awashlogs | Event Thirteen.

Entry tags:

Event Thirteen.

To love a human face was to discover
The cracks of paint and varnish on the brow;
Soon to distrust all impulses of flesh
That strews its sawdust on the chamber floor,
While at the window peer two crones
Who once were Juliet and Jessica.

t's a regular morning here in the Town. The sun isn't shining at all, snow is falling like crazy, and...there may be the sounds of shouts coming from the well, thoroughly muffled.

Okay, so it's not a regular morning at all, but you'd better go help those people! The newcomers are here again. Of course, once you get to the well, you'll notice that there's actually no real help you can offer -- it's totally frozen over.

As for the newcomers, well... hopefully being suddenly dumped into freezing cold water in the middle of November in a dark, damp well is your idea of a good time, because that's your life now!

And that's not even taking into account the mirrors in everyone's homes that are about to wake up and start chattering...

Welcome to Awash's thirteenth event log, everyone! Further information on this event can be found here at the OOC post. Please keep in mind that while this is a general event log, it is also an intro log; be sure to pay plenty of attention to our newcomers!

If there are any questions, please ask them here. Thank you!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh, it's fine. I don't sleep. It's all fake. [The grin he has is a bit unnaturally cheery. It quivers a little.] Really, don't worry about bothering him. He'll come back online when he realizes someone is here.

[At least for now, Connor stays still and silent. The mirror seems perfectly happy to be getting all the attention instead, though.]

Who are you? Is this your house?

My name is Pyra. [ So it isn't sleep. Good to know. Taking one last look back to the figure standing at the other side of the room, she makes her way over to the crystal. She'll set her own mirror down there as well, face down of course. ] ...And yes, I was assigned this home.

[ This is quite possibly the most normal conversation she's had with someone's mirror! It's very refreshing. ] I just arrived today, in fact. [ She arches a brow. ] ...So I hope I'm not intruding.

It's nice to meet you, Miss Pyra. I'm Connor.

[He does sound quite normal! He observes her movements as she goes about setting away her mirror, more curious than anything.]

You aren't intruding on anything. I was also assigned this house, but I was surprised no one lived here. So I'm not usually here.

[ He strikes as as oddly methodological in his expression and the way he speaks. ]

Well, then. It's a pleasure to meet you as well-- or, the mirror you.

Have you been in this world long?

Two months. I've learned that newcomers arrive in batches every other month, and I arrived in the last batch.

[It's handy for keeping track of the passage of time, not that Connor has any trouble with that - though it seems the dates might be inaccurate, his systems still keep track of the time well enough.]

You're from the new batch, right?

That's right.

[ Observant, isn't he? And able to link pieces of information together as if in an intricate lattice. If he is truly an AI, she suspects that she might have a difficult time hiding things around him. ]

I arrived in that... well. It wasn't the most comfortable of places. [ She laughs lightly, keeping her tone casual. ] Kind of soppy and cold. There wouldn't happen to be a warmer welcome party anywhere, would there? [ It's a joke, a light attempt at humor. ]

Maybe. I don't know. I probably wouldn't be invited, if there were.

[There's a moment where that cheerful smile falters, and when it comes back, it looks even more artificial than before.]

If you need to get dry, there are towels in the bathroom. And probably some dry clothes around.

[Practical solutions are easy.]

[ Pyra shakes her head, lifting up a hand. ] Oh, no, I’m dry already, thank you. [ Considering she gives off an unnatural amount of heat.

But she does catch that falter in his smile when he mentions he wouldn’t be invited. And because Pyra is always someone to reassure someone, of course she’s going to say something about it. ] ...And I am sure you would be invited. [ She leans forward a bit, lifting a hand to poke at the mirror as if she could poke his cheek for saying something so silly. ] If not be the gracious host of one yourself. After all, you’re so polite!

[ She smiles pleasantly at him, hoping to cheer him up. ] I think I got pretty lucky with having you as a roommate.

[He actually looks surprised for a moment, and then he smiles again, though it's much more genuine than before. Instead of just being cheerful, he actually seems happy that she would say that.]

A host? You think so? Well, I don't know how well I'd do in a crowd of people... but maybe I could host a small dinner party, or something like that...

[He gives his head a small shake to get out of that train of thought before meeting her eyes again.]

I'm happy to have you as a roommate, too. It's gotten a little lonely-

Oh.

[The mirror's smile falters as he looks past Pyra to the real Connor, awake now and walking over to join the group.]

Whatever he's telling you, it's only some kind of trick.

[The mirror image rolls its eyes.] Denial.

[Connor reaches out and flips the mirror face down, his brow creased, before looking back up at Pyra and slipping into a more neutral expression.]

Can I help you?

[ She has to wonder what sort of trick the man in the mirror might be playing. Is it a lie about being a good dinner host? Or perhaps at having a roommate at last to stave off any loneliness?

Regardless she’s surprised to see him awake, and she backs away from the mirror and stand. ] Ah, my apologies. I didn’t wish to wake you. Or, ah, “wake” you. [ She says quickly, politely, and carefully watching his expression. She hopes she didn’t offend him for having a quick chat with his mirror self!

She clears her throat. ]

...Connor, right? My name is Pyra. [ She nods towards him. ] Maybe you’ve overheard, but, I’m new here, and I’m your roommate.

[He smiles - it's strangely artificial, even more so than the mirror.]

It's nice to meet you, Pyra. Yes, my name is Connor, and I'm an android.

[In case the mirror didn't mention that, or if the fact that he was standing in the corner with a pulsing LED wasn't enough of a giveaway.

He does a quick scan, noting that she seems to be generating more heat and energy than he would expect from a human. But she also doesn't seem to be artificial - must be something Connor isn't familiar with, then.]

You just arrived - do you need anything? I'm afraid I haven't been keeping food in the house... It would just go to waste with only me here.

[ ...........She felt something just now. As if there was something more to his look over her, as if information had been siphoned from her energy signature. Did he just scan her?

The light emitted by her own mirror, still face down upon the desk, glows quickly and brightly for all of an instant in response, as if the flash on a camera went off. As for Pyra's own response-- She whips out a hand, palm face up. The universal sign for stop. ]

---Don't. [ Is her reply, but it's said as firmly as it it were a command.

And then realizing that it may have come out abruptly, she tries again: ] ...Do that again. Whatever it is that you did. Please.

[ If he is an android. He is obedient, or should be. As as much as she would like to think of him as a person, the obedience is something she can use right now for her own safety. ]

[He wasn't expecting that she would notice the scan, but apparently she was able to sense it somehow. It's a bit surprising - humans aren't usually aware of them, or perhaps are so used to them by his time they don't notice it.

But she noticed it. Is it because she isn't fully human? Or...

Either way, a direct order to cease has been issued, and Connor is, indeed, obedient.]

Sorry. I won't do it again.

[He isn't sure why it bothered her so, and he's curious... but now seems like not quite the moment to ask.]

[ She realizes that he probably already knows that she’s not human. And that... well, many here can already guess that she isn’t, what with the amount of heat and energy she gives off naturally. But to what extent does this Connor know?

If she could make him erase the data from his memory, would he do it?

Don’t bother, says one aspect of herself, the voice soft as if murmured partly from sleeps. And then even softer, more distant—

It would be cruel.

...After all, hadn’t she been a bit like him once? Can’t she show him the same courtesy offered to her, to not treat him as some tool?

Pyra glances at her mirror for a moment, noting its silence. Even if it’s not saying anything, it remains unsettling. Then she looks back at him apologetically. She had been wrong to be so abrupt with him. ] No, it’s...

[ A sigh. ] How much do you know about me now?

Only that you aren't human, and that you give off a high amount of heat and energy, especially from that crystal.

[That's all he was able to find out. He can't tell from one scan and his limited knowledge database what it means, exactly.]

If it's any consolation, there are many people here who aren't human. I know some demons, and a few individuals of an alien race made of crystal.

[So it's not so weird!]

[ ....Ah.

Pyra blinks at him, and actually-- she does feel pretty relieved to hear it. (And also an alien race made of crystal? That's pretty amazing.) ] ....I'm not human. Let's keep it at that, shall we? [ That seems like the simplest compromise in revealing anything for now. She knows already that there are a great many stronger beings here than her, but she cannot shake the fear she carries that someone might recognize her.

Still, she offers him a tried, apologetic smile. ] I suppose I should also ask you this: as an android, are you effected by excess energy output in any way? [ She wouldn't want to, like, accidentally cause damage to him! ]

If that's what you want.

[Which... doesn't make it sound like it's what he wants. But he's an android, so he doesn't have any wants at all. She shouldn't worry about it.

But her question is... a good one, actually. He pauses, and his LED turns yellow as he runs a self-diagnosis, his eyelids flickering a bit. It's a quirk of his model.]

...It seems like I'll be fine. You aren't interfering with any of my systems, and I'm functioning normally.

[Perhaps, if he were still connected to any networks, it might be a problem, but that's not an issue here.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Event Thirteen.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject