3AM Monday Morning Week 14: Movements in the night.

Darya occasionally moved around briefly in the night, when no one else was around. Generally she stumble out of her room, hug Syl, if she was outside Ida's room, for a few minutes, then head back inside with a drink and work on her stress board. No one else saw her do this, other than Bell, since she didn't come out if no one else was there.

This morning however was different. The lights in the kitchen and living area were all turned on brightly, and the TV was on, some kind of bright children's show in russian.

Darya sat in front of the TV in her duvet, not looking at the screen but instead down at her board, which was a mess of electronic components. She put more in, hands shaking slightly. A small pile of nutribar wrappers was beside her, as well as quite a lot of comfort food. She was pale and shaking, singing along with the show under her breath.

Bell saw everything. Oh, sure, most times she wasn't paying much attention, allowing the security module to recheck her many feeds before allowing them so dissolve into the ether... But she saw everything. Tonight, she was listening in Russian, aware that the TV was angled in such a way that she could only make out the bottom half. After a few minutes, the curious child gave up on using her low resolutions eyes, and unplugged herself from the rig.

Dressed in a pair of white pajamas, she walked barefoot from her bed to the living area. She looked from the TV to the cuddled Darya, and in a move very reminiscent of her mother, slid over the top of the couch next to her unofficial aunt. Unlike her mother, she sat upright, landing lightly a foot away. Her athletics were definitely improving.

After a moment, head resting on her knees, Bell asked in Russian, "Who is the purple one?"

Darya looked up suddenly, not noticing Bell's prescence until then. Looking up at the girl, she shrugged. "I'm...not sure. Not watched this show before. Just know the songs. Nursary rhymes."

Her voice was croaky, and she had tears in her eyes. She pulled the duvet tighter around her and reached out and put a diode in the wrong way around.

Bell's brow furrowed softly in confusion, and her face cleared instantly. Her large eyes followed Darya's hands. After a few moments, her eyes moved back to the holoscreen, though there was a slight air of thoughtfulness about her. Her silver hands wrapped around her bare feet. When she spoke, her voice was low. "Why are you sad, Darya?"

Darya smiled slightly. "Just a bad dream, that's all. I get them some times. I'll be fine in a bit...just fine..." her body shook slightly, and she began to cry again. "Nothing you need to worry about." She gently pulled Bell to her and gave her a hug with one arm.

Click!

Coming back in from her nightly rounds of the complex (which were more for practice and self-discipline purposes than being really necessary), Sylviane was stood at the top of the stairs holding a camera, which she appeared to have just used to take a photo of Darya and Bell. She walked up to the huddle of Darya and Bell and looked down at them. "Is all well? This is unlike your usual night-time behaviour."

Bell folded against Darya's body. Though she had yet to really appreciate a hug, she knew her mother and others appeared to need them. She submitted to hug, leaning against Darya. Her limbs were heavily, obviously cybernetic, but her body was light and flexible. She didn't feel exactly.. human. She murmured, "I do not worry. I do consider dreaming." She continued speaking in Russian, happy to abandon English and her mother tongue with natural, unaccented Slavic speech.

"Ah, Syl." Said Darya waving with her free arm. "I'm...okay. Just had a bad dream, that's all..." She tailed off again, before reaching forward and putting another component in the breadboard in front of her. She flipped the power on, and there was a short, quiet bang as several components voiced their complaints about their positioning by failing dramatically. She looked at it, as if not really seeing it, then switched the power back off and began rearranging it again. "Why the...camera?"

Her speech patterns had gone back to the slow, measured pace she'd had when she first arrived at Oracle, like she was permentally half asleep.

Bell's eyes flashed bright green. She let go of her feet and moved away from Darya, easily vaulting over the back of the couch. She walked to the cabinets over the counter, and rifled around inside them, looking for something. When it was eventually a found--a small box of something--she began to fill the kettle and set it to boil.

Thanks to the wonders of technology, it was only a few seconds before the water was heated. She proceeded making what appeared to be a cup of tea slowly, eyes glowing and hands reaching for things very tentatively. She must have seen everyone in the house cook at some point, but she had never made food herself. There was the sound of a spoon hitting a box, and a moment later, a glug of water. The tinkle of a spoon in a mug. Bell walked back a few moments later, carefully and tightly clutching a steaming mug of something pale clear brown. She offered the boiling thing to Darya, her own palms pink from the heat.

Bell patiently waited, taking her seat back leaning on Darya. Her eyes watched the TV. After Syl had answered Darya's question, she asked in the same low voice. "Do you dream often?"

Click. When Sylviane came closer, it was clear that her neural jack was connected to the camera. "My mistress said that after we gathered so little information on the last mission, we should try harder, so she asked me to take on photography duty. I am practising with this camera to make sure I can capture visuals as effectively and efficiently as possible." There was another click as Sylviane took a picture of Bell making tea. "You should not let bad dreams worry you. They are not real, and if you let things which are not real concern you so much then you will have no time to consider real threats." Click.

Darya chuckled slightly as she accepted the tea. Her hands were shaking less now.
"As practical as ever, Syl..." she sipped the tea, before looking at Bell. "I dream most nights...and have nightmares most nights. They tend to be...memories I guess. Dealing with the cult on the mission this week...made it worse, probably."

She looked up at Syl. "When I hug you...its generally because of these nightmares. I hope you don't mind too much..."

Bell kept her eyes on the screen, hands wrapped around her silver, delicate toes. "I do consider nightmares. I consider dreams." There was a brief pause. She seemed fascinated by the TV, blinking seldom and very fast so she wouldn't need to remove her eyes from the screen. In her same relaxed, young voice, she said, "You are drinking Reali-Tee powder mixed with a dream suppressant. Mom drinks it before she goes to sleep. The effects only work if you are asleep, but is guaranteed to work for at least ten hours or your money back." The last sentence sounded as if she read it off the back of the box. "Mom says it works well."

Darya smiled, and took another sip. "It's...nice. Thank you." She said, before kissing Bell gently on the forehead. "I'm actually going to be around this week, so I hope we can talk more...both of you." She said, looking up at Sylvaine.

Taking another sip of the drink, she began to move to turn the holoscreen off before stopping. "Do you want to watch this, Bell?" she asked, looking down at the replicant snuggled next to her.

Sylviane took a moment to respond. "If you wish to talk, or... hug me in the night as you have done, I will not object. Your stability is important for the group." Click.

Darya smiled slightly. "Thanks...though I was more asking if you like it." She looked up at the woman. "Can I see those photos you're taking? Could you put them up on there?" She waved at the screen, vaguely. "Oops, sorry Bell." She said, as her hand hit the girl's shoulder.

Bell looked at Darya. For a moment she looked hesitant. Her still warm hands curled tighter around her cold bare toes. Her eyes drifted back to the screen... And she wobbled slightly as she was bonked. She looked at Darya's hand, brows forrowing for a second. When she spoke, it was in easy and natural Russian. "I can control the TV. I will take care of it and the lights. Do not worry, Darya. You should sleep once you have drank at least half of the cup of Reali-Tee Dream Stopper Night Blend. It is the minimum effective dose." Bell's eyes found Syl's face, waiting for her to answer about the camera.

Darya pulled her duvet slightly around so it covered Bell's feet, and took another sip, nearly finishing the drink. "That sounds...like a good idea..." She said, yawning slightly. Bringing her legs up, she curled on the sofa, head on Bell's shoulder, and stared blankly towards the TV, not taking anything in really.

Sylviane nodded silently, disconnecting her jack from the camera and plugging into a mainframe port to make the pictures available to Bell. The photos were all of the Seoul Waste Away complex at night - entrances, exits, the ivy climbing the walls, the computers, the armoury, the locked door to The Womb, and a few pictures of Darya and Bell that had just been taken. A few of the photographs appeared to be attempts at "artistic" shots following the more proficient technical photos, but even the most charitable person in the world couldn't say they had come out well.

Bell changed from the nursery rhymes to the pictures with not so much as a blink. She took Darya's weight easily. Her hands pulled the blanket around her and Darya, though it became obvious she was doing it to keep her not-so-Aunt warm and not for her own benefit. Like all muses, Bell was a constant, warm body temperature. She looked at the pictures, unable to truly tell if they were well done or not, but she looked at them patiently. After the slideshow was finished, she looked to Darya.

Darya tilted her head to the side gently and tapped the bottom of her chin with her finger. "Lots of them are pretty good. The ones where you've just been taking evidence are perfectly fine, but the ones where you're trying to be artistic...they're not so good. Although..." She smiled, and reached over and patted Syl on the arm. "They're still better than what I can do."

She paused. "Did you decide to do those? Or did Ida get you to?"

"It was my own decision... I thought it would be a good idea to experiment with my technique so that I can perform this duty effectively. If, as you say, my other photographs were sufficient, I will no longer try to take more interpretive shots as my results were poor."

"No, that's not it." Said Darya, waving her hand slightly. "All you need to do is keep working at it and get better at it, that's all. If I hadn't worked on stuff, I'd never have gotten this far." She waved her hand sleepily. "Or something like that. I'm tired."

Bell looked at Syl, and felt compelled to add, "When training a new ability, mistakes are made. To continue practising means you will improve." Bell had the bruises, scratches, and time spent to prove it. "But you must keep practising, or you will never improve." The little muse spoke softly, calmly, and with none of the intense determination in her voice her words held.

Sylviane looked down at the camera in her hands. "I see... You are both correct. Thank you for your advice, I will continue trying to master this camera. For now, Darya, you should sleep. It is important that you conserve your energy."

Darya nodded, and closed her eyes. Her breathing slowed down, and her lips curled into a slight smile. She looked completely at peace. The cup in her hands fell onto the floor, but with the height she was at, it didn't break, and there was nothing in it to spill.

Before she disappeared into unconciousness, she murmered "Thanks you two..." There was something that couldn't be understood, then "I feel safe with you around, Syl..."