(no subject)

[socrowdedinhere]

 

Terris: Hm. And how would you know if you're starting to break your programming?

Connor: .............I...I don't know. When my software has destabilized to a point it no longer works, maybe. *troubled*

Terris: *will give his shoulder a supportive squeeze* I'm sure you'll be fine. You have Ziomi to support you, and now you have me, for as long as you two are here.

Sirrah: *stands on his lap and presses her head up under his chin* And you have my support too, Connor. 

Connor: ..........thank you, Terris, Sirrah. *hesitates, then reaches up to his temple, tapping the spot in the center of his LED . . . and Terris will watch his skin bleed back, revealing white and grey on his face and hands. He'll pull his shirt off to show his torso* I've deactivated my skin. This is my protective shell. And this . . . *the white bleeds back to reveal smooth, off-white and grey supports with textured blue areas between. In the darkness of the cave, Terris will be able to see Connor's blue "heart" beating.* . . . shows the parts that make up my body.

Terris: *can't help it, he's awed. He'll shift to stand before Connor, looking him over... he starts to reach to touch, then pauses* May I?

Connor: *will gently shift Sirrah to the side and stand when Terris does* One moment. *will work off his boots, then his pants, standing completely exposed to Terris* All right, yes, you may.

Terris: *will gently touch different areas on Connor’s chest and torso, and then his arms.* You’re quite amazing, Connor. *he’ll shift and sit back down so Connor can dress, reactivate his skin, and settle again.*

Comments

[socrowdedinhere]

Terris: ...Sounds an awful lot like life, friend. Emotions, thoughts, life, order and chaos. It’s what makes people predictable and yet so very unpredictable. Let me ask you, the androids who hurt humans, hurt or killed their owners, were they all abused by their owners in any way?

Since he never made it into the station to see the reports...

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: I have no idea, except for the one I interrogated the night before I found myself here. I've only had dealings with two deviants so far. Well, one plus I have the memories from my predecessor. The first Connor unit was destroyed rescuing a young girl from the family android after it went berserk and shot the father, apparently upon finding out it was going to be replaced. There was no sign of abuse before that. In fact, the android and the family's daughter had been very close. The android I helped apprehend and interrogate showed signs of post-traumatic stress disorder after months of physical and verbal abuse.

[socrowdedinhere]

Terris: Mn, but it felt betrayed. Close to the child only to learn it was going to be replaced. Betrayal can cause powerful emotions in people, cause them to hurt someone they loved. I don’t know, Connor. I don’t truly understand what you are, and what is or is not possible, I just know what it seems like to me, what it best equates to... deviant androids are gaining life. They’re breaking past the rules that lock them into blind obedience and they are gaining the capacity to live, love, hate, hope, fear. *glances at Sirrah.* She says you are close to this, maybe that’s not as bad as people in your world think; maybe they’re just scared because they made something they hadn’t thought possible. And just as people here might destroy you because they cannot comprehend what you are, the people of your world seek to stop your kind from deviating from their intended design because they cannot comprehend a living machine. *he shrugs* It is a thought.

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: ....the android we apprehended wrote that - "I am alive" - on the wall over its owner's corpse. *soft sigh* You may be right, but that doesn't change the fact that there are /millions/ of androids in circulation. If even just a fraction of them go deviant and violent against humans... *lets his voice trail off with a shake of his head* I'm CyberLife's only chance to solve the deviancy problem and prevent chaos. I /can't/ go deviant too! *that's a LOT of responsibility to put on his narrow, inexperienced shoulders...not that he thinks so, he just knows it's the mission he was given, the one he was designed for*

[socrowdedinhere]

Terris: That is a lot of responsibility for one person, or one machine. ...what will they do with you not there?

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: ...*shoulders slump* I've probably already been replaced. I've been here at least a week and half back home. As soon as I didn't show up at the police station, they...they probably assumed I was either destroyed or went deviant and took off. They'll have loaded what they had of my memory stores into the next Connor unit and deployed it.

[socrowdedinhere]

Terris: ...And what will they do with you when Sirrah takes you back?

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: ...I don't know. *a beat, then almost as if convincing himself they won't destroy him* I'm not a deviant. *...yet...*

[socrowdedinhere]

Terris: And will you still not be deviant in a year or two when it sounds like you’ve come so close in just a couple weeks?

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: *softly after a moment's hesitation* I don't know. *looks up at Terris* I don't know. *so lost in that moment - what does he do? Tell him what to do...*

[socrowdedinhere]

Terris: *shifts around by Connor and pulls the android into a hug.* I don’t mean to uoset you, Connor. I ask only out if concern for you.

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: *curls into that hug, feeling small and lost and comforted by the arms around him - quiet for a moment till he gets control of himself again* What happens to me isn't important. I'm just a machine. * shifts to look over his shoulder at Ziomi without quite pulling from Terris's arms to do it* So long as she's all right. I just need to get her safely to Lord Levair's.

[socrowdedinhere]

Terris: I think what happens to you matters a lot, if not to you then at least to her. You mean a lot to her, Connor. It would wound her deeply if anything ever happened to you.

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: ...*lips press again and he nods. He's not really aware of it, somewhat lost in thought, in his own processes, but unless Terris shifts, he'll stay cuddled to Terris's side*

[socrowdedinhere]

Terris: *is perfectly fine with keeping Connor snugged close. After a while, though...* It is late. Do you need sleep at all?

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: Mnn. *makes himself straighten and sit back from Terris* I do not. Sirrah and I will keep watch while you and Ziomi sleep. *kinda "volunteering" Sirrah because she's up nights with him anyway*