(no subject)

[socrowdedinhere]

 

Zero: *little smile* I'll admit, I'll worry until he's back, but I do feel a lot better about things. He seems like a good sort, and I believe he will bring Sun back to me.

Connor: He will. He recognizes that you are as you say, that you are peaceful. *a beat, then...* What is your world like?

Zeran: *fond grin* Very different from here. Organic life is something that doesn't really exist on my home planet. Lots of metal and rock there.

Connor: *frown of confusion* None at all? Was your kind left to colonize it by your creators?

Zero: ...Connor... I'm /alive/. We /are/ the life on Cybertron. Nearly all life on Cybertron is mechanical, and the life that is organic is... microscopic.

Connor: *frowns* How can something mechanical be alive?

Zero: How can organic matter form life? I couldn't begin to explain how it is that humans came to be, I'm sure they have their myths and theories based on beliefs and science, but I would be willing to bet they don't know for certain how they came to be. They define life by what they know, organic compounds that adhere to certain functions to produce "life". Cybertronians, and many other alien beings, are much the same. None of us can say for sure how we came to be, we all have our beliefs and theories on how it could have happened, and we all define "life" by what we know. Just because a human doesn't have a spark doesn't mean they're not alive, and just because I'm mechanical instead of organic doesn't mean that I'm not alive.

Comments

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: *has So. Many. Questions. at that, like how inert materials could have come together the way biological cells did...or...are believed to have...* Spark? *finally landing on something he thinks he can reasonably ask*

[socrowdedinhere]

Zero: Our spark is the core of us. It’s both the energy that gives us life and the source of personality beyond the basic coding a body shell starts with. ...I can show you, if you’d like.

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: You can do that? I'd like to see, yes.

[socrowdedinhere]

Zero: *nods and will shift to sit on the table Connor had been on and will start to open up his chest cavity. It’s a little awkward, but he’s more than capable of doing so. He’ll open up a few layers before reaching his spark. The glowing white energy almost seems to be some kind of coiled rope or ribbon moving and twisting within the housing it’s resting in.*

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: *headtilt as he watches Zero open himself up, then approaches for a closer look, eyes wide and LED swirling yellow as he scans and tries to make sense of what he's observing* I have no such energy type in any of my data. What is it? Why does it move like that?

[socrowdedinhere]

Zero: It’s... life. For all the studies we’ve done on sparks we can’t explain them any more than humans can explain, or even confirm, a soul. We know it’s our life force, we know it contributes to an individual’s personality which then grows and changes with experience. We don’t know how they form, why they form, or why they behave as they do. We’re unique among many species across the galaxy in that we seem to be the only species, so far, that can physically reach and see that which gives us life.

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: It's certainly unique to anything here on Earth. *had drawn in for a closer look but steps back now, not wanting to needlessly endanger Zero* That's really amazing. Thank you for showing me. I imagine that must have taken some level of trust.

[socrowdedinhere]

Zero: *wry little grin.* I will admit it is a /very/ vulnerable and intimate position. *will start to close himself up.* *studies Connor a moment* So what is it that precludes you from being alive?

Connor got wordy on me. x,x

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: I have no soul. I have no spark, either. I am a machine. I was built to emulate life, but that does not mean that I am. I merely simulate it. *deactivates his skin again, and then his shell. He has his jeans on and was buttoning his shirt, but he opens it back up again so Zero can again see into his whole torso* I am not a person built by another of his own kind. None of my kind are. We are parts and pieces developed by engineers and mass-produced on assembly lines. We're sold in stores like any other major electronics products. We are leased and bought outright or on loans like automobiles, boats, and houses. The singular reason that we exist is to be a useful device for humans to help make their lives easier, no different in the end than any other product available on the market. I'm unique among my kind – or was until recently – because I am a prototype designed with far more autonomy than any other model except for the new commercial model that was released a few months ago, the RK900. I can hold a conversation and I /am/ capable of accomplishing tasks and even full missions without need for the immediate supervision of a human partner. But in the end, even I – and my successor model – are really only additional tools for humans to use in their operations.

XD

[socrowdedinhere]

Zero: *leans a little, but he’s had his hands in Connor’s chest, so he’s seen a good deal of the android’s insides already.* Mn. I think the humans are exceptionally close to creating a new form of life. I’m guessing you are bound to obey orders? Has there been any reports of other androids not obeying? ...Have you ever... felt an inclination, any kind of want to not obey, even for a moment? *he knows Connor has... has has to have to have allowed Zero to repair him when he shouldn’t have...*

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: *looks away, fear crossing his eyes for an instant as his LED flashes red before settling to yellow* Units found to have faulty or corrupted programming are destroyed for public safety reasons.

[socrowdedinhere]

Zero: *gives his shoulder a gentle squeeze.* I was afraid of that. Humans inly understand life to be organic, they can’t fathom that they could possibly create sapient beings with free will that aren’t organic. You’re closer to life than most humans are likely to ever accept...

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: Whether they can fathom it or not, they shouldn't. Androids are stronger and faster than humans. One that goes rogue poses too great a threat to human lives.

[socrowdedinhere]

Zero: That depends entirely on the individual, Connor. Tell me, truly, if you suddenly found yourself able to make your own choices, do you honestly believe you would just start hurting people? That you would hurt Darnell?

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: ...I honestly don't know. I might. I don't know what happens to an android's programming when it gets broken enough to malfunction like that. We don't even know what causes it aside from it seeming to result from errors in the software.

[socrowdedinhere]

Zero: ...I’ve seen this before, Connor. If you break the protocols keeping you compliant it’s not going to change /you/. If you want to hurt people then with free will you would hurt people, if you don’t then you wouldn’t. If you want to be completely sure of that, I can take a look at your program and tell you immediately if I’m right or not.

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: *lips press* Machines don't /want/ anything. *gaze drops* I am /capable/ of harming, even killing, humans, if that is part of a given mission, but it's not something I would do without compelling reason, if there is no other way.

[socrowdedinhere]

Zero: *lightly taps a finger to his chest.* Then that is how you would operate if you were to break your programming.

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: *shakes his head, tone matter-of-fact but the fear is in his eyes* No...without my programming, I'd become erratic, unpredictable. I'd be a danger to those around me.

[socrowdedinhere]

Zero: That’s a load of slag. Do you consider me erratic and unpredictable? A danger to those around me?

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: No, but you're also not an android. You are non-biological like me, but your character and personality come from that strange coiling energy ball in your chest, not from computer codes.