http://8wings.livejournal.com/ ([identity profile] 8wings.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] trans_92011-01-10 07:54 pm

Morning Exercise (open)

Anwei was jumping around the Hub - literally. With firm strokes of her arms and legs, she leaped from tentacle-base to tentacle-base, circling the vast room. Her hair fluttered wildly around her head in the anti-grav field, and she was sweating a little with the exertion.

She'd kept up a running commentary to Stacy about what she was doing in the back of her throat – the same way she used to talk to Horanckk. When Stacy suggested she try the Sensoriums for exercise, though, she demurred. The idea of rooms that could take things out of her mind and make them real made her shiver.

After three complete circuits of the Hub, she came to a halt and consulted her omnicom, which had been filming the whole time. Carefully, she marked the tunnels that were never entered by passers-by, the tentacles that hung limp rather than undulating. Someday, maybe soon, she would want to see if she could get into those unused tunnels, and see what might be in there. But for now, she rolled up her denim shirt and tied it to a tentacle with some blue string (making extra certain that all the pockets were sealed), marked out a large triangle on the wall with that same string, and began something that looked like dancing.

It was not dancing. It was drill for free-fall unarmed combat. Her arms and legs moved in long coordinated scything motions, her fingers grabbing and clawing at imaginary opponents (she was not grabbing with her toes because of the binding material of her plantsuit). In her ears she remembered her drill instructor bellowing as it criticized every falter and hesitation. She deliberately did not think of her first dance instructor and his tiny, cutting whip.

When she drifted out into the flow of traffic, she used her tie-line to move back against the wall and start again. It would be pretty obvious to anyone watching that she was doing some sort of structured exercise.

[identity profile] hack-rat.livejournal.com 2011-01-17 02:32 am (UTC)(link)
"I i-imagine the sh-ship'll a-appreciate the e-extra info," he said with a smile. Alex seemed more than happy to oblige her question, however prodding it might have seemed. "I've n-never tried f-from an AI, b-but with the ship's s-size... I w-would h-have a hard time s-seeing a s-shadow. I-I'm n-not really sure, s-since I d-don't k-know how shadows are m-made." That would be something to look into though. He wondered, if an AI that can feel emotions would produce shadows.

[identity profile] hack-rat.livejournal.com 2011-01-17 05:04 am (UTC)(link)
Talk to her? On his own free will? "I-I've never... m-much liked the sh-ship." Reasons built over time, but more than anything else was that first feeling he got, along with the missing memory of the pod caverns that everyone else had. He didn't want to know what happened, but he knew whatever it was, it wasn't good.

"I-I just... D-don't trust her."

[identity profile] hack-rat.livejournal.com 2011-01-17 10:44 am (UTC)(link)
Alex sighed and rubbed his arm. It would be easier if he knew why, at least. Then perhaps he could figure out what she might be able to do to get him to trust her. "I'll k-keep it in mind. I-I think, I-I need t-to work th-through s-some things b-before I c-can go t-to her though. I d-do want t-to help her t-though."

As much distrust and dislike he felt towards Stacy, that projection had shown a side of her that he hadn't expected to see. As hurt as he still felt, seeing anyone like that tugged at his heart.

[identity profile] hack-rat.livejournal.com 2011-01-17 09:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Alex sighed and nodded. She was right. She hadn't been wrong yet. "I-it's hard n-not to, wh-when you h-hear her pulse a-as you go to s-sleep every night." He frowned a bit as if he wasn't all too pleased with the idea. He really wasn't. It was a constant reminder that she was everywhere, and could possibly hear everything. He went through hoops at home to keep anyone from being able to do that. It left him feeling a bit helpless here.

[identity profile] hack-rat.livejournal.com 2011-01-18 06:00 am (UTC)(link)
He sighed. He didn't want to go home, really, but he didn't want to keep speaking so hopelessly. He just hoped that somehow, he could live in another person's world, like Luna's.

"M-maybe. Th-that'd be nice. M-maybe, i-if she c-can't, I c-could someday f-figure a w-way so she c-could."

[identity profile] hack-rat.livejournal.com 2011-01-19 09:11 am (UTC)(link)
Alex smiled wryly, "I-if I c-can really learn this c-code, then I m-might be able to figure a w-way to make s-sure they do." At the very least, Stacy had shown that she was not happy about being a prison ship. And even he had to respect the beauty of her complexity at the very least. "'C-'course, t-talking ta th-them would b-be b-best."

[identity profile] hack-rat.livejournal.com 2011-01-20 03:06 am (UTC)(link)
Alex looked up at the ship, as if he might see her holographic form floating there. "Wh-whatever it is sh-she might want t-ta be, there's a l-lot of c-code that needs s-sorting. M-more than I c-could probably manage without Daligig help."

Whoever the Daligig were, they were advanced. He had been called a genius when it came to code back home, but he probably would seem completely unskilled to the Daligig.

[identity profile] hack-rat.livejournal.com 2011-01-20 11:52 am (UTC)(link)
Alex bit at his lip, which was starting to dry out again from being constantly abused as such. "Th-that w-would be nice. I-I'm sure sh-she'd f-feel better about that, b-but we n-need ta make sure the r-right bits of h-her gets fixed s-so the n-nicer personality i-is still the d-dominant." It would be a nightmare if the jailer overrode the other half of her.

[identity profile] hack-rat.livejournal.com 2011-01-21 02:28 am (UTC)(link)
Alex rubbed the back of his leg with his shoelaces, thinking about what Anwei was saying. Clearly she had a lot more experience than he did when it came to dealing with sentient AIs. He knew plenty about their development and learning techniques, but he was as bad with AI personality as he was with human ones.

He smiled thankfully when she offered Chapstick, but instead of saying anything about that or about that particular bit of Stacy he asked, "d-do you think y-you c-could help me? W-with Stacy I mean?"

[identity profile] hack-rat.livejournal.com 2011-01-21 09:19 am (UTC)(link)
Alex smiled. "Th-thanks. I-I did a l-lot of AI w-work in my h-home world. I loved c-creating game AIs, and I i-integrated them i-in my s-security hardware. I c-combined them with l-loops that would t-turn an attacker on themselves t-ta c-create one o-of the m-most d-difficult to c-crack software systems, b-but I've n-never once w-worked with a s-sentient AI. I-I'm sure anything you c-could help with will be wonderful." He bit his lip noticing the flicker of a shadow, and gently put his hand on her shoulder.

"I-I'm s-sure your f-friend would be g-glad to know he w-was helping in a w-way too."

[identity profile] hack-rat.livejournal.com 2011-01-22 05:22 am (UTC)(link)
Alex smiled, both at the idea that he might have been taken to help Stacy rather than help fight and that he had managed to not jump at her touch. It helped that it was only a small one, but it was still a large improvement.

"Y-you seem c-close ta him. I-I'm sure that y-you'll find him e-eventually. H-he might even b-be asleep s-somewhere in S-Stacy's c-code. I-it's also n-nice to think that S-Stacy might n-not have brought me h-here expecting me t-ta fight."

[identity profile] hack-rat.livejournal.com 2011-01-23 10:09 am (UTC)(link)
Alex pulled his laptop a bit closer again, smiling with a hint of pride. "I-I've always l-left the m-more up front th-things to Mikel a-an' Loretta, I guess..." But he was the one that got them in, and that made sure the cameras didn't catch the two when they didn't want to be caught.

"I-I've never been g-good with limelight a-anyway."

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