acatalepsy_rpg | video, after the caverns

So, correct me if I'm wrong about this.

[Hank doesn't bother with an intro, just starts right on in. The angle he's holding his wrist shows both his face and the stick he's dragging along the wall behind him, which has been in a fire at some point in the recent past and leaves a long black trail of ash over the wall as he walks.]

But when all you heroes trooped into the haunted caves under the mysterious freaky lake the communication plan was along the lines of, 'gee, if someone gets their feet ate off by some freaky bullshit I sure do hope they yell real loud so I can get there before they bleed out' right? I mean, I trust you guys know to make a post letting us all know if you need backup, but what if this- [Here the screen shakes as Hank wiggles his wrist, indicating the watch] -gets busted, or stolen, or whatever?

I don't know, I was just thinking, next time a bunch of us, or just anyone, goes into something that might get bad there should be some kind of post stuck to the top of our feed that we could all check, just something like this-

[He stops walking, still talking as he starts to scratch a little list in ash onto the wall beside him.]

Hey, I wonder how little Suzy's doing. Oh, she checked in an hour ago, she's probably fine.

[He writes Suzy on the wall, and a checkmark next to her name.]

How about JimBob the Murder Bot? Oh, he hasn't checked in for about seven hours, I should take someone to go look for him.

[Next to JimBob the Murder Bot he doodles a little skull. Sorry Jimbo, it's hard out there for a figurative probably-dead robot. Better luck next time.]

Or maybe you guys would rather do some kinda daily role call like in school or, hell, maybe it's just more fun to lone wolf your way through all this world saving shit, what do I know. Decide amongst yourselves. I might be around, I might not. Just thought I'd throw this out there. I'm gonna go eat.

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[ that... isn't the reaction she would have expected, and she looks mildly taken aback for a few seconds. ]

... It doesn't bother you that your species went extinct?

[ she thought it would be frightening to hear... ]

Well, I don't know, you kinda know it's gonna happen eventually. Besides, androids are everywhere where I come from already, it's not really a shock to think the robots'll probably inherit the Earth.

[His voice is dry, not really pleased about the fact but pretty blase about it.]

Honestly the idea of androids getting everything after we go bothers me more. But the whole extinct thing itself?

[He shrugs, raising his eyebrows and pursing his lips.]

I'd think it wouldn't bother you either, I mean, unless you knew a human or two before we all kicked it.

[ the apathy is surprising to hear; she'd assumed (or was she taught, or was it a belief built into her? she doesn't know anymore) that human civilization had been peaceful and idyllic before the invasion, but this man doesn't sound surprised that his species would disappear and be replaced eventually. She'd be lying if she said it didn't make her heart sink to hear it. Part of her wants to hear horror at his people's plight, and passion for retaking the planet, getting revenge, even now.

Not that she says any of that. She can hear the distaste for androids in his words, too. ]

Of course it does. Everything we did was for humanity. Loyalty and pride towards our creators is written into our programming.

[Hank pulls a face. That feels wrong somehow, distasteful, but he can't put his finger on why.]

Maybe that's what we missed out on, back home. We didn't think about making our robots love us.

[His voice is dry - programming an android to genuinely like you, that's a fuckin concept - and it goes a teensy bit incredulous as he goes on.]

So you really... like them, I guess, even now? When you don't even have to?

[ when she doesn't even have to. When maybe she shouldn't, at this point. Is it really the humans' fault, though? It feels like too big of a judgement for her to make. ]

... It's not something I can change, even if I wanted to. It's how I was made.

[ she's not sure she'd call it "liking" humans. It's both too strong a word and not strong enough. ]

That's not fair.

[There it is, the root of what bothers him about this. It just kind of comes out, and he tries not to think about it too hard. Being fair to an android - back home, anyway, where the androids were different - is kind of like trying to be fair to your coffeemaker. But Hank's trying not to think too hard about anything in this weird, fucked up place. Sometimes he's okay at it.]

You can't even reprogram each other into, like, even being able to decide whether you want to feel that way? Not even the ones that were made after the last human, uh- left? [Left for the moon, which might be the least weird thing about this, when you look at it from a certain angle.] It's just all warm squishy feelings, all the time, from now until forever?

Edited (noticed a stray exclamation mark) 2018-11-13 14:58 (UTC)

I don't know.

[ it's an issue she and 9S are going to have to tackle at some point, she thinks. A2, too. The more they learn about humans, the harder it is to reconcile the blind loyalty they're obligated to feel with the hard facts in front of them. In truth, she has little faith that such a fundamental part of android programming can be changed - not when they've been that way for thousands of years. ]

But whether or not it's fair... It's the way things are.

Yeah, yeah.

[Hank makes a face. Is there any phrase he hates more? Well, yeah, actually, plenty. But that one's up there with em.]

I'm just saying.

[What is he saying, exactly? Better if Hank doesn't think too hard about it.]

It probably doesn't matter though, I mean, what the fuck do I know about androids or how they oughta be programmed or any of that shit. It was probably a good idea on the human's part anyway, making you guys like that.

[ it's not fair, but he thinks it was still a good idea? 2B's not sure what to make of that. Or any of this, really. He's not the first one to suggest that the way she thinks is wrong - not by a long shot. ]

... It was. We were made with a purpose. Our loyalty to humanity kept us fighting for that purpose.

[ so she says, but the way her voice becomes more flat and neutral suggests she thinks otherwise, despite her attempts to hide it. She's never been that good at truly concealing her emotions.

It was a good idea to keep the war going. Was it a good idea for her? Was that good for the androids? She doesn't even know if they should be allowed an opinion on that. ]

Yeah? And what was that purpose, exactly? What was it you were fighting to do?

[He looks focused, curious now. He doesn't know what to make of that tone, doesn't have enough context or knowledge of her to figure out if she's just getting sick of talking about this. If she is, he figures she'll let him know.]

To take back Earth from the machine invaders.

[ the war had been going on for thousands of years without end - it was only their programming that kept them performing. And a few well-told lies, as she knows now. ]

Aaaah. Is that all.

[He nods slowly. Androids is a topic he's familiar with, yeah, but he knows it doesn't take much to take that across the line in his head from 'normal stuff' to 'sci-fi movie'. In fact, he's pretty sure that's what just happened. Which isn't as weird as it could be, compared to everything else here, so that's fine.]

Well. Good luck with that?

video, after the caverns

UH THIS IS LATE SORRY feel free to drop if it's been too long

nah you're good

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