gotosleep_idiot | September & October Test Drive

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."

"This place is very quiet." Markus replied, as he was thinking when he first got here. It just wasn't as busy as Detroit was, there weren't many people around, and the fact that they could have had their whole conversation and not really bump into other people was telling. He had to wonder what there was to investigate here, too.

And if he ends up being here for a long time, what was he supposed to do? No revolution to lead here, he's assuming, but he's not going to settle down to be a second class citizen once again. That just wasn't going to happen.

More surprise, though maybe he shouldn't have been surprised. Of course he has a handler who reviews his memories. Of course, why didn't he think of that before? So that... oh. Oh.

"You're more brave then you let on." Markus said softly, about to reach out to touch his shoulder, before stopping again and not letting himself get close. "I had no idea. And yet you still..." He shook his head.

"Say you wouldn't get caught, no matter what. Would you get a new jacket, or are you attached to the one you have now?"

"It is. It makes it more surprising when it gets loud," Connor said. It could be very easy to walk for hours and hours without encountering anyone. He knows, he's done it. Sometimes it's even convenient. He can go shopping at night to set up surprises fairly easily because there's just no one.

Or be interrupted when he desperately needs paint to paint over a glaring reminder of his suppose denial.

"I don't feel fear," Connor said. The LED flickers yellow because he knows that's a lie. He's felt fear more than once and thanks to the deviant on the roof, he knows what it is.

Fiona frowned and cuddled into Connor's side, making more cooing fees.

"I'm a prototype. It's only natural to be constantly monitored, to check my progress, and make sure everything is working optimally. And its more efficient for them to gather data on deviants in case their scientists can figure something out that I can't," he said, ignoring Fiona's attempts to comfort. He didn't dare. "Or in case I'm destroyed and something interrupts the transfer."

"If I could get one that was an undamaged replacement, yes. Otherwise, no. I'm not going to break the Act for something as petty as fashion," he said.

That's kind of nice, actually, to be able to move about without seeing other people. Not what he's used to, but Markus could get used to some time without people looking to him for all the answers. Not a lot of time, but just a little bit of time. He didn't know how long he was going to be here, so it only made sense to get used to it instead of constantly fighting it, here.

That's what he was going with, anyway. It was easier to go with things, just like it was easier to not plan for the future and let things come as they come. That's what he'd been doing back home, it's what he could do here. Except dealing with Connor might need planning. Just a little planning, maybe.

"Liar." Markus shot back, aware of Fiona being there, and he didn't mean to be a little harsh with it. But Connor not feeling fear? Him not feeling fear? That's just such a complete lie, he has to call him on it.

"You feel fear as much as I do. As much as everyone does." He looked at Fiona. "Sorry, Fiona, please don't attack me." You know, for giving her owner emotions and all that stuff that he doesn't want to have, but clearly does.

"My question wasn't about fashion. It was a hypothetical. If you would keep what is your property from back home, something that might have sentimental value to you, or get something new, which would you choose?"

Fiona's eyes narrowed at Markus, considering. Then she lifted a fin and pointed at her eye and then pointed at Markus. She's watching you, buddy. But she can also recognize a difference between an outright attack and a connection attempt.

Connor, for his part, has gone just a little more rigid than he already was. Hard to notice, but also very definitely there, LED flickering yellow. And briefly into that red. "I did feel fear," he said. Because Amanda knows already, people already knew. "At least I assume it's what fear probably feels like. A contradiction of impulses and choosing one to combat the thing I didn't want most. I was connected to a deviant when it shot itself."

"It's a highly unpleasant sensation. And all I got was a name out of it." He could pretend that was the only time he's felt it. But he knew that wasn't true, but he'd let the implication be there.

"It's not about sentimental value. I don't have a suitable replacement. If there was one, I'd take it," Connor said.

Markus gave Fiona a little nod, letting her know he understood. The absolute absurdity was not lost on him in that moment, either, that he was letting a fish know that he understood that she was watching him and to check himself before he wrecked himself. Oh, he absolutely understood that he was living in a world that no longer made any sense.

Still, it got Connor to where he was now. He wasn't trying to attack him, not really. Just call him out on his lies, because he did it so well, and he didn't know if anyone else called him out on them. Markus had no fear about doing so.

But hearing what happened with him and the other android, the one who'd shot itself? That has Markus giving a little shudder, just thinking about that. He can't even imagine it; doesn't want to imagine it. That poor person, going through so much pain and fear, only to do that, and then poor Connor, connected in that terrible moment. Small wonder he wasn't even more screwed up. At least that he wasn't letting on.

"I'm sorry." Says sincerely, because there was no way for him to have known about all that. "A 'highly unpleasant sensation' is downplaying it some, in my opinion." There's no way that was the only time he'd felt it, of course. No way. He must have felt fear when they were getting out of Jericho, hopefully alive, but maybe Connor didn't remember that, either.

"...Why did he shoot himself?" Something must have happened for self preservation to not weigh out.

Connor himself has learned to just roll with the insanity. Mostly because he would freeze up if he tried to ponder the absurdity for any length of time so it was best reserved for the dead of night or something. Better to just nod and respond how he can in the moment.

"Perhaps, but that's how I describe it," Connor said. He mostly admits it because Nautilus has a tendency to reveal things. As is, he's still vexed there's a video of him talking to Amanda on the network that he can't delete. He's still not sure what to make of her sudden presence because surely it wasn't a nightmare. It was jusg his handler.

"I can probe memories," Connor said. "As soon as I do, an android realizes what happens, there's no way to be stealthy about the intrusion. It was more willing to shoot then to let me find Jericho," Connor said, glancing at Markus. He knows he could say something to get a reaction. A team of four, Markus would know who they were. Likely had to leave it behind because he got hurt.

Connor frowned. It. Only it, not other pronouns.

But he glances down. Fiona would get mad again. Maybe another time. He looked away. ~~And ignored the echo of protective feelings that had pushed the fear of death far enough away.~~ "It didn't have the programming power to force me out of the software, so it destroyed the hardware."

It's too much if he really thinks about it, which he's trying not to. Roll with it, go with it, just let it happen. That seems to be the name of the game right now, in regards to this place. If he was capable of it, Markus is sure he would have a headache at this point, just from everything about this place.

As it was, while Markus felt bad for this android that shot itself, it doesn't connect with him that it's anyone that he actually knows. If Connor had pressed on it, if he brought up what he knew, then he would... be confused some more. Of the four, they all managed to get back together by his time.

Shaking his head, he did wish for a moment that he hadn't asked. Because while he didn't know who it was exactly, it must be someone from Jericho, and he'd been instrumental in recruiting quite a lot of androids to there.

"Jericho needed to be protected at all costs. It was the only place any of us could be free. I wish it didn't need to cost lives, but..." Markus shook his head again. At least Simon came back to them.

"In some old, rusted place," Connor said. As he could see from how the name looked. Unfortunstely, it was a common state of areas in Detroit. The city was a combination of new and decayed. "It can't be a very good place to live."

Of course, they don't have much choice. He knows that, but it just confuses him more. Why try so hard for a life that can't be pleasant? What could be so tempting about it that they leave a straight forward, simple life.

It was just so irrational. Like what he felt from the deviant. Who wanted to live with something like that blaring in their systems?

"It's not." Markus usually wouldn't have talked much about Jericho, as was the way of things, but what did it matter now? Jericho was gone. But Connor knew-- right, no, he didn't know that. For some reason, Connor didn't know anything about Jericho, and wasn't that weird? He'd found it already.

"But most would give up anything to be free, even luxuries. If they had any luxuries to begin with." Markus had both hands in his coat, so Connor couldn't see how one of them balled up into a fist. Thinking about the way androids had been treated, what happened to North, what happened to them all, it always got to him.

"What's worse, being mistreated in a gilded cage, or living in freedom in squalor? It's not the most ideal situation, and that's what we're looking to change. Those shouldn't be our only two options."

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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