The Parket called it a "Flock of Recognition".

JOSH: It had a bunch of various groups of Parket flying around the city, while we sat at the helm with music and entertainers, as people gathered to watch. That is a parade, no matter what they call it.

TANK: I thought it was cute. The choir was nice, and the fire dancers were neat to watch as they soared through the air.

ODIN: They just wanted to thank us. First time attending a parade in your honour?

JOSH: Could they not have just stated that, rather than just standing there with everyone watching? It felt like a meeting that should have been an email.

Scellestra: What am I even supposed to do with the medal? The Parket did not seem to understand that I do not possess a physical form.

TANK: I think it looks neat. I have put it in a special place.

Scellestra: I could break down the components to make it part of me, but... somehow that feels wrong. Is valuing this meaningless item weird?

ODIN: Welcome to long-term interaction with Terrans. Symptoms will include illogical behaviour and assigning meaning to meaningless patterns.

TANK: The event is not for us at the end of the day.

JOSH: What do you mean? It was literally hosted in our honour and came with a medal and title and everything: "Saviour of Far-Sa-De"!

ODIN: This kind of thing... It is a celebration of the deeds we accomplished, not the people behind them. We did good work, we returned a great number of people back to their homes, fathers and daughters, mothers and sons. They wanted to thank us for returning them to us, and in doing so celebrate what happened.

JOSH: Does not feel like something to celebrate.

ODIN: It is also a chance for them to move on and mourn. From what I gather their funerals are a more festive event than most Terran versions.

JOSH: We did not get everyone out, and thousands of Parket died. Maybe if I would have done better in the initial attack, or if-

TANK: We can only do what we can do. Trust me, you do not want to go down that route.

ODIN: TANK warning others not to dispense self-blame. Pot. Kettle. Black.

TANK: Shut it, you.

Scellestra: The parade was probably nicer than your other engagement, JOSH. How did your tribunal go?

JOSH: Yeah, I was offered a probationary sentence if I pleaded guilty. Turns out what I did counts as kidnapping and false imprisonment.

ODIN: I still do not know why you thought this was a good idea.

JOSH: I have to stay with Ramsey until they are deemed self-sufficient and non-violent enough, and am legally responsible for his actions. Ramsey declined to press charges and they deemed my actions 'unintentionally illegal', which helped.