I Am Learning, Ph1LzA

I promise, Dad

Trixtin rejoined Chat's conversation after a while, as did Techno. Ph1LzA, however, had his attention split between Chat and the EGG flies he was reading. Wilbur's abandonment of his stake-out was somewhat reassuring, but he knew the boy would be back at it in the morning. Once Wilbur got an idea into his head, there wasn't much that could dissuade him from it.

Eventually he decided to put the files away for now and focus on his Chat and on Trixtin.  There would be time for EGG later. He put his phone down, ignoring the small twisting in his stomach. Wilbur will be fine. Techno's watching him. He'll be fine.

He came back to a contest, the beginning of which he had missed. Apparently Techno, Trixtin and the rest of the Crows we're trying to see who could make the most amount of rhymes before they gave out. Ph1LzA couldn't help breaking into a smile as he covered his face with a groan. Techno was going to win this. Easy. Through his fingers he watched Awesamdude type out his attempt:

You guys all see red and blue and green
To my eyes, some colors cannot be seen
You try to describe the shade of a bean
I tease and tell you that colors are mean
In a store, I behold several apples' sheen
But no difference can I tell between
This apple or that

Many flapping hand emojis followed Sam's attempt, the usual symbol of clapping in the Chat. Some argued that he should have ended on a rhyme, but given that Tommy's set had been made almost exclusively of curses, censored by the chatroom's rules, and Quackity had barely lasted three lines before giving out, it was almost universally agreed that so far, Sam had done the best. Ranboo was next, though he protested heavily. Peer pressure overruled him, and it was Ph1LzA's private opinion that Tubbo_ was probably encouraging him to go ahead outside of the server, given the lack of digital words from that particular boy. Eventually Ranboo gave in and sent out this piece:

Lobotomy is a strange subject to me
They poke your head through to see
If you're better now for the injury
And once they find that lobotomy
Is detrimental to us, they simply
Decide to try something else, for truly
They'd prefer to keep their subjects, as we
Are hard to replace.

Okay, I'm done for now.

Ranboo's set of verses was actually heavily debated in the chatroom, for most of his words, while rhyming in sound, ended differently than the first two he'd started with. Since no actual rules had been established other than "they must rhyme", more than a few were for declaring Ranboo's verses valid. A minority, Quackity being one, were dubious, but as Ph1LzA, Trixtin and Techno were all on Ranboo's side, the opposition soon caved. Eventually the Crows began asking for Cyberknife to make his own contribution.

Yooo Cyber mah boi lets see what you can do, yeah?
I'd like to see him beat Ranboo, dude can write
I think he'll do way better than me
Ranboo, you ****, don't insult yourself
Tommy! Not in front of Michael!

As the Crows were discussing the idea, Techno sent a direct message to Ph1LzA.

CrowFatheR, what do you advise me to do?

Intrigued and a little puzzled, Ph1LzA sent back his reply, deciding that if Techno was asking him a question in private, then a digital response was probably best.

What do you mean, mate?

Should I do my best? If I do, I will best everyone of your Crows. You and I both know that. But what will my accomplishment do to them? How do you believe they will react?

A sudden wave of emotion surged through Ph1LzA's chest and stung his eyes. He covered his mouth, wishing he wasn't so easy to read; Trixtin would know something was affecting him should she even glance his direction. He remembered how long he'd taken, painstakingly working over Techno's morals, over his digital simulation of empathy. Just how much of his original code did Techno still have?