Chapter 19 Computer Apologies

Tec opened his camera shutter. His internal clock said it was about nine-thirty in the morning. He blinked multiple times, thinking about what had occurred the night before. Sadness overcame him as he remembered Larry, as he recalled how he had appeared and sounded after Francis… well, thinking about what Francis did to the poor kid made Tec squirm. And to think that he would probably have been on board with it if he hadn't downloaded the data from Larry's mind.

Trying his best to not let that thought bother him, Tec looked down at Larry. He still lay in the exact same position he was in last night. He looked dead. It looked like he was playing possum. Tec tried to push his negative emotions to the side when he saw this, for a different reason than one might think. He wasn't doing it because it was the logical thing to do or because he needed to "operate at the best performance level." He was doing it because he hoped to be a beacon for Larry and because he wanted to do something that would prompt him to move and direct his attention anywhere other than what happened last night.

"Good morning, Larry." A simple greeting, but perhaps that was what Larry needed. Maybe he needed something familiar. Familiarity brought comfort, after all.

Of course, Larry didn't respond nor did he move. This made Tec worry; did his battery run out? It probably didn't because of the new power-saving mode he installed, but… oh, please don't let his battery be out!

"Larry, are you awake?" Tec asked. He tried to hide the fear in his voice, but since he stil knew little about emotions, it was profoundly difficult.

"Yes, I'm awake."

Relief washed over Tec in a big, beautiful wave. "How much battery do you have left?"

"A decent amount."

"I see." Tec tried to think of something to talk about. Obviously, Larry shouldn't spend all day thinking about what happened last night (as difficult as not thinking about it would be). Talking about something else, anything else would be for the best. But… what was there to talk about? Honestly, Tec hadn't the slightest idea.

"Are you…" Oh Good Lord, this was pathetic; pathetic and sad. Tec wished he could decide what to say. He wished that he could comfort Larry in his time of need. He wished he could apologize for everything he did wrong, showing that he didn't want to do that stuff anymore and that he legitimately grew to care about the little Koopaling.

Huh. Maybe that should be what he ought to say.

"Uh, Larry?" Larry didn't move. "Larry, look at me." Larry slowly turned over, staring into Tec's camera. Tec instantly tried to formulate the perfect way to say this. If he said a wrong word, he could anger Larry. If he misspoke, he would make himself look bad. He would make himself look like a villain, which Tec admittedly didn't want to have happen.

But then again, that wasn't the point of all this. This was about Larry, not Tec. Even though Tec wanted to avoid making himself look like the bad guy, that didn't change the fact that he more or less had been for a while. And the thing was that Larry already knew that. That conversation the two of them had the first day he was put in here, where Tec believed that getting rid of his emotions would be for the better, had already exposed himself as the bad guy. There was no getting around that. Larry was already aware of Tec's sins, which meant that the AI needed to apologize for them.

But… why did that possibility fill him with so much dread? Why did he hesitate so much; why did he feel scared to admit to his wrongdoings? Was it a point of pride? Was it because Tec didn't want to lose Larry as a friend?

"What's up, Tec?"

Once again, Tec felt squirmy on the inside. But now, he decided that he wasn't going to let that get in the way. Larry needed this, and Tec was intent on making sure that he got it.

So, he sighed. "I just wanted to apologize."

Larry blinked. "Apologize?"

"Yeah." If Tec had hands, he would probably be twiddling his thumbs. "Everything that's happened to you over the past few days has been horrible. There's no getting around that. What Master Francis has done to you, and what he plans to do to you in the near future, is unacceptable. It's not right." Tec paused. "And… I'm partially to blame for that."

Larry blinked once again. "What?" He lifted himself into a sitting position. He looked deep into Tec's eyes, which did interesting things to the computer's emotional state. "How are you to blame for this."

Tec stayed silent, still hesitating. If he had the ability to breathe, his breathing would probably be incredibly shallow and fast at this point. Admitting this… did he have the strength to admit this? Could he do what Larry needed him to do and come clean? He liked to believe he could… but that didn't make this task any less difficult.

But he was still going to try regardless.

"I… I wasn't the one to come up with the idea of Master Francis reprogramming you. But I was a big component of coming up with the plan." Larry gawked at him, all while Tec tried his best to not break down into a mess. "One example of such a thing is suggesting the extent for which he could use the reprogrammed version of you." Oh man, Tec wanted to cry so badly right now. "I… I told him the day you were captured that he could use you and your powers to take down important figures. Like… like your father."

Larry did a double take. "You… really?"

"Yes." That word stung. Tec felt so small, so dirty, so horrible. He wished he could turn around and say "Just kidding." He REALLY wished he could say that, but… well, there was no getting away from this.

"I…" Tec closed his camera shutter, hoping that not looking at Larry's astounded face would make admitting this easier, even a tiny bit. "I played a part in Master Francis ruining your life. Not only that, I gladly played a part in Master Francis ruining your life. I didn't care about your well-being, I didn't care about who you were as a person; I didn't care about any of that!" Tec sniffled. "All because it was the logical thing to do… There was no other reasoning aside from that. Logically, at least to me, using you in such a way would make the most sense. Of course, that's without taking into account that you're an actual person." Tec opened his camera shutter back up. "And doing something like this to an actual person would be a major violation of… well, everything."

Larry didn't say anything. His face, with the same glassy eyes as last night, fell a little bit. He turned away from Tec, pulling his legs up to his chest and hugging them. Tec fully expected him to berate him. He fully expected a feeling of betrayal from Larry, as well as a desire to never talk to him again. That would be the most logical course of action, after all. Tec didn't deserve anything else; he had done something terrible, and now, he was going to pay the price. His friend Larry, the only friend that he has ever made, the friend that was going through a hard time all because of a stupid computer and the horrible algorithms that it used to think things through…

Tec closed his camera shutter again. "I'm so sorry, Larry." That was the only thing he could really say. It was the only thing appropriate in this scenario. Sure, the probability of it getting Larry back to liking Tec was slim to none, but… no, Tec shouldn't worry about that. Again, this wasn't about him. This was about giving Larry what he needed; comfort and closure. And… well, Tec wasn't sure how much comfort he felt after hearing about this, but surely he would feel some form of closure. Right?

Tec sighed. He may as well shut down again. Looking at Larry in this state, as well as thinking about these horrible circumstances, was just proving to make Tec feel bad. He wanted to escape from this, so… yeah. He was just about to go into sleep mode…

"It's okay, Tec."

That statement… what? Tec opened his eye, surprise striking him all over. He looked down at Larry, unsure if the sentence he had heard from him had even been said.

"It… it is?"

Larry nodded. He rose to a standing position and came over to Tec, all while keeping his gaze directly on Tec's camera. Tec didn't dare move his own gaze away from the Koopaling, not even when Larry reached out and placed his hand on the screen.

"Yes. It is. You were just doing stuff based on what analytics and your programming told you. And, to be fair, the conclusions that you came to were logical. It makes sense to use a superpowered robot to do great things. Detaching any emotional component from that, it makes perfect sense."

Tec sniffled. "Still doesn't make it any less wrong."

"No, of course not. But you couldn't have known that. You had no understanding of how things work, and there was no conceivable way you could gain such an understanding before you met me." Larry slowly smiled. "But now that you've changed and realize what you did was wrong… well, if anything, I'm happy for you. You have a conscience. You have an understanding of how life operates now." Larry's smile grew even bigger. "It's honestly really cool."

Tec's mind locked on that last sentence. "Really cool…" Hearing Larry say that, especially so casually… "You're sure about this?"

"I'm positive." Larry paused, directing his gaze down towards the floor for a little bit. "There's no reason to worry, Tec. Everything is fine, and there's no judgement on my end."

Like before, Tec's mind locked on that last sentence. Oh… this was too good to be true! Larry really didn't blame Tec too much for this? He didn't? What kind of sorcery was this? What did Tec do to deserve this? Nothing, which just made it so… miraculous.

"Larry… thank you. That's… that's more than I deserve."

Larry chortled. "Well… what are friends for?"

Tec blinked. "You think of me as a friend?"

"Well… yeah," Larry said with a shrug. "Don't you think of me as a friend?"

Hesitation wasn't required to answer that question in the slightest. "Yes. Yes, of course I do. I just… I just didn't expect the feelings to be reciprocated."

"Why?" Larry grinned a cheeky grin. "Was that not logical?"

Tec laughed. "Possibly." He laughed some more right alongside Larry, a new experience that he could say he really enjoyed. He was admittedly disappointed when the laughter inevitably came to a stop. Only a little bit though; overall, he felt every positive emotion under the sun. Relief, warmth, happiness… before, he had no idea that it was possible to feel so many different things at the same time. But now that he had… he liked it. He actually, legitimately liked it.

Of course, those positive emotions started to dampen a bit. Looking at Larry and thinking back on everything that happened for the billionth time, Tec had to look away for a brief spell. "Stil… I wish that there was a way that I could make things up to you. You know?"

"Yeah, but I wouldn't worry about that, Big Guy. Your apology is more than enough for me."

"Yes, but it's nowhere near enough for me." Tec thought about the options he had before an idea occurred to him. It was kind of out there, but if he could do it…

"Larry, plug into the Matrix."

Larry blinked. "Right now?"

"Yes. There's something I want to try."

Larry gawked for a second before shrugging. "Okay." He went up and plugged into the Matrix, and Tec was close to follow after him.