For a moment, Kammy forgets her sorrow and smiles at her wise warrior. She lets out a happy, “Okay,” and lowers to the ground to watch him continue by himself. Once again, now that he can concentrate, Paul is able to continue his plan. The Mirror caught on, making it a bit more difficult, but Paul also accounted for this possibility, so it’s not the biggest deal. Try all it wants, the Mirror must choose between not attacking and feeding Paul’s counter technique, assuring the boy an easy win. And only moments later, opting for a simple combination of super speed and System Saber stabs to take out all the vitals and hinges, Paul succeeds in deactivating this android all by himself. “Whew! Now, that would’ve been a whole lot easier without all the hubbub.”
Paul’s fight is over, but he knows the real battle is still raging, so he timidly walks over to Kammy, who had sat down at some point during his comeback, and sits beside her, holding his hands together over his knees to kill any thoughts of holding his girlfriend’s hand. This respectful gesture earns him a giggle from his sidekick. Taking a breath, he makes his attempt. “I’m sorry for what happened. I know it’s not my fault, but I’m sorry that you have to hurt like that.”
“It’s okay,” Kammy says.
“I know you don’t want me to worry,” Paul responds, “but no, it’s not. It’s not okay. You’re not okay. Faye’s not okay. You’re both hurting. I don’t know why she lost her temper like that, but…” Paul pauses as he searches for the right words. If he were talking to anyone else, this pause would forfeit his chance to speak as the other person would jump in with their opinions, killing his motivation to help. This is Kammy, however, so there is no rush. She simply smiles at him and waits for him to gather his thoughts. “All the times I can think of Faye being ill with you are over Ent. Do you still like him?”
“No, I don’t,” Kammy says definitively. “I got over him long ago. He’s a really good friend, and I admire his skill and wisdom as a System Guard, but I feel the same way about Lady Ally and about Keb. Nobody’s questioning my feelings for them. It’s only because Ent’s a boy that it’s a big deal to everyone, and I get that. I’m just really stupid with saying things before I can think about them.”
“You’re not alone in that boat,” speaks a voice out of thin air. “Only, my problem is more dangerous because I DO things with thinking. At least your words haven’t killed anyone.”
This voice sends a wave of anger through Kammy, but she keeps her composure. “You haven’t killed anyone either…yet.”
Still afraid to show her face, the voice asks, “Why do I get so mad at you? We’re supposed to be friends, but I can’t control my anger. Please forgive me.”
Rolling her eyes a little, Kam says, “You can start by not hiding.” This pulls Faye out in the open, revealing her tear-stained cheeks. Kammy tells her, “See? That’s much better. Now, ask me to forgive you.”
“Will you forgive me?”
“Yes, and I’m sorry for showing off.”
Now that she’s calmed down, Faye asks Kammy what she said about Edge, and when the conversation in question is finally rehearsed, the little timebomb realizes what a horrible mistake she made, as if that would’ve justified her temper anyway. “I am so, so, so sorry, Kammy. This time, I have no one to blame but myself.”
Paul sits by, watching Owan using his Razor Chains attack in the distance as he tries to pretend he’s not listening to the girls’ emotional discussion.
Faye basically ignores Kammy telling her it’s okay and so forth. She stares at the ground, wondering what else she’s capable of. “Like you, I wanted to show off the new attacks I had ordered and installed. I just didn’t expect to use them on you.”
Kammy looks at her friend and reminds her, “This is the second time you’ve taken control of a machine and used it against me specifically. Not only…” Kam decides not to scold the girl too much.
Inner Man Theatre 