The 3 Laws of Robotics
Richie had to deal with a lot of thoughts. Helpful ones, good ones, useful ones; he had thoughts that could make him rich if he could just get materials or investors. He had thoughts that were completely pointless, but he thought so quickly that something had to fill up his time and he couldn't simply not think. His mind constantly made connections, compared, contrasted, and with his infinite memory and history of being a science-fiction and comic book fan, he had a lot of material to draw from.
He had long ago tried to figure out his exact relationship with one Virgil Hawkins. He tried to compare it to other two guy teams he could think of, trying to find the best example. As if anyone would ask. But nothing seemed even close. Bill and Ted? Okay, they're best friends. He wasn't just best friends with Virgil. He felt too…committed, for it to be described with the common term "best friend." Harry and Ron (Harry Potter)? Chandler and Joey (Friends)? Same result. Batman and Robin? He didn't even want to think about that relationship too closely, never mind trying to compare it.
Trying to find some two group of guys where both were equally as useful and respected, yet more committed to each other than best friends, was proving more and more difficult.
Maybe…maybe because he was just a sidekick. Despite the both of them constantly denying that, maybe it was just true. He was just less important. Or less in control. Was he that much more devoted to Virgil than Virgil was to him?
It was more like… he belonged to him. He had to listen to whatever he said, as if he was programmed to do so. Like the second rule of robotics. In fact, his relationship with Virgil was a lot like the three laws of robotics. With a little editing…
1. [He] may not harm [Virgil], or through inaction let [him] come to harm.
2. [He] must obey any orders given to [him] by [Virgil] unless such orders would conflict with the First Law
3. [He] must protect [his] own existence as long as this doesn't conflict with the First or Second Law.
That sounded about right. Maybe Richie was a robot. Maybe they actually killed him when Brainiac took over, and superimposed his memories into a robot.
It'd explain a lot.