gotosleep_idiot | September & October Test Drive

((OOC: There really are. And we have a couple of options from it being slightly different parallel universes to possibly making it a Flaw for game plots or just figuring out what choices need to lie up depending how much we want to mess with the boys.))

Connor watched Markus as he spoke. Taking in his expression, his body language, all of it. And...and it's weird. He's never had a real talk with a deviant, not with one that wasn't running mostly on fight or flight. And now it's more apparent now than it had been then.

It was all very...human. Not quite right, but it definitely wasn't android. Somewhere in between and it's...he's not sure...he doesn't...

And seeing the despair on his face makes his chest feel tight. What if it had been Hank? What if it had been Miguel? Traitorous thoughts that tried to tell him he felt pain, like he did for that storm for a person who didn't exist. He didn't feel empathy, he didn't-

He had taken a step forward, a hand reaching out before he stops himself, letting his hand drop. No, he has to figure out why there's a discrepancy, they're androids, they can't just forget-

Fiona, however, has no time for this. There is a sad person there and Fiona does not stand by that and wiggles and flails out of Connor's arm. And....well, Markus, you have a fish more or less jumping over to you, what do?

[ooc: Sounds good to me, there's a lot work with in this case! I'm almost finished my app, finally, the history took a bit, but this is just so much fun!]

The fish jumped out of Connor's arms, and it feels like instinct to just... pick it up. And suddenly he has a fish in his arms, a large, giant, monster like fish, and he isn't sure what to do with it. Does it need to be petted, does it need water? He knows that Connor said they don't need as much water as a regular fish usually does, but it's still weird.

Weird but also kind of nice. Markus knows there have been studies about animals helping people with physical and emotional problems, and it's kind of funny. This fish knows that Markus is going through a hard time, is having a feeling like sadness, and it doesn't matter if he's human or not. He is feeling what he's feeling.

"Thank you, Fiona." Markus said softly, looking down at the fish in his arms, then looking at Connor.

((OOC: We'll figure out what sounds like the most fun then once all the apps and such are accepted.))

Fiona may be a fish, but she is the most try hard of fishes. She doesn't fully understand the whole around her creation and Connor being different, but she understands he's going through a lot of confusion and he Cares. And if he won't act on that care, then she's going to because she also Cares.

And since Connor is being a dumb trainer, she's going to do her best to give Markus a fishy hug, fin patting his chest and nuzzling her head against his chest.

Connor is surprised at Fiona's actions a moment. Then he lets out a small huff, the smallest hint of a smile tugging at his lips because he knows how Fiona is. Even if their history is fake, her personality remained the same and he knew how seriously she took comforting people. And as smart as Pokemon are, he can't really explain the differences between androids and human to them.

He looks up to see Markus staring and the smile vanishes. "She's good at that. If the information I retained from the storm is correct, Feebas were often treated coldly for their haggard appearance. Fiona seemed to have decided she'd just put out more love and kindness to make up for it," he said, turning and starting to walk again, expecting Markus to follow. "Pokemon are quite intelligent. More prone to instincts, but able to understand complex ideas."

"I don't know why the report is different from what you remember. It's....it's probably one of the metaphysical concepts at play and that..." He waves a hand helplessly. It's hard to process. Maybe even more so for him since he hasn't broken the programming that limits him.

Edited 2018-10-20 22:49 (UTC)

[ooc: I like that plan, sounds good to me.]

A fish was giving him a hug. Even though ending up in a strange world that wasn't his own was the weirdest thing to happen today, having a fish give him a hug was a very, very close second. And seeing Connor give a smile like that, well, that was definitely fourth or fifth on the list.

He didn't expect to see that, and so wasn't surprised when it went away just as quickly. Markus looked back down at Fiona, because he really hadn't meant to stare, but it was so surprising, he just had to keep watching it till it disappeared.

"She's been a help so far." Markus started following him again, carrying Fiona in his arms. If Pokemon were as intelligent as Connor said they were, then hopefully she understood how grateful Markus was for her caring about him like this.

"You think that there's something different going, that's not with you having read the report wrong, or someone misfiled something in the system?" Not that Markus thought either of those were viable, but it made more sense then him not knowing that his father died. Something else was at play, maybe. It didn't make any sense to him, though.

Carl was dead. He'd had to learn to accept it, and he still had a hard time doing that, but he was learning.

"She's a good helper," Connor said, voice neutral. Fiona, however, preens a bit, looking pleased at the praise. She will just keep being a good fish, offering nuzzles and gentle taps with her fin. She's kind of limited in the physical comfort thing, but she tries. She's just glad it is helping, humans can be hard. Or...machine people?

She really doesn't get the difference. A machine Pokemon was still a Pokemon.

"Carl Manfred is famous and rich. Even if they were careless enough to not take down your model and serial number, that would point more to them not caring about a broken android. Not reporting Carl as someone whose died and say his son was simply hospitalized would be such a huge error, I'm surprised they still manage to keep a job," Connor said. "And your file was distinct. I only realized it was you after I saw your serial number during the speech. You were just a suspected prototype in the file and there wasn't even a reference photo."

Connor looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. "You know chances of me actually remembering wrong are astronomically low, let alone something that was actually peculiar."

Of course, the same could be said of Markus. Even if he was damaged, that would be quite the corruption for how together he seems. "Do you remember the incident vividly? You were reported as destroyed."

Markus and Fiona were of the same mind, even if Markus didn't know it. But she got it, and if a fish could understand how there really was no difference, then why couldn't everyone else? Fiona might be the smartest being in the place.

And talented. And one of the better people in the world, though Markus knew that was all bias on his part, and he accepted it as much. It wasn't fair what he'd told him to do, to not fight back, but he understood now why Carl had said it.

Markus shrugged. "Chances might be low, but there's always still a chance." He shifted Fiona in his arms a little bit, not because she was uncomfortable for him, but in case she was uncomfortable for her. "Of course I remember it. I remember everything about what happened."

It was like it was burned into his memory. He could replay it phrase by phrase, blow by blow. "I was destroyed. Something... happened, and I woke up in the junkyard, having to put myself back together. But I remember the altercation with Leo clearly. And Carl..." How he looked as he died in his arms, how his father looked...

"I remember everything. There are no lapses in my memory."

To be fair, Fiona was of the mind of most of the population of Nautilus. Most people who got Connor's 'he's not a person speech' usually realized he was in some kind of denial of transitional phase. Markus would find quite a lot of support in Nautilus.

It's part of why Connor knows killing him would be a Bad Idea.

"I could recite the report word by word, but that is-" Connor snapped his mouth shut. Because he had been about to say callous. But Markus is a machine and he shouldn't be worried about being callous at a machine. The machine doesn't have emotions to really be upset.

....either way, he doesn't complete what he had been about to say.

Connor glanced back again. "You're an RK," he said. "An early model, but one nonetheless. Even if you were eventually a gift for a domestic setting, it wouldn't be unbelievable that some of my features were tested on you. Such as being able to operate under more physical duress than most models. Longer time without a thirium pump, damage to extremities, things along those lines."

Or, you know, will power, but where's the logic in that?

When he cuts himself off, Markus looked at him curiously. Not that he wanted to hear the report word by word, but... actually, that might not have been a terrible thing. No, wait, it would be terrible. Or maybe not. Or maybe Markus didn't know what it would be, because he didn't know if hearing about Carl more would be more painful or if it would be something he'd want to hear.

Maybe it was good that Connor had cut himself off from finishing whatever he'd been able to say, because Markus isn't sure he wanted to hear it. Still, the fact that Connor stopped was worth noting. Because it was something.

"I was definitely under physical duress." Markus commented, eyes catching onto Connor's. "I woke up missing my legs, and my regular was broken." He shifted Fiona so he could hold two fingers up to his eyes.

"And it must be obvious that one of these eyes wasn't originally mine." Markus put his hand back down, holding onto the fish with both hands. "I would have expected to be dead, but I woke back up and managed to find spare parts. It wasn't easy." Shrugging, because that was that. It wasn't easy, but he did what he had to do.

Fiona looked up at Markus and then actually kind of makes a cooing noise. A repeat of feefeefee. For a rough looking fish, she's actually got a fairly soft voice. Clearly he's in need of more comfort and her trainer is still stupid.

And really, it's the little things that give Connor away. He keeps slamming into those red walls and he doesn't even know it. Things keep slipping through the cracks, things he won't acknowledge, but are definitely not an impulse someone would program into an android.

"I had noticed the eye," he said. "It made sense with everything else. Destroyed by police, but standing and giving speeches days later. The junk yard would have a lot of spare parts. And no, it wouldn't be easy. Operational and running optimally are very different things. I could barely move without my thirium pump everytime we tested that," he said.

"Though by your logic, weren't you essentially raiding corpses?" He won't be an asshole about Carl, but he's curious about ~~his~~its reaction to that.

The fish is making cooing sounds at him now, what the hell kind of world is this? Markus didn't know what to do about the sounds, the noises coming from the fish, so he gives her a gentle little pat. A 'it's okay, I'm okay' kind of pat, because he's okay. He really is, for right now.

Well. He was okay. And then Connor brings up him raiding corpses and something dark, angry, and absolutely, one hundred percent guilty crosses his face. Because it was like that, even if he tried hard as hell not to think about it.

Tried not to think that that's what he'd been doing, because if he thought of them as just machines, then that was wrong. But-- it-- if he still had his LED, it would be spinning red for a moment before settling down into yellow.

"I guess I was." Glances sharply at Connor. "You don't need to be crass about it, though. I did what I had to do to survive, so I wouldn't die. Just like I stole so that others wouldn't have to do what I did to stay alive."

Fiona is just doing her best. And gapes at Connor too for his comment because she's smart enough to understand the accusation even if she doesn't get why it was made.

Connor watches, his own expression neutral. That certainly reads as a sore spot. Like Markus really is horrified about it. And. Guilty? Like he also feels bad he has too.

"I'm just curious how you react to do something that would be, in concept, extremely horrifying. Taking the body parts of the dead and pu-" He started.

He started because suddenly Fiona was out of Markus' hands and tackled right into Connor with a surprising amount of force for a fish that is out of water. Enough that Connor is completely taken off his feet and hits the ground with a grunt. "Fee! Fee fee feebas! Fee!"

There is now a pissed off fish yelling with it's name at Connor after tackling him to the ground.

Welcome to Nautilus, Markus.

For all that Markus is practicing a nonviolent attitude towards things-- towards people, because the revolution won't survive if it's just one violent altercation after another, he's still a person. Still has feelings, still has wants and needs. Android wants and needs, but android feelings still matter.

Still, he wanted to punch the ever living shit out of Connor in that moment. Just knock him down to the ground, get him away from him, Markus didn't so much want to hurt him as he wanted him to shut up.

He was completely taken off guard when Fiona did that for him. He just stood there, dumbstruck for a moment at what he was watching. A giant fish tackling an android to the ground, yelling some words at it.

What the hell was he supposed to do right now? Markus took a step forward. "Uh... Fiona, it's okay, you don't..." Or maybe he should just let Fiona go right ahead, because you know what, Connor kind of deserved it.

Connor absolutely deserved it.

He looks just as caught off guard as Markus because he honestly didn't expect this from Fiona until suddenly there was a tackling fish smacking his chest with her fins. Connor blinks up at the sky, recounting what just happened.

One, Pokemon really are very strong even when the fore they generate makes no damn sense. Two, he knows Fiona is a very caring fish who wants to help people and make them happy. Three, yeah, he probably should have expected this because she's a very spirited fish.

He ponders recalling her to the ball. He looks down at her and she glares at him. "FEE!"

"....I suppose it's pointless trying to explain that there was a point of me asking those questions?" He asked and she just smacked him again with her fin. "I thought as much," he said and sighed, sitting up, picking her up in his arms. "All right, I'll stop," he said.

She smacked her head on his chest. "Bas!"

Connor looked down at her, frowning. Then glaring. She glares back. There's a good ten seconds staring contest.

Connor sighed again, looked up at Markus. "I'm sorry," he said flatly and climbed to his feet.

Edited 2018-10-21 01:58 (UTC)

Again, all Markus could do was watch this happen, because there wasn't much else he could do. Fiona was the smartest damn thing in the area right now, in his opinion. Smarter them him and Connor, that was for sure, because she knew what was going on. Even if she was a fish.

But. But. She was smacking Connor with her fins and Markus had to try not to smile at it, because it really was a hilarious sight. He felt like his emotions were cycling too rapidly right now, going from the anger and shock, to this amusement, but everything was up and down, topsy-turvy.

Life was just a little too crazy these days to make much logical, rational sense of it. As Connor got up from the ground, before Markus could offer him a hand to help get back up, all he did was raise an eyebrow at him.

"You know you're not supposed to apologize unless you truly mean it." Can't help but be a little snarky back to him about it. From anger, guilt, shame, to amusement and disbelief, being snarky sounded about right.

Fiona got her shit together. No questions about her purpose or existence and if androids were alive. They are and sometimes her trainer is an ass. She just doesn't get why. Probably whatever always has him stressed.

"And I'd need to feel emotions to truly mean it, so that'll have to do," he said. And he's....kind of neutral. But also maybe sulky after being scolded by his fish. He never likes a scolding. He should be perfect and caoable! Not gettibg lectures. Certainly not from a bleeding heart of a fish.

Fiona sighs and looks at Markus helplessly. Her trainer is so dumb sometimes!

Okay, that's it, he's done. He's managed to hold back the laughter and the grins for a little bit now, but the whole thing is just so ridiculous.

When Markus starts laughing, it feels like he can't stop. Like he doesn't want to stop the laughter. It feels good, and he can't remember the last time he had laughed. Sometime with Carl, so it was days ago, but it felt like it'd been much, much longer.

Markus just looks at Fiona and he laughs. He looks at Connor and he laughs. He actually ends up turning away so he can look at somewhere anywhere else then at the two of them.

"Sorry." He finally says, still shaking his head and chuckling. "When she knocked you down, the look on your face was just..." Connor was just such an idiot, and even his fish knew it.

"I'm sorry for laughing, I just... can't help it."

Connor jumps at the sudden sound, laughter being the absolute last thing he exoected. He expected a knife in his back before laughter. He whips around, staring at Narkus, LED circling yellow.

There it was again. Almost human, but not quite, but definitely not android reading. Markus laughing. Laughter was always awkward with androids, usually stilted and fake sounding.

But this didn't seem fake. It seemed real and how? How us the malfunction so pervasive?

The situation isn't helped as Fiona joins in on the laughter and Connor looked at her in betrayal. He frowned and then finally offered dryly. "You're not supposed to apologize if you don't mean it."

Edited 2018-10-21 02:48 (UTC)

That caused some more laughter, Connor offering his own words back at him, and why was all of this so funny? It just was. It was something he found funny, and so he laughed. It was simple emotions and simple reactions, and it felt right. Markus felt alive like this, and it showed on his features.

And Fiona was laughing too, so Markus grinned at her, glad she was joining in. The look on Connor's face now made him want to continue to laugh, but he slowly let it die. Just a few more chuckles before he was calm and content again.

If he had the LED, it would be back to a steady blue, instead of the yellow and red it had been before. Markus hadn't realized how much he needed that laugh.

"I know. Luckily for you, I meant it." Even if it was worth laughing about. "There's some dirt of on your shirt now, too." Gestures to the front of his shirt where Fiona had kept bumping against him, a small smile on his lips.

"For some reason, the laughter makes me doubt your sincerity," he said. Because for a non-deviant, soulless machine, Connor is totally capable of his own snark. The paragon of no emotions right here.

Fiona at least was grinning back and looking content with the change in atmosphere. Markus was smiling, and hopefully her trainer is going to be less of a jerk about everything.

Connor looked down at his shirt and his frown deepened. "I really don't understand how someone who spends so much time in water can get dirty," he commented, starting to walk and trying to brush the dirt off his shirt. "I don't even see her play at the ocean floor that much."

"I can understand doubting it, but I promise, it was a sincere apology." He liked the snark though, and how Connor keeps trying to convince himself that he has no emotions, Markus has no idea.

He was with Fiona on hoping that Connor would be less of a jerk about things. Snark is good, but he would rather not go back to how it was before. With talking about body parts and steal--

"I think it must be a combination of water and the ground. Or maybe how clean the water is." Markus walked with him, gesturing again to his clothes. "Why are you still wearing that jacket? There has to be other clothes here for you to wear besides a damaged coat."

Through so many mental hoops and crippling fear of what it means if being deviant means being alive. "If you insist," he said in a tone that says he still doesn't quite believe him.

"The water is eerily clean. Logically, it makes sense, this world has no need for fuel or much in the way of waste," Connor said. "But it's....odd to see. It's just the dirt that gets kicked up by water currents and wildlife."

"Because there are no shops that sell the identifiers and if I ask someone to make them, they're going to ask why, and it's a roll of the dice on if I'm going to have yet another unpleasant conversation and the odds aren't in my favor."

There was the way that he could keep pressing, and needling at him to get him to believe him, but that wouldn't do much right now. Markus was sure he could be annoying about it, and then Connor would be annoying right back, and they would end up back where they started.

He liked this better. "It sounds nice, though. Less pollution in the water must make it beautiful to see. Detroit's waters are always so murky, you never want to get close to them." Muses aloud the last part. He'd spent plenty of time looking down into the Detroit water and thinking how it matched how he was feeling these days. Dark and unclear.

Markus looked at Connor in confusion. "Why bother having an identifier, then? There's no reason you need it, here, and wouldn't it make more sense to have a non-damaged jacket?"

"The people who live there seem to like it. There's been at least one beach party since I've been here," Connor said. That he had gone to with Miguel and Hector and actually 'played,' but it's not like that meant anything, right? Right, definitely not. "It was also easy to track someone through, I've found." It would have certainly been harder to chase Bobo's dark shape through the murky Detroit water.

"I'm only supposed to break the Android Act with a specific reason," he said. Undercover work for clothes, using weapons in dangerous situations. "I'd rather take exception of the weapon one, I've already broken two kitchen knives. We had a chaos storm, which is different from a reality storm for some reason, where people's nightmares showed up. It's highly inconvenient if I don't run into someone who can provide a weapon."

Which probably explains said damage on the coat.

"Are there a lot of parties, here?" Markus asked, head tilted slightly. "I would assume it'd be easier to track someone through clearer water. You're still working as an investigator?" He had some questions, and he would definitely be asking them. Connor might be able to learn things about him through pure observation, so he says, but Markus needed to talk.

All you had sometimes were words. Still, he eyed the coat as he talked, and he got what was and wasn't being said. These chaos storms must be pretty dangerous, and he had to wonder when he might experience one himself.

"I'm pretty sure you won't get in trouble here for breaking the Act." Points out lightly. "Of course, there's a difference if you want to keep the jacket." Because it was something of yours from home, Markus could understand that.

"There's been at least two. The beach and I believe a harvest festival. At least for a large scale celebration," Connor said. "And not as such. I was hoping I'd be home by now, but since it seems that isn't going to happen, I may need to speak to the Head of the Task Force. I'm just not entirely sure what one can investigate here. The population is extremely low. Tracking the number is difficult, but there seems to be less than a hundred people who can access the Network."

"I have a handler who reviews my memories," Connor said. So. That suicide mission. Maaaaaay have been a little more dangerous than he was advertising. "I'm not sure how much these world discrepancies are true, but even if I was inclined to break the rules just because I wouldn't get caught, there's still a chance I'd get caught."

TDMs are good like that.

They're great for this kind of thing, like voice testing, and I'm loving it.

Its so fun and Markus is amazing :D

I'm loving everything about his and Connor's interaction, it's so great xD

Me too. The Game robbed us of that fun emotional turmoil and I'm here for it

Yes it did, there needed to be more and I was not pleased

That is the beauty of RPland, give these characters the emotional journey they deserve

Thank god for RPland, the land of just what's needed

It really is. And sorry, Markus, Connor can be kind of a dick

Oh MAN, Connor, oh god, what a dick

Confused puppy still has wicked teeth.

It's saying something when a fish knows you're in the wrong.

Fish has high empathy and knows her trainer needs a smack

Markus and Fiona BFF now, she's a true bro

Fiona is here to be a bro and encourage Connor's emotional journey so she can be a pretty snake

Awww Fiona will become the prettiest snake ever

Gonna be a majestic beauty and still carried around by Connor

As she should. Making Connor work for her is how it's gonna be.

Working hard to make that heart

The joys of pokemon evolution~

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