"I am Rhimodian.I want to unite our people with their lost brothers."
She crossed her arms and stared at him.
It was a long moment.
One that he almost wondered if she was attempting to read his mind or something.
"But why do you want to do this?Why not someone else?"
He sighed."Because it is my fault they are there in the first place."
She blinked and didn't say anything, but her expression encouraged him to continue.
Or maybe it was just her presence--she brought out words from him, made him want to speak about this.One of those things he had not really spoken to anyone about before.
"I am an -An version of Rhimodian.I have a different set of programming protocols.My systems are created with more connection with emotions."
"Are Rhimodians unemotional, then?"
"We have emotions.That primitive side is always there, in every one of us.Some of us are more dependent on our connection with Master System to keep our balance.Others are not.The ones like me, we have a different system programming.We were an experiment.The idea is that cyborgs could react and be more intuitive based on emotion rather than logic.I am one of those cyborgs."
"How does this connect with the prisoners of war?"
"I want you to understand what I am and why I am different than other Rhimodians.Because of this special programming, very few units have more than one or two of us in them because it would be too easy for emotions to overtake a group of cyborgs and render them useless due to lack of control."
"Okay.So you're more emotional?"
"I react from more emotional states than other cyborgs.It was believed that I would be able to make different decisions and give an edge to battle that a standard Rhimodian could not."
She got very still.Even her breathing slowed down as she listened."Oh, no.I think I know where this is going."
He nodded."I led a battle.It wound up being in the stars over Tarnegs.The battle was intense."
"It was one of the worst ones in the last few years," she said."I remember.The damage to Tarnegs was extreme.I went there, I think.After.To see for myself."
"Many died."
"Yes, they did."
"And I left my brothers there to die."
She blinked."The winner," she whispered.
He sighed."That is what I heard later.I hate that monocle.The lone survivor.The winner.It sounds like I did something important or brave.I was not a winner.My fellow men were dead, and I ran away like a coward.It is how I lost my Shine."
"Do you think getting them back will bring back your shine?"
"I can only hope.I only recently learned of the possibility that my unit was still alive.And that is what brings us here."
"You want to bring them home."
He nodded."And I doubt any of them would accept my help if I offered it directly."
"You never know.They might be thankful."
He shook his head."I doubt it."
She came over closer to him, and she put her hand on his arm."Humanoids are forgiving on occasion.Even ones with cybernetic parts."
