32 Chapter 21: Arretic (1/2)
”I am such a fool, and I guess I am also pretty dense as a brick,” Magnus said out loud, as he walked the streets, keeping a wary eye out for any trouble even as he got on to opening a conversation up with Codex.
”Yeah,” Codex said in a dull monotone voice, saying the exact opposite of what he expected her to say. Right now, she would have been there for him, acting as moral support and lifting his spirits up. Not agreeing with him in the slightest, she never does that, whether it is for good reason or awfully bad.
”What is going on with you, Codex?” Magnus asked in a faintly perturbed voice. If her flat, expressionless response isn't any indicator that something is wrong, then her upbeat attitude sure as hell ain't.
”Nothing,” Codex said with a deep, long sigh.
Magnus snorted, ”If I had an iron shim for every time somebody says they are fine, and they are just simply lying right through their teeth, I would be richer than all the Guild Masters combined.”
”Just leave me be, Magnus,” Codex said, acting like a teenage girl. ”I want to be left alone.”
”Not happening,” Magnus said, for once being the adult in their conversations. ”So spill the beans or else…”
”Or else, what?” Codex said, challenging him.
”Or else,” Magnus said quickly, trying to think of a suitable response to make her talk. ”Ah… Yes! I will make a scene!”
”You will what?” Codex asked, confound, and apprehensive.
”You hear me. I will make a spectacle of myself!” Magnus said, feeling quite proud of his quick thinking and his acting abilities as well. Even though he just boastfully announced he would go ahead and behave in a ridiculous fashion in public, there was no way he wanted to jump right into it.
”I do not believe you,” Codex said, more to herself, really than Magnus.
”Really now,” Magnus said, feigning surprise. ”Don't you know me better than that, Codex? Sometimes even I scare myself with the bat shit crazy stuff that I do!”
”Well then,” Codex said, trying to steel herself but spectacularly failing. ”Let's see you try!”
”Come on, Codex,” Magnus said, playing up his confidence. ”We both knew only you, alone, would be feeling the pain and sting. You are the one how cares about all these proper and pleasant stuff. I, on the other hand, couldn't give a rat's ass.”
”Do you think I care as well,” Codex said with a quiver in her voice. ”I Don't! Go ahead and do whatever you want. I won't stop you or try to talk you out of it.”
”Come on now, Codex, ” Magnus said in a bored tone. ”You are acting like a little girl and giving me, sas.”
”How Dare You,” Codex shouted, indignant.
Magnus saw that this line of quarreling was getting him nowhere, so he tried a different tactic, emotional sentiment.
”Codex, please make this easy for both of us, and just tell me what's wrong. All I want to do is to set things right and give you a helping hand, if needs be, like you did for me, so many times. Except I can not do that if I do not know what is wrong, and I am left in the dark.”
This method seemed to have some effect as Codex ceased all activities and completely silenced herself. ”Codex,” Magnus said prodding at her so as to get any if at not just one response at all.
”You wouldn't understand,” Codex replied, breaking her long silence.
”Try me,” Magnus insisted.
”It's stupid, and all, plus I know that. But the results of my perception check plague me.”
”Why?” Magnus asked, utterly confused why her if not mysterious, but nevertheless amazing intellect trouble her. He would have taken it as marvelous and happy news, not a troubling one.
It seems like Magnus's innocent question set him back all the way to base one. ”See, I told you, you won't understand! So let's forget it all,” Codex said, shutting herself off once again.
But Magnus did not give up, ”NO! You are going to tell me what is going on and you will be clear about it. Or I am going for it out of you.”
”You know, you are insufferable at times,” Codex pronounced, and for a moment there, she was back to her old self.
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”Well, I strive to please,” Magnus stated with a bold assertion.
”Fine,” Codex mouthed, giving in to Magnus's insistent demand. ”You will think me silly, I know.”
”I won't Codex,” Magnus declared, ”this is my being totally serious and earnest, today.”
”The thing that bothers me is my stats. Remember how I told you this morning about how you make advances in your mental stats?”
”Yes,” Magnus replied, thinking back to the discovery she made. Unlike the breathing technique, which uses food, which is basically energy to transform it, then use it boosts your body the mental exercise technique is the opposite.
It uses something that is already there, and there is none of the enhancing that goes on since the mental exercise technique only unlocks part of your brain that fell into disuse.
Yes, your brain! Once Codex made the discovery thanks to her picking it up on her scans of his body, it made perfect sense. The human has only 10% of their brain unlocked, the mental exercise technique goes against nature, which all these techniques do in a sense, and opens up the parts that have been long unutilized.
Now, Magnus has 10.07% of his brain unsealed!
Magnus quickly turned away from his remembrance and got back to focusing on Codex, who was still at it, ”I have one, ONLY JUST THE ONE! Do you understand what that means?”
Magnus remained silent; he didn't want to ruin things or offset Codex, so he let her have free rein and continue on with her rant.
”I am one merely stat, just one dimension. I guess that is all I will ever be, not human,” Codex said in a whisper.
Realization struck him like a truck, how couldn't he have perceived it or foreseen it, he finally understood where she was coming from. ”Codex, what makes you think you are not human?” Magnus asked in a tender voice.
”My stat,” Codex replied as if that was answer enough.
”So what about your stat,” Magnus confronted her.
”I-it… it,” Codex said with a stammer, not having a good enough reply.
”What!? Does it stand for something?” Magnus asked, or more like demanded a response. There comes a time in life where whispering comforting words would not do. You got to hit somebody with cold hard facts to get them out of a slump. You gotta get them moving, thinking, acting not soothing them, and their ego.
”YES!” Codex shouted in an addled state.
”Come on, Codex. I thought you were smarter than that. Don't you love waving your superiority around like a flag over everyone? You can do better than this, do you truly believe that you are one dimension, that you are subpar, that you are NOT human?!”
”But, but, but…” Codex whined, overloaded with too much all at once.
”Codex, listen,” Magnus said, drawing her in. ”I do not know why you are thinking so little of yourself, but you are perfect the way you are.”
”That is not true,” Codex uttered with waning conviction. ”I.. I know that you joke about how useless I am, and you mean nothing with it, but still the point stands. I know I have been hopeless and a lost cause, I have been ever since we came to this world. Now heap on that my perception check results which proves it.”
”Oh, Codex,” Magnus mouthed, feeling guilty and ashamed that his jap unknowingly cut so deep. Still, though, he could feel condemned later, now he needs to keep up his barrages until he turns her around to his viewpoint.
”Codex, ignore what the norm is and especially ignore what I have to say. If there was ever somebody hopeless, it would be ME! Now answer me this, do you Codex, who the best A.I. there ever was, feel insecure, feel lesser than flesh bags, feel like you amount to nothing?”
”I.. well..” Codex stammered, not having a proper answer.
”Come on Codex, this is not you. This is not the high and lofty A.I. I knew.” Magnus professed.
”No,” Codex shouted, finally delivering the answer Magnus was looking for.
”So, what is there to feel troubled about?” Magnus implored with finesse.
”Nothing, I guess,” Codex mumbled.
”Codex,” Magnus said with finality. ”You have gone above and beyond for me many times. Done the work of numerous A.I. and stuck with me, which I have no idea why you would do so. Since you would have saved yourself the trouble and ditched me long ago.”