[ It changes nothing for her. But then, Yin's worldview is like a child's tumble of blocks, labeled in clear, brightly-colored divides of A, B, C. Not for the first time, Hei thinks how constricting that is. No one at home seemed to think anything terrible had occurred when Dolls were made, despite the fact that alive people with bright wits had been brutalized into shuffling automatons. But it is terrible. If you had nothing else, you were at least entitled to your feelings. Your ideas. Yin can't even enjoy those fundamental choices. ]
[ Yet she tries, in her secret, silent way. To overcome the barbed cage of her programming. To assert herself, in quiet, unobtrusive ways. She's less a girl than she is a Doll. But she is, in her own way, so fitfully, imperfectly human. It's sort of wacky, to describe her as such. But it's true. His team in Tokyo were always this way: they shared a unique kind of fragility that was also resilience Whatever unspeakable thing toppled them down, they absorbed the damage, licked their wounds, and kept going. ]
[ A beat, then two, before he says calmly, ]
It was. But -- [ His exhale is audible on the device, more tired than contemplative. ] Would it be uncomfortable, if I came to see you?
[ Dolls don't get traumatized. Dolls don't say No. But she's his partner, first and foremost. He has no business hovering around her, if all he does is cause her harm. ]
voice;
[ Yet she tries, in her secret, silent way. To overcome the barbed cage of her programming. To assert herself, in quiet, unobtrusive ways. She's less a girl than she is a Doll. But she is, in her own way, so fitfully, imperfectly human. It's sort of wacky, to describe her as such. But it's true. His team in Tokyo were always this way: they shared a unique kind of fragility that was also resilience Whatever unspeakable thing toppled them down, they absorbed the damage, licked their wounds, and kept going. ]
[ A beat, then two, before he says calmly, ]
It was. But -- [ His exhale is audible on the device, more tired than contemplative. ] Would it be uncomfortable, if I came to see you?
[ Dolls don't get traumatized. Dolls don't say No. But she's his partner, first and foremost. He has no business hovering around her, if all he does is cause her harm. ]