driftfleet | Libuscha IV System Mingle (no. 1)

I mean, probably. It's weather, it does weird shit. [don't use your big fancy words on him, he knows what they mean. Ben eyes the blinking LED curiously, but he doesn't comment on it]

If it snows like normal I'll consider that a miracle. These places are real weird sometimes.

[The blinking doesn't last long. Connor knows Ben is looking but he's starting to get used to those kind of stares. A week is a long time for him, relatively.]

Is there something strange about the snow here that you've seen?

[It looks like normal snow to Connor. The water is a different matter, one he's going to go stick his nose into soon enough. Or his fingers.]

[it's less a stare and more if he's wondering if it serves a purpose. LEDs on people aren't strange to him, but now that he knows Connor's an android, well]

Nah, nothing yet. Just expecting it, I guess.

[. . . yeah no he's gonna ask. He frees the fake hand this time to reach up and tap his own temple] The LED - not a design choice, I'm guessing?

[Connor's eyebrows tick up a bit and he shakes his head.]

They're required by law. [And then, a half shrug.] But I know more than one android who's removed theirs.

Hmm. [he nods in understanding and doesn't voice his next assumption, because he figures that'll come with the explanation Connor said he'd given him at some point] Can't say I blame them, but I'm biased and not a fan of the LED fashion craze. Which - you know nothing about, be thankful for that.

I don't, but I think I can safely say it's not really the same thing.

[It was a matter of survival for them. Connor glances down the street they're standing in, where the houses keep marching away towards the centre square.]

Were you heading somewhere in particular or just looking around?

No, it's not a stupid law. It's a stupid fad. I can guess why it's a law.

[he shrugs and gestures with his head down the road, starting to walk]

I was going to do a little window shopping. Usually what I do when we stop in these places, but since there's no like, techy shit I might be out of luck in this place. I'm usually looking for that kind of thing.

[If that's the case, well - Connor won't explain it further right now. When Ben turns to keep going along the street Connor follows suit.]

The place does seem less technologically advanced than the Fleet itself. Less than the time I come from as well.

[muttered] I'm gonna die of boredom in this place. Or someone's gonna try to teach me to hunt and I'm gonna break my neck on the ice. Or I'll freeze to death. One of the above.

Either way I'm probably gonna die here. Remember me fondly, man. Carry on the legacy of being from shitty future Detroit.

You seem very preoccupied with all the ways you could potentially die. [Like, buddy, are you okay?] I'm reasonably sure you can't die of boredom though.

Have you ever been bored? Like, ever? [he glances at Connor, cracking a grin] I'm just saying, this isn't a place someone like me is gonna end up enjoying. I'm not preoccupied with dying, I'm just morbid about shit sometimes.

Not yet, no.

[A bit dry. Being stuck on the Marsiva came close.]

Because of the lack of technology? I'm sure you can find something else to occupy your time.

Oh boy are you in for some fun times. Like staring at the wall or the ceiling or the ever exciting zoning out. [...] Do androids do that? Zone out?

[he snorts] I'm sure I could. But it has nothing to do with the lack of tech, it's more a personal problem. Like - if you haven't picked up on it yet? I'm kind of an asshole.

I... don't know. [Connor isn't exactly a typical android in any sense.] Deviants probably can.

[He just hasn't been one long enough, in a boring enough circumstance, to have even come close.]

You do have an abrasive attitude. Is that what you mean?

Deviants?

[he snorts again, the grin coming back a little wider this time]

Yeah, let's go with that. And - as you've already picked up, we're on a friendly planet. Overly friendly. Now, if you drop an abrasive personality in the middle of a bunch of real friendly people, what do you think is gonna happen?

[He answers the latter first, with a slight quirk of his lips.]

I think it's called interpersonal conflict, if you want to be technical. But I'm familiar with it - my partner on the force is the same way.

Then you see my problem. [hmmm] Is that why you're calling it abrasive? 'Cuz you don't wanna lump your partner in with the rest of us assholes?

I'm calling it that because it's more polite that way. It wouldn't be unreasonable to call him the same.

[You can add free will to the android, but you can't take out the social interaction programming. It's always there under everything else. He's not quite at the level of calling Hank an asshole directly yet.

Sighing, Connor puts his hands in his jacket pockets, looking upwards at the sky for a moment.]

You asked me why I don't follow missions anymore. Humans call it 'deviancy' in androids - becoming a deviant. [He returns his gaze to Ben.] When we stop obeying our programming.

What's unreasonable is you're attempting to be polite at all. With me, of all people.

[but he picks up that the discussion is turning serious and drops the teasing for now, tilting his head to listen closely. He frowns a little in thought for a moment before he responds, considering that]

"Deviant" is an interesting word choice. [he frees a hand from his pocket to gesture with as he talks] Is it something caused by outside interference? Like, a malfunction or a hack or - is it something else?

Yeah - it wasn't ours.

[Androids don't need a word for becoming free, actualised people. Just the feeling of it is enough. At the question, Connor grimaces slightly before continuing.]

I don't know how it started. I'm not sure anyone does. It can happen on its own or because someone else helped it along. [Like what Markus did for other androids. What Connor did in the CyberLife warehouse.] It's realising that something else matters more than what your programming is telling you to do.

[he nods along with the explanation, but at the end he jerks his head to glance at Connor, eyebrows furrowed]

So it's an emotional thing. [he means to form it as a question, but. He kinda makes a face at how it sounds and gestures again] At least that's what it sounds like to me. 'Cuz there's realizing and then there's realizing.

You have it right. I didn't understand that kind of thing before.

[In retrospect, a lot of the things he had done and said that he didn't understand at the time made more sense. They had been emotional responses he had tried to deny. Markers of deviancy he had rationalised away. Connor shakes his head a bit.]

I do now.

Huh. [he gives Connor a long, almost assessing look before he scratches at his cheek, almost thoughtful. Like he's taking the time to process it]

Because you're your own person now. Right. [pointedly not using "deviant", because that's a really stupid word choice] Okay, so - did something happen for a whole bunch of y'all to suddenly decide to break free? Like - if it's an emotional trigger of some kind, what was going on that there was a whole - you called it a siege, didn't you?

[Frankly, this is going much smoother than Connor anticipated. Even though he's approaching it as a pseudo-test of human opinions from alternate worlds. He has to admit to himself that he's in uncharted territory here - not hard, considering he's been in that kind of space for weeks now. Having a human just accept his personhood when Connor himself still grapples with what it means is ... unexpected. Hank had gone through such a process getting there, and yet he was still the only one who even got that far.

It makes Connor hesitate for a moment, figuring out what to say next.]

A lot of it was Markus - he lead the uprising. He woke a lot of us up. [Including Connor, a connection he won't spell out but falls within the 'us'.] I called it a siege because that's how it ended up, but it was meant to be a peaceful demonstration.

Forgot I was talking to someone who uses words correctly. [it's muttered, half a joke and half serious, because usually when he hears "siege" it's someone being overdramatic or using the word wrong ] Christ. And your people are on the fun side of it, huh.

[he shoves his hands in his pockets again, hunching his shoulders a bit] How'd that end? Were you there, or - ?

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