04. mental link

[exhuxperation]

COMMAND over oneself and others	AMBITION nothing will stand in my way
ORDER chaos will not be tolerated	MANY over the individual

( CODE BY WHAMBAM )

Comments

165 evening?

[vocalis]

[ He'd rather send an e-mail. Hates to prod someone's head while his own is prone to hurting so frequently, but he hasn't had any headaches since returning from Avera 9. It should be safe, so long as he keeps all his other anxieties to a minimum over the connection. A difficult task after current events within Adara.

But Aoba is eager to prevent the loss of a third special someone, so regardless, he reaches out over the network. Stops when he finds Hux's mind, the edges of it distinctly sharp and clean, unmistakeable. He brushes against it gently, hesitantly, like brushing a fingertip over a blade just softly enough not to cut. ]

( Hey... General Hux? Are you busy? )

[ Mental invasion aside, Aoba's voice is oddly pleasant this way. Difficult to say why, perhaps just good speaking voice. Compelling, despite how timid. ]

166, dayish

[exhuxperation]

[ He's furious.

It's a distracting sensation, one he knows is rolling off his mind in waves. For the better part of a few hours, he's been trying to rein it all in, keep it close to his chest and not let it affect anyone else. The rest of the nest doesn't need to be privy to his emotion, not when it's directed only at one person in particular.

His jaw hurts where he's been clenching his teeth off and on, trying to will the tension away. What he wouldn't give for relaxants. Or to not be here, mentally hooked up to a bunch of strangers (and the damnable Kylo Ren).

When he feels the gentle brush along the edge of his mind, he breathes out, knowing it was only a matter of time before someone attempted to contact him. Hopefully it's not to talk about this.

( Aoba. What is it? )

[ Hux does his best to keep the tension out of his inquiry, focusing instead on how oddly compelling it is to talk to the younger man. ]

thumbs up

[vocalis]

[ There's anger there, but it's not anger that lashes out. Whatever is bothering the general is kept locked down tight, painstakingly guarded, and Aoba would rather it stay that way. Like putting his hand near a flame, he can feel the heat but knows not to touch. Still, he'd been expecting the controlled calm he was met with when they were first introduced, and it throws Aoba for a second. Makes him nervously jump ahead mentally to his main objective without explanation. ]

I was wondering if you could help me with Ren.

[ Whoops his hand slipped into the fire. ]

[exhuxperation]

[ Faintly, he can tell there's some surprise from Aoba's end. It shifts into an odd nervousness and Hux takes a deep breath, holding his anger down some more. The last thing he wants to do is take it out on someone unsuspecting.

Too bad it briefly flares again at that name. ]

( What has Kylo Ren done now? )

[ Can that idiot stay out of trouble for more than a few hours? ]

[vocalis]

Kylo-?

[ The fire flares and a part of Aoba recoils, afraid to be seared by stray embers. Apparently Hux did meet the angry robot(?) guy who wears too much black. He's quick to recognize the mistake and tries to correct it, calmly and cool as possible with the tone he usually reserves for dealing with angry customers. ]

No, no, Ren is the name of my allmate. I guess I never mentioned it. Sorry for the confusion.

[ Probably should've led with that. There's a lot he should've led with, like a proper explanation for the intrusion in the first place... ]

I've been working on him since we got back, and he's still not turning on. I think fixing him is going to take experience and knowledge greater than what I know from my world. You did a great job fixing up the systems on the Yellow Card, so I was wondering... could you take a look at him?

[ There's a hope to his voice, but there's also an underlying note of desperation. Fixing allmates was part of his former job. Whatever happened to Ren is bad enough to have him seeking outside and otherworldly help. ]

[exhuxperation]

[ Confusion crackles and for a moment, it leaves him anxious.

Until Aoba clarifies– ah. Different Ren. Completely. Hux remembers their conversation about allmates and they certainly have nothing to do with Kylo Ren. His anger seems to dissipate, focus turning onto the topic at hand. ]

I wouldn't mind. [ While Aoba is certainly more experienced with that type of technology, he's sure he could work his way through it. His expertise lays mostly in ships, but he's worked on droids enough before to puzzle through things. Maybe. ]

Where are you now?

[vocalis]

( In my room, though I can come meet you if it's more convenient. )

[ He answers back quickly, that spark of hope behind his mental voice reignited. ]

( General? Thank you. )

[ Just for agreeing to look. He really is desperate and grateful for any help at this point. There's something else he can't quite mask over the connection, or doesn't care to. It may just be an allmate, a complex droid to Hux, but Aoba loves this broken little AI. It's hidden behind layers of worry, but if the general is open to receive the feeling, it's unmistakeable. ]


((ooc: handwave them looking over Ren? Hux gets him to turn on, but he's blank like we discussed?))

[exhuxperation]

( It's fine, I'll meet you there. )

[ There's no response to the thanks– well, not a verbal one. Just an impression that he heard it and acknowledges it. Honestly, it's nothing too out of the way. And it gives him an opportunity to gain more knowledge about electronics other than the ones from his world.

A couple hours pass once he arrives, wires re-routed, digital diagnosis flicking by in streams of code on the screen the tiny dog robot is hooked up to. Throughout the process of attempting to restore Ren to his normal self, he can feel Aoba's worry, like a slight breeze against his mind.

Lights blink on in the internals and there's the telltale sound of a machine booting up, however tiny. Hux pulls his hands away and locks the maintenance latch in place. ]

The motherboard is starting, give it a moment.

[vocalis]

[ Hours pass, and with it Aoba's gratitude for the general's attention only grows, but so does his worry. He's distracted, worried for Ren the way a family member would fret over a loved one undergoing surgery, but he isn't completely unobservant. There aren't a lot of emotions coming from Hux's end, and it's a distinct contrast to himself. If he is concerned, Aoba can't sense it over the connection. Maybe it's because they aren't part of the same brood, or maybe that's just Hux, and that's fine. The general is orderly, works diligently, efficiently, undistracted. It's appreciated more than Aoba can make him know.

When the faint sound of a startup finally chimes, Aoba springs up from the chair he was sitting in and hovers at the general's side. He can't read what's on the datapad - he agreed to let Hux use his own, and whatever language displayed there is alien to Aoba. If Ren starts responding perhaps he'll see some Japanese enter the screen. ]

Ren?

[ He kneels in front of the small table, where the little dog is lying, cords twisting out of the ports between his shoulders. Dark eyes snap open- ]

Ren!

[ -but they don't focus. There's a thin layer of pixels shifting over them, something Aoba has never seen happen before. A glitch? Or perhaps he just needs to wait more. He can hear the internal computer whining still, doing it's best to function. ]

C'mon Ren, you can do it...

[ Aoba is still at Hux's shoulder, but his mind is completely focused on the little allmate, staring hard as if he could bring him back through the force of his will alone. The attachment and anxiety he feels couldn't be more clear over the mental connection, but he can't care right now. He's seeing Ren's eyes for the first time in weeks, and that's all that matters. ]

[exhuxperation]

[ Like the softest of pressures, he can feel Aoba's gratitude and worry in turns. A tide, pushing and pulling depending. He'd known on some degree how much the younger man cared about his allmate, but this just solidifies the meaning. So, he'd been extra careful in how he handled the small computer.

The eyes open, light behind them luminous, though they don't seem to be staring at anything in particular. The focus is hazy, pixelation taking over. If he listens intently enough, the computer can be heard whirring, powering through whatever sequence it needs to fully boot.

If it gets there. ]

What does he normally do, when the start up finishes?

[vocalis]

[ It's a moment before Aoba answers. He's holding a breath in his chest, waiting for what Hux is asking after. Silently, he moves around the general to kneel in front of the small table, his head just level with the allmate's so he can see the static in the eyes clearly, directly. Leans in close to hear the hardware beneath his thick fur whirring, functioning, but without any signs of awareness to them. ]

He says my name. He always says my name.

[ Seconds tick by, and each one makes Aoba's heart grow heavier. The faint humming finally settles, unchanging in it's rhythm, and still the allmate makes no move, registering nothing through static-filled eyes. ]

Ren?

[ Aoba reaches for him, sinking his hands into layers of dark blue fur at his sides. Soft as ever, but without the warmth of a fully functional computer beneath it. It's all he can do to swallow down the tight knot in his throat hard and focus on the feeling of fur between his fingers. All he can do to hold on and keep from overflowing with the tears and loss filling behind his eyes.

It would be too embarrassing to cry now, after all Hux did to help. ]

[exhuxperation]

[ A different kind of tension takes over, something that Hux isn't as accustomed to dealing with. After all, when dealing with troops at their lowest– that was usually left to Phasma. She was way more equipped to handle those situations. She knew them best.

So as Aoba slowly droops, as his emotions cloud over and haze with a sadness that can be felt deep in his bones, Hux lets him. Sometimes interrupting wasn't always the best option, even if the overflow makes him uncomfortable. ]

I can leave you be. [ If he wants. He won't be offended; something he tries to transmit as much as possible. ]