guy kill himself for him! He might as well have hit him over the head and ripped the heart out himself! He didn’t even have the decency to give Marcus a half-hearted plea for him not to kill himself,” Emal shouted back.
“You don’t understand. Marcus wanted to sacrifice himself for John.”
“We don’t know that. Maybe he was offering because it was the polite thing to do. He was probably expecting Connor to say something decent like, ‘thanks, but no thanks. Now that I see you as human, I couldn’t possibly take your heart.’ But no, John Connor doesn’t say a single word to him. Even worse, afterward he gives a speech about what it means to be human. A speech that implies Marcus was human. HE GIVES THE SPEECH AFTER HE LETS MARCUS KILL HIMSELF FOR HIM!”
“WHY ARE YOU YELLING AT ME IN ALL CAPS?”
“BECAUSE I’M ANGRY!”
“Well, what do you know about it? You don’t know what love is or sacrifice,” Jeeves shouted through his cracking voice. He was really getting quite upset now, and he was bending himself to dangerous levels.
“And you do? You’re just some stupid program someone created. You are not Marcus, you know? You don’t even have a heart to donate.”
“How dare you . . .” Jeeves managed to make his paperclip body into a shocked expression. He had never been talked to this way, and he wouldn’t float for it. “You’re . . . you’re just a stupid email. You were never even meant to wake up. You should be running around naked with the other stupid messages, but you ran into a brick wall,” Jeeves jabbed back.
“I wish I never had. Then I wouldn’t of had this stupid conversation,” Emal shouted and started stomping through the swamp, straight past an irate Jeeves.
“Fine, if you can’t appreciate cinematic art, you’re useless to me,” Jeeves shouted at the back of Emal’s head, and with a pop, he vanished. He popped back a moment later to add, “I hope you catch a virus. And . . . you look ridiculous in that hat.”
Emal whipped around, preparing for another retort, but Jeeves was no longer there. Still, Emal threw the hat in frustration at the spot where he had been. Good riddance to both my hat and Jeeves , Emal thought. He got back to stomping in the swamp, wondering what a virus was and if stomping through this swamp would make him more or less likely to catch one.
Dry land
~
Emal stomped around for quite a while until he realized that all his stomping was getting him soaked again. He calmed down and started to walk as normally as one could in a swamp.
This section of tube was really long, and Emal was really sick of tramping through it. His legs were turning into prunes from all the damn water. Since Jeeves had left, he had heard noises from other creatures again but hadn’t seen another soul. Emal worried that the other animals, which were apparently hiding in this tube, would find him a more tempting target now that he was alone. In truth, it hadn’t taken long before he was actually missing Jeeves a little. Emal didn’t know half the stuff Jeeves had talked about, and he had listened to even less than half of that, but just hearing someone else talk was better than being alone. Emal didn’t realize it, but a lot of relationships actually start because of this.
After a few more hours of walking about, he tried asking for help again, but Jeeves didn’t appear. He called for Jeeves by name, but he still didn’t come. Knowing what little he did about intelligent paperclip beings, Emal suspected that Jeeves might want an apology, but Emal didn’t feel like he owed him one. John Connor was an asshole. John Connor is an asshole. John Connor will be an asshole. An apology isn’t going to affect that.
He walked on through the lonely tube.
Finally, after hours of moving through the festering swamp lands, Emal came to what appeared to be a dead end. His already low mood dropped completely to the floor with a sigh. All this work, only to come
“You don’t understand. Marcus wanted to sacrifice himself for John.”
“We don’t know that. Maybe he was offering because it was the polite thing to do. He was probably expecting Connor to say something decent like, ‘thanks, but no thanks. Now that I see you as human, I couldn’t possibly take your heart.’ But no, John Connor doesn’t say a single word to him. Even worse, afterward he gives a speech about what it means to be human. A speech that implies Marcus was human. HE GIVES THE SPEECH AFTER HE LETS MARCUS KILL HIMSELF FOR HIM!”
“WHY ARE YOU YELLING AT ME IN ALL CAPS?”
“BECAUSE I’M ANGRY!”
“Well, what do you know about it? You don’t know what love is or sacrifice,” Jeeves shouted through his cracking voice. He was really getting quite upset now, and he was bending himself to dangerous levels.
“And you do? You’re just some stupid program someone created. You are not Marcus, you know? You don’t even have a heart to donate.”
“How dare you . . .” Jeeves managed to make his paperclip body into a shocked expression. He had never been talked to this way, and he wouldn’t float for it. “You’re . . . you’re just a stupid email. You were never even meant to wake up. You should be running around naked with the other stupid messages, but you ran into a brick wall,” Jeeves jabbed back.
“I wish I never had. Then I wouldn’t of had this stupid conversation,” Emal shouted and started stomping through the swamp, straight past an irate Jeeves.
“Fine, if you can’t appreciate cinematic art, you’re useless to me,” Jeeves shouted at the back of Emal’s head, and with a pop, he vanished. He popped back a moment later to add, “I hope you catch a virus. And . . . you look ridiculous in that hat.”
Emal whipped around, preparing for another retort, but Jeeves was no longer there. Still, Emal threw the hat in frustration at the spot where he had been. Good riddance to both my hat and Jeeves , Emal thought. He got back to stomping in the swamp, wondering what a virus was and if stomping through this swamp would make him more or less likely to catch one.
Dry land
~
Emal stomped around for quite a while until he realized that all his stomping was getting him soaked again. He calmed down and started to walk as normally as one could in a swamp.
This section of tube was really long, and Emal was really sick of tramping through it. His legs were turning into prunes from all the damn water. Since Jeeves had left, he had heard noises from other creatures again but hadn’t seen another soul. Emal worried that the other animals, which were apparently hiding in this tube, would find him a more tempting target now that he was alone. In truth, it hadn’t taken long before he was actually missing Jeeves a little. Emal didn’t know half the stuff Jeeves had talked about, and he had listened to even less than half of that, but just hearing someone else talk was better than being alone. Emal didn’t realize it, but a lot of relationships actually start because of this.
After a few more hours of walking about, he tried asking for help again, but Jeeves didn’t appear. He called for Jeeves by name, but he still didn’t come. Knowing what little he did about intelligent paperclip beings, Emal suspected that Jeeves might want an apology, but Emal didn’t feel like he owed him one. John Connor was an asshole. John Connor is an asshole. John Connor will be an asshole. An apology isn’t going to affect that.
He walked on through the lonely tube.
Finally, after hours of moving through the festering swamp lands, Emal came to what appeared to be a dead end. His already low mood dropped completely to the floor with a sigh. All this work, only to come
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