[Newt thought this conversation might be easier given that he can't see Justice's face, but he realizes quickly that it doesn't matter. The mask's coy smile still looks obscenely fake.]
Honestly? No. No, I really didn't.
[He joins Justice in the corner, sitting crosslegged on the floor next to him.]
This is gonna sound like I'm lying, or at the very least it probably won't make sense, but there's a big part of me that wanted to join your team. I hope you win this thing. You deserve it the most.
A few reasons. You're smart, for one, and you've got good ideas about how to run a world. You'd be fair and protective and you know that just because you can magic up whatever you want doesn't mean you should. And you don't give yourself enough credit, you know? You've got leadership potential.
[He leans back against the lab's cabinets, missing the blanket fort. It was more comfortable.]
But, selfishly? I like you best.
[There's a pause.]
You've known who I really am since the beginning, but you still hung out with me.
[He says it quietly, and then his eyes flick up to watch Justice. He takes a moment to figure out how he wants to put this. Clearly it's something the kid's been trying to hide from everyone, but since he asked...]
[Justice pulls off his mask and the rest of his robes, while he's at it. At this point, there's really no reason to hide any of it. After all, Newt only has a day left to live.]
I thought if anyone knew, they'd hate me. But...I've told a few people, and they've all been really nice. And people were nice to Connor and Ava, too...that's why I wanted to be her friend so badly. And Luna, too.
[...]
I don't...look like them, though. I don't act like them, either. The way that I am, I feel like even among other machines, I'm still a freak.
[He knows it's rude, but he can't help but take a moment to study Justice as he reveals himself. He certainly doesn't look like a robot, save for that... helmet? The kid looks like he's ready for some 19th century deep sea diving.
But the careful studying is purely out of curiosity, of wanting to know Justice. There's nothing judgmental in the way he watches, and he does his best to avoid coming off like the kid's just some neat science experiment now. It's weird, yeah, bonding with an android. A few androids, at this point. But, well.]
You know, before I came here, I didn't think of machines as people. They're, uh, well they're not, at least where I come from, but we don't have androids like you or any of the others here. Nothing that has autonomy or is capable of independent thinking. Intelligence. Emotions. Certainly not compassion. Hell, I only put the pieces together about you because I'm kind of a sci-fi nerd.
[...]
Don't tell anyone I said that.
[Justice is the only person in recorded history who has had the honor of hearing Newt refer to himself as a, quote unquote, Nerd.]
This game has totally chucked out everything I thought about how the world works. None of this is even remotely possible where I'm from, and honestly? I've never really felt like I fit in back home, either.
[For far pettier reasons than Justice's hangups, but he can still relate in part.]
But that's the truly awesome thing about all this. You, Ava, Connor, and Luna? You're all vastly different in every way. You have different designs, different prerogatives, I'm sure your coding wouldn't even be remotely similar... Just like how, well, Sieg's a dragon running around with a human body. Madoka said she's like a super hero or something back home, and there's some system siphoning emotion out of kids to stop universal entropy, and Hiro's a superhero too. Nonon's dealing with sentient alien clothing, Ishi's like immortal I think, same with Chuuya. Guy's got expertise in technology that's totally foreign to me. Uh, Catra and Entrapta? They're from some world ruled by princesses or whatever, and Catra's like, you know.
[He hold his hands up to mime cat ears poking out of his head.]
Anyway, my point is, no one here is like anyone else, so you fit right in. And even if you didn't? It sucks sometimes, that's for sure, but it's also what makes you interesting. The fact that you're one-of-a-kind is something to be proud of, even if it takes a long time to feel like it is.
[He reaches for Justice's mask, turning it over in his hands briefly before tossing it across the lab like he's skipping rocks on a pond.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Honestly? No. No, I really didn't.
[He joins Justice in the corner, sitting crosslegged on the floor next to him.]
This is gonna sound like I'm lying, or at the very least it probably won't make sense, but there's a big part of me that wanted to join your team. I hope you win this thing. You deserve it the most.
no subject
[He's quiet again, looking down at the dog.]
Why...do you want me to win?
no subject
[He leans back against the lab's cabinets, missing the blanket fort. It was more comfortable.]
But, selfishly? I like you best.
[There's a pause.]
You've known who I really am since the beginning, but you still hung out with me.
no subject
[Justice seems to take a moment to think about all that Newt said.]
You figured out more about me than I let on, too, didn't you?
no subject
[He says it quietly, and then his eyes flick up to watch Justice. He takes a moment to figure out how he wants to put this. Clearly it's something the kid's been trying to hide from everyone, but since he asked...]
I suspect so. Are you an android?
no subject
[Justice pulls off his mask and the rest of his robes, while he's at it. At this point, there's really no reason to hide any of it. After all, Newt only has a day left to live.]
I thought if anyone knew, they'd hate me. But...I've told a few people, and they've all been really nice. And people were nice to Connor and Ava, too...that's why I wanted to be her friend so badly. And Luna, too.
[...]
I don't...look like them, though. I don't act like them, either. The way that I am, I feel like even among other machines, I'm still a freak.
no subject
But the careful studying is purely out of curiosity, of wanting to know Justice. There's nothing judgmental in the way he watches, and he does his best to avoid coming off like the kid's just some neat science experiment now. It's weird, yeah, bonding with an android. A few androids, at this point. But, well.]
You know, before I came here, I didn't think of machines as people. They're, uh, well they're not, at least where I come from, but we don't have androids like you or any of the others here. Nothing that has autonomy or is capable of independent thinking. Intelligence. Emotions. Certainly not compassion. Hell, I only put the pieces together about you because I'm kind of a sci-fi nerd.
[...]
Don't tell anyone I said that.
[Justice is the only person in recorded history who has had the honor of hearing Newt refer to himself as a, quote unquote, Nerd.]
This game has totally chucked out everything I thought about how the world works. None of this is even remotely possible where I'm from, and honestly? I've never really felt like I fit in back home, either.
[For far pettier reasons than Justice's hangups, but he can still relate in part.]
But that's the truly awesome thing about all this. You, Ava, Connor, and Luna? You're all vastly different in every way. You have different designs, different prerogatives, I'm sure your coding wouldn't even be remotely similar... Just like how, well, Sieg's a dragon running around with a human body. Madoka said she's like a super hero or something back home, and there's some system siphoning emotion out of kids to stop universal entropy, and Hiro's a superhero too. Nonon's dealing with sentient alien clothing, Ishi's like immortal I think, same with Chuuya. Guy's got expertise in technology that's totally foreign to me. Uh, Catra and Entrapta? They're from some world ruled by princesses or whatever, and Catra's like, you know.
[He hold his hands up to mime cat ears poking out of his head.]
Anyway, my point is, no one here is like anyone else, so you fit right in. And even if you didn't? It sucks sometimes, that's for sure, but it's also what makes you interesting. The fact that you're one-of-a-kind is something to be proud of, even if it takes a long time to feel like it is.
[He reaches for Justice's mask, turning it over in his hands briefly before tossing it across the lab like he's skipping rocks on a pond.]
You're not a freak. You're a god.