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[skilltrees]

...Hmm.

[There is a girl sitting in the middle of the courtyard. As with most newcomers, she seems quite bewildered, though perhaps she's a bit slower on the uptake than some are. For several minutes, she just sits there flexing her fingers and turning her hands this way and that, making more humming sounds under her breath. When she seems to have figured that much out, she moves on to patting herself down, her hands carefully running over her legs, hips, each arm, her chest... she reaches a finger up to one eyeball and tries to poke it, only to recoil, blinking away tears.]

Ow.

[Once she recovers from that little mishap, she finally seems to notice her surroundings. The environment seems much more concerning to her, and she gets on her knees, frowning. It takes quite a few more minutes of searching the area before she seems to deem that the danger isn't immediate, and she cautiously gets to her feet.

...Only to fall back over. She makes a little squeak of surprise, before trying again, clinging to the trunk of a nearby tree to steady her. Bit by bit, she inches to her feet and then pushes off of the trunk, pinwheeling her arms slightly as her legs wobble. She steadies, and her shaking stops. For a long moment, all is quiet. And then she giggles.

She may still stumble a few times as she makes her way to the castle and down the hallways, but every time, she just gets back up again. No sense just giving up. She's beaten Contra, so she should be able to beat this.

If she runs into anyone, she may just stare at them for a long time, blinking slowly as if trying to analyze the whole situation. And then just when that someone may think she's completely mute, she offers a small smile.]

...Hello. My name is Chiaki Nanami. And you are?

Comments

[skilltrees]

"I suppose you have a point there. Still, I wouldn't want to offend someone who looks young." Or someone who thinks of themselves as an adult already.

And... that question is awkward. She frowns for a while, and it takes a few moments before she has pieced together her answer. "I was developed about a year ago, but I was designed to appear as a 16-year-old human. So it's hard to say."

[voidster]

[Small wonder.] His hands are gentle and graceful as he signs, despite him only being slime disguised very well. [Human children can't speak at a year old, can they? Nothing to be ashamed of, of course it wasn't as easy while you were learning.]

How does an AI learn, anyway? Sadly, coding is one of the many things outside his scope. He could put together a computer, sure, but beyond that... not much more than the average person.

[skilltrees]

"I suppose you have a point. It's still occasionally... difficult to find proper words."

She still definitely prefers taking her speech slow, just to make sure she doesn't say anything that offends. She'd be happy to discuss how she learned language and other things in the first place, though to be fair, she isn't clear on everything herself.

[voidster]

[You're doing fine, although you've probably heard that many times and it's getting a little old.] He adds that last bit with a wry sort of smile. [I had my own troubles with speech, I know I felt patronized occasionally when people kept telling me that.]

[skilltrees]

Chiaki smiles back, even managing a soft giggle. “Not really. Most people assumed I was just tired, or not really paying attention. I look old enough that I should know better, so… I’m glad to hear I’m doing well.”

[voidster]

[Yes, but surely... they would make allowances for A-I? How common are people like you where you came from?]

Shame, shame. He's asking questions purely for his own selfish curiosity--some self-appointed tour guide he is.

[skilltrees]

“Oh… um, well, the people around me didn’t actually realize I was an AI. I was supposed to keep that a secret for their own safety… It’s a long story.”

She could always start at the beginning, since she can tell he’s curious. And now that she’s here, she supposes there’s no harm in someone learning about the state of her world.

[voidster]

A blink. (A deliberate blink. He doesn't blink involuntarily.)

[You don't seem violent in the slightest.] And he knows violent children, doesn't he? [So, may I ask how you're a danger to anyone?]

[skilltrees]

"Oh, I'm not," she says, without even a second of her usual hesitance. "I guess you could say... it was dangerous for them to know I was an AI because if they knew that, they would be more likely to know the island they were on was a program. They were placed there for rehabilitation."

Which wouldn't have worked if they remembered the fragments of despair they used to be.

[voidster]

Followed by hesitation from his side--any at all is more than usual.

[Rehabilitation from what?]

Who would go to so much trouble when therapy with someone already living would surely be easier than creating a person?

[skilltrees]

"...To put it simply, rehabilitation from brainwashing. They had lost their original hope by being forced into a cult, and they... weren't the same. We were trying to make them remember what they were like before, and how they used their talents for good."

But she feels awkward talking about that. Her friends are more than despair now, aren't they?

[voidster]

Brainwashing. Cults. Creating a personality just to undo the damage, which isn't bad in itself, he supposes, other than the part where they murdered her when the job was done. Without giving her the chance to have her own life.

...Time for a chance of subject. She's in the castle now, and she has a chance, even if it's not all that large of a place once you get used to it.

[None of which you'll have to do here. Somehow I've gotten us very off topic... What was I telling you again?]

[skilltrees]

She wasn’t supposed to be murdered, of course, but that’s because there’s more to everything than what she can hope to explain. She’s already said so much, and he must be worried. She can tell from the way he tries to lead the conversation.

So without trying to clarify, she just smiles gently, shaking her head.

“It’s fine. I can get distracted too. But you were telling me more about this place. You told me how many people were summoned here for purposes unknown, so maybe you should tell me what there is to do here.”

[voidster]

[Explore. Enjoy yourself. Spend time with others.]

Worried, and thinking unkind thoughts about whoever her creators must have been. What a waste of something amazing, as well as murder. But there's nothing to be done for it now.

[Some of the rooms may be unsettling, but none of them seem dangerous. There are art supplies here and there, a library, a room of musical instruments, a lake underground...]

[skilltrees]

He’s free to think what he’d like. Chiaki really hasn’t seen who she considers her father and brother in ages, and she couldn’t really say what they’re like now. But no matter what others think, she’ll love them and miss them dearly.

“As long as nothing is dangerous, that should be excellent.” Even if she knows there are ways to make any place dangerous. “It sounds incredible. I… don’t suppose there are any video games? Arcade cabinets or consoles?”

[voidster]

Kids these days. Goodness. He didn't have video games when he was that age!

...But then he was a young skeleton, not a computer program himself.

[No, not at all. It's unpleasantly low-tech, compared to what you and I seem to be used to. We don't even have electric lights.]