[Voice Test] Connor & Peter - Seasons Greetings

[st_abilitylost]

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.

Comments

[st_abilitylost]

Connor focused as he processed the substance on his tongue. It acted much like the silk of a web building spider, but chemically it was distinct—more similar to nylon.

“I’m not eating it.” He rubbed his fingers together to encourage the polymers to degrade a bit quicker. “I’m analyzing it. This doesn’t come from your own biomass, correct?”

[st_arkintern]

Peter blinks, watching wordlessly as Connor pulls his fingers away and rubs them against one another. It takes a few long moments after Connor is done speaking for Peter to register that he was being asked a question.

"No," he says. "I made it. In science lab."

[st_abilitylost]

“I don’t have a reference pool for superheroes,” Connor began, continuing to rub the stubborn fluid between his digits, “But by most definitions, the tensile strength of your creation is formidable.”

[st_arkintern]

Peter smiles with pride.

"Yeah," he says. "Thank you. It took me a really long time to get the formula right. I still work on improving it here, too." With more limited resources than he had back at home. He'd been able to bring some stuff back from the OtherWorlds, but...

"Did you want to try my web-shooters out?"

[st_abilitylost]

Connor angled his head slightly to one side, looking between Peter’s face and the tool on his wrist. This human was considerably more generous with his time and resources than most. Human children were known to bond to their android caregivers and treat them as playmates, but generally teenagers were disillusioned.

“I wouldn’t want to waste your fluid, Peter. It seems like it was quite an effort to create and accrue. But I appreciate your offer.” Connor finally replied after a moment’s consideration.

[st_arkintern]

"There's not a lot to do here," he says. "I mean, yeah, I got classes, but most of the time I'm just messing around with stuff like my web-fluid."

That and a suit design, though that had sort-of been tabled since Tony showed up.

"If you ever change your mind, let me know."

[st_abilitylost]

“They suit you better than they would suit me.” Connor smiled briefly, folding his hands in front of himself. “My place is to simply to assist where I’m needed.”

[st_arkintern]

Peter isn't quite sure that anyone who didn't know his secret identity would tell him as much, but he accepts the compliment all the same.

Still...

My place.

"What do you want to do, though?" Peter asks.

[st_abilitylost]

When humans asked loaded questions, it was easiest to play ignorant and continue on. They had a fondness for arguing, after all. But while Peter was being generous with his time, Connor elected to be straightforward as a courtesy.

"What I 'want' is to to progress with my mission. Unfortunately, at current it seems impossible."

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah," Peter says, agreeable, because who doesn't want to progress with their mission? It had taken him weeks to acknowledge and accept their situation fully and even longer to find new objectives that could be met here, in this place. "But now that you can't, what would you want to do?"

[st_abilitylost]

“Remain alert for the earliest possible opportunity to fulfill my goal.” He’d already run through the scenarios in his head and deemed vigilance as the best course of action. He could not contact CyberLife, nor Hank, and assistance was uncertain.

[st_arkintern]

Peter finds himself wishing that he had talked to Vision even once to know if any of this were normal. Movies and TV and books had such varied depictions of androids that it was hard for Peter to know what "normal" was for androids.

Then again, was there a normal for humans, either?

Peter quickly pushes the thought away and returns mentally to the conversation at hand.

"You can't do that and something else at the same time?"

[st_abilitylost]

“I can’t afford distractions, Peter.” Connor spoke as if he was patiently talking to a student in need of clarification. “I’m programmed with only one goal in mind. I can’t stray from it.”

[st_arkintern]

"Can't?" Peter repeats. "Are you physically unable to or are you not permitted to?"

[st_abilitylost]

Connor considered his words. Humans often projected emotions onto androids—that was by design, naturally. Why else would the android design resemble humans as closely as possible? The only time he argued with Hank over this very point was when it interfered with the efficacy of their investigation. That, and the most reliable method of communication with the man was by pushing back. With softer spoken types, that wasn’t necessary.

“It is possible for me to engage in activities that don’t directly interfere with my investigation. It is impossible for me to subvert my programming by acting against my directives.” He clarified.

[st_arkintern]

"Do you know Isaac Asmiov?" he asks. There's a pause there before Peter continues. "The Three Rules of Robotics?"

[st_abilitylost]

So they both had some historical figures in common, Connore noted. He nodded. "From his famous short story, 'Runaround.'"

Connor dipped his hand into his pocket, feeling the coin that sat within. He brought it out but kept from flicking it about, merely rubbing it between his fingers with traces of the fluid on them.

"'One - A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. Two - A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. Three - A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.'" He recited, feeling the alloy warm beneath his touch.

"He added another near the end of his later novel, 'Foundation and Earth.' 'Zero - A robot may not injure humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.'"

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah," Peter says, nodding. He should have known Connor would know exactly what he was talking about -- at least if they were from similar Earths, anyway. "Is that kind of what you follow?"

[st_abilitylost]

"It's more or less what we are programmed to obey. There are those of us who deviate, however. My mission is to track down those that do." Connor flicked his coin up into the air with a sharp jerk of his thumb.

[st_arkintern]

"Are you like Deckard from Blade Runner?" he asks. He's not sure if Blade Runner exists in Connor's reality, but if Asimov did, Philip K. Dick probably did, too.

[st_abilitylost]

"Yes, something like him." Of course, Deckard was not a 'Replicant' himself. If Connor had liken the figure to anyone, he'd sooner do it to Hank. He flicked the coin into the air again. "However, the deviant threat of my world is no fiction."

[st_arkintern]

"In your world, do they kill the deviants, too?"

[st_abilitylost]

Connor caught his coin between his fingers as it came back down, turning his eyes towards it.

"If necessary." Inevitably.

[st_arkintern]

Peter's eyes briefly go from the coin and back up to Connor's face; he doesn't shy away from looking Connor in the eyes, though he visibly hesitates before he opens his mouth to speak again.

"You don't... think that they are sentient? Like humans or Asgardians or any of the other species out there?"

[st_abilitylost]

"Androids are built to replicate the human experience for the sake of humans. Deviancy is a cascading failure which culminates in irreversible breach of protocol. A build-up of multiple errors. Nothing more." Connor coldly flicked the coin to his opposite hand, quick as a flash.