(no subject)

[socrowdedinhere]

 

Richard: ...You all right, Connor?

Connor: I just . . . realize how much of this world I don't know. I am the most advanced model CyberLife has ever produced, but here . . . I know nothing, I understand nothing. I might as well be completely lacking in protocols and data because so much of it just doesn't apply here. Mythological creatures are real and fantasy is reality. I . . . how do I reconcile it all?

Richard: ...You take things in one bit at a time and trust people like me and Ziomi to help explain as best we can.

Connor: ................ *LED settles and he nods* Thank you, Captain.

Richard: *smiles* You'll be all right, Connor. *that said, he'll start to tell Connor about social standings... and why Connor will have to change his clothes and keep his LED hidden...*

Connor: */clearly/ uncomfortable...with /all/ of it...but he just nods*

Richard: ...Just follow Ziomi's lead on things like that. She's a really good judge of character.

Connor: Got it, Captain.

*And with that, they'll find Ziomi. She's gotten a bath, a change of clothes, and some food. She's with the children and telling a story. By this time, it's getting dark.*

Connor: *will hang back with Richard, listening*

Ziomi: *is...a really good story teller. She'll wrap up and hand out small carved figures, and shoo the children off to play before shifting around a bit.* ...Connor? *did she hear him approach?*

Connor: *approaches at that* Yes. I'm here, Ziomi. *will softly touch her shoulder*

Ziomi: *softly covers Connor’s hand with her own* Learn a lot this afternoon?

Comments

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: ...yes...though I'm still processing.

[socrowdedinhere]

Ziomi: *understanding smile and will gently draw him around the bench to sit by her* I'm sure you have a lot to process. Do you have any questions for now, or do you just want to think about everything and ask later?

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: I...think I still need to think about things for now. How has your afternoon been?

[socrowdedinhere]

Ziomi: *will hook her arm around his, leaning lightly against him.* Take all the time you need. I will always be happy to answer questions when you’re ready. *she smiles* My afternoon was good. I feel quite refreshed after traveling.

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: Good. You look it, too. Where would you like to go now? I believe it's approaching the dinner hour.

[socrowdedinhere]

Ziomi: I just finished dinner actually. I was hoping you might be interested in taking a walk with me.

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: Of course. *pats her arm with his other hand and is ready to go anywhere she likes*

[socrowdedinhere]

Ziomi: *knows he probably can’t say no, after what Sirrah said earlier, but she’ll still give him a smile and stand, keeping her arm hooked comfortably with his.* It’s a nice evening out. I know you don’t eat, drink, or sleep, but does temperature affect you at all?

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: To an extent. I have an optimal functional range outside of which my bio-components will start to be damaged with melting or freezing, but that is a wider margin than most humans can comfortably tolerate.

[socrowdedinhere]

Ziomi: *she nods, not even going to bother asking more detail than that, since it won’t likely mean anything to her anways.* If you do encounter something potentially dangerous to you in a precentable way, please tell me, okay?

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: Got it. I may be repairable now with Sirrah's help, but there's still no call for me to allow myself to be damaged unnecessarily. *looks down at her* You let me know too. Not just for danger but for hour comfort as well. I know the range for general human comfort, but I also know it can differ for each person.

[socrowdedinhere]

((your, not hour.))


Ziomi: *smiles* Certainly. In a little while I’m going to take you to ine of the tailors here to get new outfits made for you.

[cyberlifeslastchance]

((LOL yeah...noticed that as soon as I posted, but I'd already edited once. XD;;;))

Connor: ...so that I blend better. *gazes at his clothing, brushes a hand down his chest. He...he likes his clothes. No other android has this uniform. In fact, except for the jacket, it's already what a human would wear - jeans and loafers, a dress shirt, a nice tie...if he just took off his jacket, he could pass for a human in most business settings with no other change needed. He pauses mentally (and physically with a faint hitch in step, though Ziomi will only notice because she's got his arm) - should he even be having such thoughts?*

[socrowdedinhere]

Ziomi: *pauses and turns to him, reaching to cup his cheek.* What is it?

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: *she'll read that he's troubled* I may have just found a glitch in my software. I just caught myself thinking something that I shouldn't.

[socrowdedinhere]

Ziomi: *headtilts* What were you thinking?

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: About my uniform and how close it already is to what humans wear in my world. I realized that I...I likebmy uniform. It's unique among my kind. I am the only one of my model, so I am the only one who has this outfit. And all I'd have to do is take off my jacket and I'd fit in with a group of human men without so much as a glance. Even my jacket, if I could somehow remove the markers identifying me as an android, could easily pass for something a human might wear. It's...it's a nice jacket.

[socrowdedinhere]

Ziomi: *she lets her hand drop to his shoulder, softly feeling the materials of his jacket.* It feels like a very nice jacket. But what about that thought is a *she heaitates slightly on the word, the sounds unfamiliar to her. She may not know the word, but from his tone and expression (and his statement that he was thinking something he shouldn’t) she knows it’s something undesireable at best and just plain bad at worst.* a glitch in your programming?

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: What I wear shouldn't matter, so long as I am wearing what is required of me, by law and by my owner or handler. Having a particular opinion of the clothes I wear or thinking about how to blend with humans is definitely /not/ part of my native programming.

[socrowdedinhere]

Ziomi: Mmm. Perhaps you are having these thoughts because we’ve already talked about you needing to blend in here?

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: Maybe . . . but this was for back on my own world, where such considerations are inappropriate. *if not outright forbidden...*

[socrowdedinhere]

Ziomi: And you had these thoughts before coming here? I’m thinking, Connor, that while you may be thinking of where you came from in the context of being able to simply remove your jacket and blend in, the thoughts are because of what you need to do here. Perhaps the thoughts are not a glitch so much as they are an adaption to your current situation.

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: *LED returns to blue as she'll feel him relax - he's not even wholly aware of how tense he'd gotten* Yes . . . you're probably right. Thank you, Ziomi. Still, I /must/ monitor myself against instability in my software. I cannot risk becoming a deviant. It would mean having to destroy me for the safety of those around me.

[socrowdedinhere]

Ziomi: *her hand had returned to his face after feeling his jacket, and she’ll smile at feeling him relax, glad she could ease his worry.* Will you tell me about deviants? Or at least try to explain them to me? *she’ll finally shift to keep walking, hooking his arm again.*

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: Deviants are androids that have gone rogue, their programming having been broken somehow. We suspect it has to do with some kind of shock or systemic trauma. In any case, their software has gotten scrambled and they suffer from confusing and even conflicting instructions that leave them with actions and reactions that are almost like emotions in humans, emulating fear or anger, doubt, and suicidal or homicidal tendencies. My first solo mission was a hostage situation involving a little girl being threatened by the family's android. It learned that it was going to be replaced and something in its programming snapped. It killed the father and was threatening to jump off the roof with the daughter. Its behavior suggested emulations of anger and betrayal. It raged against the purpose it had been designed for, claiming it didn't want to be a slave anymore, and that it didn't want to die. But an android can't be killed. It's not alive to begin with.

[socrowdedinhere]

Ziomi: ...maybe they were alive. Maybe whatever happened gave them life as Sirrah said was possible...

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: .............maybe. *doesn't know enough to argue, except what he knows (his programming tells him) is the true case - that's simply not possible*