Upon Vestia: Chapter Twenty-Two

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(Starts on day 15 at the Guild, I believe)

Ellie got up to sit protectively between Matt and Kay, to better protect Matt's stickers.

Asher waved to Kay, smiled brightly at Matt and Ellie, then left them to their antics. He picked up a chess set from a rec room, before returning to Hewitt's room and knocking on the door. "Hewitt? It's me again."

Hewitt looked up. "Come in then, come in." He got up and set up two chairs around a side table.

--

Matt hugged Ellie from behind. "Yeah, you gotta come through my guard terran!"

Kay shook his head. [The sooner we get you out of here, the better.] He decided, standing up and picking up a medical scanner.

"You aren't gonna hit me with that right?" Matt looked suddenly wary.

Kay rolled his eyes again and indicated that Ellie should scoot to one side so he could scan his brother.

Asher came in, balancing the board carefully on his lap, watching to make sure it didn't fall. He set the board on the table and eyed the chairs, trying to decide whether it was worth transferring himself into one or if the wheelchair's height would be okay.
Getting into a chair was so undignified.

~~
Ellie held her arms open wide like some sort of human barrier as Kay approached. "Not the star stickers!" She moved aside for Kay after a moment though so he could scan Matt.

Hewitt didn't seem to care or even really acknowledge Asher's predicament, instead starting to set the board up quite merrily.

---

Kay looked exasperated at all this foolishness and scanned Matt, looking carefully at the results.

"So.... What's that thing telling you?" Matt asked, watching Kay's face for any hints.

Kay shook his head. [That as soon as James gets back from his break, we can probably transfer you to your room.]

Matt grinned. "I get to go lay out in my room? cool. When can I wheel myself around like Asher?"

[It could be a few days, could be a week, I don't want to risk letting you move around too soon and doing more damage.]

Matt made a face. "So.. a lot more movies yeah?"

Kay nodded. [I'm afraid so. Perhaps we can set up some sort of projector for you, so you can watch more comfortably.] He smiled softly. [You're going to be alright Matt, just please, take it easy. For your own sake.]

Matt wrinkled his nose but nodded. "Sure thing doc."

[Nurse.] Kay corrected him.

Matt snickered.

After more deliberation than was really necessary, Asher stuck with the wheelchair. He moved the spare chair aside, feeling slightly rude for doing so, so he could park at the table. He'd help set up the board if there was anything left to do after his long internal debate.

~~
Ellie patted Matt's head fondly. "Yay, your own room! That's way better than here in the med bay, right?"

"totally, we can be as loud as we want there." Matt grinned.

Kay went back to his desk, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

---

Hewitt smirked and settled into his chair. "White, or black?" He asked.

Ellie watched Kay and snickered. "Yeah, we really do need to use our indoor voices in here, don't we?" She lowered her voice a conspiratorial whisper, "Hey, once you're mobile again, you. Me. Holodeck."

~~
"Black," said Asher, turning the board to match. "Puts the pressure to start the game on someone else." He smiled.

Matt grinned. "ooo what for?" He whispered back.

Kay ignored them.

--

Hewitt smiled and considered the pieces. "How long do they anticipate you'll be in that chair?" He asked conversationally as he moved a pawn forward.

"I bet they have holodeck programs for wheelchair users. We'd find you a horse to ride or something," Ellie said, still whispering.

~~
"Until we can get the replacement part ordered, and find a way to deliver it," Asher said, moving a pawn of his own. "It may have to be built to order, it has to be the right size for the android's body, and I don't they keep many spares around. Could be a few months, I suppose."

"Awesome." Matt grinned.

---

"They don't just build you all to the same specifications then? How woefully inefficient." Hewitt snorted, moving another piece. "Tell me, how much variation IS there?"

"There are eight standard android bodies MegaBrainTech produces," Asher explained. "Male and female bodies, and which each come in four body sizes of various heights. Some parts are interchangeable between models, but others are too specialized to be swapped out. Sadly the part I need is a specialized one." He moved a knight.

"But why?" Hewitt asked. "What's the point of this variety?"

Asher looked at the board in thought. "Some people want their android to look a certain way, or they just want to be able to tell two androids apart easily. Some people like short androids, or tall ones, or just want one that doesn't stand out in a crowd. It's not practical to make so many different shapes and sizes, but buyers always like a few options when they place an order."

"Terrans are a very strange species." Hewitt shook his head. "So inefficient, and yet so advanced. " He studied Asher's face critically. "They must have had help, they're far too stupid to create such an advanced artificial intelligence."

Asher smiled slightly. "They're inefficient people, but they are fairly clever. They invented their own FTL drive, and their own computers, so they're more capable than they look." He shrugged, "I can't say I know much about your culture, but from what I understand, your social conventions are very different. You don't really have family units, or strong personal attachments, right?"

Hewitt shook his head. "Our young cast off on the wind, scattered far and wide. " He waved a hand. "we have better things to do than bother with trivial matters such as sentiment and attachment." He scoffed, then paused, toying with a pawn. "I've begun to indulge such foolishness in my old age, I admit that, Amity for instance. Just a machine he may be, but he amuses me." he moved the piece. "in the end, isn't that why all creatures spend time with one another? if not for protection, then for company?"

Asher nodded. "I suppose that's why Terrans are so impractical, they develop sentimental attachments to all sorts of things. They lovingly care for their spaceships and cars, they value blood relations very highly, and they stay close to places they know and care about whenever they can. I have to wonder if androids would be the sentimental creatures we are, if we hadn't spent our lives watching and imitating our creators." He scooted a bishop forward. "There's certainly nothing wrong with growing attached to people and things. It makes life less simple, but it adds a lot of depth and meaning to it too."

Hewitt snorted. "I've had a long and meaningful life thank you very much." He moved a knight. "I understand Terrans aren't just sentimental, but ruled rather strongly by a desire to mate with everything they encounter. " he shook his head. "Such a strange species."

Asher ducked his head slightly. "I didn't mean to imply you hadn't. There are lots of ways to find meaning, it'd be silly to say there was only one." He nodded. "Their drive to mate is very strong sometimes. I don't fully understand it myself, but it's a huge part of the lives of a lot of Terrans. It makes their pop culture very strange to watch at first, but it certainly gives them inspiration for a lot of interesting stories and art."
Asher kind of had an unusual perspective on the whole thing. He sort of got the sexual humor stuff, he could laugh at that sort of joke, but the idea of wanting someone just because of some physical quality, or rejecting someone because they lacked some physical quality you needed? That didn't really make sense. It made concepts like "gay" and "straight" kind of puzzling. Not that you ever questioned those concepts, because that would be disrespectful of something that couldn't be changed. You just had to live with the knowledge that you'd never really understand them. Oh well.

"You're remarkably defensive of your creators." Hewitt observed passively. "You don't resent them for creating a being that serves unquestioningly, yet can be miserable about it? " Advanced AIs were a baffling concept to him. Of sure, the Aketi could create them if they so desired, but they were big on efficiency. The only people who created AIs as adapative and realistic as the terran androids were those created by bored engineers to see if they could. He didn't know what happened to them once the novelty wore off and both the engineer and the robot got sick of one another.

James and Skye and Mourn returned to the ship, to try and work on sending this letter.

~~
Asher shrugged. "I hate what they've done to my kind, but guess I've never been much good at holding onto resentment. I grew up around Terrans, and some of them I consider to be my friends. Yes, some of them have done horrible things to us, things that can never be forgiven. But they're individuals, not the species as a whole."
He moved a pawn. "When the androids are free, I suspect some of them will be very resentful, possibly to the point of committing violent acts against Terrans, regardless of whether the Terrans were involved in what happened to us or not. But I have no plans to take part in such violence, and I hope they'll face a fair trial, just as every living being should after committing a crime."

Skye followed them then came up to James "Should we let the others know, see if they want to add anything to the letter?"

"Hmm yeah, maybe so," James said thoughtfully. "Maybe we should make sure Mourn can do this before we get their hopes up too much, though."

Hewitt tilted his head. "How wonderfully philosophical." He chuckled, moving another piece and capturing one of Asher's pawns.
Of course androids had the same level of barbaric blood thirst as terrans, they emulated them in just about every other aspect. "Such a shame they didn't see fit to extract their shortcomings from their creations..." He mused aloud.

---

Mourn bounded toward his room to grab a computer.

"It's Mourn, he can do it." Skye said with a chuckle "Of course we could double team it and one stay with Mourn while the other goes around to see if anyone wants to add anything"

Asher smiled oddly. "They built us to learn, so we could understand our surroundings better. Sometimes we learn the ideals of the people around us instead just picking up useful context cues. There is a certain amount of natural aversion to violence in our code, I believe, even Ethan has shown some restraint in the past that I don't think was just caused by fear. It's not just the First Law that keeps us from turning violent. Still, that aversion can be ignored." He shivered a bit. Oh yes, it could certainly be ignored. "Your AIs simply don't have the mental flexibility to develop such issues, which is why they don't need the Laws to control them, right?"

~~
"True enough," James said with a grin. "Want to stay with Mourn, or would you rather go find people?"

Skye chuckled a little then shrugged "I can stay with Mourn"