And We Danced (Masquerade Overflow!)

[thespaceopera]

The Captcha is upon us, but the party isn't over! Feel free to continue your threads here, start new ones, and continue the dance party!

- Original Mingle
- OOC Post

[[OOC: Wait for Sections! Sections are up! Feel free to use the section prompts or make your own! We'd also advise against just linking back to your original mingle post for the sake of players with slower computers.]]

Comments

[bryces_pup]

A... robot?

[Riona stops, her face bunched into a confused frown.]

Like those metal things that picked up the cargo back on that station? But he doesn't look like one of those.

[dancingmd]

Nevertheless, he is like them, only more complex. I have a friend like him at home as well, and there is another android in the fleet, named Vision.

[bryces_pup]

I admit, I thought those robots as just more of the strange machines found in space. He thinks and feels like a person does?

[Said not out of prejudice but honest ignorance. Thedas has nothing similar to robots. Some might consider a golem to be somewhat close, but they came from living beings, and she knows from Shale that they feel and think as they used to.]

[dancingmd]

[Clearly Riona missed Beverly's argument with Sokka when he stole one of the robots.]

He is a person, in his own right.

[bryces_pup]

[She did, for better or worse.]

I... did not mean to offend. [She senses something here, a touchy subject if she's reading this right.] We have nothing like robots in Thedas. But if you say he's a person, then I believe you.

[dancingmd]

[Riona absolutely is reading it right, though Beverly does not intend to be so touchy. She sighs and her expression softens apologetically.]

I'm sorry, I know you didn't mean anything by it. I just... He is not always treated with respect, because of what he is and it upsets me.

[bryces_pup]

Is there a stigma against robots?

[It would hardly surprise her, since he is not a "living" person like organic people are.]

[dancingmd]

In a lot of places there are. It's...a difficult thing to wrap one's mind around, at first.

[bryces_pup]

[Prejudice of any sort is usually never good, or warranted.]

Has he had to face a lot of it in his world?

[dancingmd]

Robots in his world are at best treated as servants, so while people don't exactly hate them or fear them, they don't see them as equals. A relationship likes ours would seem...absurd.

[bryces_pup]

[So like the elves. The comparison made it easier for her to relate.]

That's unfortunate. Was he pleased to meet someone who thought him an equal, or baffled?

[dancingmd]

A little bit of both, I think. And then for me to... Well, this is all very new for him.

[bryces_pup]

He has never had a partner before?

[Okay, she gets humans not wanting to... caboodle with robots in his world, but do robots not do the same with other robots?? This is new territory for her as well.]

[dancingmd]

No. Not... romantically at least.

[Giskard perhaps comes closest. After all, they were together for two hundred years and she knows from his calibration how much Daneel cared for the other robot. But still, that was different than her relationship with him.]

[bryces_pup]

Ah. That seems awfully lonely. No one caught his eye?

[dancingmd]

Well, remember, his desires aren't the same as mine or yours might be and I don't think he'd define loneliness the same way we would.

[bryces_pup]

What are a robot's desires, then? I know nothing of them.

[dancingmd]

Ah. [She smiles.] Perhaps that is a question best left for him to answer. But what I specifically meant was that he does not experience sexual desire or attraction. Not that that is something all humans experience, of course, but it is still a difference between he and I.

[bryces_pup]

None at all? While not to say desire is the pinnacle of existence, that really does sound quite... dull, to not ever experience it. But, he must feel something for you, no?

[Affection, at the very least. Why else enter a relationship?]

[dancingmd]

[Frown.] We are, first and foremost, friends and I would have not accepted his offer if I did not believe this was something that he wanted too. Emotional and romantic desires do not have to be intertwined with sexual ones.

[bryces_pup]

Ah, forgive me. I should have clarified. When I asked if he felt something for you, I did not necessarily mean in a... well, sexual way.

[dancingmd]

[Her cheeks grow red.]

No, I'm sorry, I am... overly defensive, perhaps. But please know that he does care about me, as much as I care about him.

[bryces_pup]

I am glad to hear that. And please, don't apologize. I understand what that's like. [How many times has she gone on the defensive about Alistair?]

[dancingmd]

Thank you.

[With a soft smile, she hooks her arm through Riona's and starts once more towards the bar.]

Now, about that drink...

[bryces_pup]

Mmm, yes. Perhaps you can recommend me something again? I did like the last one you suggested.