Android AU

[worthallthis]

Coming in out of the snow, he says, "Hey, Misty, I'm home."

Since the robot isn't even finished, let alone powered up, she's not actually able to answer. He doesn't care. It's not like he's got anyone else to talk to besides the cat, and the cat's not in here, out catching mice or maybe sleeping in the attached little barn.

"Got some parts that might finish you up, finally," he continues, stamping snow off his boots and hanging up his coat. The metal arm vibrates a little, trying to shake the cold from its circuits, and he puts a kettle on the stove before padding over to the mostly-finished robot in the corner and dropping his pack next to her. She doesn't look perfectly human, but she's as close as he can get with the spare parts he's been scrounging up on his trips out into the world.

What's left of the world, anyway. War and disease and famine have made a mess of things, and he's long since given up on trying to do what he can do to stop it, and just helps where he can. The arm makes him stand out, though. That and his general good health. It's getting harder and harder to keep a low profile, except among the one local group that considers him "theirs". Hence, android. With more clothes and a better wig, with a few upgrades once he knows he can make her work, she might pass better than he ever will, especially with the awkward way he imagine's she's going to move until he gets some better upgrades. Besides... he could use the company, way out here.

He puts together a little sandwich and mixes the cocoa into the hot water, then comes to see if what he's found can at least get her running.

It's late in the night, another sandwich and cocoa later, with only a brief break to let in the cat and give her a pet and dinner, that he finally sits back and says, "Well. Let's give this a try." And he reaches behind her, finds the series of switches, and sets them in their careful order. There's no one switch, there's a pattern. Then nobody can turn her off who doesn't know how.

Then he sits back to look up at her, and wait for her system to power up.

Comments

[worthallthis]

"We can do a little bit from here in the cabin, and the area around it," Bucky answers, over the sound of the water running in the sink and dishes-- and metal hand-- clinking together. "I've got some raw materials here we can use to make things. I'll be doing some hunting so we can freeze and smoke some meat. But we're not heading out to other towns until winter's over. It's January now and I was gonna take you out in late March, so that's two months or so until the snow starts to melt. Nobody will believe we made it down the mountain in this cold. I can show you around the one just down the mountainside in late February, they already know I'm weird, but they don't need our help as much as other places out there."

[shadowsran]

Information to take in, sort through, and ultimately confirm with a dutiful little nod.

"Am I in inadequate condition for hunting, or is it about specialization?" She doesn't have any experience whatsoever, but there's a degree of improvisation, imitation, a decimal's worth of spontaneity, she's capable of aping and learning. A clearer outline of her function, whatever his answer.

[worthallthis]

"Nah, you don't need to hunt. Pretty sure you won't be very stealthy out there, no matter how well I reinforce your joints," he says apologetically, setting the cleaned dishes aside to drip dry and using a dish towel on his hands. "Your job is mostly going to be interaction. Trade, support, negotiation. Medical help and sharing intel. Things a big, scary guy like me gets rebuffed for. I'm going to be your guard. We'll strike out together for towns that need help."

[shadowsran]

"Understood." A mission statement and a purpose. She'll serve well.

"You're rebuffed for those things?" He's big, objective truth. But he seems so kind.

[worthallthis]

"I'm big, strong, healthy, and enhanced." He sets the towel down, moves to the bookcase over by the workspace he'd had Misty in, pulling out a couple of books: one neatly made, one clearly handwritten. "And some people still have stories of how the war started. I was involved, and I'm pretty singular. I may have switches sides, but not everyone knows that. As soon as someone figures out I'm that guy, it's over."

He brings the books to the kitchen table. "These are histories of what happened. You should know. One of them's an official record, made at a publishing house and everything, the last of them left in America as far as I can tell. The other one's mine."

[shadowsran]

"Would they harm you?" She asks, with concern that could almost be mistaken for timidity it leaves her tone to inoffensively soft. He has to be safe. It's her job to ensure he's as well off as possible.

Thumbing the topmost cover, she waits for an answer before beginning to read. Both could be done at once with no focus lost or wires crossed, but it's another of the scripts for comfort. Eye contact. Limited multitasking. Prioritization.

[worthallthis]

"Nah. They might try, but nobody's managed in a long time. I can handle the kind of shit people can pull, for the most part."

The top one is the official one, and it's longer, with some details of HYDRA's early years during World War II and how it wriggled its way into SHIELD and half the governments of the Western world before it gets to Insight Day maybe a third of the way in. The chapter before that had been on Captain America's unfreezing and fight with the Avengers in New York, and then his death at the hands of the DC Hostile, the Fist of HYDRA.

Well, at the end of his rifle, anyway. The book doesn't include any of his actual names. Not the Asset, not the Winter Soldier, certainly not Bucky goddamn Barnes. He likes it better that way.

Bucky collects some mending of his own from his laundry and settles in opposite Misty at the table. "Feel free to ask me any questions that come up."

[shadowsran]

With a nod, she sets about reading. Intake of information was a point of specific care when it came to updates, as she settled into her hastily applied role as lab assistant. There are handicaps applied, memorization at a glance unnerved people, but not many. Her typical company were, in fact, lab types with no need for fostered attachment.

All of this to say, she clears the first book quite quickly.

Upon finishing, he has a question.

"There were aliens?"

[worthallthis]

"I know, kind of crazy, right? I mostly missed that part," Bucky admits, shaking his head with a little smile, and without actually looking up from the neat stitches he's making in a shirt with a torn-out sleeve. He's been busy while she reads, and the mending pile is about half where it was when she started. "But I've verified it. There were definitely aliens."

[shadowsran]

"Are they a continued threat?" She asks, solemnity softened only by the fact he seems amused and that indicates an answer already. Secondary is, "And you were the Hostile?"

[worthallthis]

"No. The one invasion back in 2012 was dealt with, the portal was closed. The Aesir show up now and then, or one of them does. He helped the last of the Avengers take out the last of the helicarriers. But he's not a threat." Bucky's never actually met Thor, but he's seen him from a distance. Done a little sniping on his behalf.

He tosses the shirt into the "mended but now needs cleaning" pile, picks up a pair of jeans that need a back pocket re-stitched on, after getting torn off by some half-hidden barbed wire. "Yeah, that was me. I switched sides shortly after that mention in the history books. But that was still me."

[shadowsran]

She nods with a literal absence of judgment, clarification accepted. It isn't her position to puzzle over morals or doubt his honesty. Even if he were dishonest-- the functions are the same. It's all in the name of better serving, better understanding.

"I'm going to start the second now," she announces, to signal a pause in discussion. The more pressing matters settled, the rest can wait until she's taken in the second volume.

As before, it's speedy reading. Both books are slid gently back toward him, to indicate she's finished.

"You've lived a very complicated life," she surmises, "And things seem very difficult currently. I'll help however I can."

[worthallthis]

His own book detailed mostly the mission to kill Captain America, his self-directed missions after that to take out HYDRA operatives, and his observations about the war until it finally ended. There was no mention of the previous owner of Misty's name, only a note that he'd had a safehouse for many years he stopped at for recovery and to lay low, and his life before HYDRA isn't touched on at all.

(Misty has her own book elsewhere in the house.)

He snorts a little laugh at her statement. "Complicated is definitely one way to describe it." Even the brief snippet of it in that book is complicated. "But thank you. I'm sure you'll be a big help. Can you give me a run-down of your current skills, maybe? So I can see what I might need to teach you."

[shadowsran]

Easily and happily done. Her hands fold and come to rest in front of her, eyes on his as she weighs exact answers or something lighter, more colloquial.

"I wasn't designed with any one thing in mind, just to be a test of my components, and of the AI. Afterwards I worked primarily as a lab assistant. I oversaw long-term experiments, ran calculations, recorded and organized results, sterilized equipment, and was prepared to act as security if needed. There wasn't much physical labor and I'm not a formally trained combatant, but my construction lends obvious advantages. I'm additionally programmed to prioritize the well being of my user - to prepare or purchase food when needed, give directions, call ubers, things to that effect."

There's no reason to recite it smiling beyond usual friendly airs, but it's nice seeing him laugh. Something is compelled to echo that.

[worthallthis]

Hmm. Not a lot of that is particularly pertinent to life in a post-war America, but he can work with it. "Not a lot of Ubers anymore, I'm afraid. There's cars and motorcycles still, but mostly people go on foot these days, because gas is getting scarce. That's why I've got to get those joints reinforced, you're going to be on your feet a lot."

He collects the books to put away, running the flesh fingers over the personal one with a kind of distant regret for everything in it.

"How much interaction did you have with strangers, that you remember?"

[shadowsran]

"I learn quickly," she reassures, bowing her head.

She will be useful, she will have function, she will provide a service. In even the worst scenario, she'll be extra hands and eyes.

As for the question, "I wouldn't have the exact number of interactions. Secretarial duties included phone calls and admitting guests, but nothing extensive."

[worthallthis]

He waves that off, setting the books back on the shelf. "Don't need exact numbers, just getting a feel for how comfortable you'll be taking the lead in meeting new people, or if I'll have to work you up to it. I expected to have to work you up to it, frankly, I didn't think this much of your memory bank would be intact." He sounds pleased by that, at least.

[shadowsran]

She sits a little taller, a facsimile of pride.

"Durability was a top priority. In the event of emergency I was intended to escort my creators to their designated bunker. They were preparing for quite the emergency, I assume." A lot of data to protect, should they need to move. Protocols.

"I can't guarantee the most emotional intelligence, but I should prove more than able to communicate."

[worthallthis]

Going to need more than just simple communicating, but he'll see how she does with the local town first, anyway, and there's time to walk her through what tricks of the trade he actually knows. "Good." He gives her a smile. "All right, back on your chair by my tools, hey? I want to see what I can do about those knee joints before we head out for the day." There's some time before he'll get her down the mountain, anyway, and until then, there's plenty to explore in the immediate area, and a trip to the junkyard for parts. She might have better ideas about what parts can be adapted to her parts than he does.

[shadowsran]

"Of course!" No complaint to be had with that, nor drive to communicate if there were. She's up and moving, and a handful of paces later lowering herself carefully into the indicated seat. With some adjustment, the knee is prominently displayed for maintenance. She seems nothing but content.

"Wear would depend heavily on weight, if I'm to carry anything. Climbing or steep drops would also contribute greatly, but walking in itself should take years to damage a functioning joint."

OKAY let's get back into this thing finally, so sorry

[worthallthis]

"No steep drops for you," he smiles. "Climbing, we'll see, but hopefully not too much."

The rest of the day is spent on tinkering and cleaning her parts, with her help as much as possible so they can get her accustomed to the changed way her insides work now, and in case she does need to do her own maintenance in the future. The rest of the week after that is spent showing her around the patch of mountain he calls "his"-- now "theirs". The rest of the month after that is spent teaching her more of the local history post-Insight Day and how to mend clothes, preserve meat and berries, and occasionally leaving her alone for a day or two at a time while he makes supply runs down the mountain.

Mid-February the snow starts to thaw enough that he can bring her with him to visit Vernon Village. He's warned the townspeople he has a "new recruit", so they're not surprised. The day before, he gives Misty's joints and synthetic skin covering a careful once-over to make sure she won't be damaged by the walk or the cold, and that she'll pass as at least plausibly human.

The morning of, he hefts a small bundle of clothes and meat for trade, and offers Misty one of her own. They're not big, nor heavy, since this is a simple visit for regular supplies, not a trek out into the unknown. "It'll only take us about six hours to get down there, and we'll stay the night, unless you feel too uncomfortable." He's sure his friends down there will be fine with her; they're fine with him.

\o/

[shadowsran]

"I should be comfortable." Highly unlikely anything would bother her enough to merit reordering priorities, especially if the alternative would be trekking through the night. The temperature wouldn't drop low enough to damage her or kill him, but it would hardly be pleasant and he could well catch something. All of this is of course best left at the one assurance.

Firsthand experience of the world beyond his home and the surrounding terrain should be enlightening and incredibly useful at any rate. Too valuable to cut short.

With a...contemplatively slow goodbye pet to the cat, she's ready and they're off.

"Is there anything I should focus on while we're there?"

[worthallthis]

The cat saunters off to go on her morning rounds, and Bucky leads the way down the dirt road down the mountain. It's cold, but not as cold as it has been the past few weeks. "Get to know the people there. Practice interacting with them, and pretending to be human." They'll probably know better, but they'll humor her, and it'll be good practice for her.

"Watch how they interact with each other," he continues, eyes roving around out of habit, though he's sure there's nothing really dangerous up here this time of year, "and with you and me. This is a learning trip for you, to see how different things are in a public setting compared to your last memories, and to work out how to adjust."

[shadowsran]

A dutiful nod. An internal counter indicates it's been too long staying too still; she adjusts the strap of her backpack. Fidgeting is human.

"Am I supposed to be learning everything? Anything? Negative interactions?"

Data comes from picking fights just as much as making nice, after all. Certainly it would be a far cry from her intended purpose, so in terms of varied information...

Well, it's good to clarify.

[worthallthis]

"Uh. That depends on what kind of negative interactions you're talkin'." He's generally pretty conflict-averse in conversation, but he's also a special case. He thinks a beat, then says, "I don't want to alienate these people, most of them are friends or at least allies, but if you want practice bickering, I can make sure you meet the ornery ones who won't take it personal."