It had been a whole week since Hermes tripped Fry into getting his character drained from his mind, and the guilt was really starting to eat at him. Oh of course he was happy with the work productivity and the amount of time saved at meetings lacking Fry's "Wanna see me regurgitate fourteen cents?" type-distractions. But he couldn't help but feel a disturbance in his conscience as he watched Bender's fruitless attempts at reviving the redhead taking place right in front of him.
Hermes bit his full bottom-lip, looking on helplessly as the rather sober bending unit kneeled in front of Fry and clasped his chin, forcing him into an electric kiss. When he pulled back, Fry just continued sitting there stolidly on the sofa, no reaction.
"Daw, C'mon, Flesh-tube, ya gotta remember how much you used to like that." Bender begged, then kissed Fry again. And again. Then just hugged him tight for a while, petting his hair.
This must be his last resort. At least yesterday he was still trying comedy and magic tricks (for all of which Fry pointed out the possible ways he performed the illusions.) And yet, Hermes couldn't find it in his heart to come clean with Bender, admit his miscalculation and fix Fry.
"It's so sad, isn't it?" Leela huffed and stood next to Hermes with a coffee in her large hand. Hermes gasped, startled.
"I DIDN'T DO IT!- Oh, it's just you, Leela. What were ya sayin'?"
"Look how hard that poor bastard is trying to get Fry to be himself again." She sighed whistfully, "It's a shame, really. I truly thought that maybe if he jogged his memory, he'd go back to normal. But I'm starting to think I might've been wrong about this one. Maybe the effects of the gun really are irreversible. If only there was some person, right beside me who knew how to help him, to help me keep my promise to Bender. I thought I was doing the right thing."
"Me too- I mean, uh, that's too bad." Hermes saved himself, coughing suspiciously. Even as observant as Leela was, she was too caught up in pitying the often-sadistic robot as he kissed a frog in hopes of getting back his prince to notice the blunder in Hermes' façade.
"I better go get myself a cheese-steak. All this watching Bender suffering is making me kinda hungry." She sighed and headed towards the kitchen, leaving the bureaucrat the stew in his own guilt and self-hatred.
When Bender collapsed on his back in frustration or defeat, Hermes began to bite his nails.