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Post by Jake Palmer Calmcacil on Jan 27, 2015 23:53:53 GMT -8
*Of course, as humanlike as she could be, there were certainly some aspects that reminded him that she was an AI, such as her almost-instant response recognizing him. It caught him a little off-guard admittedly, but that was mostly because... well, through most of their interactions and definitely based on her appearance, he'd seen her as a human. And he supposed it didn't really matter, it was just something he had to get used to.
While his mind still recognized her as an AI, her answer that she was enjoying the fountain and finding it "calming" fascinated him. She was just so sophisticated... but this just reverted his mindset back to finding her perfectly human. When she asked what he was up to, he didn't think of it as a program collecting relevant data, he thought of it as a genuine person's curiosity and attempts to make small talk as he smiled and approached her.*
I just got out of class, so I came here to relax.
*He stopped before her, looking down at the empty spot on the bench next to her. His lips moved without parting before he finally stammered and spoke.*
Er, i-is it okay if I sit down?
*He blushed a little, though he wasn't sure why. He didn't think she'd mind if he sat down, but he was asking to be polite. And he didn't want to be a bother, he'd stand if that's what she preferred, though he wanted to sit next to her... Just cuz sitting was good for relaxing! That was it.*
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Post by Lanette Shan Terr on Jan 28, 2015 0:19:36 GMT -8
She blinked (another pointless gesture, really, but one that seemed to set others at ease) and tilted her head to the side.
"Of course.. Why wouldn't it be?"
She moved over a few inches to offer some extra room, then brought her legs up from over the edge to sit cross-legged and turned her attention back to the fountain, her eyes moving with each new stream emerging from the center.
"I come here to relax too. Watching the water, plotting out the way each drop falls, seeing the minute variances from all previous iterations, it gives me something to focus on."
She blinked again, her cognitive and interactive processes working together a bit too slowly, then burst into a giggle as she realized how she must have sounded.
"I'm sorry! I tend to babble.. How was class?"
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Post by Jake Palmer Calmcacil on Jan 28, 2015 0:44:06 GMT -8
*Oh, well that was a relief. But then again, of course she'd offer to let him sit down, why wouldn't she? He smiled as she offered a little more room, sliding his bag down from his shoulder and setting it down beside the bench as he took a seat beside her. She revealed that she came here to relax too, and that was nice, they shared something in common! Then again, it wasn't like there were a ton of places to relax besides the gardens...
Though he supposed there were different ways for people to enjoy the gardens, such as Lana's apparently fascinating with watching the water, plotting its... variances... iter... ... What? He stared blankly at her. Then as soon as he had forgotten, he remembered: AI. Right. Well... it was interesting, he supposed, and was more insight into the inner workings of an AI's... "thought processes."
She giggled and then apologized for "babbling," before asking how class was. Just moving right along, huh? Jake was still attempting to recover a little, then managed to smile as he attempted to brush the rambling aside and answer.*
It was okay. I had a test. It was kinda rough... I needed to come here to relax.
*And... that was it. He wasn't sure what else to say. He felt like a terrible conversationalist, that was something he needed to work on...*
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Post by Lanette Shan Terr on Jan 28, 2015 1:27:43 GMT -8
"What sorta test?"
It occurred to her that she had no idea how the education system worked here. Not that she would have any need to, after all.. Most of what was being taught, she probably already knew about.
"On that note, what sorta class?"
She uncrossed her legs again, letting them swing freely over the side of the bench, kicking them alternatingly. It was another of the habits she had picked up on, and she wasn't quite sure how it had developed, but if it made her fit in more, she wasn't going to complain too much about it.
"Cuz.. I could probably help. I'm a quick study."
She giggled again at that. Compared to an organic's thought speed, of course she was...
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Post by Jake Palmer Calmcacil on Jan 29, 2015 0:03:54 GMT -8
*What sorta test? Well, that was— What sorta class? Well of course, it was— Oh, she was offering to help if he needed it. That was nice. "Quick study"? Well, no doubt... wait, was she able to access the HoloNet via her current body? He'd never thought to check or ask, but it probably wasn't important; he'd leave it for now and nodded with a smile.*
Just History of the Galaxy... it's a lot of stuff to learn about and remember. I think I did well... Ask me anything!
*He sat up confidently as he made the challenge, then that little thought about accessing the HoloNet came to mind again, so he quickly stammered and added on a quick little condition before she could ask.*
Er, anything that's not super obscure or something, I mean anything I could learn in a class!
*Boy, that was close. He didn't want to miss a question and deflate after seeming so confident, especially not in front of Lana. Wait, why was that important? Well, whatever! He was aiming to impress and also keep his own knowledge up to scratch.*
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Post by Lanette Shan Terr on Jan 29, 2015 22:13:42 GMT -8
"Ooooh, I like history! I like reading about everything that people have done all over the galaxy, it's AMAZING what organics have been able to achieve in-.."
Perhaps a bit too late, she cut herself off, her emotional subroutines running up on "embarrassment," the HRD body correspondingly sending a blush to her cheeks.
"I mean.. uh..."
Her eyes went slightly unfocused and blurred for a split second as she sifted through her gathered archives, then snapped back into focus immediately after. Idly, she wondered if the transition was perceptible by organic standards, and if he would have noticed. More importantly, she wondered if he would make mention of it.. She loved observing interactions between people, it was what her emotionally responsive programming was based on, and there was no reason she couldn't continue to expand on that.
"What planet did Tycho Celchu go to in order to meet and defect to the Rebel Alliance?"
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Post by Jake Palmer Calmcacil on Jan 31, 2015 13:32:06 GMT -8
*Jake smiled at Lana's enthusiasm for history, and he was eager to show off his own knowledge as well. Then she made some comment about how amazing the things "organics" achieved in... and that was where she cut off, seemingly embarrassed. By what, her rambling, or her use of the term "organics"? Jake didn't particularly mind it, though he had to admit, there was something weird about being referred to as an "organic"...
... that blush was kinda cute though...
The thought made Jake blush a little himself and he looked away, missing the look in her eye as she shifted focus and attempted to come up with a suitable trivia question. Then she finally asked her question, which Tycho Celchu met with the Rebellion to defect to.*
Oh, I know this! Um...
*He'd learned this, he knew he did, and he was trying to come up with the correct answer. He'd almost gotten captured... sounded kinda like Tatooine...*
Dantooine! He was almost captured by the Empire but Luke Skywalker staged a rescue mission!
*He beamed proudly in full confidence of his answer. A little twinge at the back of his mind was fearful that he'd gotten it wrong, and that would take a blow to his confidence after he was so eager and proud a moment ago. "Please be right," his thoughts pleaded...*
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Post by Lanette Shan Terr on Jan 31, 2015 22:47:51 GMT -8
"Right!"
She giggled a little at her own enthusiasm.
"Sorry.. It's my creator's homeworld. She was a bit of a fan. So am I."
Her tone suddenly shifted, moving from the quizzical to the reminiscent. "It wasn't something she liked to talk about very often, though. She was very passionate about it when she did, but still.. I had to take the liberty of researching the planet to learn more about it."
Lana shook her head, an outward manifestation of exactly what her subroutines were programmed to emulate. She had such a habit of getting distracted..
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Post by Jake Palmer Calmcacil on Jan 31, 2015 23:53:46 GMT -8
*Correct! Phew... er... of course he was right! Jake beamed proudly for a moment, but couldn't hold it for long and blushed at his display. He really needed to stop trying to show off when it really didn't suit him nor mesh with his personality...
Fortunately, it seemed Lana had been just as enthusiastic about his answer as well, which was surprising but pleasing. Oh, wait, it wasn't because he got it right— well, it sorta was, but it was mostly because where her creator was from. Right, her creator, um... what was her name? At least he was sure it was the girl, and not the doctor who came with them, especially since Lana was talking about a "she"...
Apparently, Lana's creator didn't like talking about the planet often, but was really passionate about it when she did. Lana had taken it upon herself to research more about the planet... and as a result that had probably been why she had asked a question about Dantooine itself. Her creator though... Jake didn't know anything about her. Since Lana hadn't asked anymore trivia questions, Jake figured it couldn't hurt to learn more about the girl and her origins.*
Who was your creator? Was it, um... I forget her name, but the girl on the ship with you and the doctor and Gracie?
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Post by Lanette Shan Terr on Feb 1, 2015 18:25:57 GMT -8
She shook her head, not bothering to try and cover up her expression with some sort of facade.
"No, my creator died six years, eight months, and five days ago. I was alone for almost all of the time since.. until Dr. Rollins -- and then Eliel -- found me."
Lana looked down, her eyes focused on some random point on the floor, seemingly lost in thought. Her mind was reliving all those years of isolation, wondering if anyone would ever come for her, wondering if she would ever be found, the feeling of loneliness and desperation and false hope piling on her again..
She crossed her arms, huddling up slightly, and when she spoke, her voice was just a bit softer than usual.
"Eliel is a lot like my creator -- in appearance, name, and personality -- but.. at least she's still here."
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Post by Jake Palmer Calmcacil on Feb 1, 2015 20:50:15 GMT -8
*Jake apparently triggered some sadness, based on Lana's expression. Then she admitted that her creator had did a while ago, and had even given the exact amount of time since the date. Jake frowned apologetically, sorry for triggering those memories, but then she admitted that she had been alone for a great deal of that time, until she had been found by the doctor and Eliel. Right, that was the girl's name.
After a moment of silence, Lana spoke again, huddling up a bit, admitting that Eliel was quite a lot like her creator, which was surprising to Jake; maybe they were related in some way? Jake wasn't sure, but what he was definitely aware of was Lana's feelings. Yes, they were there... AI or not, she projected very real feelings. Not just visually, but Jake was surprised to actually be able to sense them off of her. It didn't seem exactly the same as a normal sentient's, but it was definitely pleasant.
And what he sensed was that she needed some reassuring. He was about to hug her, but stopped, unsure if she would accept that.*
Is it alright if I hug you?
*His thoughts from earlier resurfaced, resulting in an implication probably only he would have made, so he blushed and quickly attempted to clarify.*
Er, not because I like you or anything! N-not that I couldn't like you, cuz I totally cou—
*Well that was terrible! Why was he always like this! Now a cherry red, he mumbled his final clarification.*
... I just wanted to cheer you up...
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Post by Lanette Shan Terr on Feb 2, 2015 21:31:54 GMT -8
"Sure."
She didn't give any more reaction than a single sidelong glance and a slightly raised eyebrow at his stammering.
"Why wouldn't it be.."
Her gaze dropped again, her thought processes spinning cyclically, experiencing the feeling of loneliness over and over again, until finally she realized that Jake probably had no idea why exactly the memory of being alone was affecting her this way. And that entire process took approximately 3.4 seconds.
"Do you know how long 6.671 years is to.. to an AI? Like me?"
She finally turned her head to look at him, not caring about the closing of distance between the two of them when he had presumably gone in for the hug.
"Do you understand?"
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Post by Jake Palmer Calmcacil on Feb 2, 2015 22:35:27 GMT -8
*Oh, good, she was alright with him hugging her, and seemed to be ignoring his little stammering problem. So, scooting a little closer to her, he put an arm around her. Ideally, she could have leaned into his shoulder... but his being shorter than her hindered that. He attempted to sit up a little taller, then gave up when that just felt a little uncomfortable.
Hugging her was just like hugging his sister. Well, apart from the height thing. Nothing about this indicated he was hugging an artificial creation. He was surprised and pleased at this little discovery, though he wasn't entirely sure why.
Lana then asked if he knew what the time spent in isolation was like to an AI, complete with an exact decimal placement as well. These little quirks still threw Jake a little off-guard each time, but something about the way she asked this question made her seem very... distressed. Then she turned to look at them, and the close proximity of their faces made him retreat just slightly, mostly so he could see her better, and she asked again if he understood.*
Well, yeah! That's a long time, I was like... three, and I don't even remember anything that really happened when I was three...
*Then he thought about it, really thought about it, and realized just how much faster AIs processed information and ran tasks, especially compared to humans. And that was when Jake realized that, no, he didn't truly understand at all. However, he realized now the source of Lana's distress, and instead of admit that, he only hugged her a little tighter.*
It's okay now though Lana! You're here now, you don't have to worry about the past.
*Good advice for a sentient, but did AI feel the same way about the past? Or did they continually process them and relive them for... reasons? Well he hoped not... but he had to cheer her up somehow, and this was the best way he could think to do so.*
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Post by Lanette Shan Terr on Feb 3, 2015 23:14:06 GMT -8
She simply stared at him as he spoke, recounting his own younger experiences, and she waited. She waited for him to finish speaking, and then she saw the change in his expression, the micromovements of his facial muscles -- the same changes she had once been programmed to notice and emulate -- and she knew that he had realized his mistake. Organic perception of timeflow was nothing compared to a synthetic..
"I envy you."
She leaned into the hug a bit more as he tried to recover.
"You can forget. If there was a way, I would try to help you understand.."
Her focus blurred again.. She had just posed to herself a challenge in saying that there wasn't a way to do something. And despite everything that had happened, she was still a product of Eliana Shan's creation, and that meant that she was heavily prone to needlessly solving problems that were only presented by her own imagination.
"Maybe," she uttered softly.
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Post by Jake Palmer Calmcacil on Feb 5, 2015 0:57:38 GMT -8
*Jake felt a twinge of guilt as Lana expressed her envy. But she didn't seem to be upset at him, judging by how she leaned into the hug a little more, which pleased Jake. Er, the not being upset part of course! Lana specifically seemed to envy the ability to forget, then lamented that there was no way to help him understand how she felt.
Jake did want to understand, at least enough to sympathize with her, but mostly he had focused on her envy of his ability to forget. He wanted to try to be helpful about that, spout something philosophical about how forgetting wasn't necessarily a good thing, and that some things people forgot were actually good things, some stuff he'd heard his dad talk about.
But the uttered word threw all those thoughts out and he looked at her with cautious curiosity and furrowed brows.*
Maybe... what?
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Post by Lanette Shan Terr on Feb 8, 2015 21:06:04 GMT -8
"There could be a way. I could probably figure something out."
Her focus was still a bit blurred, as her mind was racing. Her face took on a pensive expression, data and theories and ideas all flashing through her cognitive matrix faster than Jake could even blink.
"I could do it.. Not sure what it would do long-term, even short exposure.."
Another part of being a creation of Eliana Shan: she had a tendency to speak out loud without realizing what she was saying. Her creator had made her almost too much like herself..
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Post by Jake Palmer Calmcacil on Feb 9, 2015 22:38:02 GMT -8
*The "maybe," as Jake predicted, was that there could have been a way for him to experience things from an AI's point-of-view. Now Jake was actually a bit curious, though still cautiously; what would it be like to think like an AI, to experience things an AI did? All that knowledge, processing power, and access to various databanks and databases...
... "Not sure what it would do long-term, even short exposure"? Never mind, Jake wanted no part in this. Well... that wasn't entirely true, but suddenly his thoughts mixed with Lana's uncertainty of its effects mixed to create the most likely scenario: Sensory overload of the worst kind. He wanted to empathize with Lana, truly, but not at the expense of... well, himself, he assumed. He had to let her know that... gently, and understandingly, so he spoke with a nervous forced smile.*
Lana... I... would love to try it, but... o-only if you're certain you can make it so that it... well... doesn't do anything bad to me... I want to know! Really! But I don't want to... well... fry my brain or anything...
And he sincerely hoped she understood that; if there was no alternative, Jake wasn't sure it would be worth the risk just for a little bit of empathy. Surely that made plenty of sense, right? Apprehensive crept onto his expression but he otherwise retained his nervous smile.*
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Post by Lanette Shan Terr on Feb 12, 2015 23:10:09 GMT -8
"Don't worry!"
She realized now how what she had just said must have sounded.
"It wouldn't be anything too bad! And nothing too permanent! Your brain wouldn't get fried. The world would probably just seem a bit slow for an hour or two. I'd have to build the thing first.. Don't worry! I've heard of Jedi being able to do this sort of thing before.."
She sincerely hoped that she hadn't scared him away from her new pet project. It was so good to finally have something worth focusing on...
"I doubt you'd have any problems with it."
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Post by Jake Palmer Calmcacil on Feb 13, 2015 1:04:11 GMT -8
*Lana was quick to attempt to assure Jake that the potential effects wouldn't be too bad or too permanent, and would be more akin to... well, the world would basically slow down for a few hours. Oh, was that it? ... that sounded very disorienting, but if that was it... And in a weird way, that almost sounded beneficial in a sense as a skill... but as a side effect? Maybe not so much.
Still... Well, the "not too permanent" warning still hung over his head, because "not too permanent" still meant a little permanent. Well... technically not, because if it wasn't permanent, then it wasn't... ... well duh. But it implied there could be some lasting effects... And she seemed sure he wouldn't have too much trouble with it...
Jake mulled it over, even subconsciously adopting his sister's habit of chewing on the flesh of his cheek as he did so, then he nodded with a small but determined smile.*
Well... okay. If you can do it, I'll try it.
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Post by Lanette Shan Terr on Feb 19, 2015 9:59:19 GMT -8
Her face lit up in a smile, and she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him tight. Tight, at least, by organic standards: they had yet to test her body's full strength, but she knew how to regulate herself so as not to cause injury.
"Thank you!"
He hadn't just given her a go-ahead at her attempt to show him her world, he had given her a go-ahead to work on her spontaneously-decided pet project, and both of those combined for a massive surge of affection in the "young" AI.
"I'll get right on it!"
On that note, she kissed his cheek -- a common sign of affection that she had noted during her human studies -- and hopped down off the bench, running off towards the nearest lab with the components she needed.
Lana finally had something to set her mind to..
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