Dirk(spades)/AR: Wei-wu-wei (Chinese): means conscious nonaction. It's a deliberate, and principled, decision to do nothing whatsoever, and to do it for a particular reason
"Aren't you scared to die, Dirk? I am. I am so scared." You shut off the conversation after that. Manually turned off his communicative abilities, left him mute in a world so much bigger and scarier than even you thought it could be (and him a simple pair of glasses). And you think it over again, your decision to snap him in two, your decision to destroy him.
And you wonder if it would really be murder.
Auto-responder has rather gotten a personality of his own, though he as no body to speak of. His only means of communication are pesterlogs. But he managed to date Roxy, managed to turn Jake's attention towards you, joked with Jane…he's as much a part of your team as you are, isn't he?
You don't know.
How can you be sure? He's a robot, a long slice of code that enables a measure of artificial intelligence, the ability to adapt, but above all he is a facet of your personality. And so he is your responsibility, to keep or to destroy, as a true Prince of Heart is wont to do.
But would it be murder? He isn't just a piece of you any longer. You could assimilate him, but it would be painful to smooth those edges of different back down into same. You could throw him into Equius-sprite, creating a new being that is neither AR nor troll, but you're not sure you could deal with the fallout of it (you're not sure you want to).
No, you could do either of those things, but you won't. He's cracked, from your earlier attempt to smash him, and it does fill you with a little guilt. So you run your fingers over the cracks, willing them to mend (they don't of course). And, very carefully, you turn the communicative abilities back on for one simple message.
"I'm sorry."
Then you switch them back off, before he has a chance to reply. The red glow behind the lenses gives the appearance of ethereal eyes watching you warily. And with no ceremony, you gently dump AR into a drawer.
You will ignore him for a while; leave him to stew in his fear and his difference. And then, when you are no longer bristling with anger, annoyance, and emotionally unstable, you will revisit his plea for his own body.
But for now, you will do nothing.