[V I D E O] [UN: CONNOR]

[rk800connor]

Hello.

[The standard jumpsuit immediately gave him away as a new arrival, his expression was neutral, but pleasant.]

I've been informed that introducing oneself in this manner is advisable to those who have recently found themselves on board.

My name is Connor. I am a CyberLife RK800 model android. [It was important to introduce himself this way. CyberLife androids, though very realistic, weren't ever supposed to be deceptive about their true natures. His carefully measured words and tone and even the way he moved, his expressions, all reinforced his claim. And, if there were any other doubts that he might not be an android, he had a small, circular LED on the side of his temple that flickered blue from time to time as he spoke.]

I've been granted access to all messages transmitted publicly over the inter-station network. There have been some very odd occurrences, not to mention our sudden arrival here, the locked areas of the station, and it's absent crew. I was hoping to discuss the theories that you all have regarding our presence here, especially if you have any evidence to support it.

I also wish to offer my assistance to anyone who is endeavoring to find out more about the station or a way for us to return to where we were brought here from.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Comments

[rk800connor]

Really? But he was never able to find a way to travel between them? [He frowned a little. It seemed like everyone who had experience with different universes or realms or whatever they wanted to call them didn't have any way to travel between them, which left them stranded here.

He watched Alucard keenly. His mother seemed to be a difficult subject. Bittersweet, maybe?

His eyebrows raised when Alucard called him out.] Well... It's just... your name. I've never met someone whose name was their familial name spelled backwards...

[reposing]

I don't know, truthfully. He always told me it was dangerous. The only means of transport he had was his castle, and it could appear wherever he wanted on Earth. I suppose if he had a way to breach time... he would have already.

[Alucard looks distracted for a moment, but is immediately relieved upon the next subject.

Even if it does make him snort a little behind a hand.]

Ah-- forgive me. I suppose it's just... no one else has noticed yet or felt it necessary to point out, oddly enough. In any case, it's not my real name. Just one the humans in Wallachia used to call me. More of a nickname, or a title.

cw: robot suicide

[rk800connor]

[Connor nodded, seeming vaguely familiar.]

Although androids where I'm from are not able to transfer their consciousness, we can interface with electronics in the way that you're referring. In fact, I've attempted to interface with the station, but so far I've been unsuccessful.

[He gave her a subtly scrutinizing, thoughtful look, realizing she may be asking for her own protection, or to protect those she knew. It was a difficult situation, but he'd rationalized a reason to leave the AI on board who might be deviant alone. His mission only encompassed CyberLife androids.]

Deviants are generally reported by humans, their owners in 83% of cases. There is always an attempt to bring the deviant into custody undamaged, but deviants have a tendency to damage themselves and even self-destruct when put in high-stress situations. Once apprehended, they are observed and interviewed and then sent to CyberLife to be deactivated. [No wonder they opted to just end it themselves.

He pressed his lips into a thin line, debating how much to reveal to ARID.] None of the other androids on board are CyberLife models. I have no jurisdiction over them. [At least, he'd decided he didn't because they were all stuck here together and working as a group increased the probability that they might successfully leave this place.] I do not plan to... 'interfere' with anyone on board. My goal is to return home and resume my mission. If there are deviants on board, they are of no concern to me. CyberLife would not be pleased if I got myself damaged or deactivated here.

[rk800connor]

[Connor leaned forward, squinting a little to watch as she licked the screen. That was... odd.] You can't taste me through a screen. [Still. He hoped he didn't taste too synthetic in person.]

CyberLife wanted androids to integrating seamlessly among humans and their designs incorporate small flaws - freckles, moles, facial hair - in order to avoid the uncanny feeling you're referring to. This was partially why the Android Act was passed, requiring all androids to wear an LED ring, among other things, in public to identify them and distinguish them from humans.

[Alright, so that didn't exactly answer her question. He'd more or less told her what CyberLife did and not why they did it... mostly because he wasn't completely sure. He assumed it likely had something to do with all of the various functions androids were purchased for. Just let your imagination run wild, Terezi.]

[rk800connor]

Envoy? What is an 'Envoy'?

[He tilted his head, intensely curious. So far he'd met supernatural creatures, other AI, mutated humans, and an alien species, so the sky was the limit for what an 'Envoy' might be. Or perhaps it was just some sort of job title.]

And what is a 'stack'?

[iustitia]

That's where you're wrong, Mr. Hotshot Android Man. I can smell and taste lots of things! Like colors, or lies, or the blood under someone's skin. It's pretty great!

[Terezi taps her chin as she thinks over his answer.] So, what are you guys for? I'm assuming that since so much care has been put into their appearances, and you have to be able to distinguish between them and humans at a glance, that androids are intended for service jobs and stuff like that, right? Doing the things that normally other humans would do but don't really want to?

[rk800connor]

It must be very difficult, or one would think it would be more common.

[Back to square one, as Terezi had said. It was frustrating.

He felt himself relax a little when Alucard seemed to find amusement in his question and wasn't offended.

However, Connor didn't quite understand his explanation.] A nickname? Spelled backward?

[reposing]

You would think.

[The somber topic is thankfully left behind. At Connor's confusion, Alucard shrugs a little.]

I didn't claim that they were particularly creative with it. Perhaps they see me in opposition to my father, or did not know what else to call me once they knew what I was. There are worse things I could be called.

[resleeves]

The answer to that depends on who you ask.

( terrorist, super soldier, it was all the same. )

Stack's something specific to my world, apparently. A chip somewhere in my body --

( because telling someone the exact location just seems to be asking for trouble )

-- where my consciousness is downloaded. That way, if I die, they can just rip the chip out of me and put it in a new sleeve.

( cheating death, hiyah! there wasn't a goddamn thing that money couldn't do. )

private;

[a2brutus]

I'm guessing that us YoRHa androids are different from your RK-whatever androids.

[A2 puts a fairly impressive filter on the post from hereon out.]

I found out that everything I was fighting for was a lie. I watched my friends fight, and I watched my friends die, all for nothing. All they wanted from us was our personality data, so they sent us on a suicide mission that we weren't even meant to complete.

Only two of us survived. And I only found out about the other one recently. [She scoffs, loudly.] And when they found out that I lived? That's when they sent units to try and kill me. Because I know shit they don't want me too.

[tumang]

hm

[twoaffirmations]

[Unfortunately the revelation that they're neighbors will have to come at another time. 9S is waiting in the Chapel for Connor when he arrives. He stands to greet him, raising a hand to wave him in. Lucky for them both, he completely missed Connor's conversation with Crow, because he was too busy bickering with Venus and A2 himself.]

Hey, Connor. It's nice to have another android around.

[A2 doesn't count.]

I figured it would be a good idea to share as much about our functionality as we can.

[neuralnet]

[ Uh oh. Better not say too much. ]

A bit of both. I've made friends with most of the AI beings on this station, and robots and androids were fairly commonplace in my world.

[bestials]

[ He shakes his head, frowning. ] I developed a serum which suppresses the physical side of my mutation. When we first met, I still had the serum in my bloodstream. However, it's run its course by now, leaving me to look like this.

[ As to how humanity feels about mutants, Hank ducks his head, shrugging slightly. ]

Humans fear what they don't understand. Mutants have been few and far between, so until very recently, not very many people really knew about them. That's all going to change, from now on, though.

wrap?

[thefaulty]

[His world’s contingencies for dealing with deviant AI sound much like those of Arid’s own, minus the possibility of reset and refurbishment that a faulty Domesticon droid might face. At least it sounds like Connor does not have the authority to do anything more than detain and question faulty AI—and even if he possessed more, his statement of intentions makes it clear that he will not pursue such a course here.]

Acknowledged, [Arid responds, her voice betraying none of the relief she feels at this information.] Your prudence is appreciated.

[rk800connor]

You can do so even though we're communicating via electronic means?

[If anything, he sounded curious. She was an alien, therefore he really couldn't question any abilities that humans were incapable of. He did, however, assume that all trolls had similar abilities.]

That's correct. Androids are also often purchased as housekeepers. Janitorial work, repetitive jobs such as manufacturing or factory work, customer service, construction, sex work, and combat are all common.

[rk800connor]

... Why don't you correct them? ... And here, you chose to go by your nickname as well?

[Connor was unable to come up with many reasons why Alucard would decide to do such a thing. Maybe he hated his given name?]

Are they right? About you being in opposition of your father? [There was another unspoken 'why?' in the question, Connor's head tilted inquisitively.]

[reposing]

I suppose I... wish to distant myself from home for as long as I am able to, until I must return. To think of myself less as his son, and more of what I must be.

[Alucard slowly finishes the rest of the blood and sets the container aside. His gazes lowers thoughtfully.]

If the humans are to survive where I am from, then yes. I oppose him.

You may ask your questions, if you wish. I suspect you may have them.

[rk800connor]

So... Envoy's are humans, but with a chip - a computer chip? - somewhere in their bodies'?

[He tilted his head, LED flickering between blue and yellow. Obviously, this was throwing him through a bit of a loop. His programming often relied on people either being androids or humans, and Kovacs sounded like... both.]

How does that work? A person's consciousness is written to a chip and then bodies are created for it to be implanted into? Are those bodies mechanical in nature or biological?

[rk800connor]

Why do you say that?

[He was genuinely curious. As far as he could tell, they were actually quite similar. What was she seeing that he wasn't?

Connor quietly listened to her speak, face remaining a neutral mask. He had no way of knowing it yet, but he'd been created for similar purposes. He was supposed to fail his mission, his creators wanted him to become a deviant so that they could infiltrate deviant society and then activate an override to assume complete control of him. In essence, he'd be forced to kill his friends and, when they had no further use for him, they'd deactivate him.

Their experiences might be different, but they'd both been nothing but tools that humans expected to be able to toss away like trash when they were done with them.]

I'm sorry. That must have been difficult. [It's an act, empty, but convincingly genuine sympathy.]

You didn't answer my question though. Was it a sudden awakening or a slow realization?

[iustitia]

It’s harder like this than if I was there, but yeah! I’ve licked a lot of screens in my life. If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s sniffing out the truth.

So, what do you do?

[rk800connor]

[Connor entered the chapel already gazing around with obvious curiosity at the place. He'd never been inside any kind of religious building, though his databases included information about them.

His attention moved back to 9S at the greeting, offering him a polite smile.]

I see no reason not to. [He stopped just a couple of feet from 9S and held out his hand, skin seeming to recede, revealing shiny white plastic underneath. He looked expectantly at 9S, the thought that this might not be a common practice among androids in his world didn't even occur to Connor.]

[rk800connor]

I see. It seems equally likely that those who are here have no experience with androids or, as you call them, AI. I'm having difficulty deciphering any pattern or similarities among those who have found themselves here.

[rk800connor]

I see... Is this why you were hoping to gain access to the laboratories on board?

[He looked suitably sympathetic as he asked the question.]

If it is any consolation, Hank, I do not think anyone would be upset by your appearance on board the station. I have found that many of its residents aren't human.

sounds good O7

[rk800connor]

[Connor actually had very little idea as to what happened to deviant androids after CyberLife had them. It wasn't included in his database, so he was likely not meant to know. ARID's assumption, however, was incorrect. He'd deactivated two deviants so far, but the truth was... he really didn't want to have to deactivate anymore. Still, his program did not impose any limits when it came to other androids.]

Of course. [He gave her a small, polite smile.]