["Somewhere between" is a phrase he's often used to describe himself, though not as a bridge between synthetics and organics -- he's in the gap between two generations of synths. The Gen 2 synths, with their pale skin and yellow eyes, have an undeniably manufactured appearance; however, it's only the Gen 3 synths that seem to have any kind of personality, that have enough human behavior programmed into them to actually pass for one. And then there's Nick, not enough of either one to fit squarely with the rest.
It's not as bad as it used to be, now that he's got someone to talk to, someone to commiserate with. He only hopes it lasts -- he's thought more than once already on the fact that people vanish regularly, there one day and gone the next as the Door sees fit to bring them in and take them out.
Down his eyes go to his hands, particularly that obviously mechanical one.]
I'm glad you came back.
[She's already left once, only to return. Who's to say she'll be back next time.]
[Following his gaze, it doesn't take much for her to notice what he's looking at.]
Hey. [She brings a hand over his, her fingers folding over the metal. While she may have expressed revulsion or alarm when she had first seen him, Rey shows that she's willing to overlook all of that now. To see Nick for who and what he is.] I'm not going anywhere. I've died and come back enough times over the years. Like a damn cockroach. Not that easy to get rid of.
[Perhaps she could've referred to herself to something more majestic? Nah.]
[She probably could have picked something better than a roach, but the gesture gets a slight smile out of him all the same. He pulls his thumb over her hand and gives a squeeze in return.]
Maybe it's myself I should be worried about, then. I'm well past my warranty date, but when I've got a good thing going, it's hard to let go.
[Seeing him reach out rather than pull away is encouraging. Between this and despite what he says, she manages to pull off a real, rare smile. Something that feels strange on her face, but not in a terrible way.]
Don't you worry about that. I'll make sure it doesn't happen anytime soon. You're not the only one around here who knows their way around machines.
[Rey did orchestrate the dam construction, after all. Keeping an old, rusty synth together? Yes, she is confident that she can do that, too.]
[The smile Rey gives Nick is a rare gift, one he doesn't take for granted.]
Good. I've had to put a part or two back on, but some things are just out of my reach.
[He lets out a small laugh, thinking back on home in the Commonwealth.]
My assistant back in Diamond City -- Ellie Perkins is her name -- had to do most of my er... maintenance. Last genuine engineer we had in town moved out a while back, so she's had to pick up the old screwdriver every now and then. She's not bad, but it'll be nice to have someone around who knows a little bit about what they're doing, just in case something does come loose.
[As you should, Nick. Rey doesn't smile for just anyone, you know.]
It certainly helps when you've got an engineer and a mechanic in your head. Have to admit, sometimes there are advantages to having different people's memories.
[Now that she has some semblance to control over them, it feels like they're actually useful nowadays.
[She shoots Nick a sidelong glance. It isn't the first time she's heard him talk about his secretary, but now she's got a name.]
Someone has to watch the desk while I'm gone, handle the paperwork and the clients. Most cases take me out of Diamond City, sometimes for days at a time.
[Or weeks, if he happens to get locked up in a Vault by a gangster and his latest fling. He wonders briefly how Ellie is doing without him. He just hopes the Door can send them back to the same time they left. At two weeks, he'd been gone for too long already -- several months wound send poor Ellie into more than fits.]
[It's interesting to think that, with all the stigma that follows the synthetics in Nick's world, he's able to carry out a legitimate business like that.]
How'd you get into that line of work, anyway? From the time you're from, I mean, not your memories. Can't imagine it being easy what with being... what you are.
It hasn't always been easy with a face like this. Even Ellie wasn't sure what to make of me when she moved into town from Goodneighbor.
[She'd obviously changed her mind about him. Nick has that affect on people, it seems.]
It was by pure luck that I was able to move in at all, as I rescued the daughter of the mayor at the time. The kidnappers had been hoping to ransom her off, but what they got was me following the sound of a crying girl and stumbling into their camp.
[She listens to his story, unable to help herself from imagining the poor synth happening upon a dangerous scene. It doesn't sound like "pure luck" to her at all, but a stroke of misfortune.]
Don't suppose they just gave up the girl willingly, did they?
They weren't at first. They pulled a few guns on me, so I had to come up with something quick.
[He cracks a smile.]
So instead of trying to take all of them on, I told them I had a bomb in my chest, and that I'd been rigged to explode. Put on my best Protectron voice and said, "Danger! Danger!" They seemed to be buying it, so I started walking toward the whole lot of them, going, "Beep. Beep. Beep."
[And then he laughs, remembering the scene: four raiders all geared to the teeth, scrambling to get away from a lone, unarmed synth.]
They gave her up willingly after that. Couldn't get away fast enough as they were falling over one another, tripping on their own feet.
[He can see why Rey might think he was pulling her leg, though. Looking back, he can't believe it worked either. He was lucky most folks weren't terribly familiar with synths at the time, though those kidnappers didn't seem to be the brightest, either.]
The girl was scared too, but she came around once I untied her and explained that I didn't have a bomb, and even if I did, I wouldn't be killing us both. She thought I might've been sent by her father, but even once I told her the rescue had been a happy accident, she wouldn't let me leave until she'd made sure I was rewarded. I wasn't going to let her walk all the way home by herself anyway, so off we went. That's how I ended up in Diamond City.
[If it were anyone other than Nick, Rey would absolutely assume that he's pulling her leg. Embellishing for the sake of telling a good story. But she knows Nick enough now that he doesn't need to try and impress her, sooo...]
...
Did you really just say "beep, beep" at those guys? And they actually fell for it...?
[He grins wryly, but he's all too aware of how badly things could have ended for that girl if he hadn't shown up when he did.]
Trust me, I didn't think they'd fall for it, either. I just didn't have any other options for dealing with four armed goons. I'd been wandering the Commonwealth by myself for some time, and wasn't exactly the savvy detective type you see now.
[The fact that things could've ended badly just highlights what a serious issue this was.
[However, a strange feeling creeps up from Rey's chest the more she thinks about it. At first it sounds like her usual scoff, but then it persists, and that's just weird. Shortly after, she slaps a hand over her mouth to stifle what can only be a fit of low-toned giggles. Certainly not a sight or sound that anyone, whether they be from Hadriel or home, would ever be witness to.
[That's when her hand clamps tighter over her mouth as she takes her chances at speaking between laughing bursts:] Sorry, sorry. That's just... That's really brilliant and I just can't... I mean, come on... [Trying to talk and breathe at the same time is hard. Why has no one ever told her that it's hard?]
Beep-beep!
[And she snorts, unable to stop.
[Rey might need to plead temporary insanity for a bit. She may have just lost her mind.]
[At first, Nick thinks Rey might be coughing; outright mirth is certainly something he doesn't expect from Rey, not even in light of his accidental, but amusing rescue. But no, that's definitely a sound that's familiar, and yet unfamiliar all at once: Rey is laughing.
And for a moment, it's contagious, and he finds himself laughing too.]
I think the Institute really missed an opportunity by not making that a feature in their synths. Their reputation as the 'Commonwealth boogeyman' would be very different if that was their regular strategy for getting what they want. Clients coming in my door, telling me they think a loved one has been replaced. And how do they know? They heard them beeping in the night.
[He shakes his head, smiling harder than he has in some time. The thought of being replaced by a synth is nightmarish, and an absolutely reasonable fear in the Commonwealth, but the thought of them pretending to be loaded with explosives in the most painfully phony way is something even he can't help but laugh at.]
[No doubt the actual experience is damn horrific. They also say that one of life's greatest coping mechanisms is humor. And it would seem that's what Rey needs right now.
[She almost manages to muffle herself long enough to allow Nick to speak. What he says only summons another rather unladylike snort into her palm.]
Stop, I can't--
[Laughter has not always been a positive thing. At least, not when it's Rey. Though it's a lot less foreboding this time when, in between her bouts of mirth, she is sneaking in a few more "beep, beeps" for good measure.]
Oh nooo, you've unveiled my secret!
[She's a beeping synth! Oh wait.
[Just. Goddammit, Nick. Go sit in the corner and think about what you did.]
[Rey takes a moment to try and get a few much needed breaths in before she replies. She's able to remove her hand from her face and exhale deeply, trying to force a sincere expression and failing miserably.]
That's right, you caught me. I've actually been a fraud this whole time. What more, I was set to go off if you ever found out. Got any last words, Valentine?
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It's not as bad as it used to be, now that he's got someone to talk to, someone to commiserate with. He only hopes it lasts -- he's thought more than once already on the fact that people vanish regularly, there one day and gone the next as the Door sees fit to bring them in and take them out.
Down his eyes go to his hands, particularly that obviously mechanical one.]
I'm glad you came back.
[She's already left once, only to return. Who's to say she'll be back next time.]
no subject
Hey. [She brings a hand over his, her fingers folding over the metal. While she may have expressed revulsion or alarm when she had first seen him, Rey shows that she's willing to overlook all of that now. To see Nick for who and what he is.] I'm not going anywhere. I've died and come back enough times over the years. Like a damn cockroach. Not that easy to get rid of.
[Perhaps she could've referred to herself to something more majestic? Nah.]
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Maybe it's myself I should be worried about, then. I'm well past my warranty date, but when I've got a good thing going, it's hard to let go.
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Don't you worry about that. I'll make sure it doesn't happen anytime soon. You're not the only one around here who knows their way around machines.
[Rey did orchestrate the dam construction, after all. Keeping an old, rusty synth together? Yes, she is confident that she can do that, too.]
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Good. I've had to put a part or two back on, but some things are just out of my reach.
[He lets out a small laugh, thinking back on home in the Commonwealth.]
My assistant back in Diamond City -- Ellie Perkins is her name -- had to do most of my er... maintenance. Last genuine engineer we had in town moved out a while back, so she's had to pick up the old screwdriver every now and then. She's not bad, but it'll be nice to have someone around who knows a little bit about what they're doing, just in case something does come loose.
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It certainly helps when you've got an engineer and a mechanic in your head. Have to admit, sometimes there are advantages to having different people's memories.
[Now that she has some semblance to control over them, it feels like they're actually useful nowadays.
[She shoots Nick a sidelong glance. It isn't the first time she's heard him talk about his secretary, but now she's got a name.]
You really have an assistant, though?
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[Or weeks, if he happens to get locked up in a Vault by a gangster and his latest fling. He wonders briefly how Ellie is doing without him. He just hopes the Door can send them back to the same time they left. At two weeks, he'd been gone for too long already -- several months wound send poor Ellie into more than fits.]
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[It's interesting to think that, with all the stigma that follows the synthetics in Nick's world, he's able to carry out a legitimate business like that.]
How'd you get into that line of work, anyway? From the time you're from, I mean, not your memories. Can't imagine it being easy what with being... what you are.
no subject
[She'd obviously changed her mind about him. Nick has that affect on people, it seems.]
It was by pure luck that I was able to move in at all, as I rescued the daughter of the mayor at the time. The kidnappers had been hoping to ransom her off, but what they got was me following the sound of a crying girl and stumbling into their camp.
no subject
[She listens to his story, unable to help herself from imagining the poor synth happening upon a dangerous scene. It doesn't sound like "pure luck" to her at all, but a stroke of misfortune.]
Don't suppose they just gave up the girl willingly, did they?
no subject
[He cracks a smile.]
So instead of trying to take all of them on, I told them I had a bomb in my chest, and that I'd been rigged to explode. Put on my best Protectron voice and said, "Danger! Danger!" They seemed to be buying it, so I started walking toward the whole lot of them, going, "Beep. Beep. Beep."
[And then he laughs, remembering the scene: four raiders all geared to the teeth, scrambling to get away from a lone, unarmed synth.]
They gave her up willingly after that. Couldn't get away fast enough as they were falling over one another, tripping on their own feet.
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[She blinks, gaping at Nick for a few seconds in disbelief.]
You're fucking with me.
[Pause.]
...Are you fucking with me?
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[He can see why Rey might think he was pulling her leg, though. Looking back, he can't believe it worked either. He was lucky most folks weren't terribly familiar with synths at the time, though those kidnappers didn't seem to be the brightest, either.]
The girl was scared too, but she came around once I untied her and explained that I didn't have a bomb, and even if I did, I wouldn't be killing us both. She thought I might've been sent by her father, but even once I told her the rescue had been a happy accident, she wouldn't let me leave until she'd made sure I was rewarded. I wasn't going to let her walk all the way home by herself anyway, so off we went. That's how I ended up in Diamond City.
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[If it were anyone other than Nick, Rey would absolutely assume that he's pulling her leg. Embellishing for the sake of telling a good story. But she knows Nick enough now that he doesn't need to try and impress her, sooo...]
...
Did you really just say "beep, beep" at those guys? And they actually fell for it...?
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Trust me, I didn't think they'd fall for it, either. I just didn't have any other options for dealing with four armed goons. I'd been wandering the Commonwealth by myself for some time, and wasn't exactly the savvy detective type you see now.
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[However, a strange feeling creeps up from Rey's chest the more she thinks about it. At first it sounds like her usual scoff, but then it persists, and that's just weird. Shortly after, she slaps a hand over her mouth to stifle what can only be a fit of low-toned giggles. Certainly not a sight or sound that anyone, whether they be from Hadriel or home, would ever be witness to.
[That's when her hand clamps tighter over her mouth as she takes her chances at speaking between laughing bursts:] Sorry, sorry. That's just... That's really brilliant and I just can't... I mean, come on... [Trying to talk and breathe at the same time is hard. Why has no one ever told her that it's hard?]
Beep-beep!
[And she snorts, unable to stop.
[Rey might need to plead temporary insanity for a bit. She may have just lost her mind.]
no subject
And for a moment, it's contagious, and he finds himself laughing too.]
I think the Institute really missed an opportunity by not making that a feature in their synths. Their reputation as the 'Commonwealth boogeyman' would be very different if that was their regular strategy for getting what they want. Clients coming in my door, telling me they think a loved one has been replaced. And how do they know? They heard them beeping in the night.
[He shakes his head, smiling harder than he has in some time. The thought of being replaced by a synth is nightmarish, and an absolutely reasonable fear in the Commonwealth, but the thought of them pretending to be loaded with explosives in the most painfully phony way is something even he can't help but laugh at.]
no subject
[She almost manages to muffle herself long enough to allow Nick to speak. What he says only summons another rather unladylike snort into her palm.]
Stop, I can't--
[Laughter has not always been a positive thing. At least, not when it's Rey. Though it's a lot less foreboding this time when, in between her bouts of mirth, she is sneaking in a few more "beep, beeps" for good measure.]
Oh nooo, you've unveiled my secret!
[She's a beeping synth! Oh wait.
[Just. Goddammit, Nick. Go sit in the corner and think about what you did.]
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I'd never known the truth about you until this moment. You've told me you were a synth a few times, but that beeping is the real evidence.
Unless you're a different synth who replaced the Rey I knew, and getting me out of that apartment and into a house was all a part of your plan.
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[Rey takes a moment to try and get a few much needed breaths in before she replies. She's able to remove her hand from her face and exhale deeply, trying to force a sincere expression and failing miserably.]
That's right, you caught me. I've actually been a fraud this whole time. What more, I was set to go off if you ever found out. Got any last words, Valentine?
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No words, save for a final request that you detonate outside. I've seen the kind of redecorating you do, and we did just move in.
[Don't be a dick, Nick.]
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[The laughter does weaken into a couple coughs.]
Full disclosure, though. I really can "explode".
[She nearly erupted back in her old apartment, which would explain away the stifling heat that drove Nick to break down her door in the first place.]
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[Hes just been waiting for the opportunity to ask about it.]
That what happened?
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Y... es?
Um, I may have... almost blown up my apartment. And possibly the whole building.
On accident.
[That last part is important.]
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And you have that under control, right? You never did tell me what happened to you.
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