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ROSE: I may be less than enchanted with this stage of the work, but I know it's important.
ROSE: It's just straying dangerously close to a lot of things I'm trying not to fixate on right now.
ROSE: Wounds that are still fresh, for me as a sum and for the myriad legions of my parts.
ROSE: Home.
ROSE: Family.
ROSE: Petty, little things.
ROSE: Personal things.
DIRK: Those are important, too.
ROSE: Not as important as this is.
ROSE: For all my temporary discomfort with the prospect of settling down on Deltritus and starting what could very loosely be considered a family with you, I want you to know that my heart is in what we're working towards-
DIRK: Technically, you don't have a heart.
ROSE: Shut up.
ROSE: - and that I'm happy to be here with you.
ROSE: Not drifting around in a constrictive, small pond, getting caught up in trivialities like politics and celebrity and romance,
ROSE: But saving the fucking universe.
DIRK: ...
Relief pulses through me in an immense wave. Relief and unfathomable, indescribable pride. It's almost paralyzing; I just sit here for a while, grateful for my shades and their ability to protect me from making eye contact with my daughter, who is in this moment as brilliant as the aspect that adorns her hood. I should tell her.
DIRK: Well.
DIRK: You're welcome.
She scoffs at my barebones response, and I'm forced to marvel at her ability to communicate so weightily, conveying such a minutely specific blend of emotion as understanding, affection, acknowledgement, encouragement, admonishment, and so many more, all with the hardware of a literal machine. She's an incredible person.
To my credit, I am also an incredible engineer.
At any rate, Rose might be beating my ass on the emotive front, but I'm still capable of articulating myself well enough, and I'd better start soon or I'm going to begin to look like a real fucking dork.
DIRK: I don't think there's anyone I'd rather be doing this with than you.
DIRK: The rest of them just don't have it in them right now to understand what it is we're fighting for, here.
DIRK: They can't grasp the stakes.
DIRK: Even now, they're on their way here, actively trying to stop us from saving them all.
DIRK: They'll probably catch us right before our entrance into the Game, actually.
DIRK: I won't insult you by asking if you're going to be okay when the time comes to face them, demanding answers they won't accept to questions they aren't even asking, because I know that you will.
DIRK: So I'm glad to have you with me.
DIRK: I'm glad you understand.