Mangle observed “It” from the cracked door. Since it hadn’t noticed them yet, they seized this opportunity to see what it did when it was on its own. With something to keep it active it was considerably less lethargic. It used the ball not only to fit the shapes in, but it would kick it around occasionally too, and would listen acutely to the sound it made. It must be so bored of having nothing to do everyday, this was probably one of the biggest moments in its life. That was either hilariously funny or tragically sad. Maybe a mix of both. They couldn’t be sure. It kicked the ball towards the door and noticed it was propped open. It looked up and grinned when it saw Mangle. “‘Angul!” it exclaimed happily.734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtu4Ab3ldtd
Mangle walked in and shut the door. “Hello again.”734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgP4wqEhZez
“Like toy! ‘Ankoo!”734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKw9Cy0tifO
Mangle forced themself to smile. “You’re welcome...It.”734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx5SdlX8XdV
It beamed and pointed to itself. “It! Me it!”734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7s1dNNyFPu
“Of course. That’s why I called you that, after all.”734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG8JxcSTedW
They were really glad that there were no security cameras. This meant that with any luck, the subject wouldn’t notice Mangle was faking and would warm up to them quicker. It beamed. “‘Angul nice. Nicer than Mommy.”734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkhmCW5w2rj
Mangle chuckled. “Wow, I’m nicer than your Mommy, huh? I’m honored.”734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeevVERVMvP
“Mommy said I don’t have name. Said I’m...I’m bomashun.”734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhGjOB9eUQ0
Mangle frowned. And they were the one with a reputation of being cold-hearted? “An abomination?”734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYLf6gHOJC2
It nodded. “Don’t sound nice…”734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmWSPgIbPf9
Mangle thought quickly. The subject is alienating, Mangle, you have to find a way to fix this! Dr. James won’t ruin this chance for you! “Well you can’t tell unless you know what it means, and can you read yet?”734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGcDz8pJBzn
It slowly shook its head.734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXVojekT2ru
“Then you can’t look up 'abomination' yet and find out what it means. I wouldn’t worry too much.” No need for you to fight against us.734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡioVa8gWaDC
It looked thoughtful. “‘Angul...you do permez?”734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvFJJ2BVvA9
Mangle was thrown off by the quick change in topic. “Uh...yes, sometimes I do experiments.”734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCNmacxQEMH
“...Permez wi’ me?”734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc4SDWfeuBi
“Yes, I’m supposed to do experiments on you.” Crap, stop being so self-aware! They’re going to kill you, and I'll be without a job!734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSOcJA7TSRl
“Why no do?”734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaSKQeirhGx
“Well, I don’t really know what to do.”734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMRzsoGBnCI
“Wha’bout… friend?”734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVJLAMrYoGK
What? “What about friends?”734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpE2mV9bgPT
It frowned. “Can you…be friend…to me? Permez friend?”734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcHcu0W6kdi
Mangle was shocked. What? Surely it wasn’t suggesting…no! Surely not! And yet it so clearly articulated that…it made the effort to be understood…734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJzBpXFq93U
“‘Angul? No have do permez, no worry! No worry!”734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPthstvMBU9
And an out?! It was offering them an out from something it so clearly wanted? Were they sure it was 26 months old? “...How about I think about it a while, huh?”734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqsfWO1jPS7
“Maybe do?”734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHIXUvVaUrG
“Yes, maybe I’ll do it. It certainly sounds interesting.”734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhHZedY0SQC
It grinned. “Nice ‘Angul!”734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmjOx1Q0eX6
Mangle decided to throw it a bone. It was the least he could do, considering how mature it acted to their reaction. “And you’re smart, It.”734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8zbjQ6NTPS
It beamed. “Play wi’ me?” it offered.734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZZ7Xqk6Uib
Mangle nodded and grabbed the ball, rolling it to the subject, which it immediately returned with a hearty kick. As they did this, Mangle considered the possible experiments they could do, while staying under the guise of doing an experiment to see if they and “It” could be friends. The dumber experiments were doing the extremes testing for future reference on menial labor opportunities, and they certainly didn’t want to damage this one’s extremely intelligent brain. The more answers Mangle seeked, it seemed, the more questions they wound up having at the end of the day.734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVV5j6893Vk
After a while the subject got bored kicking the ball and tore it in two, taking out the shapes. Mangle took that as their cue to leave. They decided that the next day, they would bring more toys (they could call them cognitive development markers all they liked, but they’d still always be toys) to keep it entertained and to learn a bit more about its mental capacity. Knowledge is power. Power corrupts, their mind helpfully supplied. “Well, then, I’ll study hard and be evil,” they muttered sarcastically under their breath once they were outside.734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQKbiyhtwRC
Mangle was in their office when someone knocked on their open door. Mangle looked up. Dr. James, stood there, smiling. “I convinced the board to allow us in-housing! It will be taken out of your paycheck if you apply, I’m afraid, but we’re off to a great start!”734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkd7lUUQaBY
They smiled. “That’s great news, doctor. Um, do you mind closing the door and allowing me to speak to you candidly?”
Dr. James closed the door. “I encourage my employees to speak their mind, Mangle. Say whatever you like.”
“The subject told me today you told it that it had no name. And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t dissuade it.”
Dr. James blinked. “Are you encouraging it to become self-aware?”
“No! That’s not what I’m trying to do at all! I just...it appeared dejected, and it started to alienate itself from me as a consequence of what you said. It sees me in a good light, to be sure, but I think that discouraging it would only encourage it to think more. I believe that if we humor it, it will stop trying so hard to become aware of its surroundings enough that we essentially have it in a glorified cage, and we can also see just how intelligent it is if we allow it controlled exploration.”
“What do you want me to say to it to explain my change of heart, pray tell? You convinced me through your good will that it is human, and entitled to a name?” Dr. James scoffed.
Mangle winced. “No...you keep on misinterpreting what I’m trying to say!”
“I’m interpreting it the way the board will when they find out, and they will find out. And when they do, there goes our funding! Our reputation! Our livelihoods! I’m trying to get you to understand, Mangle, you may be simply trying to act sympathetic to gain these abominations’ trust, but you are shooting yourself in the foot. Don’t. Be. Sympathetic.”
Mangle closed their eyes. “You know as well as I do that I can’t do that. The second I show how I really feel about this whole ordeal, the subject will refuse to interact with me, possibly with anyone. It will waste away until it dies, and we lose our most promising subject, which is just as bad. You have to understand, Dr. James, there is no right or wrong way to deal with this yet. It’s an entirely new field. You can treat it your way, and I’ll treat it mine. You won’t be seeing much more of it in close contact anyway. I respect your opinion, but I have to disagree. I can write up a report on the subject’s behavior and why I feel it is best to appear sympathetic right now, if that is what you wish, but I can’t just stop playing the sympathy card suddenly and without warning. That will do more harm than good.”
Dr. James took a deep breath. Then another. Mangle risked a look at her. She was resigned, dreading whatever she was about to say. “Fine. Be the sympathetic guardian. But know this: if you pretend long enough, those feelings will start to become real.”
Mangle widened their eyes in mock surprise and nodded. “Oh, yes. I’ll be super-duper careful, boss!”
Dr. James scoffed and left, grinning. Mangle turned to their computer. They were on Dr. James’ good side still, which meant they could do whatever they liked the rest of the afternoon. Now. What toys would be good to bring to "It" tomorrow…?734Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl7seA6L0qr
