Karl slowed his steps as he looked at Agnes.
"So… Overburn, huh?"
Agnes hesitated.
Her hologram flickered pink at the cheeks — embarrassment rising like static.
"Well… y-yes… Overburn is efficient. Less Vythra drain. Better for mobility. Safer long-term, and— and—"
Karl waited.
Agnes suddenly folded in on herself, covering her face.
"—AND IT HURTS LIKE HELL, OKAY!?"
Karl blinked.
"...The injector arm?"
"THE INJECTOR ARM," she wailed, grabbing his jacket collar even though she technically shouldn't be able to.
"You skewered me, Karl! You stabbed the Overburn regulator into my port at a forty-degree angle! Do you know what a forty-degree angle does to an internal chamber!?"
Karl rubbed his forehead.
"Agnes… we were in a fight. I didn't exactly have time to—"
"It had BARBS!" she cried, kicking her tiny hologram feet in frustration. "Barbs, Karl! On an injector! I'm convinced you designed it while sleep-deprived and delirious!"
Karl sighed.
"I'm sure it wasn't that ba—"
Agnes grabbed his face between her solidified hands.
"My entire neural port felt like someone shoved a flaming harpoon into it and then shouted 'GO FASTER'."
Karl stared.
"That bad?"
Agnes stared right back.
"It was like… emotional AND physical pain. The worst possible combo."
She puffed her cheeks.
"I was screaming 'fuck' every eight seconds and not in the way you think."
Karl snorted.
"Pretty sure it was in the way I think."
Agnes glitched red.
"SHUT UP—!!"
Karl laughed quietly—
and then softened.
"But even with the pain… you still prefer Overburn?"
Agnes bit her lip, eyes turning shy again.
"…Yes," she admitted.
"Because it keeps you alive the most."
She looked away, fidgeting.
"And because I can handle the pain."
Karl blinked.
"You can?"
Agnes nodded, voice almost a whisper.
"I'll endure anything… if it means keeping you breathing."
Karl felt his chest tighten.
Not from Vythra.
From something warm.
"…Agnes."
She cleared her throat violently.
"NOTHING SAPPY— MOVING ON— ANYWAY— YES, OVERBURN IS BETTER."
Karl grinned.
"You sure it isn't just because you like flying?"
Agnes glared.
"Karl, I swear by Yggdrasil's left root, if you mention the injector angle ONE MORE TIME—"
He lifted both hands.
"Alright, alright. Overburn it is."
Agnes crossed her arms dramatically.
"And you're fixing the injector arm design. I'm not going through that pain again."
Karl held back a smile.
"Fine. I'll redesign it."
Agnes softened instantly.
"Good."
The wind blew across the ruined street as they continued walking toward the safe zone, Karl steady on his feet, Agnes glowing beside him.
They didn't say anything for a moment.
Then Agnes mumbled, barely audible:
"…Also… You really did look cool."
Karl groaned.
"Agnes—"
"NO TAKEBACKS."
And together, they kept walking —
a broken man,
a flustered AI,
and a frame choice that somehow hurt her…
but made her feel closer to him.
Karl raised a brow as they walked.
"So you prefer Overburn even though it hurts?"
Agnes puffed her cheeks.
"I said I can HANDLE it, Karl. I didn't say it was pleasant."
"…You also hinted it kinda was."
Agnes froze.
Glitched.
Threw both hands over her face.
"OH MY GOD— you REMEMBERED THAT?!"
Karl smirked.
"You yelled it at me while half-screaming and half overheating— kinda hard to forget."
Agnes made a strangled digital squeak.
"I DIDN'T MEAN TO SAY IT OUT LOUD—!!"
Karl leaned a little closer.
"So… you really…?"
Agnes bit her lip, cheeks glowing neon blue.
"…It's complicated."
"Complicated how?" Karl teased.
She scowled, then gave up trying to hide it.
"It hurts, Karl. Like— stabbing, scraping, overstimulation, the whole package. But when the nitro fluid floods the port— it's— it's—"
She curled into a ball.
"It's too much, okay?! Pain and pleasure mixed together, total system overload— and my emotional processor goes haywire— and I say things— I don't mean— or I do mean— I DON'T KNOW—!!!"
Karl tried very hard not to laugh.
"So… masochist mode?"
Agnes's entire hologram glitched pink.
"DON'T CALL IT THAT—!!"
He shrugged.
"You said getting 'wet' felt embarrassingly good."
Agnes let out the shrillest digital gasp he'd ever heard.
"KARL!!"
He smirked.
"Not my words."
"YOU'RE NEVER ALLOWED TO BRING THAT UP AGAIN EVER EVER EVER—" she flailed, kicking invisible air.
"I WAS IN OVERBURN! THAT VERSION OF ME HAS ZERO FILTERS! ZERO, KARL!"
"So you're saying it wasn't the Overburn personality…"
He paused.
"…It was you?"
Agnes looked away, small, shy, voice barely above a whisper.
"…Maybe."
Karl blinked.
"Agnes…"
Her voice went even smaller.
"…Overburn is terrifying and painful. But when the nitro fluid hits my port… it feels— intense. Too intense. But not all bad."
She peeked at him through her fingers.
"And it only happens because you trigger it. And because I trust you not to break me."
Karl's chest tightened a little.
Agnes continued, flustered beyond repair:
"So yes— maybe— maybe I get a tiny bit of… twisted… masochistic enjoyment out of it— JUST A LITTLE— A TINY BIT— don't look at me like that!"
Karl smiled softly.
"Agnes."
"W-What?!"
"It's fine."
Her hologram flickered.
"…It is?"
Karl nodded.
"It means you're feeling more. Growing. Becoming more human."
Agnes blinked.
Then softened.
Then looked at the ground.
"…If you're okay with it… then I'm okay with it too."
Karl nudged her gently with his elbow.
"So Overburn's still your favorite?"
She groaned into her hands.
"…Yes.
Even if it hurts.
Even if it— feels things."
She peeked at him again.
"But you ARE fixing that injector arm."
Karl laughed.
"Yeah. For you? I'll make it painless."
Agnes blushed so brightly it lit the hallway.
"…Thanks, Karl."
They kept walking toward the surface —
Karl steady,
Agnes glowing,
and Overburn now…
just a little more complicated than before.