Loki's Pain

Chapter Thirty-Eight- A Day in the Life

Returning to Cat's office, Ash knocked on the door to see if Loki had remembered to bring his shoes. Cat didn't answer the door right away, but a few minutes later she was walking out with some random employee when she found Ash laid out on the couch again.

"Are my shoes here?" He asked her, looking up at her from his stretched out position that he was highly unlikely to leave in that moment. "Yes. Loki brought them like you asked... But I doubt they will still fit you, at least with any level of comfort anyway...." Cat replied dryly while looking pointedly at his paw feet, "You might want to talk to Tony about fitting you with a custom pair for now..."

"Custom....yeah..." He agreed distractedly, starting to fall asleep even as he was still speaking. Poe was curled up next to his face, and tilted his feathery head worriedly before looking up at Cat with his ruby eyes.

"What is your name, little birdy?" Cat asked, recognizing it's intelligence. Poe chirruped at her before hopping up and over to Ash's watch. The watch face lit up and text scrolled across the screen, saying "Poe" in all caps.

"Poe?" She asked, and Poe bobbed his head to confirm, "Cute. I like it. Ash named you that?" Poe bobbed his head again, and Cat smiled at the bot kindly. Curling up again, this time on Ash's chest, the bird tucked it's head under one wing. Cat initially took that as a clear dismissal, save for the still-lit watch screen. "I worry..." Scrolled across it, "He is sick..."

Cat's heart skipped in both concern and wonder. This tiny bot seemed to have just shown true human-like emotion, one of which was fear. Cat couldn't stop herself from stroking it's back in a comforting gesture, causing Poe to lift his tiny head and look at Cat once more. When Cat then stroked his head, he nuzzled into her finger with closed eyes as a clear thank you for her kindness.

"We'll figure things out." She whispered to him as reassurance, "He'll be okay in the end..."

"I hope you are right...." The watch scrolled, "But life isn't a fairy tale..."

Cat saw that, and her heart broke for the poor little thing, especially since she couldn't argue it's point. So she just patted it's head and walked back into her office as it curled back up, tucking it's head back under it's wing once more.

Tony must have made that bird, Cat knew that much, but she wondered why he would make it so human. What was the point of allowing it to feel so much? What possible good could come of a bot experiencing a mental breakdown, which this one was clearly capable of? Hoping to get some better insight, and having some free time before her next appointment, she decided to call him and ask.

"Hey, Tony." Cat greeted when she heard the phone pick up. "What's up, Doc? Why are you calling again so soon? You miss me that much?" Tony joked, laughter in his voice, "You only have to wait till this afternoon to see my handsome face you know..."

Cat laughed lightly at his obvious good humor before speaking. "I'm calling about Poe." She said calmly, "I am curious if you know just how advanced it's A.I. is?"

"What do you mean?" Tony asked her, his former humor fading away.

"It feels like a human does, Tony." She stated bluntly, "Not just playing at emotion, but actual feelings.... He is worried about Ash. He knows he is sick, and is afraid for him... That is leagues ahead of any other AI I have ever heard of..."

"Ash is sick!?" Tony shouted, instantly worried about his relative rather than the bot.

"Shit... Pretend I didn't say anything about that, please?" Cat asked, realizing her mistake as soon as he had asked that, "You will have to ask him about the details..."

Tony remained silent for a moment after that, clearly fighting against his instinct to demand she give him the answers he wanted. But eventually he released a sigh of frustration and let it go.