Following A Lunch

[st_abilitylost]

Connor stared at the swinging doors leading to the diner and through the ocular conjoined windows where glossy red stools and patches of sunlight were visible through. Contemplating a decision mid-execution wasn't something he usually did. Routes were planned in advance and adjusted on the fly based on new information, but he'd run across no one since his first morning at the inn. Instead, he was stuck in a self-defeating loop. All attempts to communicate with Cyberlife or even access the world wide net were unsuccessful each and every time. Even entering stasis resulted in nothing--Amanda wasn't even present in the virtual garden. Connor had opened his eyes to his designated room of pastels from a lifeless, frozen hellscape and felt no better for it. But while he still functioned, he could still investigate on foot. Gather testimonials. Seek other residents for advice.

Really, that was the only thing left.

Finally passing through the threshold, Connor took a quick stock of the diner and deemed it no different from any other--no hidden cameras or bugs. At the sight of the first body--a cook and presumably a human (though he'd learned not to assume)--Connor approached the counter. "Hello."

Comments

[st_illkindalost]

"Do people not get..." Hurley's brows furrow, like twin fuzzy caterpillars twisting upwards. "...bored?"

[st_abilitylost]

"Taking into account the amount of human labor that androids have displaced, I would say 'disenfranchised' and all the civil unrest that comes with it is a better descriptor." Connor straightened his tie as he spoke, averting his eyes towards the kitchen staff. The topic wasn't a pleasant reminder of the fever pitch that civil unrest was reaching in his own wake, but he could do nothing but be honest with this human's queries.

"My current mission relates to quelling those fears humans have."

[st_illkindalost]

Hurley hmms at that.

"What's your mission? You still doin' it here?" Hurley can't imagine Connor will have an easy time quelling fears. People here had all sorts of hangups.

[st_abilitylost]

"I assist in criminal investigations involving other androids. While operating outside my precinct's jurisdiction and no way to communicate with my handlers, I'm afraid working to fulfill this mission is currently impossible." If not for Loki's assurance he wasn't actually missing out on any work, Connor would be far more tireless than he was. That likely went for the rest of the residents as well.

"I'm sorry I can't be a patron with regards to your role." He quickly switched the subject. "I'm sure you're a very qualified cook."

[st_illkindalost]

"I'm not bad," Hurley says and he leaves it at that. He's never been really good about talking positive about himself, even though his psychologist back when he was in the hospital was always trying to get him to do things like write lists of things he liked about himself. "I am gonna have a much easier time finding work cooking than you're going to find investigating androids. There's only one other android here and she's really nice. She works here sometimes."

[st_abilitylost]

"Mia...correct?" There was a vague listlessness to Connor's gaze that sharpened the moment another android was brought up. "Is she working today?"

[st_illkindalost]

"Yeah, Mia. She's not in right now but she might be working later. We don't really have a schedule. People just show up and work when they're free." True enough, most people tended to come in on the same days and hours each week out of habit, but there was no guarantee that just because someone worked the same time/day last week that they'd do the same now.

[st_abilitylost]

"Perhaps I'll hang around for a little while. Would that be permissible?" Not just to meet this android, but reserving energy while observing the inn's patterns seemed like a good plan while he got his bearings.

[st_illkindalost]

Hurley downs the rest of his water.

"Sure," he says. "I need to get some cleaning done in the back. You gonna be okay here by yourself?"

[st_abilitylost]

"Barring any extraordinary circumstances." Though Connor said it in his usual straightforward manner, there was a questioning lilt--he didn't know what was usual and what wasn't, yet.

[st_illkindalost]

"I'll be back there if you need anything," Hurley says, thumbing the swinging door to his right. "Just come on back. I probably won't hear you if you call for me." That, Hurley had learned from experience; it was part of why he came out every few minutes just to make sure no one was waiting for him.

"Nice meeting you."

And with that, Hurley lumbers back into the kitchens.

[st_abilitylost]

"Thank you." Folding his hands, Connor merely sat quietly. Assuming what everyone said was true--and there had been no evidence to say otherwise--then he was doing much the same back in Detroit. There was a temptation to enter stasis, but it was nothing but a time sink without Amanda to consult. Another impulse was telling him to return his feeble search for the Lieutenant just to cling to some sense of direction.

No, the only thing left to do at that moment was sit. Think. Wait. Watch.

[st_ormbreaker]

The God of Thunder enters shortly after Hurley leaves, giving Connor a nod of acknowledgement as the door closes behind him. He'd seen the man around the past week or so; he probably came in with the batch of newcomers on the first.

"Is Liz working today?" he asks the newcomer, not entirely sure if he'd know who Liz was yet.

[st_abilitylost]

Right away, the android was struck by the form of the man he was faced with. Much like Steve Rogers, he had an indomitable air about him, though Connor would never have mistaken this man for a fellow machine. He simply shook his head. Hurley was the only resident on staff.

"I can fetch the cook in the back if you're seeking service."

[st_ormbreaker]

"No, I was just looking for her. She wasn't in her room, so I thought she may be here." She did tend to spend a lot of time at the restaurant, tending to the tables and doing her homework behind the counter when there wasn't anyone to serve.

Thor gestures at Connor. "You're new here."

[st_abilitylost]

Connor's dark eyes followed Thor's every movement, identifying more than a few physical characteristics that exceeded natural human limits with some covert scanning. If he had normal sensibilities, he might have felt invasive for doing so.

"My name is Connor. I'm an android created by Cyberlife. I...arrived on the first."

[st_ormbreaker]

"Thor," he answers simply. "I've been here since last June."

Thor heads behind the counter, pushes Hurley's glass and the crossword book aside and fills his own glass with ice and water. "Aside from the body," he says, spinning a finger at Connor, "is there any difference between you and a programmed AI?"

Who better to get an opinion from than an android himself?

[st_abilitylost]

Before Connor could fill in the gaps about Loki, the likely-God was already putting him on the spot. Connor squinted. "I'm not sure I understand the question. I am a programmed AI."

[st_ormbreaker]

"Then the only difference is the body," he says, thinking of the Tony AI.

[st_abilitylost]

"My body is simply a vessel. If it were to undergo irreparable damage, my consciousness could simply be uploaded into a new one." Though it seemed Thor was having a conversation with himself, it was in Connor's nature to fill in gaps wherever they existed. "It's just data to be stored or backed up as necessary."

[st_ormbreaker]

This time, Thor thinks of Ultron. They'd been fortunate enough that he hadn't uploaded himself to be uploaded into some other body at some other time. He could have done it and Thor isn't sure why he didn't.

"What if an AI is based off another person?" he asks. "What if they act just like them?"

[st_abilitylost]

Thor wasn't a difficult subject to read, and Connor could make a few educated guesses on why he was asking questions of another individual he hardly knew. Connor adjusted his sleeves, weighing different options. It was prudent not to speak too recklessly in an unfamiliar environment.

"In my world...if you will," He folded his hands loosely back on his lap, "That's not unheard of. But it's simply a high level simulation of the person it's based on."

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor tilts his glass towards him. "So even if a human uploaded their consciousness somewhere else, you don't think they're that person."

[st_abilitylost]

"You're speaking of whole brain emulation. That's something different than myself or a program modeled after an existing person." Connor tilted his head towards Thor, mirroring the gesture with the glass in a way. "That's a popular, if hypothetical, concept where I'm from, but most contemporary philosophers wouldn't ascribe the same personhood to a digitized consciousness as they would the original human. Natural consciousness should be understood as a state-dependent property of a biological system. ...That being said, there have been unregulated attempts by humans to upload their consciousness."

A beat.

"100% of attempts were unsuccessful and resulted in death soon after."

[st_ormbreaker]

There's probably no Tony Stark in Connor's world, Thor decides, though the possibility that Tony would take such a stupid risk sends a real spark of irritation up his spine.

"But they would subscribe to the idea that it's a person. Just not the same person as the one he's based upon." Perhaps he's projecting because that's his thinking; the AI for all its similarities to Tony, doesn't quite feel like the same person. Maybe if he weren't a disembodied voice speaking to him from a projection or possessing the Iron Man suit, he'd have an easier time believing that this was Tony, just in a separate body. But his heels are dug firmly into the ground. The two of them are separate entities. When Tony died, he was dead; this AI would not replace him, no matter how similar the two of them were.