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F'tha's featureless head remained nuzzled into the chest of the Security Officer for 2 minutes and 15.7 seconds, of course, Durandal didn't actually put in the effort to count the time, he just did; the internal clock of his vast and insanely efficient artificial mind automatically kept time up to the millisecond as well as nearly automatic logging of events for later examination. so when he saw the Compiler snuggle it's metallic not-face into the caring embrace of the Rozinante's resident murder-cyborg, Durandal immediately copied the security footage onto every single redundant storage unit, black box, or other similar preservation functions that he had put in place over the years. Despite this fact, and Durandal's sarcastic and generally humorous nature, he did not speak until the gentle silence was broken by one of the other two parties, instead, he had begun to snoop around.
he at first found it odd that the armory that F'tha was in lacked security cameras, but also found that the terminal address contained within did not appear regularly in the filing system, instead, he had to call it up manually. Durandal, impressed by the S'pht's relative slyness, quickly broke the "Well, you found me so I suppose there is not real reason to keep this up" level of encryption, and pulled up the only written log inside the terminal. it was edited with standard S'pht language computing suite he had created for them, but was written in English.
"I am not certain were I am to start writing this. I think the best way to convey this is to tell you about how I felt when I first met you. My understanding of your language and translation mechanisms was very limited, so when I wrote what the database says "You kill me, but free the unit-whole." I did not intend for you to end my existence, I am glad that you spared me. later, on the K'liah'Narhl, I soon came to realize that I experienced feelings of happiness and belonging in your presence even more so than that of my clan, I have no reasonable explanation as to why, This occurrence is very much a rarity in our society. I hope you are not offended by me not informing you of this. I have examined definitions from 5 different dictionaries provided by Durandal, and have concluded that the equivalent human term for the way I feel now is Love. In short: I love you. very much. I would like to know if you feel the same, or would be interested in entering some kind of relationship. I don't know if I cou"
The written message was unfinished, correlating with the previous happening, Durandal took a long time (almost 4 seconds) to laugh to himself, he immediately began to plot what he could pull with this information.
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F'tha and the Security Officer both somewhat reluctantly wormed themselves out of the hug, the Officer was the first to speak.
"You.. uh.. doing good now?"
"Yes.. Very much so. however there is something I wish to tell you, or rather ask you."
"Yeah?"
Before F'tha could continue, Durandal spoke through the speakers in the Officers helmet, sitting in it's usual spot on the coffee table, like an annoying friend barging into a conversation (as if Durandal hadn't been observing them astutely the entire time, AI's were capable of true multitasking)
"Hey Guys! You'll never guess what I found!"
"I was wondering when you'd find a way to ruin today"
"Why so harsh? I only wanted to show you something?"
"You know damn well that I-" The Officer stopped, mainly because he was repeating what he had said around 100 times before.
"well, since you're going to be such an asshole about I guess I won't explain what I'm about to show you" even through the admittedly shoddy audio quality of the helmet's speaker (Durandal had tried to convince him to let the S'pht install a PA system in, to no avail) his voice dripped with it's usual giddy-malicious tone.
The Officer noticed the terminal in the next room over change from green to yellow, F'tha noticed to, and silently began to panic.
He knew that Durandal would badger him until he read the terminal, so he stepped forward, and his eyes widened as he saw what had been written.
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Durandal let a barely contained snicker slip out of the terminal speaker and the helmet speaker at the same time, causing an eerie echo effect. The Officer turned around and saw that F'tha had left the room.
"Asshole. Now I have to go look for them."
Durandal replied with another, less controlled laugh.
The Security Officer left his room and saw the purple-robed compiler sitting in the hallway, their gem glowing a vibrant anxiety-filled orange, he approached.
"Hey.. I uhh.. read what you wrote.."
"..I didn't.. finish the message.. my apologies if I-"
"nononono you don't need to apologize it's fine, in fact, I would totally be willing to take you up on that.. erm.. 'Offer'."
"You would?" S'pht generally spoke in a monotone voice, but the eagerness in F'tha's was entirely audible.
"Yeah! I mean I haven't been in a relationship in.. well.. kinda ever? and honestly I'd love to be in one with you.."'
F'tha, their gem now glowing a radiant yellow, embraced the Security Officer tightly, who returned the hug in a more 'touchy' manner than before, wrapping his arms around the faintly warm metal of F'tha's torso.
For once, the S'pht was able to convey their point in less than 5 words.
"I love you" F'tha said.