"You've been working on that thing the whole way here. How are you not done yet?" Cryptor questioned as they walked towards Borg tower.
"It's a little frog!" Echo told him, holding up his work.
"It's made out of a perfume flyer."
"It's origami."
"Why do you bother?" He insisted as they walked into the building.
"Because I want to do something nice." Echo smiled at him.
"For…?"
"Good morning Echo!" LINK waved from the front desk, catching their attention. Echo ran up to the desk to meet her.
"Good morning!" He leaned on her desk, holding up his new creation. "I made this for you." Echo placed it on the desk, LINK gingerly picking it up to observe.
"… It looks like a frog!" She looked back at Echo, smiling. "How interesting." She placed it back on her desk, watching it to be sure she had placed it just right. "I'll keep him right here."
"I think that's the perfect spot for him." Echo glanced up at her, their eyes meeting as they both hurriedly glanced back at the small piece of paper. "What are you up to today? Any interesting events going on?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary." LINK shifted her glance as Cryptor joined them at the desk. "Good morning Cryptor," She smiled.
Cryptor simply rolled his eyes.
"You get your nano synchronization fixed?" Echo asked.
"Yes, I'm doing much better now!" LINK assured him, a unique levity entering her voice. "Mr. Borg really valued your input."
"That's good. I was worried that it might mess with your calibration, since it was dealing with-" Cryptor glanced over at him, Echo promptly switching gears. "Um, is Mr. Borg busy right now?"
"He doesn't have any meetings today until two o'clock. Would you like to see him?"
"That's what we came here for," Cryptor glanced over at Echo.
"I'll call an elevator for you." LINK turned to her computer, typing in a few things. "You should be all set! You'll be on elevator three, just to your right," she gestured.
"Thanks for your help LINK," Cryptor sighed as he walked off, Echo still clinging to the desk.
"I'll see you when we come back down, okay?" He told her.
"I'll see you then," she nodded.
They both smiled, Echo starting towards the elevator, finding Cryptor.
"You don't have to talk to her you know." He commented.
"No, but I like to." Echo countered, the elevator doors opening.
"Her suppressor chip is turned so far up she's practically emotionless!" Cryptor chuckled as they entered.
"I wouldn't go that far."
"Really? And what exactly can you tell me about how she's feeling?" He pointed at her, now busy helping another patron as the doors closed in front of them.
Echo stared at the doors, already knowing his answer. "She's lonely."
"Lonely? The girl who meets hundreds of people every day. Like you'd ever be able to tell-" Cryptor looked over at him, Echo biting his tongue.
Cryptor's head sunk, realizing what he had said.
"I can tell." Echo asserted.
"…I didn't mean to-"
"She personally greets everyone in hopes of making a connection. She's gentle with everything she touches because she sees life in it. She gets flustered whenever you ask her about herself, surprised that anyone would be thinking about her. She always tries to shift the subject away to someone else. And she'll never be the one to end a conversation."
Echo looked over at Cryptor, leaning over to whisper to him as the doors opened.
"It's okay that you didn't notice it. She expresses it a lot differently than you do."