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Who: the Vision and YOU
Broadcast: Video
Action: On Lyndia
When: Video is now, action through the duration of the system

[Video Broadcast]

[The video clicks on to a tunnel opening up to a spectacular cavern with what looks like a lava waterfall, casting an orange-red light onto the surroundings even though it's fairly distant. After a good long moment, the view swings back to the tunnel where a few sparkling rocks are embedded in the gray stone walls.]

I'm pleased to report that one can indeed find diamonds down in the lower mines, though they tend to appear rather close to lava flows. I'd advise caution if you'd like to seek them out, but I am reliably told the natives will craft them into a number of tools for you if you can acquire them.

[There's a brief hissing sound from behind the camera, and he quickly sets it down. The sounds of a scuffle and a high-pitched screech are heard, and after a moment he picks it back up again.]

Ah, and do watch out for the cave spiders if you traverse this deep. They're rather large.

[Action throughout the month]

[The Vision doesn't spend all of his time looking for underground treasures, of course. This is a great planet for some flying, especially when it means checking out some staggeringly giant trees and looking for novel fruits to bring home for testing, or gathering wood for various construction projects. There's also all of the neat tech to be found in the populated areas underground, so he can also be found shopping for upgrades, new media for the library, spare parts, and of course creature comforts. Maybe they even have some donut powder! And since it's been so very long, he can even be found at the water park wearing a ridiculous little yellow Speedo and looking like he's thoroughly enjoying the screaming crowds of young people on inflatable tubes.

Lastly, for those few who might remember, his birthday was officially set as May 16th last time he was in the Fleet, and it's quickly approaching....]

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[Connor has a lot of time on his hands. This doesn't strike him as unusual as it did months ago when he first arrived in the Fleet. He's thoroughly acclimated now to the different pace and priorities here, compared to his frankly chaotic week working with the DPD.

Since he's waiting the requisite number of days to obtain the gun he'd purchased, he's spending his time perusing the technology stores in the city instead. It's still intriguing how some of the technology far outstrips that of his own world, but when it comes to robotics-related wares it's only on par, at best. It's in one of these places that he finds Vision, and brightens immediately. It's been a while since they've spoken.]

Vision, hello. What are you looking for?

Hello, Connor. [He smiles warmly and offers his hand for a shake.]

Oh, the usual - looking to diversify the entertainment selections aboard the Twin Roses, investigating the various plant species to see if any would make a good addition to my garden, perusing the technology to see if there's anything worth integrating.

[He gestures over at some cute little space roombas.] In particular, I wonder if these would be a suitable replacement for a janitor's cleaning bots or if they'd only be bait for my captain's pet direwolf.

[He shakes Vision's hand in turn.]

I find the ones that the Fleet provides can be... temperamental. [Not solely because Connor decided to mess with one and it reacted poorly. But definitely partly because of that.] Do they have any additional capabilities?

They seem largely equivalent, according to the specifications. I'm curious primarily because my ship hasn't had a janitor in some time.

[He smiles a little, remembering Castle and his bots.]

Oh, I adapted the programming of the ones we used to have until they behaved well. Are you have issues with any of them that seem to be software in nature, rather than due to the questionable hardware they're built on?

Most of the Fleet ships are missing at least several core personnel. It's been that way ever since I arrived.

[It's still a concern, though after several months here Connor's come to accept that it's just... a fact, here. Clearly the ships operate fine without a full contingent.]

The Starduck doesn't have its own, so I can't say. The ones on the Iskaulit however have alarm systems built in if they're removed from certain areas.

It wasn't always that way. My ship had twelve crew once, instead of half that. They were all full to bursting, and a new ship even appeared to take up the excess. Now? The Paisley is gone entirely, and we've had, what, four different fusing ships?

[He shakes his head. It's very bizarre.]

Ah, that would do it. They could probably be overridden, but they do serve a purpose in their locations. Now, something like this one--[he taps the display for a little cleaning bot]--you could both use for its intended purpose and add in a memory cache, if you had any information you wanted to store externally.

I have often wondered about that, given they're clearly designed for more people than any of them actually have.

[Connor knows from reviewing the records that it wasn't always the case. The ships, as Vision says, used to have full contingents. He isn't clear on why that changed.]

I take your point. [He's a little dry there, because they both know why that would be important.] Our ship doesn't need much in terms of cleaning. I do have a tablet that Ben gave me which isn't part of the Fleet grid.

We spent good money to upgrade the ship to higher capacity, back when it was the Windrose. [Does he sound a little grumpy? He might sound a little grumpy.]

Ah, excellent. I've a few devices myself that can connect to it. [Is it ridiculous that he has to use a device at all? Yes. Is it so that he can bypass whatever interference the augment might be providing? As much as he can.] Admittedly, I've not used it much, but it is there if I should need it. Though I don't think I know Ben?

It must have been a very different time.

[Just an observation. Connor's never seen this place at its busiest. Though now the subject of Ben has him more subdued.]

Bentley Douglass. He was in the Fleet until a few weeks ago. He was one of the first people I spoke with here.

In some ways, yes. In others, it was remarkably similar.

[Ah, he knows that tone. The Vision nods, modulating his tone to be a little softer.]

Someone you would consider a friend?

[It doesn't take Connor long to determine an answer for that.]

Yes ... I would. I haven't been in this kind of situation before. I'm not sure how I'm meant to respond to it.

[He had responded by not responding, mostly. One day Ben had just been gone from the manifests, and Connor knew what that meant. It didn't stop him feeling twisted up about it. While he's been separated from Hank for quite some time now, Connor assumes he'll return home eventually and see the man again.

With Ben? There might not be an opportunity.]

[A shift in his posture shows the Vision is now focusing his attention entirely on Connor, and he nods solemnly. Connor's young enough that that's entirely expected.]

It's difficult here. During the normal course of my life, there are only two ways to lose someone. Either they are dead and gone, or they are out of the sphere of your life for the moment but still accessible, still there. We may, for example, have a fight with someone we consider a close friend and be too stubborn to reach out and apologize. Yet that's different, because you know they are there, only a phone call away if you choose.

When someone leaves the Fleet, especially someone from a different timeline, there is every possibility that you will never see them again. [They could return - Winter had, and Makie, but there were so many more that hadn't. And even those who return can be easily lost again.] It's not inappropriate to feel grief.

It's highly likely.

[He does agree with that assessment. The LED spins yellow for a couple of seconds before it settles again. This is something he's already considered from several angles over the last few weeks.]

Ben came from Detroit, like I did, but a much later point in time. It's also a different version of Earth. Whatever similarities there are, there are differences that can't be reconciled.

[The existence of androids at any point in Ben's history, for one.]

My understanding of grief is that it was mainly a response to death. I've seen that, more than once.

[Connor hasn't felt it, though, and while he expects he would be able to apply that understanding if he did ... he doesn't know. Deviancy has no guidelines.]

A common misconception. Any loss can spark grief. One can grieve because political pressures prevent them from going home, or because a work of art meets with an accident that mars it.

[And one way of dealing with it, actually, is exactly what Connor is already doing - telling other people what they've lost and why it's important to them.]

But you found the similarities between you two, didn't you? And it was enough to spark friendship. That is not a small thing. [He smiles, though his eyes are sad.] You probably had more life experiences in common with Ben than with myself, yet I still consider you a friend. Finding understanding through what we have in common rather than finding strife in our differences is how we will shape a society that embraces us.

Yes ... I think we did.

[Because Ben had also been part of the Detroit Police, even if he wasn't any longer. For someone who had spent most of his pre-Fleet life doing police work, that connection couldn't be understated.]

But only in some ways. The understanding I have with you is different, yet no less important. [He shakes his head, rueful.] Understanding is hard to find at home. I'm grateful to have had this much here, even so far separated from my world.

I wholeheartedly agree. Understanding, and the choices we make that come with it, is what helps us to grow as people. [spoken firmly, as if the question of whether or not they're people in the first place is already established] Looking for new experiences, fitting them into your worldview or expanding it to provide context for them--they help us to become who we are, even when we're not sure who that is yet.

It would certainly be easier if life had a tutorial, but we must make do without it.

If it had one, I don't know that it would count as a life.

[Pre-scripted, pre-programmed ... those concepts had defined Connor until he became a Deviant. Even with the greater latitude he had been allowed as an RK800 prototype, he was still expected to follow the structures in place for him. It might be daunting to have no guidance but at least he's no longer fixed in place.]

[He nods to acknowledge Connor's point.]

Not until you completed it and were let out into the world at large, at least. I've had to rely a great deal on my human friends for guidance in relationships and the like. [His lips quirk up in a smile.] And media, admittedly. I rather like reading Shakespeare or watching a Disney movie when I have a bit of free time.

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shopping.

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