"Yeah.  You don't.  You can't.  And we haven't.  But most wouldn't.  And that just..."

She sighs, frustratedly.  "I can't even articulate whatever this feeling is, nor what it's really caused by, not to any degree of success.  But something's just not right with the way the galaxy treats droids.  And maybe I'm projecting, but...someone thought that the worst sin I know, should be done to them every six months, to 'maintain peak operational efficiency'.  And nobody ever questions that.  Not on an institutional level."

"You did. Sometimes that's all you can do. We're as close to being gods as people get, but it's not very close."

That gets a momentary, halfhearted sporfle out of her.

"I suppose you're right about that."

"Mmhmm." Squeeze.

Mmmmm, girlfriend squeezes are the best squeezes.

"...I should probably get back to work, unless you want to take over."

"I can do some holocrons if you want, but I'm still not great with this."

"You don't have to do it by yourself, but would you like to - witness, I suppose?  Even without pitching in."

"I can sit with you if you want, but this isn't..." She pauses for a minute, struggling for words, and then shrugs. "I'll come."

"...Don't come just - just because I asked, or something like that; I only want you there if you want to be there.  It might be sad work, but I can handle it."

She shakes her head and gives Diana a little squeeze. "Different issue than that. Don't worry about it."

"I'll do my best; just let me know if I can help."

Alright.  It's...time to get the rest of the victims' memorial data.

There's not all that many left, at least.

So...who's in this holocron, then?

Please, one at a time unless you're family, partners, or close friends.

Here is a worried-looking man in his early thirties with mussed hair, vaguely mismatched clothing, and machine-oil-stained hands; according to the label there are two people in this holocron, Emil and Valin Okkoris.

"...Hey.  ...If you remember what happened...I'm sorry."

"I, uh. Not....well?" He looks briefly confused. "What can I do for you?"

"...You died.  And I want to know how to remember the life you lived, instead of your name being just another entry on the list of victims of the man who took that life.

"Would you like to tell me your story?"

"Oh. Uh. There's not much to tell, really? I wasn't anybody special."

"Well, I think you were, because there's not a single other person who experienced the same things, lived the same life, as you did.  So how about you tell me about those sorts of things?  The ones that make you uniquely yourself."

"I... well, uh... I'm - I was - okay with machines, I guess? Like, not that good, but I could do some things, I don't know."

"Mmhmm?  How'd you learn?  We actually have machinery in common.  Oh, and what's your name?"

"Valin, ma'am. Valin Okkoris."

"I, uh, kind of taught myself, from books? And then my family sent me to college, but that didn't, uh, go very well, so. Like I said I'm not that good at it."

"...I think you're rather better than you'd think, given how you taught yourself from books.  Most people can't do that, I'm told.  Perhaps college was simply a bad learning environment for you."

...Holocrons aren't supposed to be able to learn or grow.  Diana does not give a fuck about that factoid.  They can remember people.  Recall like that means learning.  Therefore, she treats them kindly.

So she'll see about talking about Valin's issues.  He's good at what he does, she can tell.  It's his soul-shape.

"I don't know, maybe."

"Definitely, in my somewhat professional opinion.  You've got enough kinship with machines that I can still see the grease on your hands.

"What else was growing up like, for you?"

"It was fine? I had a lot of brothers and sisters but my parents' school was the best one around so we did okay."

"Your parents' school?"