lostcarnival | [open] bro bro bro bro

Entry tags:

[open] bro bro bro bro

Who: Rhys and you!
When: D48-D49
Where: Various Locations
What: It's time for Rhys to make himself at home (or more likely whine that he's not the boss)
Warnings: Probably low but I'll update if anything happens

[day 48 - all around the carnival grounds - what have i gotten myself into?]

Rhys doesn't regret the decision. He doesn't regret taking a deal from some shady Ringmaster (and he hates that he'd never thought of that as a nickname for himself) to escape August and Vasquez and a bunch of killer robots that would have surely ended his life.

What he does regret is leaving Vaughn behind. Fiona and Sasha less so. But, there's still a sliver of sadness that he's here and they're not. Hopefully, whenever this whole thing ends, he'll go back and they'll forgive him.

(Though he seriously doubts that. They'll either be dead or they'll kill him.)

For the first little while, he wanders. He gets his shoes dusty (a development that makes him frown) and his hair wind blown but what else is there to do but figure things out? His lodgings, a trailer in a park surrounded by similar metallic bumps, isn't luxurious but it's not a hole in the ground.

He'll take it. He'll whine about it later.

[day 49 - anywhere that needs cleaning up around the carnival - where's a loader bot when you need one?]

Rhys regrets the decision.

As soon as he reports for work and someone slaps a mop into his hand, he regrets the decision. Janitor. A janitor again. Somewhere, Vasquez is probably laughing his ass off. The only good thing, Rhys guesses, is that whoever's in charge isn't Vasquez and won't be making him run all over the place to do menial things.

He still has to clean though and the grimace on his face as he starts mopping a dirty floor is evidence of what he thinks about that. But, he tells himself it won't be for very long. He tells himself that time will pass quickly.

He tells himself that he can drown himself in his mop bucket if it gets too bad.

Mopping isn't a hard think to do but he still mops over various people's shoes instead of telling them to move and he steps all over his own freshly cleaned floors more than once.

The third time he does that, he curses loudly and then looks around, hoping no one's heard that. He hasn't memorized all the rules but he's pretty sure cursing on the job is frowned upon.

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"Well, if it was dangerous, I would let it inside of me?" Rhys asks. The answer is yes, absolutely yes, especially if he thought it would give him an edge. Jack's residence in his head isn't because of that but if he'd had thought for a second that Jack's presence could help him rise in the ranks, he would have done it.

"And if I tell you, it wouldn't be a surprise, would it?" Rhys says, tsking 9S lightly. "If I let you look, you keep it between us. Promise. Swear on your mother's grave."

It occurs to Rhys a little too late that 9S is an android and probably doesn't have a mother. Oh well, hopefully the idea of how serious this is gets across anyway.

9S lets out a long drawn whine. Aw, come on! He's going to find out soon, so why not tell him? But he doesn't say that aloud, instead choosing to say, "I don't have a mother."

And what's a grave, anyway?

"Alright, alright, fine. I swear on my duty to serve mankind," even though he's technically abandoning that. Does it count if he's running away to be with another (mostly) human and help her change her world? "that if I find anything weird in your arm and eye that I'll keep it between us."

Unless it's something that he thinks someone else really, really needs to know, anyway.

Rhys balks again, still unsure but maybe someone else knowing about Jack won't be so bad. Maybe they'll even have ideas on how to get him out of there. Jack's harmless as he is and Rhys wants to keep him that way but sometimes it's hard to resist his honeyed words and extravagant promises.

"All right, fine," Rhys tells him, crossing his arms. "Don't make me regret this and if it hurts, you have to stop immediately. I've never let anyone do this voluntarily and I don't really want people digging around in my head but fine. Take a look, see what you can find and say nothing to no one if you do find something."

That's a lot of words for something 9S had thought would be a fairly simple process. There must be some kind of secret in his eye and arm... something he doesn't want people to know. Yet... if Rhys doesn't want people to know, then why is Rhys letting him look?

"Yeah, yeah. I got it the first time."

He doesn't bother correct Rhys over the fact that hacking his eye and arm shouldn't allow him to 'dig around' in his head, since surely his mind isn't mechanical? Unless... either his brain is mechanical, or there's some kind of mechanical connection? Hm. He'll really have to hack in and see.

He raises his right hand, a ring of light encircling his wrist. "Alright, hacking in."

And with that, 9S fires what appears to be a beam of light at Rhys' arm, throwing his consciousness into the arm, trying to determine the intimate details of the arm's functionality. If there's anything sentient connected to the mechanical parts, 9S would be able to communicate with them.

Rhys doesn't know what he's expecting but its not a beam of light going into his arm. He'd thought there would be some mechanical connection between 9S and himself. A beam of light isn't so bad. It tickles maybe a little but it doesn't hurt and it doesn't look weird either.

So, he just waits and watches, trying to see if he can feel the hacking happening. There'd been some attempts back home but nothing successful. Those had also been involuntarily and Rhys had fought but he's doing his best to let this happen.

Hopefully, Jack doesn't fuck things up and act like a big baby. Maybe he'll even like it, having a friend for the moment.

From the outside, it doesn't appear that 9S is moving. As an advanced android, hacking doesn't usually take long at all.

Still... He's not sure what he expected in hacking space, given all this reference to some 'surprise', but he isn't really expecting there to be what appears to be some kind of living area.

And if that's the case, that means there must be someone, something, living in here. Some kind of AI? Curious, he enters.

"...Hello?" he calls out within hacking space. His voice would only be heard by Pod 153 and anyone else occupying hacking space.

Jack hasn't had any visitors except Rhys in a long time so the sudden new voice surprises him. Not enough to make him stumble or startle but his eyes do widen and he stands up, trying to find the source of said voice.

"And who is that?" Jack singsongs, delighted. "Who has Rhys let come to visit me? I hope it's someone good. All of his other friends are boring. Useless, boring nerds with terrible fashion sense."

Well.

"Okay, August's earring is a bit nice but that's it. That's the only thing good about the lot of them. Hopefully you're better."

There really is someone here. Curious, 9S follows the voice to its source. He has to admit, he's a little excited; in all the time he's been in the Carnival, there hasn't been any AI that could come anywhere near the complexity of an android like himself.

Most people didn't even know what an AI is.

9S appears the same in this hacking space as he does out in the real world when he enters Jack's virtual room: a short boy wearing what seems to be a blindfold and a stupid shirt, cat ears poking out of his hair.

"Um, hi? My name's 9S, one of Rhys' coworkers."

"What the heck kind of name is 9S?" Jack asks, shaking his head. "It's a dumb name, that's what it is. Not strong, not legendary, not something like..."

He spreads his arms wide and affects a grandiose tone when he says, "Jack."

It's only too bad that there's no backup music to really drive the point home. Jack holds the pose for a few seconds before dropping his arms and eyeing her.

"Now, what are you doing here?" Jack asks. "Did Rhys let you into his brainmeat? Because spot's already taken. You are not welcome."

His mind automatically adds 'ass' to the end of Jack's name. It's not his fault that Jackass the android is particularly memorable! And, to be fair, he kind of is a jackass with that kind of first impression.

But man, this guy's weird. 9S shakes his head. "I'm not looking to take your spot. You can keep it."

He's quite happy in his own body, thanks.

9S folds his arms, tapping his foot. "How come you're in here, anyway? Usually an AI is inserted into its own body. It's kind of weird you're stuck in part of Rhys'. What's your purpose?"

"What's my purpose? My purpose is to keep myself alive," Jack says, waving a hand in the air. "You see, a bunch of people decided it was okay to murder me and to make sure that I didn't totally leave this world before I took my revenge, I got myself into a computer program."

It had been one of his cleverer moments, honestly. It sucked to be without his body and it sucked to be stuck in the brainmeat of someone so idiotic like Rhys was but it was better than nothing.

"As to how I got here, well, Rhysie boy needed a little help so he inserted me into his head to give himself a little advantage. And now he can't be rid of me."

Huh. Hold on.

"Wait, so you became an AI? You weren't created, but you're a human who digitised your mind?"

In a way, that's kind of disappointing. It still feels as though in a world where humans are still flourishing, there is no need for androids or other advanced AIs to be created. But it's also fascinating for a completely different reason. After all, the separation between biology and artificial life like himself always seemed like a rather significant gap. Is an AI created from the personality and memory patterns of a biological being still the same person?

"What kind of 'advantage' do you give him, anyway?"

Jack doesn't seem like a support type AI like the Pods. He really doesn't seem the type, anyway

"It all happened very fast," Jack says, waving a hand. He doesn't really want to explain because it involves talking about his death and being murdered and terrible people and he's a sensitive soul who wants to just move on with his life and take revenge on those who thought they'd take him out of this world.

"I give him the advantage of me," Jack tells her very simply. "I'm a genius both on the business side of things and the battle side of things. I know how to get things done and I'm an encyclopedia or knowledge."

He just doesn't deem Rhys worthy to share that information. Or he makes him work for it because that's incredibly entertaining. "Now, why are you asking me all these questions? You and Rhysie a thing? I thought he liked what's her name...Sasha or something."

So... Jack's functionally like Pod 153, just without the weapons and stuck inside Rhys' head? Doesn't he get bored? But the question gets derailed by Jack's question before it can leave his mouth. "What? No!"

Despite being an android, his cheeks redden. He already has a girlfriend!

"Like I said, we're coworkers. I'm here because I hacked into his mechanical parts." He quickly adds, "With his permission, of course." Not that he wouldn't hack a non-human without their permission. "But he was going on and on about how I might find something that would surprise me, so of course I wanted to know. I'm guessing the 'surprise' is you."

"Surprise!" Jack said, throwing his hands into the air before flopping down on an armchair that might not have been there a few seconds ago. He kicks his legs up and sprawls, leaning back and watching 9S carefully.

"You planning on staying long?" Jack asks, buffing his nails on his shirt. "Because I don't cook, clean or entertain. That'll be your job and I am a very discerning person so you better make it good."

9S vigorously shakes his head. Ugh, pass! He doesn't want to do Jack's cleaning!

Still... "Don't you get bored? You're trapped in Rhys' head with no way to interact with the world..."

He's certain he would get bored and frustrated very quickly if he was stuck without a body. Sure, he's been outside his body plenty of times through hacking, but that was just temporary, and often he still had ways to interact with the world.

"Oh, I've got plenty of ways to interact. It's just that no one else is able to see me," Jack says, shrugging. "Does that get boring every once in awhile? Sure. But, is it also fun to mime chopping someone's head or making crude gestures at them when they don't know it's happening? Hell yeah it is!"

That doesn't stop Jack from wanting more. He just has to be patient because Rhys isn't all that strong and soon enough, Jack's going to get control of his body. It's not as handsome as the one he was born into but it'll do.

"You gonna keep interrogating me?" Jack wonders, sighing in a long suffering fashion. "I don't tend to answer questions so easily. You caught me on a good day."

That honestly sounds like a big bore to him. What's the point of doing something like that? And if no one can see Jack, doesn't that get lonely? He just can't understand...

9S shakes his head. "No, that's all for now." He could press more, but he'll have time in the future, won't he? "But, uh... if you want someone to talk to besides Rhys, I can drop in if you get him to tell me."

Was this person offering him a friendship? That was new. And very much evidence that 9S didn't know who he was dealing with and what he'd done. That could work to his advantage in the future if Rhys keeps his big trap shut.

"I'll keep that in mind but don't you worry about me." His smile is wide and sharp, full of secrets and plans. "I'm going to be fine."

And he would be. Rhys was weak. Soon enough, Jack would be the one in control and then the fun would really begin. But, he'd remember this conversation and make sure that, if he did have to kill 9S, he'd make it a cool death.

If he says so...

"Alright then. See you around."

And with that, he withdraws from hacking space and lets his consciousness flow back into his body. What a strange guy... he's not sure what he thinks about it all. A human who digitised himself...

9S puts a hand to his chin in thought. Addressing Rhys, he says, "Well, I think I found your 'surprise'."

"You just remember you promised not to say anything," Rhys reminds him, wagging a finger in his face. "So don't. I don't want anyone trying to open up my head and take things outta there. I know he's in there but there's other important stuff in there that I kinda need."

Jack's probably gotten himself so entwined with his other modifications that if tried to take him out, he'd have to take out the ECHO eye and everything else attached and putting it in had fucking hurt. He was not going through that again.

"Just leave him alone and he'll leave us alone." Hopefully.

9S waves a hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah."

If anything, 9S is the one most likely to go poking around in Rhys' head, not other people in the Carnival. At least, that's what he thinks.

But Rhys' comments nets him a small frown, hidden behind the visor covering 9S' eyes.

"Hold on... You don't want him in there?"

9S could probably destroy Jack from within the hacking space if Rhys wanted to be rid of him, but given that Jack used to be a human, 9S doesn't feel much inclination to do so, even if Rhys wanted him to. It would be another matter if it were a machine's AI -- they weren't really people to begin with -- or another android. But an AI generated directly from the mind of a human? That's totally different.

"It's complicated," Rhys explains because it is. He doesn't really want Jack in there because he knows what Jack wants but he also wants Jack there because Jack does help.

On occasion. When he wants to and he provides Rhys with insight that he might not have seen on his own. So, it's a situation where the answer to 9S' question changes on the daily. Right now, he kind of wants Jack to stick around especially in a new place. Jack has more world experience than he does so Rhys is counting on him to help.

"He's fine where he is," Rhys eventually says. "He's not hurting me or anything. Just noisy sometimes."

"If you say so."

9S isn't convinced. But he's not going to push the point. Shifting awkwardly, 9S adds, "I, uh. Told him to tell you to tell me if he wants someone to talk to. It seems kinda lonely in there."

"Oh. That's...nice."

Rhys is pretty sure that Jack's not going to take him up on that but it's nice anyway. Giving Jack a friend might be a bad idea but maybe it'll settle him down or something. Rhys doesn't know. He's new to this whole artificial intelligence living within him sort of thing.

"I'll let you know if he needs a friend," Rhys says, nodding. "Thanks for the offer. And for not making it weird when you were in there."

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dressedtothe - 2018-05-24 15:10 (UTC) - Expand

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