[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]

“You ask the same questions.” And they likely came from the same place.

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah? He probably thinks the same way I do." Peter doesn't know anything about Hank, but he can only imagine that despite the cluster of issues he's dealing with, he's probably at heart a good person. "Maybe he'll show up and I'll get to meet him."

[st_abilitylost]

“I can’t anticipate the chances of that.” And no one else could, either, from what he’d asked. But the thought of seeing the lieutenant again...it was welcome.

“I think he would admire your sense of justice.” It wasn’t like Connor to give such compliments, but it felt like the right thing to say.

[st_arkintern]

Peter smiles at the compliment. "I don't know if you can anticipate the chances, but I was here for about --" Peter does the mental calculations. "-- eight or nine months before someone from my timeline showed up and he knew me but I didn't know him. Then after Quill, a lot of people from my timeline started showing up. Thor, Loki, Tony, Captain America, Bucky, Ned."

His best friend, Ned.

"Maybe you'll get lucky."

[st_abilitylost]

One of those names was inconsistent with the rest, but Connor elected not to probe. He said he was a superhero, and Captain America was as classic as it got as far as naming conventions.

"That's good to hear, Peter. Everyone deserves to have friends." Every human, that was. Their social needs were exceptional.

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah, everyone," Peter says. Including androids. "Anyway. There's a chance your friend might show up here too. It might not be calculable, but the chance is there. And if a bunch of people I know could all show up here out of the infinite number of timelines and places out there, there's a pretty good chance the lieutenant will show up here, too."

[st_abilitylost]

“Not that we could continue with our investigation, but...” Connor let that thought go unfinished.

“In any case. I don’t meant to be rude, but you never answered my question.”

[st_arkintern]

"What question?" Peter asks. He's already forgotten.

[st_abilitylost]

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

[st_arkintern]

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

[st_abilitylost]

“Does my input factor?” Connor inquired further.

[st_arkintern]

"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?"

[st_abilitylost]

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

[st_arkintern]

"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.

[st_abilitylost]

“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.”

[st_arkintern]

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.

[st_abilitylost]

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."

[st_arkintern]

"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?"

[st_abilitylost]

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

[st_arkintern]

"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.

[st_abilitylost]

"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."

[st_arkintern]

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

[st_abilitylost]

"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."

[st_arkintern]

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

[st_abilitylost]

“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.