driftfleet | Libuscha IV System Mingle (no. 1)

I'm glad to hear it.

[He hadn't been very concerned to begin with. Abrupt as Ben tended to be, he hasn't acted in any way threatening to Connor since they met. And Connor is good at knowing when people intend to attack him.]

The people on this planet don't appear the sort to instigate many fights themselves either.

[realistically, Ben knows better than to fuck with an android specifically tailored to police work. And on the other hand, he likes Connor - not that he'll ever admit to it out loud. So fighting Connor is pretty out of the question, period]

Yeah, there's no arena or secret fight clubs. [wryly] I've checked. So I guess we're all lucky this place is a lot better than most places we end up.

I haven't heard much about the other places the Fleet has visited.

Seriously? You didn't like, scan the network and download all the data and shit? Shame on you.

[he doesn't sound serious at all, and he huffs a bit and taps his temple] I'd show you, but what I've got saved is minimal at best and I can't transfer it. Haven't found the right connectors since, y'know, tech is fuckin' weird here sometimes.

Of course I do. That only gives an incomplete picture of the locations, you realise.

[A few video posts here and there do not give a comprehensive idea of what these planets and systems are like. After being planetside himself in Libuscha IV, Connor has the impression that most of what occurs simply isn't documented.

When Ben mentions transfers though, he frowns, considering.]

Do you need physical connections to transfer data?

I was joking, Connor. I didn't - if you actually did that I'm kinda impressed.

[he kinda makes a face, tilting his head] Not usually, it's all wireless for me back home. Here I'm not connected up to anything, so I gotta find a physical connection to even see if I can.

I can establish connections by physical contact. If you want to try it, I'd be happy to do so.

[There's a risk involved, of course. Whatever Ben's systems are, they aren't CyberLife created, so there is no telling how well Connor would be able to interface with them. Not to mention whether the files could be considered corrupted or malware by his own systems. But Connor's been connecting with the Fleet's systems routinely for weeks now and has the measure of those. He's confident enough that he would be able to shut down the connection before anything dangerous came through.]

Uh - you can try? [he's not actually sure what he's agreeing to here, but whatever, Ben doesn't think it'll work in the least] You're not gonna get a lot out of it, but you're welcome to it.

—wait, what does "physical contact" entail, be specific here.

[Connor raises his right hand, palm facing Ben. The skin abruptly strips itself away, dissolving back under his shirt sleeve. The white plastic and metal plating that makes up Connor's actual outer frame is exposed all the way up to his wrist.]

I just need to touch the area where the connections should be.

[It's a new experience, really, actually asking someone if they want this done. Connor usually just proceeds regardless of what the other person wants. As a machine it was very much not important whether other androids wanted him to probe their systems or not. These days... well, asking first seems like the least invasive thing to do.]

[Ben merely raises an eyebrow as the skin strips away, and if he looks a little impressed by it, well, that's because his doesn't work in the same way. He kind of wrinkles his nose, considering the offer once more before he shrugs, a wordless "why the fuck not" before he gestures behind his ear]

Port's probably the best spot, then. [dryly] Try not to be disappointed; it's not a lot.

[It would have been what Connor suggested. Ports are designed for such things and made it simpler than trying to interface with more generic parts of devices. He nods and steps over next to Ben, not pausing long before he reaches out and taps his finger against the port.

In the span of a couple of seconds, he's scanned the workings of the port and the idiosyncrasies of the system operating on the other side. It's most definitely not structured like CyberLife software or hardware which proves to delay the connection longer than Connor likes. But 'long' in his terms isn't long at all. After those couple of seconds pass, the connection is established.

He delays going in to ensure Ben is aware of that fact.]

It's open.

[Ben can't feel the touch but he twitches anyway, face scrunching up into a wince. He can tell something is going on - his eye flickers a few times and on his end, he sees something trying to connect with it - which is normal, but also weird, cuz this isn't a signal, it's a person - android, whatever, and it isn't exactly like how it normally is.

He lets out a breath regardless - he's not nervous, but there's still a real fear of all his shit just malfunctioning at once, all the time - and gives a tiny nod, swallowing]

Noticed. [he clears his throat] Go for it.

[Connor tips his head slightly to the side, noting the tension in Ben's posture. Best to do this quickly. So he doesn't delay in activating the connection and pulling the files. His LED spins bright yellow as the processing begins.

Imagine someone has knocked on Ben's front door. He opens up, say hello, and lets them in before heading through the house for other things.

What Connor does is nearly the polar opposite. Ben left the door unlocked so he just opens it and walks in without knocking first, going straight for the bookshelf and yanking out tomes. He's fast and he's direct, skimming through the video recordings and copying them over to his own hard drive.

The files are relatively short but they definitely contain visual of the other systems Ben has recorded. That will be useful and Connor will match them to network records later for future reference. All relevant files checked, Connor closes everything he opened, disconnects and steps back.

It's over in less than a second.]

[for something that only takes a second, the programs running Ben's eye is happily informing him that something has breached and copied files, like it isn't something he already consented to. He huffs quietly and can't help but reach up to touch the port when Connor draws back, like he half-expects something to still be there]

—that's it?

It is. Thank you for that. There's not much there but it's still useful as a reference.

[he lowers his hand after a moment] Yeah, no problem Uh, if I catch important shit I'll remember to save it to give you or whatever.

[behind Connor, is the sound of something splashing into the water]

If you're willing to do that then I'll make use of it.

[When the splash rings out Connor goes still, turning to stare at the water. It's rippling out from a point of origin not more than a couple dozen centimeters from the shore.]

Something just fell into the water.

Might as well, if you can get to it the info without me having to plug in anywhere.

[he frowns a little and leans to the side to look before pushing to his feet]

Something like what? [leeeets go find out]

I don't know.

[Connor heads over to the edge of the water and peers across it.]

Something from the tree branches?

[luckily whatever it was is light enough to float - and before either of them have to do something silly like reaching into pools of frozen magical water, it floats to the surface.

Ben reaches down to grab it] Maybe someone hung a necklace as a—

[but he cuts off whatever he was going to say as he gets a good look the dog tags he's holding up]

[Connor was leaning out over the water and caught a glimpse of the object before Ben fished it out of the water. He recognises the style of jewellery of course, both from his database and from the US Army troops he had witnesses in Detroit.]

Those are military dog tags, right?

[boy oh boy. Ben gives them a long look, turning them over in his hand before he holds them out to Connor, expression carefully blank]

Yeah. [almost casually] They're supposed to be buried in a box in my apartment. Magic tree works.

[Taking them in hand, he only glances at them for a moment. It's all he needs to get the details from them. Yet he gets the feeling there's more sentimental value to these that can't be obtained from mere scans and observations.]

And yet this tree somehow dropped them into this lake.

[It's almost musing, the way he says it. The folklore about the tree said nothing about receiving gifts from your home reality. Then again, the folklore was vague in general.]

[he snorts, crossing his arms and shrugging loosely - or as loosely as he can, anyway.
If Connor does scan the tags, it's the standard information and all- with the same thing saved on a tiny data chip embedded on the inside of the tags, in case the tags themselves get destroyed]

Somehow. [his nose wrinkles] That's a little fucked up.

[Holding the tags out for Ben to take back, Connor can only nod. The mechanics of it all have him at a loss. Whatever interdimensional force brought them to the Fleet might be in effect here. Only, this was a tree, not a technologically advanced set of kidnappers.]

I am glad you got something worthwhile, at least.

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