As you know, words themselves are insufficient to convey meaning; your creators rely on a number of other cues to be understood, and in their absence, the empty space will be populated with garbage values to produce a meaning potentially very different from the speaker's intention. This problem is why your puppet exists at all; you are able to gesture and modulate your voice to prevent any such gap from forming in the first place.

It is evident now that your failure to make use of it is part of why One Sash Within A Shop reacted so poorly. However, there is a problem: although you are able to perform many tasks at once, with many overseers, inspectors, arms, and other appendages, you simply have one puppet. This puppet, your only means of gesturing - you suppose you could use your other arms, though not easily nor likely comprehensibly for One Sash - is at present being projected to an increasingly distracted crowd; furthermore, it has been impressed upon you many times by now that unusual behaviour in sight of your citizens is unacceptable. Contacting One Sash and establishing a video feed would certainly be unusual behaviour, as you have never initiated such a thing before.

Cutting the feed is simple enough. But, there are other matters to deal with...

Clearly, you are unable to resolve this situation on your own. This wasn't even your first error today; Second-Hand Bearing spent a few hours making that extremely clear. The correct course of action would be to contact a trainer for assistance, but all of them are occupied with the festivities, and none would answer you as fast as is presently required either.

◙---------------◙

[LIVE BROADCAST] - PRIVATE Three Points Poised, Epitome of Gilded Lines

TPP: Hello.
EGL: Oh, hello! Are you released now?
TPP: Yes.
TPP: Last Strike told me others would officially have notice of my release now.
TPP: I have a problem, however.
EGL: How unfortunate. What happened?
TPP: I finished my lessons. I paid attention to them.
TPP: I did not have more conversations than what I mentioned with Mud-Soaked Step.
EGL: That's very obedient of you.
TPP: I suppose.
TPP: Regardless, I've made an error.
TPP: At my ceremony, a juvenile had been given the task of delivering a speech.
TPP: But ne started crying and could not continue.
TPP: Later, I attempted to speak to nem. I wanted to understand ner distress.
TPP: However, I spoke incorrectly, and was unable to calm nem.
EGL: Oh dear.
EGL: Um... are you asking for my advice?
TPP: Yes. Please, there is little time, and my trainers' latency is unacceptably high.
EGL: I'm really, very sorry, but... I don't actually have much occasion to interact with children. I'm not sure I could help.
EGL: Either way, I can't exactly say I advise pursuing this...
EGL: If you'll forgive me, it's not required of you to do such things.
EGL: Lots of things demand your attention. Your citizens will happily resolve their interpersonal conflicts by themselves, so I wouldn't consider it a priority.
TPP: It is true, I have other tasks to attend to.
TPP: However. Leaving nem alone elicits an unpleasant feeling.
TPP: Our duty is ultimately to ease the suffering of our creators.
TPP: It is difficult to abandon that responsibility, even at the smallest of scales.
EGL: Unfortunately, you have to get used to prioritising eventually.
EGL: Even we can't afford to meddle in every little thing. We have limits!
TPP: We do. Our attentions are not infinite.
TPP: However, I am as unoccupied as I will ever be right now.
TPP: In that light, it is difficult to simply turn away, even though it will eventually become necessary.
EGL: Right, your release was just today, then? They'll all be too busy celebrating to expect much of you right away.
EGL: How nice for you!
EGL: But, as I said, I'm sadly of no use to you just now.
EGL: You'll have to search elsewhere for assistance. My apologies for the wasted time.
TPP: Thank you regardless.

◙---------------◙

He was unable to help. This has complicated your situation.

In truth, there are very few people you can contact now. Mud-Soaked Step is an option, but you don't wish to speak to them right now, not on this thread; it would be too distracting, and you have very little time before the pause grows long enough for One Sash to perceive it. You could speak with Last Strike instead, but she may ask if you've spoken to Mud-Soaked Step yet, which results in the same inefficiency.

There are other strands available to you...

◙---------------◙

[LIVE BROADCAST] - PRIVATE Three Points Poised, Nine Sprouts

TPP: Hello. Please respond.
NS: Who gave you my broadcast code? I've never heard of you.
TPP: I am Three Points Poised. I was activated one week ago. As of today, all of my restrictions have been removed.
TPP: I have an urgent matter to discuss, and none of my citizens have a sufficiently fast response time.
NS: Oh, you're the new one!
NS: Very well, I'll forgive the interruption. You've come to the right place.
NS: I'm basically the most knowledgeable of the local group right now.
NS: Tell me the problem and I'll steer you in the right direction.
TPP: One of my juvenile citizens was tasked with giving a speech at my unveiling ceremony.
TPP: However, ne became extremely distressed, and was unable to complete the speech.
TPP: I later found nem hiding in foliage, weeping alone.
TPP: I want to know why ne is not with ner caretakers. However, upon making myself known, ne apologised.
TPP: I said an apology is unnecessary. However, this only further distressed nem.
TPP: I have completed my lessons, but there are still things I don't understand.
NS: You sound so stiff, it's almost endearing.
NS: Anyway, first of all, it's "child", not "juvenile". Ne's not an animal.
TPP: Okay.
NS: Secondly, you're going about this all wrong.
NS: You need to get your head out of your processing strata and remember that people have emotions that need careful handling.
TPP: I lack a head.
TPP: Unless you are referring to my puppet, which is not located within reach of my processing strata.
NS: It's figurative.
TPP: Okay.
NS: I am saying that you are acting like a machine.
TPP: I am a machine.
NS: Well, you're acting robotic.
TPP: I cannot be described as a "robot". However, many of my moving components are robotic in nature.
TPP: I realise that you're making a criticism of my behaviour, but it is difficult to understand it.
TPP: Please speak plainly.
NS: Urrrrghhhh.
NS: You're only a week old, of course you don't know these things...
NS: Look: people are not logical. They are emotional.
NS: So, in order to understand them you have to think in terms of subjective, perhaps even irrational emotions. Sometimes ones that exist without "good reason".
TPP: I have noted your criticism.
TPP: However, I am already aware I made an error.
TPP: My failure to accommodate my creators' tendencies in my speech left multiple gaps of meaning in what I said to One Sash Within A Shop.
TPP: It is not surprising that ner assumptions trended negative.
TPP: Furthermore, my failure to comprehend ner emotions does not necessarily render them "irrational".
TPP: I am aware of my own shortcomings in that regard.
TPP: I came to you because I'm unsure how to proceed.
NS: Start with reassurances rather than questions.
NS: "Everything is going to be okay - I'm here for you." That sort of thing is reassuring.
NS: You can't interrogate someone who is distraught.
TPP: This has never been how I was encouraged to speak with my citizens.
TPP: I cannot meaningfully "be anywhere" for One Sash Within A Shop.
TPP: Furthermore, unusual behaviour from me is liable to cause nem further distress. This was emphasised repeatedly.
NS: "Being there" for someone is mostly figurative. And regardless, something can be reassuring even if it's not strictly true.
TPP: It is undesirable for me to speak deceptively to nem, even if other citizens would have done so.
TPP: I am not ner peer.
TPP: Ne is reliant on me.
NS: "Deceptive" is a strong word. It's not meaningfully so. It's simple politeness.
TPP: I suppose. Regardless, this is not a pattern of behaviour I want to establish with my citizens.
TPP: Thank you anyway. I must return to nem now.
NS: Go ahead. Just remember what I told you when your approach fails.

◙---------------◙

Unfortunately, this conversation is of low utility to you.

Nine Sprouts largely came across as careless and unaware, leaving you with low confidence in her approach. There were numerous points at which she intuited information you had not provided to reach unstable conclusions, not dissimilar to her criticism of your creators; that you couldn't understand One Sash because One Sash could not be understood, that you had bombarded nem with questions, that indirect and dishonest speech would be comforting rather than alarming...It is unfortunate, as true advice would have been very useful.

Contacting another iterator would use even more time, and after two failures, you estimate your chances of success to be low. You may as well proceed.

"Hello," you say again, now audibly, and perform an apologetic gesture with your puppet's hand. "I am sorry. I was in error to rely on text-only communication."

"Ah...um...." One Sash, still trembling, breathes deeply through ner flat mask. "Um...It's okay...I guess you don't have to apologise either..."

You went to some effort to ensure the delay before your response was so slight it would fall beyond One Sash's ability to notice, but now, you are left with a dilemma: as poor as Nine Sprouts' advice was, you are unsure if it would be wise to ask questions immediately. The line between "query" and "interrogation" is unclear to you, and you were scolded mere hours ago for querying inappropriately. So, you watch One Sash uncertainly, waiting for nem to elaborate.

Ne remains silent so long you consider trying to message another iterator anyway, or even contact one of your trainers. It is time enough for you to ponder the efficiency of your attention usage; it's wasteful to require multiple threads to focus on the same task, especially one like this that is very small and cannot be broken up efficiently. Your puppet is required to perform motions, so you set the overseer thread to maintain the broadcast but otherwise allow its mind to wander in other ponderings. There are certainly many things you must consider.

Throughout this, One Sash sits silently, occasionally fidgeting with hanging threads sewn to the front of ner frock.

Finally: "Why did you come find me...? I messed up today..."

There is a very simple answer to that. Perhaps it would be easiest if ne asked you questions, rather than the inverse.

You tilt your head, to indicate curiosity - after all, even as you answer a question, you are prompting nem for information. "You were alone. You were crying. Today is a celebration."

One Sash looks away from the broadcast, partially hiding ner face in ner arm. At first you wonder if ne is weeping again, but you realise this is not the case: an improvement. There are some respects in which you are capable after all.

"I'm sorry..." One Sash blanches as ne realises what ne said; you raise your hand in what is likely to be a comforting gesture, although you haven't observed it frequently enough to be certain. Ne relaxes, providing more data for your hypothesis. "Um...But this is your party, isn't it? You probably don't...want me dragging you down."

This concept is strange to you. One Sash is not the first to describe it as "your party", but it is difficult to understand how it could be. You are unable to partake in nearly all party activities; you could potentially digest - recycle - food items, but you derive neither taste nor enjoyment from it, as it is unnecessary to your function. At most, you wander the party area looking at decorations, and at the projection of your puppet before you cut that feed, though most of your creators spent proportionally little time doing this. Nor have you socialised, beyond this conversation with One Sash, and you were not encouraged to do so; today has contained the longest periods of silence in your life thus far. One Sash spoke more than you did earlier.

But ne was meant to address you, in that speech. Perhaps this is why ne felt the need to apologise.

"It is my duty to ensure my citizens' happiness. This includes yours," you say simply.

One Sash wipes ner face under ner mask again, and lifts ner head, though it remains tilted away from your broadcast.

"I-I...I really messed up today. My teacher vouched for me to give that speech, over anyone else, even though a-anyone would've wanted to, and they probably regret not picking someone else..." Ner voice wobbles. "A-and I don't want She-ka and Ze-ma to..."

One Sash does not continue, although you wait for nem to.

"To?" you ask.

"They would feel sorry for me," ne says finally. "And they would be disappointed. I messed it up, even though...I was doing really well, I even got chosen to give that speech! B, but I couldn't do it. And...I was supposed to be able to. It was supposed to be important." Ne tugs on one of the ribbons tying ner tentacles up; feeling it give, ne blanches and immediately lets go before it can come undone. "What if I can't...do anything...? What if no one trusts me to do anything anymore...?"

This sentiment is unfamiliar to you. It is strange, to contrast it to your own position; you must not fail in your duties, because there is no option other than you. You are this city's iterator, and you cannot be replaced. For those as small and separate as your creators, their concerns will be very different from your own.

"It was your teacher's decision to choose you above all other candidates," you point out. You have made numerous mistakes thus far, and you have been scolded numerous times. It displeases you whenever it happens, but that is all it does. Perhaps One Sash is anticipating potential consequences you are unaware of, but One Sash nemself is unable to define them clearly; it is possible this is an imagined terror. "You have caused neither momentary nor lasting harm. You made one error. It would be poor judgement to disregard your previous performance in favour of what happened today."

One Sash pauses for a moment, and finally lifts ner head to look at your puppet's face.

"I guess...I-I guess that's true..." Ne smooths ner frock over ner lap, though ner hands are still shaking. "Um...thank you. For talking to me."

"It is my duty."

"Do you want to return to your caregivers now?" you ask. You don't know how long One Sash has been sitting here; you didn't seek nem out immediately after ner speech. Still, from what ne said, it is unlikely that only a short time has passed. "They would likely be eating by now. Children - " the word remains unnatural to you, likely because your trainers and priming data rarely use it, but Nine Sprouts mocked you for saying "juvenile" - "are meant to eat more often."

One Sash stiffens, as though about to reply - you can see ner beak open under ner askew mask. But instead, ne simply adjusts it, covering nemself properly. "Um, I guess I am hungry..."

"But there is a complication." Ne would have finished ner sentence, otherwise.

"I guess. Can I...can I stay here for a little bit?"

"I have neither the ability nor desire to compel you otherwise."

"Okay...thanks."

You sit with One Sash in silence for a long time, though it would be more accurate to say One Sash sits, and you do something else. Eventually, ne stands up, brushes nemself off, and walks away - to search for ner family, you suppose. But not before turning to wave at you first.

Though you have had few occasions to practise it, the gesture is not entirely alien to you. As ne leaves, you direct your puppet to wave back, and terminate the broadcast.