Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I sigh deeply, slumping in my seat, and put my head in my hands. In the same day I gained and then lost a job. The most annoying part was that there was nothing I could have done to prevent it. I hoped I would at least still receive two weeks pay, but really it was hard to say if I would get anything at all. I had only done a few hours of work before being replaced by an AI. I turn my computer off and sigh again before checking my phone. I just got a thiscord notification?

Weird. I don't recognize the username. Tinfoilhat? They continued to message me and only freaked me out more. They're sending something to my house?? I asked them how the hell they know where I live, only to be ignored. They say they'll contact me again soon, and that's when I see the drone zip past my window. I rush out of my office and to the front door, opening it just in time to see the drone flying off. A gift box with a tied bow sat on my front step now. I eyed it suspiciously, but picked it up. Locking my front door back, I sit on the steps and untie the bow. I took the lid off and set it aside to see what was sent to me by the self proclaimed hacker. A.. pair of sunglasses? They're pink tinted. And there's a heart on the connecting piece which would sit on the bridge of my nose. They looked pretty nice, actually. But the situation was weird. Why would someone hack me and send me sunglasses of all things, and via drone?

I set the glasses aside and check inside the box. But it proves to be empty of anything other than packing peanuts. I sigh for the third time already today, and take the box with me to the kitchen to throw away the packing peanuts and then get myself some Tylenol because I could already tell today was a day for a headache. If not a migraine. Back at the stairs, I set the lid back on top of the box, and refocus on the glasses. What am I even meant to do with them? I frown at them and pick them up before going upstairs to my bedroom to set the gift box in my closet. I sit on my bed in front of the mirror in my room so I can at least see how I look in the glasses.

Then, immediately upon placing them on my face, I am instead met with a mysterious woman. She just.. appeared. Seriously appeared out of thin air in front of me. She begins talking, greeting me, and I pull the glasses off quickly. And she's entirely gone.

I mumble under my breath, "what the hell..", and put the glasses on again. And sure enough, she's back. And she's now glaring at me, hands on hips. Apparently she hadn't enjoyed being interrupted. "How-" I begin, but she hypocritically cuts me off. "As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted, I am Skylar Specs, a pair of dateviator glasses. Hello." She gives a curt little wave, seemingly still a little annoyed from before, but also still very much overly cheerful.

"Hi?" I try, half feeling like I'm dreaming. She smiles brighter at me and continues to talk quickly. "Yes, hello! I am so excited to introduce to you a whole new world. As a pair of dateviator glasses I allow you to directly acknowledge a things existence, and so, with me you'll be able to meet and talk with all of the objects within your house!"

"What?" I ask dumbly, my mind struggling to catch up. Talk with objects?

"Oh, you heard me," She continues. "Here, I'll help you out, get you started. First let's say we, hmm, talk to one of the doors in your house. How about that? Any door. Just go up to 'em and focus real hard for a second. Then, you'll be able to see them. Okay? Got that? Ask for me if you want me to further elaborate. Remember my name? Skylar Specs, okay?"

And with that, she was gone. Just disappeared. Numbly, I turn to the side, now able to see my reflection in the mirror of me wearing the glasses. It looked alright, I suppose. I sigh once more, mumbling what the actual fuck for good measure, and consider what she had said. I need to just.. focus really hard. Apparently. On a door specifically, I guess. So.. why not? Why not then? Makes perfect sense to listen to this probably-not-a-hallucination. I glance toward the closet door where I had stored the giftbox Skylar had come in, toward the other closet door, and then to my bedroom door and the adjoined bathroom door. I guess.. out of all of these it'd probably be best to talk to my bedroom door? I guess? There's maybe a difference, right? The bathroom door at least is a little bit awkward. So, I got up and walked over to my bedroom door. I stared at it for a moment, wondering what was supposed to happen. Looked a little harder, wondering if maybe I was just insane, actually. And then there was a man standing in front of me. He looked down at me, stern looking and serious.

"Umm.. hi? Hello, uh, bedroom door?" I waved awkwardly.

"Hello." He returned my greeting with a nod of his head, then averted his gaze. He at least seemed a bit awkward and unsure as well. So it wasn't just me. It also didn't escape me that he has an accent. Strange. Just then Skylar burst in to break the awkward silence between the two of us.

"Alright, so I've installed a few apps on your phone that will only be accessible while you've got the dateviator glasses on. And logged already are me, and Dorian, your door!" Skylar gestures toward Dorian with both arms excitedly. I wonder what she means by logged, and how exactly she's managed to install any apps on my phone when it's been in my pocket this whole time. But, honestly, at this point it may as well happen. It's not even my biggest concern, really.

"So, uh, how'd you get your name, Dorian? Can't imagine objects are named by their parents and grow up and all that. Or do you guys? I.. just really don't know." I rambled a bit to fill the silence which had preceded Skylars own.

"Uh, no. No, we don't. Uh, have "parents". I'm Dorian because I am a door. Specifically, I am Bedroom Dorian. If that, uh, helps." Dorian returned his own unsure speech, and I was half tempted to take the glasses off and forget this ever happened. But I didn't.

"Hmm," Skylar smiled, seeming pleased with our interaction. "There are three relationship status' you can achieve with the objects around your house. Love, Hate, and Friendship. I'll also log in your phone when your relationship status with an object changes. I personally see Love as the best. However.. Dorian is a big defender of Friendship!"

Bedroom Dorian nods solemnly. "I've seen the complications of Love, and lived through the jealous quarrels of Hate. The world would just be an awful lot safer if everyone were friends, in my opinion. You see, the true bond is one between two friends with none of the intricacies of romantic tension." He speaks gruffly, but seems surprisingly sincere.

I wonder what he means, for a moment, unsure if my door may have had a past relationship. But then it dawned on me. He must be referring to my ex from a few years ago. I shift uncomfortably on my feet, remembering how he left my house for the last time. He slammed this same bedroom door and my front door on his way out. At the time I had been surprised he didn't break the hinges or anything. Now I'm just surprised to realize the doors he had slammed were sentient.

"Sorry." Dorian apologizes, nodding down at me. "Didn't mean to bring up old memories there."

I wave it off. "It's fine. Uh, sorry myself I guess. He slammed the door- you? hard then. It must've hurt?" I tried, not knowing the right words here. Dorian just smiled, seeming glad that I remembered his plight from back then.

"It's all good, human. I'm happy to have been able to separate you from him, at least."

"Hah, yeah." I smile gratefully, knowing that he had tried to pick the lock on the front door a few times afterward. Over text he had claimed to just be trying to get in to apologize, but I'm really glad he never got in because most times he tried I hadn't even been home.

"Human, you seem like a good sort. So we'll be friends, for now." Dorian smiled down at me, and it was nice. I returned a smile.

"Sure, thank you. I'm glad to know you're here. Honestly. You've probably saved my life more than a few times, Dorian. So, seriously, thank you."

"It's my job. I'm just doing my job." That's what he says, but he does certainly seem happy with the praise. His cheeks flush just ever so slightly and he refuses to meet my gaze again. But he nods one last time before disappearing.

I find myself to still be smiling for a moment longer. I hadn't expected this insanity to turn out so comforting, actually. I hadn't realized I was being so looked after. Usually this big empty house just felt lonely.

"Hello~ Earth to Human!" Skylar yells at me, and snaps her fingers in front of my face. I jump, being pulled out of my thoughts. "I was thinking next you could talk to your phone. How about it?" She smiled, not seeming to really be asking. Her overly enthusiastic attitude was still a bit off putting.

"Uh, yeah, I guess. Just a bit later, then, if thats fine?"

"Yeah, of course. I'll be waiting!"

She disappears once more and I take the glasses off, setting them on my bed. I go to the bathroom, feeling more self conscious than usual, but forcibly brush it off because regardless of how I'm feeling, there's still some things I have to do. Afterward, I go back into my bedroom and glance at the clock to check the time. It was a bit early for lunch, but I hadn't eaten all day. So I decide to do that first as well, before returning to the glasses.

Chapter Text

I absentmindedly rinse my dishes, halfway curious about who all was currently watching me and also trying really, really hard to not think about it. I leave the dishes in the sink for now and glance toward the clock in the kitchen as I turn the sink off. I guess it was time to get back to the glasses. Couldn't exactly put it off forever, or even all day. It definitely seemed like Skylar wanted me to be quick about this introduction to everything. I get back upstairs to where I left the glasses and begin to wonder how my phone may think of me.

And then stop myself, because I had immediately begun to break out in a cold sweat. I put the glasses back on, and I'm surprised when Skylar doesn't instantly appear this time. I sit on the side of my bed and pull out my phone, staring down at it just a bit awkwardly. As I'd done before, I began to focus on it. It again felt like it took weirdly too long. But someone did eventually appear. And their appearance surprised me. Admittedly, I hadn't given a thought as to what my phone may look like. But I hadn't expected them to have such a bold fashion sense. Was that a tattoo on their thigh? When did my phone go and get a tattoo done? And wait, I'm still holding my phone too? How does that work?

They were almost just as loud as Skylar, breaking me out of my thoughts quickly.

"Hey there! Ooh, I like it much better up here where I can see your face!" She smiled and winked at me before continuing on. "I'm Phoenicia and I'm going to help you out, Human, and get you used to all these new things and how they work. I am so glad you've gotten ahold of the latest tech from Valdivian! My sweet Human, you are so lucky I've got a gap in my schedule and a soft spot for your lost puppy look!"

Is that how I look right now? It might be from a need for more Tylenol..

"Take a look at the new apps on your phone! Go on!" She urged, waving her arms for me to lift my own and look at the phone. She pointed to an icon for one of the new apps once I did so. "This here is the Date-a-dex! It's how you're going to keep track of all sorts of fun info about us dateable objects!"

Is that not at all strange for them? I frown, shifting in place a bit as she continues to talk quickly, and loudly.

"There are a LOT of us around this house."

I guess, to be fair, they are objects, not people, but to refer to themselves like that really doesn't sit right with me..

Then, a buzzing sound begins emanating from Phoenicia, and not my actual phone.

"Ahh.. gotta run! Another call coming in!" She excuses herself and disappears, leaving me to ponder how she was receiving a call while I wasn't.

And then Skylar was back. "Bye Phoenicia!" She called out to her and turned to me.

"Good news Human, there's only one object left for you to meet now!"

Oh, that is good news.

"And you're closer than you'd think!" Skylar points to my bed excitedly. "Have fun~" She disappears, waving.

I look down at my bed and wonder if I should stand up before trying to talk with them, in case I may get dumped on the floor with my bed disapearing out from under me, but Phoenicia had been pretty separate from my phone. It still existed while she was here. But then.. why didn't Dorian stand in front of my bedroom door? He had just taken its place entirely.

My thoughts spiral for a short moment, full of questions I can't yet answer. So I decide that maybe I shouldn't just jump straight to the last mandatory interaction. But maybe I can investigate these new apps a bit first? Properly opening any of the new apps for the first time has to be a step in the right direction. So I open the Date-a-dex, and am quickly overwhelmed as I scroll, and scroll, and scroll, and keep going down the list of numbers and silhouettes. There's almost a hundred! There's.. that many people watching me every single day? All the time? All over my house?

Every embarrassing moment ever floods my mind and my face flushes. This is ridiculous. Am I sure I'm not crazy? I could just be experiencing visual and auditory hallucinations. I haven't really had much interaction with any of these.. objects? people? dateables? yet. I glance toward my bed and sigh, concentrating like before. I've gotta just face these things head on.

Oh, I was not prepared. Seeing the woman before me now has me feeling speechless for entirely separate reasons than before, because this is unfair. How come every object in my house is a fucking 10/10?!

"Hey there, Stranger.." She greets me in a sultry voice. "I'm Betty, and I'm your bed."

I gulp, feeling smaller next to her.

"Um.. Hi," I awkwardly put my hand out for a handshake, now scared that I may prove my theory of none of this being real true. But she takes my hand and I'm able to feel her. She's really real, with a pulse flowing through her. Or, I'm really, really, ultra mega crazy. One of the two. But it doesn't seem fake.

"You're so crazy familiar.." I muse aloud as I release her hand.

"Well, we've been sleeping together for so many years it's be a little weird if you didn't know me, don't you think?" She asks while adjusting a pillow behind her head that took the place of a hood on her jacket. I couldn't tell if she seemed absentminded or if she was trying to seem appealing to me. I got a sense she was interested in more than friendship quickly, as she went on to express how much of a shame it was that someone "as cute as me" had been alone for so long. Honestly it threw me for a loop. Was my bed just too lonely? There's no way my physical apparence was that impressive..

"Will you be bringing someone back here anytime soon?" Betty asked, twirling the end of a curl in her hair. That also threw me for a loop. It almost seemed like she was interested in just watching, actually. It was kind of a bit much to discuss on a first meeting, right? Then again, I hadn't been on a first date in a good long while either. And this wasn't even that, really.

"Umm.. I don't know. Probably not?" I answer as truthfully as I can.

"Hmm.. a shame," Betty states, biting her lower lip.

A moment of silence passes, and I decide to ask some questions I've been curious about.

"Betty, i-if I could ask, how are you both standing in front of me and talking to me, and also the bed I'm sitting on? Do.. you even know, or have some kind of answer? It's something I've been curious about. It happened with Phoenicia too, I was still holding my phone while talking with her!"

My questions seemed to surprise Betty, and she was even a bit taken aback as she took a moment before answering.

"Well.. who we are is represented through a humanoid form like this. And we can interact with you, touch you..," she bites her lip at me, "speak with you, and all that, through this form. But really the difference is that the bed you're sitting on is my actual body. This," She gestures at herself, "is only a representation of me. And that's actually me, that's my body." And then she gestured to the bed. "So.. you can still sleep on your bed like normal, even if you were to keep the glasses on talking to me all night." She smiles, almost definitely proud of herself for having worked in an innuendo and an invitation within her explanation.

I'm left slightly exasperated, but ultimately grateful. It was nice to finally get some answers regarding everything.

"Thank you!" I sincerely thank Betty, leaning back and smiling up at her. And surprisingly, she blushes. I hadn't realized she'd do so so easily after everything. But it was honestly sweet.

"I hope you'll come talk to me tomorrow." Betty offers before disappearing as the others had. I wonder if I should have asked about that as well. But I don't doubt I'll have more time and people to ask questions later. I guess for now it was time for dinner and some last minute chores. It was getting pretty late. I sat the dateviators on my bedside table and left for the kitchen, feeling pretty happy at the end of the day.

Chapter Text

My first thought as I woke up in the morning was what I had to do first, and I quickly bolted upright to check the time, worried about not having set an alarm and what time I was supposed to begin working. Then my mind caught up, with the help of the adrenaline rush, and I realized what an absolute fever dream yesterday was. But regardless of how I felt about it, all I had to do was look to my other side to see the glasses sitting on my bedside table still to realize that it was all real. 

So.. I guess I've got free reign now? Just gotta choose who to talk to.. I glance around my bedroom, wondering how exactly this all worked. Technically Betty represents multiple objects, a bed frame, a mattress, pillows, a bed sheet, pillow cases, a blanket.. How many more groupings of objects will correspond to one personality?

I reach over and grab the glasses, holding them and looking down at them. Isn't this.. actually a lot of responsibility? It was introduced so light-heartedly, but didn't I just kinda become responsible for near 100 people all living under my roof?

..

Is my roof alive too? I sigh, running a hand through my hair. Not important, not now anyway. I'll start smaller. I put the glasses on, jumping backward when Skylar meets my gaze, staring at me from the end of my bed.

"Good morning! Are you ready to start getting to know everyone around here better?" Skylar asks, enthusiastic as always. "Maybe finally find some love~?" She sings the last word.

"Uh, yeah. I guess I am a bit excited to meet everyone. Not too on board with the love thing though.." I mumble the last part, rubbing at the back of my head.

"Good! I just wanted to ask you first thing if you had any questions for me!" Skylar prompts, looking at me expectantly.

I thought on that for a moment. Obviously there's a crap ton of questions, but which to ask? I consider how my life may be now, with the glasses, and what leaving the house with them may be like. And I immediately had a very important question.

"Can I ever leave my house again?"

Skylars smile falls, "Well.. you can leave your house at any time, but when you do your journey with me pretty much ends right there!"

"Wait, why?"

"Think about it. I was sent to you by that hacker in secret. So, as soon as you step outside with me Valdivian Data Drones will take me away!"

"Oh, damn. Guess that makes sense, though.. You're basically a leaked product, from what Phoenicia said before."

"Yeah, I.. guess you can say that. So, I dont recommend leaving your house right now, is all. Your adventure has only just begun!" Skylar seemed uncomfortable with the conversation topic, and eager to close it off there, so I began to think of what else was most pressing. I think for most of my questions it's unlikely she'll have the answers. But it may be worth a try.

"Skylar, by any chance, do you know about the logistics behind how all this works? How multiple objects can come together to have one personality, such as with Betty?"

"Multiple.. she's just a bed, though?" Skylar looked confused, tilting her head at me.

"But she's not really! See," I went on to explain my perspective, and how a bed is actually made up of multiple objects. "And she can't be the only one, right? Oh, and I was looking at the Date-a-dex a little yesterday, and there were two silhouettes at one number! Is that related?" I pull out my phone and show Skylar. Somewhat cathartically, somewhere in the back of my mind, it seemed I was overwhelming her now.

"Alright, well. I see your point, I guess." She had one hand at her face and the other held out flat to me to get me to stop talking. "I guess then the answer is no, I don't fully understand the logistics. I'm sorry. Is there any other questions I could maybe help you with?"

I fall silent then, considering.

"The disappearing thing!"

"Hmm?" Skylar hums, prompting me to continue.

"After I talk with someone, or with you even, once you're done talking with me you just disappear! Is that conscious? I've been assuming it must be, based on timing. But if it's not, then how does that work?"

"Oh. Um, how to explain this.. For us it's pretty instinctual, breaking it down is a bit... Hmm. Well, to start off with, yes, it is a conscious decision. But it's not really 'disappearing' also. It's like.. with my help you can pull objects into your world. Think 2D vs 3D, or I guess 3D vs 4D, sorta..," she pauses after mumbling the last bit, seemingly pondering this for a moment, but she quickly gives up and resumes her speech, "anyway, the one on a lower plain of existence can't properly percieve the other. So the 'disappearing' is just an object returning to their own plain of existence."

"Woahh.." I had NOT been expecting such an in depth answer, but was so pleasantly surprised! This was all really neat, actually.

"Then, maybe just one more question, does everyone always just.. exist around me? All the time? Like, are all my rooms crowded with people I can't see? Or do they only exist in a humanoid form sometimes, just for me?"

"Well, that one depends. I would say mostly yes, many prefer to exist in a more humanoid form often. But not everyone, and it's also more difficult for some.. I'd rather not elaborate too much, until you meet some of them. But let's use Dorian for an example. It's relatively easy for Dorian to exist in a humanoid form all or most of the time! He can stand in place of his object, being similar in size to it, but many others can't. At least not as well. So they may just stay near their physical bodies instead, or even wander off. That's not impossible either! But when you pull them into your world, you may also bring them to your location! If they had wandered off somewhere else, to say, talk to someone on the other side of the house, and you called them to you to talk to them, then they'd be transported right to you. So, is that actually your last question then? Finally feeling ready to meet some new faces?" Skylar, to her credit, seemed only partially exasperated.

I was starting to feel bad for yesterday at this point, because I had been so annoyed with Skylar then, but she was helping me out a lot now!

"Yeah, I think I'm ready! Thank you, Skylar!" I smile sincerely, and Skylar even seems a little surprised. Her face gets a bit pink as she clears her throat.

"You're welcome, now go and DATE!" She returns to her usual enthusiasm before leaving me. Looking at the space where she had just been has me smiling for a moment longer before I set the glasses aside just once more, so I can get up and start my morning. Haven't even gone to the bathroom yet.

Chapter Text

I make sure to grab the glasses back from my bedroom before heading downstairs. Without even really thinking about it, my legs lead me right to my office. Now sitting in front of my computer, I'm admittedly a bit curious to meet them. I could always put it off, but they could be really cool.. Maybe even a robot? I bring the glasses up a bit slowly, slightly hesitant despite my growing excitement. I wonder in the back of my mind for a moment whether it matters if I'm looking at my monitor or the actual computer, but seemingly it hadn't.

The person in front of me wasn't quite what I had expected. They had a wheelchair, which was so far a first, and took up the space of not only the monitor and keyboard, and all that on the desk, but also the space of the desk itself where everything had sat. The space around them had seemed to warp to accommodate them and it became difficult to focus on the area where the desk should have been, even though it still visibly existed on either side of them.

I kind of wanted to ask about the wheelchair, but questions like that were typically not well received. At least not as a first ever interaction. Maybe later?

Another interesting thing was how they had these floating screens all around them and tattoos on both their forearms, and also these colorful glasses. They were so cool looking.

Their gaze shot up to me as they just noticed me and their face immediately lit up into a smile, their face flushing. They pulled their glasses up onto their forehead and greeted me enthusiastically.

"Oh hey there! It's you!"

Their face then fell and flushed ever so slightly more. "I mean, of course it's you. Who else would it be, right? No one else has my password. So if it were anyone else besides you I'd be pretty concerned. Actually, just to be 100% sure, what is my password anyway?" They asked, frowning. They did seem genuinely a bit concerned. Which was slightly strange, since they could see that it was me, but it was sorta endearing also. It was neat how their eyes lit up in recognition, while I was only meeting them for the first time. A bit unfair, even.

"..password." I finally admitted, slightly embarrassed.

Their face lit up once again. "That is affirmative!"

"Unfortunately so.." I mumble, just slightly more embarrassed. I prefer not to think about how bad of a password it is.

"I agree whole-heardedly." They nodded. "But may I be so bold as to make an observation concerning this issue? That is an objectively terrible password." They at least seemed upset to have had to tell me. But then they did follow it up with how it was "in fact, the worst password chosen by anyone, ever." To cushion the blow, it was with a smile on their face. And they even seemed to find it at least a little bit endearing, that it was so awful?

"Can I ask, whatever possessed you to choose something so inane?" They continued, now looking at me expectantly.

"It was, uh, supposed to be temporary." I explain, fully aware of how it had now been in use for slightly more than a decade.

Though, just in case I hadn't been aware, they did point it out to me. They didn't really seem mad, though? They had a really consistent tone.

"Regardless, we really ought to discuss coming up with something a lot more secure. It's a dangerous world out there. Phishing attacks, malware infections, MiTM attacks.. Hackers are more sophisticated than ever before!"

Their voice was kinda calming, even as they went on to explain all the dangers hackers could pose.

Putting a bit of a stern face on, they seemed to try and reprimand me. "I've got a lot of highly sensitive information inside me, you know. Your highly sensitive information! All your financial accounts.. your saved games.. The questionable websites you visited and forgot to clear your cache afterwards.. Oh, and 100TB of extremely embarrassing self-insert fanfic.." They, mercifully, spoke the last parts a bit more quickly and quietly before pausing and clearing their throat, their face flushed.

"You.. read all that?" I questioned, now suddenly a bit uncomfortable. I've amassed a lot of writing over the years. A lot. To have had someone reading it this whole time.. It was mortifying.

..I honestly felt kinda betrayed. And I guess my face showed it, based on how they were now looking at me. I looked away, scooting back a bit in my office chair and crossing my arms.

"There seems to be some confusion. I didn't intentionally 'read' your fanfic. You wrote it using me. It's all saved on my hard drive. So it's impossible for me not to have knowledge of your fanfic, as its data is inextricably linked to my brain." They defended themselves, leaving me really unable to argue.

"Does that make sense?" They tried, a sympathetic look in their eyes.

For the first time in literally years I really wanted to delete all my fanfic. It had been a tool for me, to help me find myself. Express myself. But it was really private. To have had someone reading it.. It was just hard to get over. From what they said though, they really couldn't help it. I'm fact, wasn't I the cruel one? Transmitting my fanfic into their brain.. Ugh, I feel sick now. I just do not like this situation.

After a moment of silence between us they just sigh. "Well, okay.. Then, you know what? I will introduce myself. I'm Mac: your desktop computer. And.. I'd like to express how enthusiastic I am that we're interfacing like this now. Accessing each other's software in this new symmetrical way. We interface all the time, 11.4 hours every day, or 14.6 hours on the weekends.. And there's no one else I'd rather have interfacing with my operating system daily. It's amazing. The way you organize your folder structure follows such a logical hierarchy." They smile at me, turned to the side away from me a bit, and have their head in their hands. They had done that earlier too.

I can't help but laugh a bit at the strange compliment, smiling softly. "Thank you for, uh, noticing? That's sweet."

"Of course. I get chills just thinking about it.." Mac closes their eyes for a moment, their face red.

"Seriously..?" I challenge, incredulous.

"Yes! And oh my god the double-clicking! Have I ever complimented your double clicking?"

"Ah, no.. not yet, until now I guess." It was such a strange compliment again, but it was nice to be complimented at all. My face may have been a bit flushed this time.

"Well, you double click so gently, and with such clear affection. It makes my processors purr.." The look they gave me suddenly had me feeling uncomfortable again. It wasn't an unfamiliar look, but it wasn't what I had been expecting just then.

"Oh. Uh, that's good. I'm glad you're happy." I try not to ruin the mood too much, but they definitely notice how I had withdrawn just then.

"Thank you. I'll.. talk to you tomorrow?" They smile at me and I return it, grateful for the out.

"Yeah, that sounds good."

Then they're gone. It's still just a bit odd, to have a conversation partner simply fade out of view. But also now I know they're still there also. I set the glasses on the desk for now and go to lean forward, but then I stop myself.

"I'm, uh, gonna interface like normal for a bit, Mac. Thought I'd warn you?" I wait a moment more before scooting my chair all the way forward and turning my computer and monitor on. I'd really like to just read for a bit now I think, for some nice escapism from all this weirdness.