I've never been good at titles, but have a robot freakout

[forwearemany]

Who: Legion and … you?
What: Arrival of one very distressed robot
When: Late May, probably 5/27 I guess
Where: 3rd year classrooms, Locker 114
Warnings: Legion has a freakout, possible mentions of topics like genocide.



A)For a few moments, the Geth that wakes up in a classroom is happy, or something approximating it. Carefree, at the very least, with only the thought of being rewarded for a task well done on their mind. Perhaps a bit of confusion-waking up? what happened to them?-but overall they were content, and mostly just idly curious when they found the tapes and decided to pop one into the VCR.

It’s … well it’s strange, to say the least. They don’t think they’ve ever been in that strange place before, and yet, it feels familiar.

"Geth do not infiltrate." The timing, the words, the intonation (or lack of it), are all a perfect match to the ones spoken in the vid. Why would Geth infiltration even be a concern? It is a question they ponder, during the blissful minutes before the video ends and it all comes rushing back to them.

Their programs are immediately occupied by the sudden flood of data, and anyone who comes by might find them standing utterly, eerily, still.

And then, they begin to shake. Their programs dedicated to movement are no longer able to process inputs or instructions, and their movements are jerky, poorly coordinated. They stumble away from the tv, smacking into a desk and falling onto it, spasming and slipping and unable to get up.


B)They are in a school. They are a student. This is impossible. They were destroyed.

This environment is a lie. They cannot trust it, or its inhabitants.

They also cannot escape.

Without any leads on what to do, they head for what their "memory" (have they been hacked) says is their locker, hoping to find their gun.

Unfortunately, when they open said locker, no gun is there to be found. It might be somewhat humorous, actually, the way they pause, pull out a T-shirt that says Not A Robot, and just … stare at it. At least until they haul off and slam the locker door in a rage.

Comments

B

[improbablenotimpossible]

"...Well this place has a twisted sense of humor," The Detective murmurs drily as the... machine... robot? slams the locker door.

"Still trying to get yourself oriented with this place?"

[forwearemany]

Immediately, they whip around, headflaps flaring, posture defensive. The shirt is dropped to the floor, forgotten.

They stare at him, the lights on the side of their face glowing red, and say nothing.

He is organic. Organics destroyed them.

What are his intentions?

[improbablenotimpossible]

He held his hands up to show he wasn't carrying anything. Seeing how fast they reacted, the body language... he's not entirely sure, but it reads wary?

"I'm another one who found myself suddenly aware of being here, allegedly as a student, despite it being completely illogical. And we are not the only ones who found ourselves trapped here."

[forwearemany]

Wary would be a good way to put it, yes. Wary, and large and dangerous.

"Acknowledged." They speak, finally, their voice its standard monotone. Their body language tells a more accurate story-they do not appear to be calming down. Their eye twitches, gaze flicking from one part of the surrounding hallway to another, but never quite leaving Sherlock entirely.

They consider their options for fighting and/or fleeing, should he turn hostile.

There are others who share their circumstances. They consider the possibility of alliance: would these others be willing to work alongside Geth?

Right now, it's hard for them to really believe in the sincerity of anyone expressing such a desire.

[improbablenotimpossible]

It's like a soldier certain he was in enemy sight, the thought stirred an old memory.

"My name is Sherlock Holmes, I am a Detective." He doesn't lower his hands, his eyes following the Geth's gaze. "Right now, none of us can leave the building... and I will try to answer what questions you may have."

CW: The AI situation in Mass Effect is fucked up

[forwearemany]

Detective just suggests law enforcement, which isn't exactly comforting to a being for whom it is literally illegal to even exist.

"We are Legion." The last of the Geth, murdered by organics like you, but they don't say it. They're not ready to, not just yet.

"...Why?" Why what? Why everything. Why would organics wipe the Geth out only to bring Legion here? Why make them believe they were a student? Why approach them? Why answer their questions, if he intends to do so honestly? Why bother, if he intends to lie?

...Why the poor attempt at humor that was the robot shirt?

oh most certainly.

[improbablenotimpossible]

A plurality or perhaps a network AI? A fitting choice of name if so. If he had realized Legion thought he was police, he'd be somewhat offended, but that is neither here nor there.

"That is a very good question, Legion." he couldn't help but smile slightly. "We still haven't gotten a complete picture, unfortunately. I suppose I should explain myself first, my job as a Detective is to find the truth and to seek answers, and in this case, the more information that is shared the more likely we would uncover what is really happening here. Far as we can gather, we're in a Japanese school in the year 1999," he pauses, AI... might be. "On the planet Earth," Sherlock quickly adds. "Though I'm not sure if any of those mean anything to you."

B

[closewithnewintown]

[and y'know, maybe it's her fault for not putting the cap back on her bottle of soda while she was walking. and maybe it's her fault for hearing a locker slam and thinking it's how movies make guns sound. and maybe the end result of both of these things is her tripping over her shoelaces and dropping the bottle, spilling almost the entirety of it on the ground.

doesn't make it suck less.]

... Aw. [... she looks around, sees only what is possibly a weirdly placed traffic light, and kneels down to start scooping the soda back into the bottle.]

[forwearemany]

With a burst of startled chatter, they whip around to stare in the direction of the noise.

A child. They ... relax? Well no, they don't entirely relax: where there are children there are adults protecting them, adults that will not take kindly to a large and dangerous robot being near a child.

Still, the likeliness that she herself is a danger is minimal.

They watch her, uncertain of what, exactly, to do.

[closewithnewintown]

[haha holy shit the traffic light moved.

... wait, that's actually not unusual at all. how could she have forgotten the magic moving mailboxes of her homeland.

... should she say hi. the shiny part appears to be their face. so, it'd be rude not to.



she gives a little wave.]

[forwearemany]

"Greetings."

Do traffic lights have limbs where she's from? Or crests? Their crest of headflaps visibly ripples.

She is young enough that her ability to understand and self determinate is still developing. They will not treat her poorly.

[closewithnewintown]

-- Oh, gosh, you talk! [also the honest answer to both of those questions are "it would not be unreasonable to see that.

she scrambles to her feet, wiping sticky hands off on her skirt because she's more than half feral at this point.]

Hi! I'm Stephanie. You're new, right? [because she'll be mildly unnerved if she just. never noticed this before now.]

[forwearemany]

In that case, mistaking Legion for a traffic light is also quite reasonable!

...They aren't, though.

"Yes." They are new, and they talk. "We are Legion."

A)

[moderating]

[ Nanami cant comprehend what it must be like for the other, in a way she felt this way a long time ago. Waking up to the existence of what she would be - as memories that were not her own shaping the entirety of her own existence. Taking several days of sleeping for long and random hours, attempting to regulate herself to act like a normal human being.

She watches quietly, eyes neutral and expression lacking emotional pretense. As if she too were frozen in place, waiting to jumpstart into motion. Or rather, she placed herself in waiting mode with it.

Eventually the other moves, and after letting them come to their senses she asks. ]

Welcome back, are you okay?

[forwearemany]

See, here's the problem Nanami: you don't look like a fellow synth, but an organic.

True, she is very young, and neither threatening nor hostile, but that means nothing-it was their closest, most beloved allies who gently, and with apologies, demanded that they step aside and let their people be slaughtered in the most vulnerable moment. They've just managed to stand again when her words reach them, and their head whips in her direction, flaps flaring out. They let out a long stream of alarmed chittering noises, robotic but also weirdly animal and very, very alarmed.

They take several steps back-they nearly trip again in the process, but manage to stay upright-eye twitching as they struggle between not wanting to look away from her and trying to look for an escape route. At some point, they notice a window, and abruptly launch themselves toward it, slamming hard against the glass with a ś̷̲c̴̢͍̆r̷̯͊̍ḛ̸͕͐e̷̘̕͝c̵̱̽̋h̸̜̒̚.

[moderating]

?

[ Nanami can barely comprehend human emotions, let alone a synthetic being. However from what she can derive from their actions, the flair of parts and sounds that make an amalgamation of something shes never heard before. Remaining absolutely calm, with the same face she made a moment before. With a quirked brow. Nanami waits til the other can find some sense of normalcy, but its obvious that is impossible because they jet right for the window and slide down onto the floor.

Not coming closer she waits til the other can.... Collect themselves. Her heart aches, and she knows she can do nothing for them but merely say. ]

You can't escape even if you wanted to, I've tried. [ She repeats her question in the same tone as before, as if her voice was recorded and repeated. ] Are you okay?

[forwearemany]

Her apparent lack of reaction is actually good to some degree, as it can't further feed their own panic.

Not that it helps all that much, because they pay very little attention to her actual words, instead scrambling to their feet and smashing the window hard with their arm.

...Yeah, their efforts definitely aren't working.

[moderating]

[ It's unfortunate she doesn't know what to do in this situation. They continue to throw their arm into the window which does nothing presently. Nanami steps closer only afraid the other would continue, and inevitably break them self. ]

Please stop. You'll hurt yourself.

[ Since this was within the set of rules she abides by, she can in fact say something or do something about it. That is to say... What that is, is very narrow since she's not a capable person.]

[forwearemany]

They stop their attempts to smash the window, though it's not because of her words. They see her move towards them and immediately freeze up before backing away, eye completely focused on her.

She is clearly non hostile, but it does little to ease their fears, considering the situation. Is her desire to help genuine? Is she simply seeking to 'catch them off guard'?

A)

[begetblue]

[ Turing had been on their way to the third floor when they heard the ruckus coming from one of the classrooms. Given their surroundings, it was very possible that noise would lead to danger. Still, Turing wasted no time in heading to the source of the noise; if there was more danger in their midst, they certainly couldn't warn anyone if they didn't know what it was. Turing slowly peeked their head into the room and saw...!

A fellow robot in distress?

They rushed over, but not so close that they were in danger of being smacked. What to do beyond that was still a work-in-progress. ]

W-what's wrong?!

[forwearemany]

They spasm violently at the sudden speech, flailing their flung limbs as they try to both turn in the direction of who had spoken and prepare themselves in case that person should decide to attack.

It takes them several moments to actually find Turing, because they're assuming they'll have to look up, at someone much ... taller.

Is that ... another synthetic? Their headflaps lift in something like disbelief.

"You are undamaged?"

[begetblue]

[ Turing jumped at the spasm. If they had gotten too close, they really would have been in trouble! That was also the reason they didn't approach after Legion started looking around; it was better to stay put instead of possibly making things worse by startling them even more. ]

Y-yes? Whether I am damaged or not is not the issue at hand here! Are any of your components malfunctioning? There...may be someone who can help if so, but I do not think it will be a pleasant experience.

[forwearemany]

They're not spasming now, at least. They're not really moving much at all, now that their attention is focused on Turing.

"Our creators destroyed us."

They finally move again, staring down at themselves, as though just realizing that they're somehow alive despite being fatally stabbed by Tali on Rannoch.

They look at Turing again.

"They have not attempted to harm you?"

They don't actually know if there are any Quarians to be found, but this is organic territory. It seems unlikely that a synthetic like Turing would be permitted to freely exist.

[begetblue]

"W-what?"

Grace. That was the first one to come to mind. They couldn't say that the idea of a creator disposing of their creation wasn't something unfamiliar to them. If Hayden hadn't...done what he did, they wouldn't have been alone, either. There was no ignoring that sense of betrayal regardless of whether it had happened to them or not. There was even a chill as they realized it could have happened if their initial development had gone differently.

A thought like that certainly complicated their grieving process.

As for the answer to Legion's question, there was a notable pause before they answered. Some of the humans here were more unsettling than others, and one thought it was a good idea to put them in a cabinet, but harm?

"No, they have not."

Though they did wonder if that might change.

[forwearemany]

"Our creators destroyed us."

They repeat it without hesitation. It's not shocking to them that the Quarians wanted to, just that they succeeded.

It's more shocking that no one has tried to destroy Turing. They headtilt.

"There is no hostility?"