coffeecogs:

Perfection or flaw?

Fred’s heart pounded in his ears and he had to wonder, why add such design flaws? Was it purely for the sake of accuracy? The cold sweat he was experiencing was part of that too, perfection or flaw?

His momentary musings steadied his pulse, his breathing settling in to a slower rhythm. He took a deeper breath before letting his thoughts return to the cause of his panic.

His mother, Grey’s mother, knew he was a synth.It had been such a simple gesture she had made but it had been enough.

Dinner with Grey’s parents had followed it’s usual routine. Grey’s father complaining, as he always did, about synths being incompetent in their duties, Fred nodding occasionally adding appropriate comments. But as Grey’s father had continued with his rant his mother had placed a hand on Fred’s, the softest of touches and lasting barely a second but it had been enough.

Grey had been an idiot to think he could have fooled his own mother, she was an expert in the field of robotics. Like any scientist perfection was her highest goal and she would have noticed every flaw, no matter how small in his design. Perhaps his blinks were too far apart or even how he chewed his food had given him away.

He noted his breathing had again become ragged pants of panic and a wave of nausea crashed through him. It brought with it a furious annoyance. Such pointless reactions! He’d have them all removed! Eradicated!

The synth stormed towards a terminal, his sudden movement startling the crows from their perch. He’d been using the birds this last few months to trail his creator, it was easier to prevent the Institute from detecting Grey if Fred knew what areas of their intel to disrupt. Right now Grey was in Nuka World.

One of the crows landed on the synth’s shoulder and he patted it absentmindedly.  Perhaps he should try to send another crow to Grey, warn him about his suspicions. Although Grey had killed the last one, paranoid that the Institute would be looking for him.

The bird brushed against his cheek, a soothing sensation passed through him. Paranoid. Was that it? Was his panic just another aspect of Grey he had inherited? Had his mother’s touch been just that? A loving gesture towards her son? Perhaps she’d merely experienced a moment of realisation that her son was really home and safe. He tried to calm himself again, watching as his hands trembled over the keyboard of the terminal. Perfection or flaw?

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Forgot about this one, found in Google docs this morning and I’ve been poking at it while at work ^^ May edit some more when I get home.

@catastrotaffy