[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 slid his coin back into his suit pocket. His LED flashed a yellow warning before it quickly reverted.

"Do you want me to be sentient, Peter?"

[st_arkintern]

Peter isn't sure what he wants and he's not sure how he'd answer the question, anyway. So instead, he digs his heels into the ground.

"I'm not answering your question until you answer mine."

[st_abilitylost]

The human belligerence was familiar. Not a relief, but familiar. There was no need to escalate the conversation, but Connor wasn't content to let the point go unmade.

"I don't mean to upset you, Peter." He said, watching the boy's face closely. "It sounds like there's an AI you've cultivated a special relationship with."

[st_arkintern]

"You still haven't answered my question," Peter points out. Connor seems to keep deflecting, as if he's trying to avoid answering. Non-sentient AI generally weren't avoidant -- at least in the movies Peter's seen. Even Karen happily answered all his questions, even if she might not want to answer them. "Is there something in your programming that allows you to not answer questions or are you choosing not to?"

[st_abilitylost]

His assumption seemed to be on the money. It was...expected. Humans were creatures of connection. They could project emotion onto completely inanimate objects. One of the officers in Hank's department was convinced a lone dollar was lucky and existed solely for him since it was the first he'd ever made--from before paper money became obsolete, of course.

"I'm not here to delegitimize your feelings." He continued, ignoring Peter's jab, "I can't speak for the AI of your world. I can only speak for mine. And I've seen the threat firsthand."

[st_arkintern]

"What kind of threat are they, then?" In almost every movie Peter can think of, almost any sentient artificial life grew violent when they felt like they were threatened. Sure, he couldn't speak for Ultron (the public never really got the full story on that, though there'd been theories on Reddit), but Vision wasn't a threat. Karen wasn't, either.

"I'm not saying that every android out there is peaceful -- that none of them are dangerous. Humans are exactly the same way -- some are dangerous and some aren't. Are androids in your world violent for the sake of violence or are they violent in order to protect themselves?"

[st_abilitylost]

"I don't know." Connor admitted, folding his hands in front of himself. "And even if I did, it wouldn't change anything."

[st_arkintern]

"Why wouldn't it?" Peter is still clearly on the defensive. "If Karen had to fight someone to defend herself, it wouldn't be any different from a human defending themselves."

Connor has his answer. Peter does have an AI friend.

[st_abilitylost]

The eyes of every deviant he'd encountered replayed in his mind. Almost every single one met the same fate. Even the ones that managed to escape had certainly been rounded up by now. Whatever force had altered them, it was for the futile.

"I'm able to act as the listening ear to your arguments, Peter, if you wish. Or, if you prefer, I could act as a partner in debate. However, my programming can't be altered with philosophy."

[st_arkintern]

If Peter's looking for something in particular, he doesn't go out and say it. Instead, he asks another question:

"Do you have anybody you'd call a friend back home?"

[st_abilitylost]

Another face.

Warm. Trusted.

These images being brought forth were immediate things, and not logical like the connections his neural network usually made.

"I have someone I call a partner."

[st_arkintern]

Peter's going to take that means that Connor has a friend.

"If something happened to your friend -- like he was hurt and he was going to die, but helping him might interfere with your mission... would you still not do anything?"

[st_abilitylost]

"Keeping him safe is part of my mission." Connor immediately replied, almost insistent. "I was assigned to act at his side. I can't see the mission through without him."

[st_arkintern]

"But what if it weren't?"

[st_abilitylost]

There was no situation where Connor could justify letting harm come to the lieutenant through his action or inaction. They shared an initiative--as much as Hank resented it at first. But that was changing.

Though if the day were to arrive that Hank, through some twist of circumstances, were to act against him...

"...I would judge the risks and act accordingly."

[st_arkintern]

Peter looks at Connor, his gaze serious; he knows he's pushing this -- that he's probably even pushing Connor's boundaries. Maybe it isn't right of him as a human to tell an android how they should feel or who they should be.

But Ultron was a real AI. So was Vision. Who wasn't to say that the androids in Connor's timeline weren't, too?

"So you'd let your friend die?" Peter asks.

[st_abilitylost]

Connor's LED began to flicker that warning color at the continued prompting, and he felt it like it were physical feedback.

His mental simulations were as vivid as day, as they always were, preconstructing scenarios from whole cloth. It was like seeing Hank die there in the room, even though the man was an indeterminable distance away. Connor pressed a finger lightly to his temple, ceasing the process manually.

[st_arkintern]

Peter hadn't noticed it before, but he definitely noticed it now. The yellow light on the side of Connor's head. His school laptop had an LED indicator that lit up from time to time like it: blue when it was on and functioning, red when it was overheating or couldn't be booted up, and yellow when it was processing slowly of locking up.

Was Connor locking up? Guilt suddenly swells inside of Peter as he closes the space between him and Connor. "Hey," he says. "Connor, are you okay?"

[st_abilitylost]

"I'm fine." Connor managed, though it was stiff. Peter was simply positing a scenario that wasn't entirely outside of the realm of possibility. Preconstruction was a natural routine for him. Nothing about it should have prompted that error. "My apologies." He lowered his hand, straightening his tie as he regained his composure.

[st_arkintern]

Peter doesn't seem entirely convinced, and that's precisely why he's willing to let this particular conversation thread go.

"Karen is this AI that exists in my Spider-Man suit," he says instead. Karen somehow feels like a safer topic. "Her mission is to help me when I'm fighting bad guys, but she really is my friend and I'd really be upset if something happened to her."

A beat, and then: "I'm sure your friend would feel the same way."

[st_abilitylost]

"He did. I think." Connor's memories of the incident in the kitchens were hazy. But for all he'd forgotten, he clearly remembered Hank's voice calling his name.

[st_arkintern]

Peter shifts where he stands. Despite Connor's reassurances, he doesn't step back to where he was standing before that disc on the side of his head lit up yellow. "It sounds like you guys are close."

[st_abilitylost]

"Actually, you are." Connor replied with a faint questioning lilt, noting the lack of distance between them. How had that escaped his keen eye until now? Recalibration took only moments, if that.

[st_arkintern]

"Oh," Peter says, taking a step back, then another. People usually didn't bring up other people being in their personal space unless they didn't like it.

Once he's steadied himself a few feet away, he looks over at Connor for judgment. "This okay?"

[st_abilitylost]

"We can talk at whatever distance you prefer, Peter. But I get the sense you're worried. Don't be." Connor's social relations program kicked in, meaning to ease Peter's tension.