[IC Contact -- Snowblind]

[bookofnope]

[There is a click noise. It sounds as though it might be judging you.]

Comments

[bookofnope]

Don't hang it on me, Rhys. Your head. I can listen, and I can advise, but the call you make - to keep the AI, remove it, or destroy it - will be your call. And having anyone else around is no substitute to making it.

[That's the tough love part. He stops there for a moment, coughing faintly - same old unhappy sound - before he adds:]

Still... the week I've promised Angel runs out tomorrow. We'll find out if I can rejoin you.

[headjacked]

[ Rhys keeps chewing his tongue 'til it really, really hurts. 'Til Beckett distracts him with the slight topic shift. ]

'If', pfft.

[bookofnope]

It's an "if". [A tiny hint of a warning now. He doesn't want to send Rhys back into Rhysterics, but this conversation is not about false hopes.]

Which is one more reason why you need to master this. You will be much less afraid of being alone when you have faith in yourself.

[headjacked]

Nothing's going to make me stop fearing that.

[ Really, Beckett, not the time to mention that. No Rhysterics, but his voice dips back into pained wavering. ]

[bookofnope]

[It's not going away, baby bird. You gotta face the music eventually.]

Not stop. No. But you can know the fear and control it. Very few people like to be alone. [He hesitates a fraction.] Even I have enough of it now and then. But many don't find their own company to be so disagreeable.