[DAY :042] do androids dream of electric sheep?

[onemind]

[PING. If you happen to be surfing the Concordian extranet, a familiar looking window pops into the browser. --It's familiar at first glance, anyway. This has no identifying user, no chat text box. It might be more easily mistaken for an error message. It says:]

Hello. I'm awake.

[After thirty seconds, the window closes on its own. Should anyone connect one dot to the next and go check in the room where Kellix the skele!droid has been stored, they'll find him-- well, still prone in the made bed, but his optical receptors are lit up and his internal systems seem to be making fairly regular whirring and whizzing noises. That's a good sign, right?

These messages pop up whenever Kellix wakes up, for however short the interval. Hope you like pop-ups.]

Comments

[headinjuries]

Nah. I mean, I can only speak for me, but I think most of us are harder to scare than that.

[ Considering that their merry little band is full of superheroes, demons, apocalypse survivors, and God only knows what else. ]

It's been about a week.

[onemind]

[He makes a small whistling noise.] That's longer than I would've thought.

[But that's okay. He can deal with it. He'll need to send some messages out while he can-- No. Not from here, he reminds himself. It'll have to wait.]

Has anything happened in the city while I've been doing repairs?

[headinjuries]

Not really. I mean, there was the Arista Parade, but nothing else like...more bombings or anything.

[ Just the gentle slide back to complacency now that things aren't exploding. Sigh. ]

[onemind]

Well that's good. [He sounds genuine.] Have there been any addresses by Representative Saffit lately? Do you know him?

[headinjuries]

I think he's been talking, but nothing like...super major? Most of the city seems like they're getting back to routine, it's mostly just the really gung-ho types paying attention now.

[onemind]

[A murmuring noise of some low, mechanical process.]

Typical. [It's a dry assessment, tinged with just a shred of something like disgust. After a moment, his optical receptors click around in his bare skull vaguely in Sam's direction.] Oh well. These things happen. Did you have questions for me? That's why you're here, isn't it?

[headinjuries]

Everyone's got questions, but...

[ He shrugs. ]

I think everyone else has the important ones covered. I just wanted to see if you were okay.

[onemind]

[Click. Click. ??????]

That's very strange.

[He sounds genuinely surprised.]

[headinjuries]

I guess it is? But it shouldn't be.

[onemind]

[He makes a small noise, not dissimilar from a laugh.]

How old are you?

[headinjuries]

Fifteen.

[onemind]

[Click. Whir. The android's internal functions emit a soft series of noises, benign and strangely rhythmic - musical even. In another place, another circumstance, it might be pleasant.]

I hope this question isn't rude and I don't mean to imply you're age makes you less valuable or capable, but is there a particular reason the organization you work for employs minors? Espionage seems like a particularly strange subset of a work-study program. Are you a prodigy of some kind?

[headinjuries]

I dunno if I'd say prodigy. But there are a few things I'm really good at, compared to most people.

[onemind]

What things? If you don't mind me asking, of course.

[He sounds genuinely curious rather than, say, a mercenary spybot.]

[headinjuries]

[ The flying and throwing energy around stuff is off the table. There's no way to pass that off as even somewhat normal. But - ]

I'm good at telling when people are full of crap.

[ That could just be great intuition. ]

[onemind]

Ah. A very useful skill. Though I imagine it makes things difficult for you. I find organic life is fond of misrepresentation.

[It's a survival strategy, isn't it?]

[headinjuries]

Yeah. Sometimes I'd rather just...not know.

[ Maintaining faith in humanity takes a lot more work when you know exactly how much shit some people are full of. ]

[onemind]

[A pause; a hesitation, even - as if he's not entirely sure how to respond. But that's a very organic response, isn't it? Is the pause programmed, or natural? What's natural for a sentient collection of metal and plastic?]

I'm sorry.

[headinjuries]

[ It actually feels more like talking to a person than even Vision did, and he thought Vision was some pretty sweet science. ]

Eh, it's cool. I mean, it's useful, too.

[onemind]

Oh?

[There's a curious lilt there. Sounds like a leading question if there ever was one.]

[headinjuries]

Yeah, like -

[ Wait.

...waaaaait. ]

I can kick anyone's butt at poker.

[ There. That's a nice non-compromising in any way answer, he'll just be giving himself a mental pat on the back now. ]

[onemind]

[The android makes a small, sharp noise. It might be difficult to parse without the context of an expression or movement through the neck and shoulders, but-- oh. It was a laugh, wasn't it?]

Of course.

[Clever child.]

We'll have to play some time then. Once I'm fully online again.

[headinjuries]

[ It takes Sam a moment to get it, but he's used to having to try and read the mood with aliens, and at least the androids here are still working off a fairly human frame of reference. ]

You're on.

[ ...metaphorically, but literally that works too, huh. ]