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

[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."

[shadowsran]

"I don't have a preference, but I need to know what I should be seeking out. There's a great deal to learn in both cases. I'll speak with whoever you think may be advantageous and try not to alienate." Matter of fact, but shy of curt. It's a series of tasks, she just wants to do them properly.

[worthallthis]

"Maybe aim for friendly and curious," Bucky suggests. "Feel free to ask any questions that come to you, and if someone doesn't want to answer, they'll tell you. After all, the goal going forward, once the thaw spreads, is to put people at ease so they'll let us help them."

[shadowsran]

"Right." Easy to follow, likely easy to execute. "If they need help, why to they need convincing to accept it?"

[worthallthis]

"Remember how I had you read those books about my history?" Bucky says. "That's one reason. People still remember, a lot of them. Another reason is, people don't help each other as much anymore." He sighs. "HYDRA targeted good people in their purges-- selfless people, brave people. More are cropping up now, years out, but... it's still a lot of suspicious and angry people left. People who don't trust big, tough, healthy men who come and say they want to help. They're more likely to trust two of us, especially if the other one is a young, awkward, friendly lady who just has a big guy like me to keep her safe."

[shadowsran]

It makes sense enough. She nods.

"They'll ask where I'm from," she then continues, moving onto less of a question and more of a concern. "If they know you, they'll know I haven't been with you all this time. What will I tell them?"

[worthallthis]

"What would you like to tell them?" Bucky asks. "That's not just me turning the question back. I really want to know what you think a good cover story would be." He has a couple options, but her opinion is important, here. It's her cover story.

[shadowsran]

It hardly matters to her, so the next concern is ease of memorization for him. Excluding the truth, but close to it.

"Lost traveler," she tentatively begins. "Hit my head in the mountains, and you found me. No going anywhere until the thaw."

[worthallthis]

He nods approvingly. That's about half of one of the cover stories he'd thought of. "Mostly the total-amnesia thing is bunk, in humans. There's rare exceptions, but mostly the human brain doesn't really work like that. You ought to have a couple of details for things you still remember. Impressions. Could even use your real history, if you wanted, for those-- you know, working in a lab."

[shadowsran]

"It won't make them more suspicious, would it? Someone in a scientific field turning up with large gaps in memory?" She could see it going either way - it's not unlikely it would grant her some importance, but people sound wary. Rightfully so.

No one would have much to gain from misleading a small, isolated community with what she predicts is a fairly loose law system, but. Wariness.

[worthallthis]

He considers that. " ... Maybe not a lab," he allows. "There aren't a lot of those left, I guess." Of course, his idea of working in a lab would be more likely to result in memory loss... but he knows his experience is very different from most people's.

[shadowsran]

"An...IT office? Some kind of medical technician?" Fields she can understand well enough offhand, and ones accompanied with equipment she's unlikely to stumble upon out here. Harder to catch the lie. Not perfect. Her brow furrows.

"In an unrelated accident before this, maybe. Are there vehicles in town?"

At all? Enough that a car wreck might seem plausible.

[worthallthis]

"Either of those works great." He shoots her an approving smile. "Not a ton of vehicles, but anywhere that has a functioning IT office will probably have one. Could even just say it was one of the last of the HYDRA strike gangs, taking out your team, leaving you with a head wound and patchy memory."

[shadowsran]

"Acceptable." She bows her head, returning the smile. "Should we have a sign? If I accidentally veer toward something unacceptable or unfeasible. A cue to stop, or let you talk over me?"