Upon Vestia: Chapter Nine

First topic message reminder :

Thaila winced, "I...uhm dont remember much but that maaay of been me." He said sheepishly, "Sorry.."

Thaila snickered, "Oh I will pity."

Matt made a face. "You're so mean to me." He let go of Thalia, snickering.

"His buyer didn't sound like a bad person exactly, but James does have a way of provoking people." Asher sighed, "He developed a deep resentment of authority after I left, and began acting in ways that androids usually don't. So far he's apparently decided to stubbornly keep wearing his badge, because it gives his owner bad memories."

~~
"Maybe in the corner, so it feels more sheltered," Ellie suggested.

Shane nodded and headed for the corner and set the dolly so he could unbuckle the tree and get it in position

"I mean, who the heck would cut down a tree when they can just keep it alive? It's so much better this way," Ellie said, patting the tree's leaves and looking it over for broken twigs.
She looked at Shane, "Thanks for helping to move this thing. Wanna find some ornaments for it now?"

Kay chewed his lip thoughtfully. [I thought you weren't supposed to not wear the badge anyway? Stupid laws and all that? ] He worried, it was heartbreaking to see Asher so concerned and also surprising for him to open up about something like this. Maybe he really was going to try harder to be more open.
[Acting in ways androids don't, like you then? ] He smiled softly. [let's just hope his new owner is as understanding about it.] He was quite aware many wouldn't accept androids as being people, despite the overwhelming evidence that they were living beings.

"Find or make" Shane said as he looked at the tree "Yeah, living tree is better than a dead one."

"Owners can order their androids to not wear them when at their homes," Asher said. "Starr never gave me any orders, because that's not who she is, and I was far too nervous to ever consider doing it on my own."
"Not... exactly like me," Asher said. "More passive aggressive and," he coughed, "promiscuous. Some people really don't like androids like that."

Starrnico wrote:"Find or make" Shane said as he looked at the tree "Yeah, living tree is better than a dead one."

"Yeah. To the glitter glue and the paper!" Ellie yelled, sprinting away.

"Hey, maybe the kids can help with that" Shane said as he headed to put the dolly away before going to join her. Didn't want any kids hurt by playing on it after all.

"Yeah, unpaid child labor is the best!" Ellie cheered. "Let's get them in on this!"

Kay looked surprised, he'd never considered androids to really well.. have sex drives to be perfectly honest. I mean Asher had mentioned but at the same time he'd kinda assumed they didn't crave it like SOME organic entities did. [Some people really don't like androids in general.] He tried to look reassuring. [He'll be okay. He still has the laws right? Isn't self preservation one of them?]

"Hey, vestia, can you call the kids to the craft room, please?" Shane asked on the way to put the dolly away. "Oh, and any of the adults that want to help too. "

Asher noticed Kay's surprised look, and laughed softly. "It's more an emotional thing, than a physical need," he explained. "He's just very enthusiastic about it."
"Self preservation is a fairly low priority, and the Laws are better at handling immediate events than abstract ideas like the dangers of making people angry, but you're right, he's not stupid and he'll look out for himself," Asher said. "I just worry sometimes, you know."

Starrnico wrote:"Hey, vestia, can you call the kids to the craft room, please?" Shane asked on the way to put the dolly away. "Oh, and any of the adults that want to help too. "

"Sure thing," Vestia would send out a call to where the kids were, as well as to any adults who looked like they might want to do arts and crafts.

Kay nodded. [I understand completely. Remember, I have three idiot brothers and a sister to worry about. And two of my brothers are REALLY really stupid.] He smiled softly and reached out a hand to pat Asher reassuringly on the shoulder. [In fact, I don't actually know where my younger brother IS. ] He shook his head. [I'm sure your brother is far more sensible than you give him credit for, or at least, not quite so self destructive as you may believe.]

Shane put the dolly away and headed back to the craft room, smiling and waving to Skye and the kids that had arrived when he got there.

Asher smiled gratefully, remembering what Matt had told him earlier. Yeah, acting ridiculous didn't mean you were necessarily stupid. "I'm sure you're right, he's survived this long anyway," Asher said.

Ellie flopped down on the floor and started cutting star shapes out of a piece of paper, handing them to the kids to draw on with glitter glue.

Skye started to cut out lines of paper to make a paper chain out of once they were colored as well.

Shane wasn't sure what to do at first, so he ended up making cotton ball snowmen to be put wherever they would go.

Kay nodded. [Least that's what we have to tell ourselves, or we'll never stop worrying.] He did wonder what Stellan was up to these days, man how long had it been? years.. he was a terrible big brother wasn't he? to be fair, Stellan was a terrible little brother so they were probably fairly even there.
[What about the other one? Are they still back on the station?] He asked, after all, Asher had previously stated there were three of them on the station.

Starrnico wrote:Skye started to cut out lines of paper to make a paper chain out of once they were colored as well.

Shane wasn't sure what to do at first, so he ended up making cotton ball snowmen to be put wherever they would go.

Ellie started drawing surprisingly scientifically accurate plants on a piece of paper, and cutting them out to use as ornaments.

flying_purple_monkfish wrote:Kay nodded. [Least that's what we have to tell ourselves, or we'll never stop worrying.]  He did wonder what Stellan was up to these days, man how long had it been? years.. he was a terrible big brother wasn't he? to be fair, Stellan was a terrible little brother so they were probably fairly even there.
[What about the other one? Are they still back on the station?] He asked, after all, Asher had previously stated there were three of them on the station.

"It's so hard to know if the people we care about will be okay," Asher agreed, "and when we do know, the news is often so bad, and we're usually unable to help anyway. It's easier to just pretend and hope."
He nodded. "Lark, our sister, is still there. She's sensible, so I don't worry about her making fatal mistakes. But what we went through, and watching us leave, hasn't been easy on her."
He paused. The events that had changed her the most, were things he had never mentioned to Kay--or anyone at all--even in passing. For the moment, he decided to go with a more simplified explanation, simply because the whole one was long, and he wasn't sure if Kay should have to take in that much at once. But it felt like what had happened while they were captives of the Family had forced him to confront who he really was, and for the first time, he was able to talk about his past without sugar-coating it.
"Lark..." he shivered slightly, "She doesn't say much about her feelings, but I've known her all her life. She's loyal, and smart, and brave. But I've watched her change over the years. And even though I believe in AI rights with every fiber of my being, I'm not sure I ever want to see her un-bound by the First Law."

Kay listened to this quietly, Asher's fears about his sister resonated deeply and he gulped a little. The laws, a leash organic beings didn't have, and one certain people probably could have done with. He didn't want to think what his youngest brother was up to these days, he'd never been entirely stable and the older he'd gotten the angrier and more violent he'd become. He couldn't be leashed, or easily controlled, which was precisely why he was such a problem. Kay loved his brother, but he also was terrified of him. He recognized that same conflict in Asher's words.

He tried to decide if he wanted to know the answer to a question he'd wanted to ask since Avia, he hated to see the pain in Asher's face, but at the same time, he felt that obligation to face every awful terrible thing in each other's pasts and try to overcome them together. Wasn't that what being a couple was about? Not hiding from the awkward uncomfortable truths. Lying to one another, hiding things had never helped, it had only made things worse.
He chewed his lip as he wrote carefully [What did they do to you all?]
He had a nasty feeling he wasn't going to like this story, but Asher had promised to be more open and after all they'd been through, it wasn't fair Asher still felt he couldn't talk about things that clearly had messed him and his family up immensely. Fair was fair, if he could unload his emotional baggage on the guy, it was only right Asher be able to do the same. If of course he wanted to, or felt comfortable doing so.
He added. [You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I understand if it hurts too much. ]

"And?" He grinned and kissed him teasingly, "You love it."


-----

While in the brig one of Matthew's crew studied Moone as he stayed seated in his courner. His slendered clawed hands tapping against his arm he silently wished the kid would get out of here. while they managed to hide his feeding habits from Vestia camera he imagined by now she would note a few of the crew having odd bite marks on their wrists. Nervously he ran his hand through his loose undercut hands clasping together as he wondered how much longer would be in this hell.

This was all he needed, someone who had a species major to realize what he was and bring up the rather brutal method of killing him on sight because of his species. He leaned his head against the wall his green markings flushing brightly against his tan skin.

Matt kissed him back. "Mmm, I dunno. Maybe I should just let you shower alone." He teased.

Asher took a deep breath. Kay’s question was a frightening one to answer, but he supposed he should at least make an attempt. What was he so afraid of, anyway? Pity? Well that was a stupid thing to be terrified of, especially when Kay had a history every bit as nasty as his own, in its own way.

“I mentioned to you how there were three of us back at the space station,” he said softly, “Originally there was one more as well. When I arrived, Emma was already there, and had been in service for several years. She was a Six Series android, every bit as intelligent and complex as the more recent series, and she took me, and the others once they arrived, under her wing, teaching us how to interact with people, what their slang meant, and the importance of figuring out what we enjoyed doing and pursuing that, even though our minds were still mostly blank at that point, and we didn’t entirely understand what ‘enjoyment’ was. She was a great teacher and sister, because she had been a confused new android once, and she had had to figure everything out by herself. We were lucky to have her, and once we were old enough to think about concepts that complex, we were extremely grateful.

“But Six Series androids had a massive defect. They had the ability to download firmware updates over the internet instead of needing to be plugged into a computer, which made them a great target for hackers. The Three Laws couldn’t be modified, or at least no one had figured out how, but smart people could still remotely install updates to Emma, and every few weeks or so, some new problem would show up, and she’d be mindless or act strange until one of us managed to boot her into recovery mode and restore the last update. It wasn’t so bad. She was fine most of the time, and the hackers weren’t irreversibly damaging her mind. She could do her work most of the time, and she was a very hard worker indeed.

“But after a few years, Administration decided they didn’t need an android with that many problems. They terminated her contract, and then they shut her down and sent her back to Mars, without letting us say our goodbyes. We don’t know precisely what they did with her, but since ninety percent of all Six Series androids were permanently deactivated and recycled for parts, and she never contacted us, we can reasonably assume that the same happened to her.”

“We were still pretty young at that point, but we could understand the concept of permanently losing someone you cared about, even if we were still too robotic to call it death. We all grieved for her, and we tried to follow her example and help each other out however we could. We did well enough, I suppose, we would talk to each other late at night when we were lonely and scared, and it did help. We missed her so much, but at least we had each other, and we could count on that always being the case, because none of us had any design flaws that could make us undesirable.”

Asher smiled sadly. “Then they sent me away anyway. We knew the chances were good that we’d probably never see each other again, and to this day, I haven’t seen either of them in person even once. But at least we could still send messages, which we did whenever we got the chance, and that helped a lot. I muddled along all right, my smartship was a decent guy, and helped me out with my confusion about the real world when he could. Everything was different, but it wasn’t bad, and all three of us were able to get used to the change.”

Asher paused for a moment to collect his thoughts, then forced himself to continue. “About three years ago, I was running some errands for my ship, on one of the less civilized planets. An anti-robot gang spotted me, and they managed to get me cornered in an alley. One of them held a knife to his arm and threatened to hurt himself if I tried to cause any trouble, and ordered to stay quiet and not move. The First Law gave me no choice but to obey completely. They told me they were doing me a favor, turning me into something less worthless that a robot, because at least scrap metal could be recycled, and then they started violently dismantling me, cheering like it was a harmless sport and not a brutal murder attempt. Eventually a police officer heard the commotion and scared them off, and hauled me back to my ship. I was catastrophically damaged, but still salvageable, and thankfully my ship was willing to fall behind schedule and take me to a service center for repairs.

“It took two weeks for them to fix me up and power me on, and I was as good as new, physically at least. But you don’t just forget when something like that happens. My siblings tried to be supportive, but I didn’t really want to talk to them, because I didn’t want them to see how depressed and nervous I was becoming. They saw through my vague, nice messages of course, and I could tell from their own messages that they were both panicking in their own ways at my weird behavior, James fighting against his own Laws in every way he could, and Lark barely veiling her disgust with organic creatures when she wrote at all. They wanted to help me, and I wanted them to just forget that anything had happened, so I kept my thoughts to myself more and more, and it ate away at all of us.” He sighed. “Knowing what I know now, I shouldn’t have blocked them out like that. It made things far worse.”

Asher looked at Kay, then at the ground. “They killed our sister, and then they tore our family apart. It’s no wonder we’re all so messed up.”

flying_purple_monkfish wrote:Matt kissed him back. "Mmm, I dunno. Maybe I should just let you shower alone." He teased.

deviously Thaila grinned as he playfully kissed him again giving matt some rsther teasing mental ideas, "Oh really?"