[ And then he had to do it all over again when Lana sold him out like he was a nonsentient piece of scrap metal, but he doesn't bring that up because it's not about him right now, it's about Archer. The betrayal still stings when he thinks about it, grantedโ but at least Archer seems sincere in his clumsily worded, still kind of off the mark assertion of "robot" personhood. ]
It was good of him to do that. He didn't have to, and I didn't deserve it.
[ A beat. And then, though he doesn't know why he mentions itโ ]
I can breathe. Eat. Feel pain. I have a pulse again for the first time in... three years? I think?
[ It's hard to really place that period of his life on any sort of coherent timeline; it's all more or less just a depersonalized, deeply unstable blur, one long episode of psychiatric instability. Sometimes he wonders how much of it he doesn't even remember, but with effort he chooses not to think about that either. Instead he turns the palm of the hand that isn't supporting Archer's side toward the ceiling and extends it across his chest, in Archer's general direction. ]
You can feel if you'd like.
[ Partly because it might make him less fearful. Partly because it might make him acknowledge that he's leaning against a human being, the kind of validation he still finds himself thinking even after three years of therapy. ]
no subject
[ And then he had to do it all over again when Lana sold him out like he was a nonsentient piece of scrap metal, but he doesn't bring that up because it's not about him right now, it's about Archer. The betrayal still stings when he thinks about it, grantedโ but at least Archer seems sincere in his clumsily worded, still kind of off the mark assertion of "robot" personhood. ]
It was good of him to do that. He didn't have to, and I didn't deserve it.
[ A beat. And then, though he doesn't know why he mentions itโ ]
I can breathe. Eat. Feel pain. I have a pulse again for the first time in... three years? I think?
[ It's hard to really place that period of his life on any sort of coherent timeline; it's all more or less just a depersonalized, deeply unstable blur, one long episode of psychiatric instability. Sometimes he wonders how much of it he doesn't even remember, but with effort he chooses not to think about that either. Instead he turns the palm of the hand that isn't supporting Archer's side toward the ceiling and extends it across his chest, in Archer's general direction. ]
You can feel if you'd like.
[ Partly because it might make him less fearful. Partly because it might make him acknowledge that he's leaning against a human being, the kind of validation he still finds himself thinking even after three years of therapy. ]