...And also these.

[thespaceopera]

[ Calibration Rooms ]
( for N-Z characters )

Before you post your topcomment, please:
1. Check the first letter of your character's name as its written in our tags. A-M names go to the other post, and N-Z names comment here.
2. Make a note in your topcomment if anything especially triggering or graphic might show up in the Calibration. If you're not sure if something's worth noting or not, we suggest listing it anyway, just to err on the side of caution.
3. Put your character's name (it can be shortened or different from the tag, this time) in the subject of your comment. This will help visitors find you easily, and help us update the list below.
4. Post your comment! It's fine if everyone's Calibrations end up looking and reading very different from one another. As long as you're having fun and following our guidelines, you're good to go. :)
5. If you have any questions or concerns during Calibrations, you are welcome to send them towards the mod team at any time, as always.

ROOMS BY CHARACTER

N - Q Nami Natasha Romanoff Nelkeila Tarid Nux Nyssa al Ghul Octavia Blake One Peggy Carter Phèdre nó Delaunay de Montrève

R - U R. Daneel Olivaw Rapunzel Remy LeBeau Riku Robin Redbreast Rogue Santanico Pandemonium Shawn Hunter Stefan (Alesci) Salvatore Steve "Orion" Rogers Steven Quartz Universe Souji Seta Stiles Stilinski Syeira Tadashi Hamada Tekhetsio

V - Z Vash the Stampede Vima Sunrider Vision (The) Wanda Maximoff Wrath Yamanaka Ino

Comments

[thezerothlaw]

[Empathy, for him? That's... a surprise. Not a big surprise, because he knows her well enough now, and what sort of person she is, but still. He nods.]

We did. Partner Elijah was able to show that the culprit's vision was impaired at the time, and he was not able to tell that Dr. Sarton was not myself.

[dancingmd]

[Beverly frowns.] That... but you say that as if it excuses everything. [As if his vision hadn't been impaired and he had killed his intended target, that wouldn't be murder.]

[thezerothlaw]

It would have been... unfortunate, had I been destroyed. In a legal sense, that would have been mere property damage. Still, uncovering that motive was a major point in determining the culprit.

[It's a tricky question, and one he's thinking hard on. It seems to trigger a memory; one of the windows flickers into life, Daneel's view again. This time, it shows a long-faced man, in the interior of a spaceship.]

"How about 'roboticide'?"
Daneel's voice, then, politely attentive: "Roboticide?"
"As the term used to describe the killing of a robot."
"But what about the verb derived from the noun, Partner Elijah? One never says 'to homicide' and it would therefore not be proper to say 'to roboticide.'"
"You're right. You would have to say 'to murder' in each case."
"But murder applies specifically to human beings. One does not murder an animal, for instance."
"True. And one does not murder even a human being by accident, only by deliberate intent. The more general term is 'to kill." That applies to accidental death as well as to deliberate murder-- and it applies to animals as well as human beings. Even a tree may be killed by disease, so why may not a robot be killed, eh, Daneel?"
"Humans beings and other animals and plants as well, Partner Elijah, are all living things. A robot is a human artifact, as much as this viewer is. An artifact is 'destroyed,' 'damaged,' 'demolished,' and so on. It is never 'killed.'"
"Nevertheless, Daneel, I shall say 'killed.' Jander Panell was killed."

[Elijah Baley's face flickers away, and Daneel continues, as though this display were perfectly normal.]

Such terms of grammar aside, If I had been destroyed, Partner Elijah would likely not have been employed to investigate, and would not have risen to the prominence he eventually had. Subsequently, it is highly unlikely his son would have been able to lead the second wave of colonists from Earth that followed. History would have been... different.

[dancingmd]

[Beverly very much approves of this Elijah Baley - at least someone in Daneel’s world refused to treat him like a mere object, a thing whose death wouldn’t even be acknowledged as a death. Still, the impersonal way Daneel talks about the possibility of his own demise is discomfiting. Intellectually, she understands it, but emotionally, it’s hard to accept.]

I’m glad you were not… destroyed. Nonetheless, it must have been hard for you. Dr. Sarton was one of your creators, one of the first people you saw when you were first activated. I imagine he was - is - important to you.

[thezerothlaw]

I... did not have the opportunity to know him as well as I knew Dr. Fastolfe. It would have been interesting to know him better, and to fully understand his reasons for making me as I understand Dr. Fastolfe's. If I'm permitted to say so, it might be said to be analogous to the urge some humans feel to understand their ancestry.

[dancingmd]

[Oh, Daneel. She gives him a sympathetic look.] Of course you're permitted to say so. It's normal to want to understand your origins, why you are here and how you came to be, robot or not.

[thezerothlaw]

You take my motives for granted, Dr. Crusher.

[That's not a bad thing. But it's not something he's used to.]

Still, Dr. Fastolfe was responsible for much of the design of my brain, and I am humaniform in that respect as well as in appearance. Perhaps it is less of an imposition than I imagine.

[dancingmd]

[She shakes her head.] I don't understand. Why would it be an imposition?

[thezerothlaw]

I am a robot. It is not always appropriate for me to describe myself in human terms. There are times I'm forced to, as there aren't words specific to my own circumstance, though it... disturbs some people. I don't wish to disturb people.

[dancingmd]

Well, I can't speak for anyone else, but I promise, I don't find it disturbing in the slightest. But I understand why you are being careful.

[thezerothlaw]

Indeed. I have no wish to be deactivated, after all, and it is easier to avoid the feeling from rising in the first place than it is to avoid a direct order to submit.

[dancingmd]

[There's a small rumbling of outrage on her part, but she does her best to calm it.]

I wouldn't want you to be deactivated either.

[thezerothlaw]

[He looks at her for a long moment, curious.]

Such questions of etiquette aside, Dr. Crusher, is there something I can assist with, or a question I may answer?

[dancingmd]

[She shakes her head.] I... I didn't mean to come here, you know. I don't really know what I'm supposed to be doing.

[thezerothlaw]

[Daneel looks at the room, then back at her.]

There is much information here at your fingertips. Perhaps there is something you wish to know?

[dancingmd]

[Somewhat guiltily, Beverly's eyes flick back to the filing cabinet. Of course there are things she wants to know about Daneel and his world, but she's reluctant. What if she sees something he doesn't want her to see? And she knows him well enough now to know that he will put her desires over his own, so she turns her focus again to him, taking his hands in hers most emphatically.]

Daneel. There is more I would like to know. But you must tell me if there is a file you do not want me to look at or if I am making you uncomfortable in any way, okay?

[thezerothlaw]

[Outside a calibration room, Daneel might have some degree of hesitation. Now, however, all seems equally valid. He is here to serve, and to offer knowledge where he can.]

Of course, Dr. Crusher. I will tell you what you wish to know.

[dancingmd]

Will you tell me about your friends, your people? The other robots. Giskard is one of them, right?

[thezerothlaw]

[One of the windows flickers into a view of Giskard: a plain enough robot of metal and plastic, and gently glowing red eyes. He has the illusion of an expression, polite but blank, and the illusion of clothing built into his exterior, but for all that, he's very simple in exterior design.]

Friend Giskard was another robot built by Dr. Fastolfe, long before he and Dr. Sarton created me. We worked together for many decades.

[He pauses, thoughtful.]

'Friend' is the usual form of address between robots on Aurora, but I believe I would classify him as having been a... friend, in the traditional sense.

[dancingmd]

[Beverly walks over to the window, to get a better look at Giskard. He's not what exactly what she expected, given that he is more of a humaniform robot than full android, clearly not as sophisticated as either Daneel or Data in design. Still, that doesn't tell her anything about his interior workings, how he thinks. After all, appearances can be deceiving, as both the nanites and the exocomps have proven. She looks back at Daneel with a smile.]

And what did you two do together?

[thezerothlaw]

We worked together. We managed Dr. Fastolfe's estate, and after his death, we managed Lady Gladia's. Friend Giskard had great insight into the workings of the human mind, and we often spoke on the topic.

[The window shifts, and several scenes flicker through, rapidly, still all from Daneel's point of view.

There is a set of quarters on a spaceship; a petite woman with blonde hair of indeterminate age sleeps soundly in a bed. Giskard and Daneel stand nearby, huddled in soft conversation, but have fallen silent for a moment. Daneel offers his hand, and Giskard looks at it for a long moment, a touch of surprise to the tilt of his head. Their fingers touch, slowly, then their hands clasp. No words are spoken, nor needed.

The second scene is a balcony above a dense swarm of human beings, though under the domed ceiling of the entire City; the blonde woman from before is in mid-speech, a handsome bearded man at her side, Daneel and Giskard at some small distance, a collection of other officials nearby. Giskard suddenly turns to look into the crowd; Daneel follows his gaze, catches sight of a blaster as it fires. The bearded man lunges for the blonde woman, pulling her to safety. Daneel dives for Giskard, pushing him to the ground in time to avoid the blast, which passes through where Giskard's head was and into the ceiling of the room behind them. "Not human. A robot," Giskard says in a low, metallic voice. Daneel rises, surveys the chaos below, and vaults effortlessly over the balcony to the ground a full six meters below to give chase into the shrieking, panicked crowd.

Third, and last, is a small shack on an island in a wide river. The island is paved, but more or less abandoned, and what structures there are seem to be the ruins of an ancient nuclear plant, circa mid-20th century. There are two men nearby, unconscious, and Giskard is seated awkwardly in a chair, with Daneel's hand steadying him. He murmurs a long string of numbers and symbols which appear to have no obvious meaning. His voice grows weaker and more strained, and the glow of his eyes flickers, but he presses on.

The window flickers back to the view of Giskard.]

[dancingmd]

[These memories... it's hard to know exactly what is happening, considering what little context she has to work with. Still, she is touched by the care Daneel shows Giskard, his hands offering comfort, protection, and support. When the memories end, she stays silent for a good long minute, absorbing what she's seen, especially in that last memory.]

Giskard... is he...?

[She can't bring herself to finish the sentence, already regretting that she might be bringing Daneel pain by having him recall these events.]

[thezerothlaw]

[He nods.]

Giskard ceased functioning permanently shortly after that. It was one solar year ago, but his actions, I believe, will ensure humanity will continue to thrive. He was... not able to integrate the Zeroth Law, as I have. Possibly, this is because he is not humaniform.

[dancingmd]

[She comes back over to Daneel and rests a comforting hand on his shoulder.] I'm sorry. You cared for him, didn't you?

[thezerothlaw]

I--

[It's hard to say that, and he pauses on it. It's true. It's just hard to admit that aloud, to a human.]

He was significant to me. He had a deep understanding of human nature, and I learned much from him. I had expected for us to be working together for many years. Yes, I did care for him.