The act of putting a grown man to bed wasn't an experience that Cassandra had expected to try out at any point in life. Yet, that was exactly what she tried out just then. It didn't help that the man himself was weakened, delusional to the point where one needed to worry, and absolutely determined to be the most annoying piece of garbage that a human could be.

“Do everybody in the world a favour and lie still for a moment,” Cassandra said, trying in vain to get the straps around the man’s legs. She needed him to refrain from moving if she was to ever get a chance at making them work. It wasn't like she could hold him down or anything. Even a weakened Jared still had double her strength from any position. Lifting his legs to the side was as easy with and without her weight added on top. And with the fever, she doubted that the man even knew what she was doing.

“I can’t feel my left leg,” Jared muttered yet again as if Cassandra hadn't already understood the part of his perspective. The left leg had been the one foot into success that the woman had gained yet, the delusional man not yet having understood what she was trying to do at that point. Yet, the moment that she tried to do the same with the other leg, the man just had to become erratic.

“That’s because you're struggling. Maybe everything will become better if you just relax for a bit,” Cassandra muttered. With a very strong shove to the side, she was able to keep the leg in the right position for just a second. That was more than enough for her, the woman able to put the cord through right. Even with the man moving around, she was slowly able to turn it into the right length.

“Where is Nero?”

“Likely on their way here.”

“Why isn't he here yet?”

“Maybe they needed to clean up the mess that you two gathered.”

“... I am a failure.”

Cassandra did agree with that statement on some level, but she didn't say it out loud. Even with the man being clouded in his mind, she didn't want to press her chances too much. Though… maybe if she explained her reasoning for her statement, it would have likely been better to the outside world. She could have phrased it as something inspirational instead of just her outright calling him a terrible human being.

The strap around the stomach was next. It would have normally been around the ribs, but it was clear that doing so might not have been the smartest of decisions. Jared would have likely just punctured the lung fully through that restless wrestling around. Luckily, doing that was much easier than the legs, the man not able to move too much anymore. Or, well, he could have moved around a bit by bending his knees, yet the man was clearly too stupid to figure that out.

The man needed to relax at work. That could have been the opening statement. Then something about him not needing to think so much about what he wasn't doing when he was sick. Expecting a weak dog to run a marathon and then shooting it when it failed was truly idiotic. It was even stupider when it was the dog doing the shooting without being asked.

“Where is Nero?”

Cassandra had to give herself a moment to sigh. The lower and upper chest straps were done, both not pressing against the weak rib. Another strap on the thighs helped keep the legs where they needed to be while not forcing them down in one position to the point where the man got nervous.

But none of that would work if the man couldn't realise what was happening, Jared getting denser and denser in that head of his. The bed was telling her that he was simply experiencing delusions from a high fever, yet the augmented properties of the body were clearly showing off how cruel they could be at some points.

“They are coming soon.”

Jared needed to learn from his previous mistakes. That could be another encouraging message. Instead of fucking up, again and again, asking the same question, again and again, there was a chance that the man could learn just what was wrong with his actions. Not that Cassandra really expected him to do that, the man not truly in a position where he could even realise what he was doing.

“Why isn't he here? I need him to be here.”

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“You need a lot of things, Jared. And I need things too. I need you to stop moving those arms,” Cassandra said. The arms were truly the hard part. Trying to take hold around one of them would just make the man wrangle out of her grasp quickly. He didn't like to be held now for some reason. Cassandra could very clearly remember not hearing a single complaint while she carried him over to the bed but, sure, now was the perfect time to become like that.

“Why?”

“Because Nero doesn't want you like this,” Cassandra said before she thought better of it. Something like that couldn't be perceived as anything other than a verbal cutting, close to abusive in some parts of the world.

That might have been why the man slackened his body just after. No resistance was felt, no muscles moving on the outside. Even the legs constantly trying to break free had turned into mush. Jared was like a dead man.

… Yet again, the woman felt like she needed information on just what was going on between those two. One day Jared shouted as his life depended on it, and now he had nothing better to do than act like a little child looking for its mother. It was embarrassing to be around. Yes, the act was likely enhanced due to sickness, yet the actions had to have started from somewhere.

Was the man so deprived of comradery that the simple act of being saved was enough to make him fall head over heels for the thing?... Cassandra didn't actually doubt it. It was more stupid than anything else she had seen that day, so there was no reason for it not to be true.

But, there still had to be some form of trigger for it. Some moments where the man turned his eyes differently, looked at the construct differently. Cassandra knew he had asked the thing for a name just today, so… what exactly happened?

Cassandra wasn't feeling bad enough to actually search through Jared’s personal records to figure out what he had said. While her records were locked up, her personal inhibitions about the act stopped her. Luckily, there were no such qualms about looking into the records of the automation by the name of Nero, a wonderful machine capable of storing data down to the individual molecule.

And… she was most definitely able to see it all. The automation had started up not long after she had left the basement in the night. Jules had apparently stayed up for a while longer, doing some form of movement tests. Cassandra learned that the automations could make back-flips from that footage. How wonderful a discovery.

Going further ahead, however, she was able to see it going up and preparing the large vehicle that Cassandra had seen unload bodies from not that long ago. As a peculiar detail, it had brought body bags, medicine, and… some form of liquid. Cassandra couldn't recognize the label and the database showed nothing of note about it, so she just shrugged it off and turned the stream back on.

Jared came into the picture not long after that. Like always, the man was driving. Cassandra didn't know why she expected any change with that of all things, the bastard always one to feel comfortable in the driver’s seat.

Some more talking was had. Nothing that Cassandra was too surprised by. Then came the actual naming part, which… was interesting to hear at all. The man had clearly had a few misconceptions about how the whole thing worked, to the point where the woman had to glance over at the bed and wonder who exactly she was working with.

Not minding the lowered mental state of the man, she continued watching it at a higher speed. There was a whole lot of silence, of uncomfortable glancing from one side only, and an automation that was apparently unsure of what to do. From a very brief glance at the logs, the automation had apparently questioned Jules of what was the smartest decision to make. A lot of those inquiries had been made, apparently. Cassandra hadn't looked further into that side of things.

Going over to the other side, Jared had apparently been showing signs of something from the beginning of the journey. Nero, as it was called now, had noted the man shifting around more than normal, and being distracted to the point where they did not notice their job of driving being done improperly. It had to be around there that something began to truly change. The starting interaction had much promise, but the actual effects were only settling in the car.

Only... the effects of sickness might also have been a factor there. Even with a muddled mind, Cassandra did still expect that man of all people to have driven well. While he did a well enough job the rest of the way, it was still clear he wasn't operating on the same levels as normal. Sickness again or something else?

Cassandra skipped forward once more, only briefly seeing the time spent discussing the new name, focusing more on how the body movements slowly became more and more slurred. The construct had apparently been observant about it since near the start. The woman had to commend on that, the ability to spot it so quickly likely having done much good.

Then the man was put into the car, comments were made during the final clean-up, and… they began the drive home. At least… the woman had to think of that as being the real thing.

There was a gap. It was not a long one, not possibly more than ten seconds, yet it was still definitely there. After Jared had fully fallen unconscious, while the construct had still stood over him, some part of the footage had been restricted. Just… what?

Something wasn't right. Just why had that part been restricted? Cassandra needed to know more.

‘Jules, I have another restriction you need to help me with,’ Cassandra sent to the automation she knew and hated.

‘Sorry, boss. Nero made me promise to not help you with this one. You know how it is with those things,’ Jules sent back almost instantly.

…

‘I didn’t tell you what I needed help with.’

‘There was no need to. Everybody worth a damn here could guess it from a mile away.’

‘Could I then get a hint about what happened in those moments?’

‘The slightest hint would tell you the whole truth. Trust me. I know.’

… Cassandra gave up, knowing nothing else could be truly done about it. The thing was stubborn until the end. With the remaining straps done, she finally left the room. Nero would show up any moment now, anyway, so there was no problem with leaving the man alone.

Now, she had to visit the one above. There was an issue she needed to be rectified.