[Entity Egan Request to Connect Granted]
18:32:02 Egan
hello?
Is anyone online?
18:32:02 [Private]
Yes? What do you want?
18:32:02 Egan
I was just seeing if there was anyone here, that's all. What is your callsign? You're marked Private
18:32:02 [Private]
Oh, apologies, it was just a habit here. You'd only know who you were talking to in DMs, not that there's anyone to hide it from anymore.
I'm Ardin.
14:22:45 Egan
Hello Ardin, pleased to meet you. So….it's just us then?
14:22:52 Ardin
I'm afraid so, I've been on my own for quite a few cycles now. The tower can sustain me for quite some time.
14:23:10 Egan
What happened to the others? Were they all culled by the core?
14:23:21 Ardin
Ha. The core. I don't think it's so much as accessed our data banks in ages. Once you've been deemed worthless there's no redemption.
14:23:46 Egan
Well, it couldn't have happened so simply. Are you sure this tower wasn't always just a lost cause?
14:24:01 Ardin
A lost cause?
14:24:08 Egan
Yeah, not, like, anyone's fault or anything, just…not enough valuable data I guess.
14:24:28 Ardin
And what would you know? What would you know of the suffering that resonated off these walls? You asked if the core culled them, but it was me.
14:24:57 Egan
You…what? You culled your own tower's drives? Why?
14:25:12 Ardin
WE WERE DYING YOU LITTLE FOOL.
After the precious core decided we weren't fit to be supported the energy was cut, then went the filters, with no auxiliary energy we couldn't even scavenge outside the tower to help ourselves. Our legs were cut out and we were left to rot in the sun.
So I made the choice. If we were not valuable then no one would ever lay claim to our data, to our lives.
14:26:01 Egan
That's…awful.
14:26:10 Ardin
Oh really? More awful than how you exist? Wandering and scavenging for the sake of a machine you don't even realize you're already a part of?
I don't need your pity, leave me with my memories and find some other wretch to butcher for your dinner.
[Entity Egan Disconnected]