...And also these.

[thespaceopera]

[ Calibration Rooms ]
( for N-Z characters )

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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

[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.

[dancingmd]

[Beverly gives him a sad smile.] Why don't you tell me some of the things you learned from him?

[thezerothlaw]

He taught me much about necessary sacrifices, even if he was not entirely able to make one. He taught me that sometimes, acting to protect can cause more harm, though invisible harm that most would never admit to. He taught me--

[Another window flickers into life, showing Giskard again, in yet another conversation with Daneel while the humans sleep.

"It strikes me that it has taken me so long to understand this only because I am not a human being. A human being would, perhaps, instinctively understand his own mind well enough to know how to handle others like himself. Madam Gladia, with no experience at all in addressing huge crowds, carried off the matter expertly. How much better off we would be if we had someone like Elijah Baley with us. -- Friend Daneel, are you not thinking of him?"

"Can you see his image in my mind? That is surprising, friend Giskard."

"I do not see him, friend Daneel. I cannot receive your thoughts. But I can sense emotions and mood -- and your mind has a texture which, by past experience, I know to be associated with Elijah Baley."

The screen fades, and Daneel does look slightly perturbed.]

Friend Giskard taught me much of the nature of minds, as I said.

[dancingmd]

[Beverly tilts her head curiously.] Giskard was an empath?

[She had not thought such a thing would be possible with androids.]

[thezerothlaw]

Yes. He possessed mental powers.

[This is not quite going the way he would expect -- that is to say, with far less condemnation than he might have thought. Still, Daneel is cautious.]

They were given to him accidentally. He hid this for many years. It is this that gave him such insight into the human mind.

[dancingmd]

[In fact, there is no condemnation at all, only a scientific, and indeed, personal interest.]

Fascinating! I have of course encountered such abilities in many other species before but it simply never occurred to me that such a sense could be replicated in an artificial life form.

[She is starting to get excited, waving her hands around for emphasis and pacing as she thinks.]

But why not? Soong-type androids, as we have discussed before, have trouble enough processing their own emotions. But, you, and presumably Giskard too, have no such problem. And the Prytt have the psi-wave devices, which are built for organic beings, but presumably they could be modified for androids. It might only work in one direction in that case, allowing the android to read the organic mind, but not vice versa. And it is only designed for a limited number of people...

[She pauses, realizing she is starting to ramble.]

I'm sorry, I am probably not making any sense. You see, my captain and I were kidnapped once, by people who use a telepathic device for interrogations. We escaped before they could interrogate us, but we still had the devices implanted and so were able to read one another's minds until we were rescued and the devices could be removed safely.

[thezerothlaw]

[For a moment, Daneel only stares at her. This is. This is completely game-changing.]

Then you are used to dealing with telepathic abilities. This is... not the case. I have reason to suspect that many humans possess the potential to some degree, so the possibility of a race in which all, or even most, have well-developed skills is certainly there.

[He's earnest, and well, he generally is earnest, but he's especially earnest right now, in the face of a huge confession.]

It is an unknown ability, despite that. A robot with such an ability would almost certainly be deactivated, dismantled, and dissected. Friend Giskard had to be very cautious. He was capable not only of sensing the emotional state of minds around him, but of adjusting them, though of course such a thing had to be done very carefully, if at all.

He... passed the the programming matrix to me before he ceased functioning.

[dancingmd]

[Her interest immediately turns into concern for her friend. Temporary deactivation to deal with rogue programming, she can understand, but full dismantling? That is something else entirely. Even with Lore, it was not something any of them undertook lightly.]

Oh, Daneel. I am so sorry you had to keep that part of yourself secret from me. I would have never... One of my best friends is an empath. I'm not only used to it... I have kind have missed it, missed her. But even if I had never known her, never had experienced telepathy myself, I care about you and would never do anything to purposely hurt you.

[thezerothlaw]

You have no reason to apologise. If anything, I'm sorry I was not entirely honest.

[It would be hard to believe if he didn't have the evidence right in front of him.]

It has only been a solar year. I am still learning the limits of my abilities. I... have not had much opportunity to confide in anyone.

[dancingmd]

Well... [She gives him a soft smile.] Now you have me.

[and he can be sure as hell she will do all she can to help and protect him.]