Log01.entry

[ugh_emotions]

Who: SecUnit, Charles, and eventually other people depending on how things go lots of other people, everyone join in
What: SecUnit checks up Charles, no one has a good time
When: Just before the start of the Story
Where: The stacks
Content warnings: SecUnit getting accidentally bricked

Every time SecUnit or one of its drones caught sight of Charles, he seemed to look even more dead than the last time.

Which was weird. He was already dead (which was also weird), surely he couldn't get any more dead. You were either dead or you weren't.

Whatever. It wasn't SecUnit's problem. Charles wasn't one of its humans. It didn't need to worry about him.

(It worried about him.)

Eventually though, it gets to the point where it can't ignore it anymore, and it stomps over to where Charles is in the Stacks.

"What's wrong with you?" it demands.

Comments

Bathroom hiding time (OTA)

[ugh_emotions]

So. It lives in this bathroom, now.

SecUnit had run here, to the dorm bathrooms, immediately after...that whole thing. It was the only place it had thought of that would let is get away from everyone, lock itself away where no one could see it. And once it was safe, it could stop and review all of its drone's footage, from when it was offline.

It was bad. It was real bad.

There was getting knocked offline in the first place. Multiple people trying to check its vital signs. That one human trying to stick a compress on its head, like it was a helpless human. And then of course there was Siobhan trying to drag it, and that other human fucking carrying it, and...

...And waking up. All of those people there, looking at it. Everyone one of them hearing exactly what its buffer said.

It was absolutely mortifying.

It was absolutely terrifying.

So yeah. It had maybe had a bit of an emotional meltdown. And then it made the mistake of looking at the stupid journal, where it saw Charles telling everyone that it collapsed, and then it had another emotional meltdown.

No one else had better want to use this bathroom ever again, because it wasn't leaving. Not for the rest of its life.

[obeir]

K may not be able to relate to the experience of hiding one's true identity (an impossibility for him) and then having it unintentionally revealed, but he can understand why it might be upsetting. Especially for a fellow AI who'd been posing as a human; outside of this place, he knows that could mean the difference between survival and death for someone in SecUnit's position. That ruse had obviously been important to SecUnit, and K regrets not being able to get there in time to prevent anyone else from witnessing its reboot.

His normally nigh-silent footsteps have some deliberate weight to them now. He's not stomping around, just being loud enough to physically announce his presence as he approaches the door and knocks a couple times.

"Are you hurt?" he asks through the door. "I don't know what happened to you."

[ugh_emotions]

SecUnit had stationed a drone outside of the bathroom, in a out-of-the-way spot where it couldn't be easily noticed. So it knows, even before K knocks, that he's coming.

Inside the bathroom, it sits on the floor, curled up into a ball of SecUnit. It doesn't really want to talk to anybody. But at least K's not a human.

I'm...fine, it says, speaking through the feed rather than out loud. I don't...Charles did something. I don't know what. It knocked out all my systems.

[obeir]

K responds in kind, heedless of how awkward he knows he must look silently standing outside the bathroom door like this. Probably better to keep their conversation private anyway.

And there's no lingering damage?

Charles mentioned that ghosts like him can negatively affect tech. Whatever happened, I'm sure he didn't mean to do it.

[ugh_emotions]

I don't think so. I'm still running diagnostics.

And look, if K wants to stand in front of a closed door, staring at it, SecUnit isn't going to judge. It does that sort of things all the time. Though usually it prefers facing walls; there's no chance of a human suddenly walking through those. (Except Charles. Who can also knock it offline without even touching it. Fuck.)

He was...agitated, it says. Looked dead. Like, even more dead than usual, I mean. Threat Assessment on him, but I thought he might be a risk to the humans or SOBs, not...

Not it.

(Through the feed, K might pick up som] emotional data that’s bleeding through. Ones like [confusion] and [embarrassment] and [dread].)

[obeir]

Eventually K does move from the door, so it at least won't look like he's listening to someone using the bathroom to anyone who might wander by. He's seen enough bizarre pervert accusations flying around to not want to draw that kind of unwanted attention to himself.

The emotional data surprises him, and it isn't too difficult to decipher. The incident has obviously shaken SecUnit even more than it would probably ever admit. K lacks any sort of comfort protocols he could call on, since he's very much not a pleasure model, leaving his limited lived experience as his only guide for navigating this.

And, well. The majority of his lived experience has been as a cross between a detective and bounty hunter and cyberpunk equivalent of a police dog. It's debatable how much working out what happened and why will help SecUnit feel better, but those are K's strengths.

He said the not-friendly-to-tech effect worsens when he gets overemotional. Being overemotional might also explain his altered appearance... maybe making him look closer to the way he did when he died. So something had him upset and you just had the misfortune of being in close proximity. Or there was something upsetting about your interaction?

And because the term hasn't been defined for him yet...

SOBs?

[ugh_emotions]

Sentient Organic Beings, it says. It's an anagram.

(It was not, in fact, an anagram.)

There was something wrong with him, it says. I thought he needed medical attention. Or, you know, whatever the equivalent of that is for dead humans. I guess if that kind of effect happens when he's, uh, upset...he probably needs trauma treatment.

Which, you know. They didn't have here.

[ohaiyo_isekai]

Rin is socially awkward at the best of times, and this is absolutely not the best of times.

Which is why Hikaru waits for a few hours before initiating the sendjewel ping.

I hope you're alright, Rin. The situation was not ideal.

Such a gift for understatement he has.

[ugh_emotions]

There’s a very, very long pause. Long enough that it almost seems like maybe SecUnit didn't hear, or is purposefully ignoring any messages. But perhaps Hikaru will notice a chance in the feed; the presence of a channel. SecUnit is there, even if it isn't saying anything.

Eventually, though, it does reply.

They'll all be scared of me now, it says. You should be scared of me.

[ohaiyo_isekai]

I do not fear you, Hikaru says. You have been nothing but kind and protective of people you did not even know in a situation that would test the best of us. You may be dangerous, yes, you are quite clearly never unarmed, but neither can I be.

And I, of all people, understand concealing your nature out of fear of of how others will react.

[ugh_emotions]

There's another pause. Mainly because it has to have a bit of an emotion for a bit, first.

You should. I'm a SecUnit. You don't know how much damage we can do, it says.

Because even if it's feeling all melty at Hikaru response, it can't just let him go around thinking SecUnits are safe. He could get in real danger, thinking that way.

[ohaiyo_isekai]

I think I have a small idea of how much damage an interstellar age security bioroid can do if they choose to really cut loose, Hikaru sends, a tinge of frustration on the line. I did not say I lacked a healthy respect for what you're likely capable of. I said I do not fear you. And I think you know the difference.

[ugh_emotions]

Another pause.

I didn't want you to know, it says, its feed voice sounding soft. And small.

(It hadn't wanted anyone to know.)

I can't pretend to be an augmented human anymore.

[ohaiyo_isekai]

And I am sorry that barrier was taken from you by mischance, Hikaru says. Siobhan told me you were a normal human of your era to the last, even after it became apparent you were augmented, and I believed her - that a human employed as a security consultant would need augmentation to control all those drones made sense - until your boot-up sequence.

He pauses.

Nor do I blame you for wanting that kept secret, or Siobhan for keeping it. You did not know us. You did not know if we would fear you. If we were safe to be out to.

[lightsgift]

Reliable plumbing and unlimited hot water may be the best thing ever about this new, strange place. Technology is mostly a mystery to her, and will be for some time to come, but even she can grasp the concept of "turn the lever, hot water comes out".

It's like magic, really, except not a prohibitively expensive luxury. It's a wonderful thing, and an amenity that she's happy to take advantage of.

That's Cinthe's plan when she heads toward the bathroom in all her blue, elegant glory. Dark hair tied back from her face, stripped down to her simple breeches and blouse, towel tucked under an arm in preparation for a gloriously hot soak. She moves with light, easy grace on bare feet, the long lean lines of a dancer packed into a frame of slightly above average height.

Except, it's locked, and isn't that an unpleasant disappointment. The tiefling frowns, pausing by the door and tilting her head in plain question. Her eyes are blank, bright amethyst, pupil-less but still searching with her gaze and a mild furrow of brow beneath her curved ivory horns.

"Hello?"

[ugh_emotions]

Outside the bathroom, tucked away up in a corner near the ceiling, is a tiny drone, no bigger than a centimeter across. She likely won't even notice it. But it sees her, so SecUnit knows that she's there, even before she calls.

It's tempted to just...not reply. Say nothing, pretend it isn't here, hope the SOB (aka: Sentient Organic Being) goes away. But it's pretty obvious that someone isn't here, and if it looks like its hiding they'll just make even more fuss.

"It’s occupied." The voice that comes through the door is muffled, and terse. It's a voice that doesn't read as particularly masculine or feminine.

[lightsgift]

Cinthe wouldn't even think to look for a drone, never mind one so small, so she is quite unaware of its presence.

She is perceptive enough to pick up the strain in the voice from the other side of the door, though. She pauses, considering the situation with a delicate frown. There's a balance between concern and unwelcome pushing, and she doesn't intend to offend anyone without cause.

Blasting down the door is an option, sure, but she generally has better manners than that unless given good reason. It's not her business, as much as she does want a shower...

She responds a moment later, in her light and mysterious accent, a note of something musical and foreign in her voice. She is very much both sentient and organic, a bit warmer than a human her size would be but otherwise in line with expected biometrics. Blinks, breathes, the steady and calm beat of a heart that's exactly where it's supposed to be, doing what it's expected to do.

"Ah...okay." A beat of pause. "Are you well?"

[ugh_emotions]

"I'm fine," it says, sharper now.

(It is not fine. It does not sound fine. It sounds like someone who is trying to hide away from the entire world, and would very much like Cinthe to stop talking and go away now, thank you very much.)

[lightsgift]

That definitely does not sound fine. Cinthe's hopes of a shower are flickering like a dying candle, but...she's not a cold person. Quite the opposite, and the growing concern takes the place of her dashed hygiene hopes. She shifts her rolled towel to her other arm, still leaned into the locked door to discern as much as she can. Which isn't much, but she's trying. Her tail flicks back and forth intently, a tight arc that's not yet agitation but definitely aware.

"If you need anything, please let me know. I've only just arrived here, but my name is Cinthe. I'm a healer."

[ugh_emotions]

"I don't need medical treatment," it says, now starting to sound...annoyed.

It watches her through the drone, tense, as she leans on the door. She had better not be about to fucking try to break through it. Ugh. Why couldn't she just leave it alone?

[lightsgift]

Cinthe may be helpful, but she can take a hint. She's an outsider here, and whatever this is, well...she doesn't know.

Yes, she could break the door down, far more easily than her delicate frame would suggest. But that's extreme, for a situation where someone just wishes to be left alone.

"I'll leave you, then." Sigh. No shower. "Kind regards, in any case."

The words are kind enough, spoken quietly but loud enough to carry through the door. Then she straightens from the door, leaving it as it is and turning to leave with a slightly disappointed droop of tail.

[hellandbackpack]

It takes a bit before he eventually writes something for SecUnit in the journal. At this point? He's definitely not expecting a reply, but he at least wants to apologize somehow.

I’m sorry. I know that it doesn't change what I did, but I didn’t mean to hurt you.

If you want me to stay away, I will. That may be safer.

I won’t contact you anymore unless you say it’s okay.

[ugh_emotions]

It takes a while before there's a response. Mainly because it had kind of been avoiding looking at the journal too much. It hadn't wanted to keep seeing everyone talk about it.

Eventually, though, it does send a reply.

...I know you didn't mean to.

(It doesn't say anything about Charles staying away, or not. It doesn't really know how to answer that one. Especially since it's still feeling fucking mortified at having such a vulnerability in the first place.)

[hellandbackpack]

There's a delay after he gets that response. A response he was honestly a bit surprised to get, but he was relieved all the same. And... after that whole mess, SecUnit deserved at least some sort of explanation.

It's... not like you were wrong either. You were just trying to help. Like... I'm not sick or hurt or anything, just... ghosts are-

Bollocks, Edwin would be able to explain it better.

A bunch of energy left-over after a death that's kinda self-actualized itself into itself. So if we don't have a great grip on it, we jolt back to baseline death-state. And bigger emotions are one of the things that do that, and make our energy sort of... go all over. I normally have a better handle on it than that.

[ugh_emotions]

I saw the recording from my drone, it writes. So yeah, it had seen how Charles reacted, afterwards. It had been pretty clear that he hadn't meant to harm SecUnit at all. It had just been an accident.

A horrible, mortifying accident.

You still shouldn't have been able to knock all my systems offline like that.

Its organic insides felt sick at the very thought. The whole thing was fucking embarrassing.