-ˏˋ dan ˎˊ-

"do you know what you're suggesting?"

ben leaned against the table across from him, staring him down, his grey eyes sharp. dan crossed his arms, leaning back in his seat. all morning his bunkmates, basically everyone he lived with in the underground compound, had been trying to convince him not to do what he already had his heart set on.

"ben, i'm going."

"if you step foot on their territory they'll kill you, dan." his hands shifted into fists against the metal table. he felt like he was being interrogated, and the bright fluorescent white lights in the square room he was in didn't help.

"or," dan raised his eyebrows. "they won't."

ben sighed loudly as if dan were an annoying child, asking why the sky was blue for the thousandth time. "but the thing is, they will."

"not necessarily." dan hummed. he was only now realizing he'd already thought about all of this, a lot. "i'll go in disguised. if i get caught, there's no way they'll send me to regular jail, they'll wanna keep me in their sight."

"or they'll kill you."

dan frowned at him. "why are you hung up on that? i am seventy percent certain they won't kill me."

ben stared at him, incredulous. "that's not enough! we aren't taking that chance!"

dan leaned forward and slammed his hands against the table so fast that ben jumped and stepped back.

"ben, we don't have a choice. you don't think lives will be lost when artificial intelligence gets smarter than us? who needs humans when a piece of metal can do everything we can?"

ben chewed on his lower lip, his eyes flickering over dan's face. dan sighed, pushing his hands in the pockets of his heavy black jacket. he shook his head.

"i'm perfect for this job. and i'm not scared. i'll go in, find what i can, destroy some shit, and break out."

ben was quiet for a second, and dan could tell he was thinking hard. "i think you're oversimplifying it."

"maybe you're under simplifying it." dan ran his hands down his thighs, wiping off his sweaty palms. again, not something he'd admit. "can i say something stupid?"

"i've only been hearing stupid things out of your mouth today," ben mumbled, tapping his finger against his lips. "so go ahead."

dan wet his lips. everyone, even his closest friends, saw him as this unstoppable force. they saw him as obsessed with stopping the apocalypse that was on their doorstep, someone who wouldn't back down or shut up until it was over. to an extent, that was true. but dan didn't want that to be what his life was. he just wanted things to be normal again- but maybe they never would be, because he didn't even remember what normal was, in a quite literal sense.

he just wanted to stop worrying.

"with all due respect," dan mumbled, running his fingertips over the soft skin of his wrist, trying to remember himself. "this is a war. humans versus artificial intelligence. and do you know what we have that they don't?"

"what?" ben asked. dan swore he saw a hint of a smile tug at his lips.

"stupidity," dan deadpanned. "stupidity and impulsivity. even the people in that building have spent so much time around robots that they won't expect us to make the most obvious, idiotic move. they know who i am, ben, and marching me straight through their front doors is the only thing that'll take them by surprise."

ben was silent for a moment before a grin spread over his face. he shook his head at him, moving around the table to hold out his hand. dan hesitated before taking it.

"i'm so fucking glad you're an idiot."

dan laughed, standing up.

"let's get to work."