forum ENCOM OS-12 | OxO | Closed unless you're a fellow Program/User/ISO | Stalkers get a free Light Runner

Started March 25, 2021 by @murphysgirl

tune

Nora nodded, understanding. It was odd to let someone help her; the dizziness from her injury was beginning to set in, and she finally admitted to herself that maybe she needed some help.

Cor kept an arm around her to help her keep her balance as he grabbed his baton and walked steadily towards the door. “How are you feeling? I know that ride couldn't have been easy for you.” he said, trying to keep her talking. At least until they reached his apartment where they could take a look at her injury.

Nora, whose subconscious's focus had shifted to his arm the moment he had put it around her, blinked herself back to alertness. "I'm… I'm not fine, but I'm okay for now." Bit was floating alongside her, very close to her shoulder. She felt like she had two bodyguards. "My head hurts," she added in a whisper.

Cor nodded, frowning a little in concern as he caught her whisper. “Well, I’m glad you're being honest.” he admitted as he guided her into the elevator. He quickly pressed the right button and let her lean against the glass. “Here. Can you look at me?” he asked, gently lifting her head up to look at her eyes.

Nora looked up at him, slightly unsteadily. One of her eyes glitched the tiniest bit, then returned to normal. Bit floated next to Cor's head. In truth, Nora was focusing more on Cor's fingers on her chin and neck. They were warm and gentle. And his eyes. It was the first time she'd ever truly looked into someone's eyes, and it was startling - but in a good way.

Cor's eyes narrowed slightly when he spotted the glitch even though he had almost expected it. “Nora… I’m going to need you to trust me.” he said gently but a little firmly. “I know you have experience with repairing damaged code but I don't think it's a good idea to let you work on yourself with this kind of injury.” he explained. “Bit can help guide me.”

Nora paused for a moment. Was she really going to trust him? She had no other choice. He was a good program. He wouldn't do anything. She would be fine.
Taking a deep breath to calm her inner fears, she nodded. There was a soft ping as the elevator doors swung open. The hallway was empty. Bit floated out a few feet, then came back, as if to say, The coast is clear.

Cor smiled softly when she gave her permission and gently put his arm around her again as they reached his floor. “Thanks, Bit.” he chuckled softly as the little rascal checked the hall for them. It almost made him feel like he was doing a job as Black Light instead of helping a friend.

Yes, Bit said. A smile flicked across Nora's lips as they made their way out of the elevator.

It didn't take very long before they finally reached his apartment and Cor carefully guided Nora towards his couch. He panicked for a microsecond when he forgot if you were supposed to lay down or sit up with a head injury. “Here. Nice and easy.” he said gently as he let her rest on his couch. “It’ll be ok, Nora. I’m just going to take a look at your disc and see if I can fix the code.” he assured, though he hesitated to actually remove her disc from her possession. It wouldn't take long, he was sure but… He hadn't ever taken someone's disc from them before.

Nora hesitated as well. Was she really going to hand over her disc? There were so many things that could go wrong, but… she trusted him. Bit had always liked him, and that was good enough for her.
She unhooked her disc from her back holster and held it out to him, the familiar holograph of her face appearing above it.

Cor let out a soft sigh and gave her a grateful smile as she handed him her disc. It was a relief that she trusted him enough to do this, even though she didn't know how experienced he was with coding. He carefully accepted her disc and set it on the table so she could watch. “Alright Bit. Show me where the damage is.” he instructed, keeping his hands near Nora's code to start working.

Bit bobbed closer to the disc, floating near where most of the damage was. Nora closed her eyes.

Cor nodded slightly and tapped on the code, enhancing the sight of the damage. He winced sympathetically when he saw the actual extent of her injury. “Maybe I should have taken her to a med center.” he murmured softly, though he didn't stop working on repairing her code.

"No," Nora murmured, opening her eyes and looking at her disc. The damage was indeed worse than she had thought it would be. But she would be fine. "I don't like med centres."
No, Bit agreed.

Cor looked over his shoulder at her, a little surprised that she was still awake. He nodded briefly as he went back to repairing her code. “I don't blame you for that. They make me uncomfortable too.” he admitted gently. “It’s just an injury this bad and in this place is usually handled by professionals. I know some stuff about repairing code… and I'm not going to give up on you, but I guess I'm just a little nervous.” he shrugged.

Nora understood that. Giving him a few directions and suggestions, she closed her eyes and fell asleep, her bangs falling over her eyes.

Cor smiled softly at the advice, nodding occasionally until she fell asleep, and continued to repair the damage. His fingers moved with precision from many cycles of hacking. It hadn't been an easy learning experience but he had only improved from it. Only this was much more important than retrieving data… This was a program’s life and future he had in his hands.
“How am I doing, Bit?” he asked when the damage seemed to shrink.

Yes, said Bit, bobbing up and down in the air in a semblance of a nod.

“Thanks.” he chuckled as he kept working and zoomed in on the remaining code he had to fix. He watched diligently as the damage receded beneath his fingers, not focusing or thinking about anything else. He just wanted her to be alright. “Good news is I think we’re almost done. After I’m done with this, all that's left is to let Norah sync up with the repairs. Probably a good thing that she's asleep for that part.” he said, shaking his head as he fought back a yawn. “What time is it?”

Bit zoomed in a ckircle around the room with an air of, It's your apartment, you should know where a clock is. Finding one, it bobbed next to it. It was late, around 23500 ticks into the 24000-tick cycle. The outside streets were quiet except for the occasional passing vehicle or drunken shouting. The one sound that was notably, blissfully absent was that of a Recognizer.

Cor did normally know where a clock was in his apartment, he was just suddenly too tired to think of it right now. And glancing at the clock next to Bit certainly explained why that was. “When did that happen?” he murmured before checking Norah’s disc for any remaining signs of damage. “Hey, Bit. Did I miss anything?” he asked as he wasn't too sure of his own judgment at the moment.

Bit floated over, inspecting Nora's disc. No.

Cor let out a breath of relief at the confirmation and let Norah’s image fade. “Good. Let's hope I did a good enough job.” he sighed, standing up and stretching for a moment before taking the disc back over to Norah. With careful hands, he tried not to wake her as he placed it back in her holster.

Nora twitched slightly in her sleep, but otherwise did nothing. The bruises on her hands and face started to fade and the tiniest of sighs escaped her mouth. Bit hovered over her head uncertainly, clearly unsure of what to do. She was okay, but now what?