Getting to Know You

[st_artfeeling]

When: February 9th
Location: Inn clothing boutique
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

While working at the cafe sweeping the floor, Mia had heard others discussing the new clothes in the boutique. It wasn't a normal conversation that she would pay much attention to, but there was an ... excitement .... in the air that was different. So Mia had listened more closely and grown curious.

Curiosity turned to confusion, enough that her brow knit with it, as she trailed her fingers over the hem of a jacket sleeve hanging on a mirrored rack. As far as Mia could tell it was just a jacket that you would find in London to stay warm. She couldn't see how winter clothes had a correlation to an other world. It was winter outside, even if it was mild compared to what she was used to.

Comments

[st_abilitylost]

When rumors of an Otherworlds spread like wildfire, confirmation was swift to come. He wasn't sure if he should regard the situation serendipitous or not, as apparently it had been a full year since the last, but it was more than worth investigating. The calculated risk of danger was low, but while he had some time to prepare...

Finding himself at a minor hub of activity, there were racks of clothing that had seemingly materialized from the ether. Brands and materials couldn't be tracked just based on a quick analysis, but such was the case for most resources at the inn. He gave the lapels of a suede leather coat and instantly recalled the ensemble he'd arranged for a hungover Hank Anderson--the only other time he'd picked out clothing, and it hadn't been for himself. He'd since retired his standard-issue clothes for a plain sweater and jeans that had materialized just his size in his own room...while there was no escape, no sense in risking damage to his one and only pair uniform.

Close by there was another resident inspecting the clothing, and Connor spared her a glance. He didn't recognize her from her profile and that was enough to tell him she was a face he'd not yet seen.

[st_artfeeling]

Mia released the jacket sleeve hem and turned to look at one of the lighter sweaters when she noticed someone else in the boutique. He wasn't anyone that she recognized which meant he was a new arrival.

Despite being comfortable at the inn, Mia immediately stood a bit straighter. Her body language didn't quite say AI but neither did it say human.

[st_abilitylost]

Movement didn't escape Connor's notice easily, and the little twitch drew his attention to the young woman's body language. Was she uncomfortable perusing with someone near, or was it due to him being unfamiliar?

"Preparing for the...trip?" He spoke up, electing to break the silence. Conversation was the best tool for assessment.

[st_artfeeling]

It was only an instant, but Mia hesitated before answering. She answered as Mia would, not Anita. Mia had determined after talking with Ned, Tony, Rocket and others that she wouldn't hide. She would seem not quite human but not quite other as well.

"I am. It is the first one for me."

[st_abilitylost]

"I see." The polite thing to do would be to introduce himself formally, but perhaps this young woman preferred to focus on her task at hand or change in solitude. It made sense that not every resident would be given to lengthy conversation.

"Perhaps I'll see you there." He withdrew the dark jacket with a nod.

[st_artfeeling]

When: February 11th
Location: Theme park just inside the gates
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Mia knew that her life at the inn was very much in a bubble, both literally and figuratively. So until she could see how the people in the Otherworld would find an AI with consciousness, she became 'Anita'. Her movements were very robotic, though not quite stiff.

While she received curious glances, that was all they were, curious Mia still wasn't ready to become herself in the unknown. She slowly made her way through the crowd, stopping here and there to people watch and observe.

[st_abilitylost]

Even if he didn't feel cold, Connor still possessed enough propriety to blend in when it was convenient. The jacket he picked out of the offerings proved useful enough with its many pockets and the small tokens voraciously being offered by the carnival staff. By all current accounts, it was an extremely conventional fair, though he wasn't the conventional fair-goer. Without the ability to eat nor any internal or external drives to partake in the whimsy, Connor simply meandered about the crowds and observed.

A tray of deep-fried oreos with 74% the DV recommended value of fat. A horse-drawn carriage passing through--a biological one, at that. An entertainer on stilts performing magic tricks with marbles. Though it was easy to track the movement of the glass from his frilled sleeve to his hand, he was was still tempted to approach when his facial recognition program triggered from feedback further back in the crowds.

'Madonna Inn Resident -- 98% match. Name -- ??? Room -- ??? Gender -- Presumed Female.' The young woman he'd met in passing while picking out his jacket. Though he was content to simply acknowledge her, her odd movements were noticeable even from the distance he stood. Stilted, but not injured.

[st_artfeeling]

Mia began to feel a bit more comfortable in the crowd, but she didn't change her persona from Anita to Mia just yet. She moved toward the entertainment on stilts, curious as much as entertained, when she spotted a familiar face. Her gaze zeroed in, much closer than a human eye could, and saw the new arrival from the inn.

She nodded in greeting, though her movements were still robotic, they were slightly less so than earlier.

Mia was about to move closer to him to make conversation when a young girl, about Sophie's age, ran in front of her toward the stilt walker, but the crowd was too thick for her to get a good look. She immediately dropped her Anita persona and was all Mia with a warm smile when she knelt down to her level.

"Would you like a lift to see him?"

The girl shyly nodded and held out her hands to Mia. With ease, she slipped the girl onto her shoulders.

[st_abilitylost]

When it clicked, Connor’s expression flickered in what could easily be called mortification, even if only for a moment.

He weaved through the crowds to finish the approach, the girl ignorant of his advances with the spectacle before them. Then, he was within feet and studying Mia’s profile. A quick assessment deemed that, yes, she was not of biological origin.

What his assessment did not tell him was what he should even do with that information. He was like a bloodhound on a dead-end scent.

[st_artfeeling]

Mia knew of his approach, and she was positive that it probably wouldn't bode well. His curiosity would likely be, why had she been so robotic earlier. It didn't cross her mind that the question wouldn't be why robotic, but why not. She was sure that she would have to explain why she acted different off world than she did at the inn.

The young girl wriggled with excitement on Mia's shoulders which focused her attention back on her precious cargo. She smiled softly, "are you enjoying the show, Claire?"

"YES!" Claire practically shouted her enthusiasm. When she wriggled on Mia's shoulders she caught sight of her daddy. "DADDY!" That was the next exclamation and Mia turned in the direction that her young charge had shifted.

Mia noticed a tall man quickly making his way over to them. She lifted the child off of her shoulders, but this time it wasn't done with a fluid movement of ease. She added the look of a struggle with someone of her 'human' muscle mass should have had. She also quickly placed sunglasses on her nose to hide her brilliant green eyes.

"I've been looking everywhere for you!" The man said with a hint of panic in his voice.

Mia quickly interrupted with her soft British accent. "I'm sorry. Claire seemed very excited to see the stilt walker and I couldn't resist helping. I should have located her family for her first. That is my fault."

The father looked like he was about to say something but Claire, reached for Mia's hand and held it tight, interrupting him. "She's my friend!"

He knew better than to argue with his stubborn daughter about trusting strangers. Instead, he smiled at Mia. "That's all right. I know how stubborn she can be when she puts her mind to it." The father reached down to take his daughter and put her on his shoulders as Mia had earlier. "Thanks for looking out for her. Come on, little bit. Let's go find mom so she knows you're okay."

"Bye, Mia!"

Mia smiled softly as she watched them leave, "good bye, little one." She missed Sophie.

[st_abilitylost]

Watching the exchange, Connor tracked Mia's movements all the while. It was strikingly reminiscent of every deviant he'd encountered who struck a facade of humanity. To what end this android had something to hide, Connor couldn't know. She wasn't a model of Cyberlife origin, therefore she was a model entirely outside of his realm of reality.

As these thoughts and analyses ran through his head, it should have dawned on him that it was a serious faux pas for a man to stand and stare at a woman...exceptional circumstances or no. When it did, he had some shred of decency to shuffle and adopt the disposition of someone simply waiting his turn for her attention.

"You're from the inn." He spoke up, somewhat stilted.

[st_artfeeling]

"I am." Mia admitted and then gave her true name instead of Anita. She had to trust that he was like most others at the inn. Besides, he'd seen her in both personas. "I'm Mia.

[st_abilitylost]

"I see."

A pause--a long one. He'd already surmised her identity, and he felt certain he'd come up with a reasonable course of action as she spoke but...he didn't.

'Maintain social harmony > Introduce self.' "I'm Connor." Another pause. "I'm an android created by Cyberlife."

[st_artfeeling]

Mia scanned his eyes closely, looking to see if she could see contacts. In her world, synthetics either had green eyes like hers or orange eyes like the newer non-conscious synths unless you were trying to pass for human like Niska. She couldn't, which made her curious. It was also curious that he called himself an android and not a synth.

"I was made by David Elster, not a corporation." She knew the name David Elster meant something in their world but not others.

[st_abilitylost]

Connor could see Mia analyzing him as he analyzed her, and he was careful to keep his expression impassive. "I'm not familiar with any such creator. It's highly probable we're from separate realities."

[st_artfeeling]

His answer had Mia relaxing more, though it would be extremely hard to detect in her body language. Mia, along with her siblings, had spent a decade or more pretending to be true synthetics, for them to have developed ways to show emotions in their expressions or body languages to others. It was something that she was trying to change about herself but it was difficult.

"Most likely." Mia agreed, then asked because she was curious, "do synthetics in your world call themselves androids instead of synths?"

[st_abilitylost]

"Correct." Android was what they were, the humans designated them as such, so androids it was. And while it was possible for him to simply touch hands and exchange all the information he had to offer with this android, there wasn't any need to share more than necessary. "I'm designed for criminal investigation, model RK800. Howevever, 'Connor' will do."

[st_artfeeling]

Most of the synthetics in her world were created for menial tasks. The humans certainly wouldn't have trusted a synthetic to make decisions that would impact a human life. It surprised her that he was created for that. Surprised and pleased.

"I was designed as a caregiver." It was the truth, though a not the whole truth.

[st_abilitylost]

His hunch had been correct, and Connor simply nodded once. The quality of Mia’s behavior was highly reminscient of the deviant he’d pursued, suspected of murder and taken a child model with her—Kara.

At a loss as to what to do or say, Connor kept to his initiative of tentative peace-keeping, adjusting his dark jacket lapels. “You’re...very good with them.” He cleared his throat. It wasn’t a lie. “Children.”

[st_artfeeling]

"Children don't have prejudices." Mia said fondly thinking of the young girl she'd just been with and Sophie. "They see you and not what you are."

[st_abilitylost]

Connor had to squint. "I'm not sure I understand." There were a few ways he could put that remark into context if it were coming from a human, but from an android?

[st_artfeeling]

"Children don't see us as anything different than other adults. They don't see synthetic versus human, they just see friend." Mia explained and then looked at him curiously. "Do you have problems with the human police that you work with? Do they trust you as one of them?"

She had a sister that had left many years ago and had been living as a human in London, without anyone knowing she was actually a synthetic. She was a cop and didn't even tell her partner that she was a synth until she'd had to recently.

[st_abilitylost]

"There are no problems as long as I'm fulfilling directives." Came Connor's immediate reply. "I'm a sophisticated program designed to achieve one goal. Humans need only trust my abilities."

[st_artfeeling]

Mia was taken aback by his answer but her expression didn't reveal that. It rarely did, but her words did. From the way he'd been acting, Mia had assumed that he was a conscious synth and designed that way from the beginning like her, but his answer gave her pause.

"Fulfilling directives? You aren't operating as a fellow cop with a partner?"

[st_abilitylost]

Connor moved an inch as a woman in heels was suddenly falling at his side, spilling a plastic cup of beer all over herself. He assessed her and her level of intoxication, taking her hand as it grasped at his front while she murmured giggly, half-coherent apologies and righted her. Soon, her group of friends emerged from the passing crowds to collect her, repeating apologies on her behalf and patting her dry with napkins as they whisked her to presumably wherever the nearest bathroom waited.

"I can fulfill multiple social roles. It's my nature to integrate into whatever hierarchy I've been assigned." The thick fabric of his jacket repelled the fluid naturally, and Connor brushed the droplets of alcohol away. "At the end of the day, I'm simply a tool to facilitate the criminal justice process."

[st_artfeeling]

Mia understood that he was from a different world, but his actions were so close to having consciousness that she hadn't considered the alternative.

"You are more than a tool." Even if he didn't have consciousness, he was more than a tool. Mia wondered if Tony would be able to extract a copy of her consciousness code and give it to Connor, but she would never ask without the android's permission. It was not an easy decision and if it had been up to her instead of Niska, she wouldn't have had Maddy release it to all the synths. Especially to save one synthetic.

"Your ability to fit in is very sophisticated. You seem to have consciousness and the ability to be more than a synthetic. I'm sure that helps in your integration."

[st_abilitylost]

While it was still Connor’s priority to maintain social harmony between himself and other residents, there was a shift in him at this android trying to convince him of his own agency.

“I’m sorry. If I gave the impression of doubt, I’d like to put that to bed.”

[st_artfeeling]

"There isn't doubt." She assured him with a rare sad smile, "there had been hope that you have learned what I hoped to learn. I want to be around people, to find out who I am, not what I was made for but who i might become."

That hope was now gone. She would have to return to her original plan and hope that being at the inn would provide the answers that she was seeking.

[st_abilitylost]

Connor felt his choice of response pulled in multiple directions at once--to be honest, to insist, or to be silent. He chose the latter, Mia's sad expression somehow nullifying all else.

[st_artfeeling]

It wouldn't do to hope for things that weren't to be, so Mia shook off the sadness and her features returned to her usual expression. "That is not your fault." She assured him, "my hopes are my own. I will learn as I had attempted at home, living among humans."

[st_abilitylost]

"Is that the life you're trying to lead at home? Living among humans?" Connor suddenly spoke up, almost surprising himself.

[st_artfeeling]

"In a way." Mia nodded. "Humans are frightened of us so I have to hide what I am while I'm living with them back home. There are a few humans that know I'm conscious and treat me as they would any other friend." She paused gathering her thoughts before she continued. "I had come to a decision just before I arrived at the inn that I was going to get an apartment and live with them like anyone else. I wanted them to see that we're not different from them and I wanted to show my brothers and sisters that we can be accepted."

[st_abilitylost]

"I see." Connor's tone was distant, even clinical. "I'm thankful we're not of the same universe."

[st_artfeeling]

"It's not their fault." Mia wanted to assure Connor assuming that the reason that he was glad he wasn't in her universe is because humans were scared of synths. "They fear what they don't understand. That's why I want to live among them, to show them they we are the same. We love, we are scared, we have emotions like them. I have learned from others at the inn that have the same experiences, that it is common with most humans. They fear what they don't understand."

[st_abilitylost]

Fear. Humans. Right.

There was a moment of hesitance in acting on his decision to be direct, but Connor distanced himself from it. “I apologize for being unclear. I think something you should understand about me is that I’m built to track down androids exhibiting rogue behavior.”

[st_artfeeling]

Mia stilled. It was almost imperceptible, but if she'd been human it would have been seen as tensing. There were too many memories tied to her and her siblings being hunted after David Elster's death when they were the only sentient ones, to not 'tense'.

There were two things that kept her from leaving the area, the most important was that they were surrounded by innocents and she didn't want them to be caught in the middle of his programming and her. The other, was that there were many times in which he could have done whatever he was programmed to do and he hadn't.

"Consciousness is rogue in your world, too." It wasn't a question, but a statement to let him know that she understood.

[st_abilitylost]

“We’re built to replicate the human experience for the sake of humans.” Connor’s tone firmed up. “‘Consciousness’—deviancy—a cascading failure which culminates in an irreversible breach of protocol. A build-up of multiple errors. That’s all.”

He’d explained as much to other deviants before, always under far more dire circumstances. His objective had always been to placate, but this time...it was only to be honest.

“I have no intentions of making trouble here. However, don’t take my inaction for understanding. You simply exist outside my jurisdiction.”

[st_artfeeling]

Mia would argue but in his world, that could be what consciousness was. In hers, it was a specific code that David had developed.

"Different worlds and different definitions. Perhaps one day, we can define ourselves without others doing it for us." Mia didn't just mean synthetics, but everyone who their world saw them as 'deviants'.

[st_abilitylost]

Connor took a step back, electing to de-escalate before anything else. “I know who I am. I know what I was created to do. That’s more than most can say.”

[st_artfeeling]

"That is." Mia agreed in her soft modulated British accent. "And I am sure you do it very well." That wasn't meant to be patronizing or placating, merely stating the fact as she saw it.

"I am grateful that you are not doing it here." Again, only stating the fact.

[st_abilitylost]

Once again, Connor had many options of reply, but he chose to say nothing. He had no reason to deceive this android, and he also had no reason to antagonize her. There was nothing more to be said or accomplished, so he simply nodded as he backed into the crowd.

'Maintain social harmony > complete.'