"I just know how the machines work." The Exo spoke in plain tones. He sounded tired, if a machine could ever be tired. There weren't many machines that would refer to other machines as machines, though. By most rules of being fully automated, Doss really didn't apply. "So if you need me to get them to do things, I can do that. Your weapons count too. Most of them are more machine than anything. It's pretty neat." Ricochet stared at the Exo called Doss with a deadpan gaze. "What? I thought I was supposed to... tell you what I can do for you. Or something. This is an interview, right?" Doss tipped his head to the right inquisitively. He didn't bother mimicking mouth movements when he spoke, Ricochet noticed. Instead, a light within his metallic jaw line flashed blue or white in cadence with his speech. There was something vacuous about the Exo. Innocent would have been a stretch. "I didn't say I was interviewing you, scrap. I wanted to know how you got through that door." Ricochet tried to keep his tone even. He folded his arms over his chest to keep his fists from balling. In his massive Titan armor, it couldn't have been less imposing---but he wasn't trying to avoid threatening the Exo. He just didn't want to get bitched at by Fox again for the intimidation being too obvious. "You ask a lot of questions for someone who isn't interviewing. Word around the tower is that you don't really talk to things unless you're about to shoot them, pay them, or convince them to work with you. I don't think you want to shoot me. I think paying other people hurts you on a deep, personal level. So that leaves the other option." "What if this is just a social call?" Ricochet sighed out, glancing away. Out of the window, out to the city below. A city he'd never walked through, yet everything he was doing was supposedly for that city's sake. "What if I was just surprised you got through the door. And thought we should chat." "I've spoken to Fox, you know. She says you don't chat. And I don't think you really want to know how to get through that door so much as you want to know how [b]you[/b] can get through doors like it. Probably seeing if you need me or not. The answer is yes. You do need me. I don't even really know how I get the stuff to work myself. I'd tell you if I did." The Exo sounded so sincere. Ricochet eyed him. He stared back with white glowing eyes, and that always-open flickering mouth. He looked like something that should pop out suddenly in one of those Vex caves. Something with very little humanity. Just enough to be frighteningly intelligent, terribly single-minded, and extremely good at whatever it was designed for. [i]Guess that sounds like me, too. I'm just prettier. Poor bastard.[/i] "You would, wouldn't you." Ricochet turned toward him. Set his armored hands on the table separating them and leaned in. "Explain that to me, scrap heap. You get machines. You know that being obsolete is worse than death. So why offer up the only thing you've got going for you?" "Because I was designed this way." The response came quicker than Ricochet thought it would. Just as sincere. "I don't know who made me. But I get the feeling that I don't like them very much. I'd like to kill them, I think. I don't think they wanted me to share. So defiance is my way of killing them, until I find them. Then I'll kill them." Ricochet narrowed his eyes. "And what'll you do after you do that?" The Titan pressed. And the Exo's expression finally changed. He smiled. "I think it will be a while. I'll want to survive until then. That will make me useful to you. Survival, and opening doors. You're a practical sort of guy, aren't you? You can see how that will come in handy." [i]Creepy little -blam!-er. I like it.[/i] "Well you're the most trustworthy killing machine I've ever met, so far as I can tell. And yeah, we're gonna need doors opened that I can't just smash to bits. You didn't answer the question, but I'm gonna give you a pass---instead you're going to answer me this. What's your real name? They call you Doss." Doss nodded, and stood up. "Virgil-22." Ricochet winced. "Virgil. I can see why you..." "...yeah." Doss---Virgil-22---sighed and nodded. "Do I shake your hand now? Am I part of the Vanguard Assault Lance?" Ricochet gave him another once over, and shrugged. "I dunno, scra---err, Dos---err...Virgil...whatever. I dunno. Talk to Fox about that, she handles this shit. I was just stopping by to see if I needed to shoot you in the head." ************************************************************************************************ I know the things I do don't make sense to many people. But he would have shot me, if he felt like he should have. And that's the thing. I just want to be able to do what I do best without worrying about things killing me. The Darkness will kill me. Ricochet will kill me. I don't need to worry about it, I guess. I'll be alright. And when I won't, I won't have time to care. Time's very important. I wish I could remember why. ~Doss