st_abilitylost | [Voice Test] Connor & Peter

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[Voice Test] Connor & Peter - Seasons Greetings

Of every face that Connor’s internal database failed to recognize since the beginning of his short stay, the only source of familiarity was found in the inanimate statues of Mr. and Mrs. Claus mounted in the lobby. He recognzied then as symbols of generosity and goodwill towards all humanity, but something about the way the sculptor chose to craft their features seemed...off.

He didn’t have any business lingering and passing judgements on the craftsmanship but there was no lieutenant to bark at him for “spacing out” and it all left him at, for lack of a better phrase, a loss.

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Connor considered letting the matter go before electing to ask anyway. “I asked if you would prefer to think me sentient.”

"Yeah," Peter says without a moment's hesitation. "I do."

“Does my input factor?” Connor inquired further.

"What? You saying you don't think you're sentient?" Peter presses his lips together, thinking. "You know what it's like to be an android better than I do." That much is true. "But would you know what it's like to be sentient if you aren't actually sentient?"

“I know I’m built to give the impression of sentience.” Connor answered as honestly as he could.

"Wouldn't giving the impression of sentience just make people feel bad for using you?" Peter asks. "I mean, you don't get paid, right? Do people treat you nice?"

Most androids were not treated nice. At least not in the popular media that Peter tended to consume.

“There is a high contingency of the people who resent androids for displacing workers for our unpaid labor”. Connor explained, remaining objective. “Most don’t ascribe sentience to their machines.”

Peter pauses and thinks about how best to word this so that he doesn't get a reaction from Connor akin to I don't have feelings.

"What do you think about those people?" he asks, finally.

Connor recalled the likes of Gavin, the most antagonistic of all humans he'd personally encountered. While most were some measure of dismissive, there were some like him who felt the need to establish 'dominance' as it were. "I think it's regrettable. Humans finding themselves without means are often desperate. Angry. But taking that resentment out on androids themselves solves nothing."

"I always thought that, too." At least of the androids in media, anyway. "Are you allowed to protect yourself if a human attacks you?" It sounded like that was the case earlier. The follow-up comes before Connor can answer:

"Have you ever been attacked by a human?"

"Yes." Connor's eyes lingered to the side. "Though nothing violent enough to justify self-defense."

"How violent is violent enough to justify self-defense?"

Peter's already got this mental image of androids being shoved around and simply taking it. He hates to think that that kind of thing might be happening to Connor on the regular back home.

"Threat of disassembly, generally. By a non-affiliated human. But even that is of little consequence to my person. I can initiate memory upload and get re-deployed with a new body." Connor shrugged after a moment. "Admittedly, that wouldn't be possible here."

"You don't find that..." Peter pauses briefly to find the right word, but it doesn't come, so he settles another. "...disconcerting?"

"I find it necessary. If one physical body experiences shut down, another can simply take its place. Working alongside humans in high risk jobs, it can prevent loss of life. There's nothing disconcerting about a machine replacing another machine."

Though all androids were not so fortunate. The individuals that humans deemed unnecessary or harmful...

"It's happened once before. I try not to make a habit of it."

"Yeah, but you're not concerned now that you can't just be re-uploaded?" he asks.

“I have an internal battery that will power me independently for approximately 137 years. As long as I don’t take unnecessary risks.” The corners of Connor’s mouth minutely tightened.

"That wasn't the question, though."

“It’s an added risk. I worry about it as much as a human worries about their own bodily health, I suppose. Though I don’t have to eat or sleep.” Or fulfill most physical needs that humans did. “Provided there are no people hostile to androids, I’d assume the risk is far lesser here.”

"Mmmm."

Peter doesn't say anything for a moment.

"I don't think you're going to have any problem with the people here. Mia's an android, too, and everyone's nice to her." Not that Peter had had much of a chance to talk to her, least of all like this.

Connor’s LED blinked at that.

“An android.”

"Yeah, I haven't really talked to her, but she's pretty and people say she's nice." Peter rubs the back of his head. He probably should have talked to her by now -- she'd been here for a few months, but there was something intimidating about her, even despite her approachable personality.

It was probably all in Peter's head, though.

“I see.” Connor replied after a pause, adjusting his tie on habit. “Well. Staying vigilant in peace is all I can hope for.”

"Yeah, it's mostly peaceful here," Peter agrees. "We had some creatures attack a few months back, but that's really been the only big trouble there's been at the inn since I arrived here."

Outside the inn, during the Other Worlds? That was a different story.

“You’ve been very helpful, Peter.” Connor smiled again as he adjusted his cuffs. “I don’t have much to offer but my thanks.”

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st_arkintern - 2018-12-20 04:22 (UTC) - Expand

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