[test drive with Ravirn]

[hunter2_0]

Artemis still doesn't know why she's doing this. Well, okay, yes she does - she's doing this because, as much as she would love to keep anyone from knowing her true nature, ever, it's really not a feasible plan - if nothing else, because she knows what a well-planted virus, a slight tweak to a segment of coding, could do to her programming, and if that were to happen, and nobody knew it was even a possibility... well. It wouldn't be a very good situation for her, would it.

She stands awkwardly at a street corner - even as long as she's been in this time, Artemis is far from mastering the art of subtlety when it comes to meeting people in public spaces - looking around apprehensively, her hands shoved in her pockets. She had asked Ravirn to meet her here as a last-second decision, before she changed her mind, and even now she just of hopes he gets there quickly enough that she doesn't have time to bolt, because some part of her still isn't convinced that this isn't a completely terrible idea.

Comments

[ravirn]

Ravirn, while not fifteen minutes late, has made a quick stop at a coffee shop.

He's not quite sure what Artemis likes, but he figures a hot chocolate is as good as anything else, and he's spent a good while working on a new program- long enough that when Melchoir 'casually' reminds him of his promise...

Well, it's nothing a double shot won't fix. Or at least help. In part. For now. And as way of apologizing for his few minutes of tardiness-

"Didn't know what you'd like," he calls out as he approaches, hefting up the paper cut. "Or if you, you know, even drank hot choc."

Hopefully he won't need to swap. In his backpack, Melchoir offers a light snort.

[hunter2_0]

"Oh, uh- thanks." She takes the cup but doesn't drink from it, instead just tapping the side nervously with one index finger. Honestly, she sort of feels bad that he even went to the effort of getting it, considering what she's about to tell him.

"So, um. There's... something I really need to tell you. It's. It's not something I let people know about most of the time, and I would really appreciate it if you didn't, I don't know, take it really badly, or something." Wow she hates this, everything was so much easier when she had an entire goddamn research lab that already knew what she was.

[ravirn]

H u h.

Ravirn tilts his head curiously, reaching up to adjust his sunglasses. He's taken to wearing them more often than not, especially with him trying to rewrite the codespell that helps shape his features; rounding his naturally pointed ears? That's apparently easy. His eyes, twin spheres of chaos that just so happen to be glow in the dark?

He can get the whites and iris right, but the disguise seems to stubbornly fail at the pupil level. Frustrating, and somewhat breaking to the disguise if he's talking to someone face to face. There's only so many that are familiar with him as anything above a hacker, and while he's let a few tidbits slip (such as the whole 'sentient webgoblin partner' thing), how much can he let slip?

It's not like he has enemies here, but like Melchoir's said, that probably won't last for long. Especially as his first reaction to her clear discomfort is;

"I know a great gay bar down the road if that's what you're in to."

In his backpack, there's a quiet, but audiable, groan.

[hunter2_0]

...what.

"I- that's, uh, that wasn't really what I meant. Good to know, I guess, but..." She takes a deep breath, cooling her systems. Better just say it all at once before she chickens out, or Ravirn misunderstands further.

"I'm just going to say this as bluntly as I can." She glances around one last time, making sure nobody is close enough by to overhear.

"I wasn't willing to say anything before, because- well, because I didn't know what might happen if I did, I couldn't be sure how people would react. But the fact of the matter is, I'm not really... human." She starts talking faster, now that she's gotten past the point where there's any way to back out.

"I'm an android - I was made artificially, programmed by... multiple groups, actually. It's a long story. But the point is, I'm not a human, I'm a robot." She stops abruptly, suddenly realizing that she's not sure where to go from here. She's said it, but now that the words are out of her mouth, the whole thing sounds... sort of ridiculous, in a way.

[ravirn]

It's her reaction rather the words that has Ravirn so...well, not so much confused or concerned, but paying attention- despite his casual demeanor. He raises his own coffee to take a sip, not even pausing at the mention of not being human because, arguably, he isn't either.

[A very good argument, no less.]

"Okay."

But 'android' - that has him pause, and not that she can really see it, blink. By nature of his partner, he's at least familiar with the concepts of programmed people (even if some wouldn't call webgoblins people). And...it's pretty clear she's at least thinking she's taking a risk admitting it aloud. With Melchoir unable to chime in fully - there's a reason he's in the backpack, after all, and not out at his side - Ravirn has to rely on his own good fashioned logic process.

He's at least realized that he needs to be serious, now. Or less...flippant, if only because she's taking it so seriously.

"That's...actually more 'neat' than 'terrifying' to me, if that's what you were worried about. Do you...ah...wanna continue this conversation somewhere else?"

You know. With less...people.

[hunter2_0]

"...yeah. That's probably a good idea." She's relieved by his reaction, even if she hadn't particularly expected him to be especially horrified or anything (that was why she was willing to tell him to begin with, after all).

[ravirn]

At that, Ravirn nods with a thin smile- there's got to be more, right? Because whether she knows it or not, she's just made him curious.

And that's never good.

"You can hit me if this is a bad joke," he begins, lowering his voice as they begin to walk, "but should I have stopped at the electronics store instead for your drink?"

Someone's testing boundaries, don't mind them.

[hunter2_0]

She snorts softly, and does smack the back of her hand lightly against his arm (it might feel slightly heavier than one may expect). "Cute. But that's not how it works. And before you ask, I don't run on gasoline either."

[ravirn]

It's a swat he deserved, but at least she seemed a little amused by it. Ravirn risks flashing a grin, rubbing his arm and chuckling. "Electricity, I'm guessing, like Melchoir has to here. Or some sort of refinement." Or she'll correct him, and either way he's all ears?

[hunter2_0]

She nods. "Electricity. I can stretch it out for a while, so power isn't usually an issue, but there are limits." And those limits tend to show up faster when she does things like, say, funneling energy through her hands to electrocute things. Or, if necessary, people. She decides to leave that part off for now - after the difficulty of the initial confession, this is getting easier and easier to talk about, but she figures she'll wait before going into the matter of her more... specialized capabilities.

[ravirn]

Bam. "I take it you're not bringing this up because you need a dealer for that or something?" he asks, smirking and tilting his head as he prepares to dodge.

It's all about finding how much he can push, how much he can play- despite how casual he is, he's certainly alert, already trying to figure out why it's been brought up. Confiding in him? Flattering. But- why?

Looking a gift horse in the mouth? Only so he can figure out how to plan around its health, really. There's no way he's turning down a challenge.

[hunter2_0]

"No! No, I get by just fine dismantling power outlets, thanks." She pauses, then adds, "I put the covers back on when I'm done, just so we're clear on that."

"The problem is, I know my programming isn't perfectly tamper-proof; that's been proven before." She grimaces slightly. "I had hoped that there just wouldn't be anyone who could access my code here, but lately I'm less and less certain of that."

And here's where she has to ask a favor. "If something does happen, I... I need a way to restore my central programming."

[ravirn]

Ravirn's more and more reminded of his partner. Grinning in approval, he flashes a quick thumbs-up- and then, abruptly, finds his humor gone for the briefest of moments.

That? That is serious.

"...I've run a backup from a crystal, but...I get the feeling you don't have one of those," he slowly states, brow furrowing in thought. There's no Nemesis here, thank Necessity for that, but instead he has a whole new system he's still learning about.

And now, Artemis with another. It'd give him pause, if it wasn't an outright test of his abilities, and those? Well, far be it from him to turn those down.

"But assuming you've got some sort of port-" oh, look, he managed that without any sort of innuendo good for him, "-we could take a look."

[hunter2_0]

"I'd definitely appreciate that." She taps the back of her neck, at the base of her skull, with two fingers. "I've got one that can be accessed here, and another on my back."

[ravirn]

Right. And since it's probably not a good idea to just jack in on the street, Ravirn waits until they've found a bit of a more private area- one where they won't have to worry about prying eyes. His coffee is finished, Melchior is unzipped from his pack and placed on a table in laptop-mode- and Ravirn's holding out a blue cord to Artemis.

"Wherever you'd prefer. Trust me, it'll fit."

It looks like a pretty basic USB plug on the tip, there- though the smirking goblin face on the top of the laptop case (was it smirking a minute ago?) suggests that it's anything but. And considering how it'll end up changing its shape in to whatever it needs to...

[hunter2_0]

Artemis nods and takes the cord, using her free hand to keep her hair out of the way. She angles the plug carefully, flinching slightly at the expected snap of electricity as it clicks into place. "Got it."

[ravirn]

"Right."

Starting handshake now, Boss. Stay tuned.

It's not Ravirn, at first, who tries to connect; it's Melchior, who - being somewhat more tactful than Ravirn, especially when plugging in to another AI - goes with the basics. Simple packet trading, connection protocol- nothing really out of the ordinary from a standard hookup, really, even if this one's initiated by a fellow sentient.

Ravirn's eyes, however, stay locked on his screen as things start to scroll. Occasionally he'll hit a key, at least with the prompts Melchior is giving; other than Necessity, going in to an AI isn't exactly...commonplace for them.

But they're trying.

"I'm...just gonna see what I'll need for this, or if I can understand it. To do an actual backup, we'll probably need some sort of storage device, unless you can store it in a partition or..."

He trails off, frowning, and looking up as he realizes he's missed something major.

"Just how aware are you of us peeking in there, anyway?"

Because it's actually pretty hard to resist the temptation of seeing if he can grab Admin-level rights off the bat. Just to see if he could. But even he's aware that's more of a Dick Move than Trickster one.

[hunter2_0]

"Very." She shoots a pointed glance at him. "So don't get any ideas."

It's sort of odd, having someone else going through her code for the first time in months. Back home, basic checkups were usually done every few weeks, just as a matter of course, but that obviously wasn't a convenient option here.

Then there's the matter of where best to store a backup. "A separate device would be preferable, I think. Just a matter of finding one with enough space." She doesn't intend to sound like she's bragging about how complex her programming is or anything, but, to be fair, her programming is really complex.

[ravirn]

The flashed grin suggests that while he did in fact have ideas, he's not going t-

"Of course not, we're still getting to know eachother."

-just going to put a bit of emphasis-innuendo on that and cue Melchior to offer a please excuse him, he's an idiot.. Ravirn pointedly ignores the echo on his screen as he gets back to business.

"Are we going to need custom drives, or is this the kind of stuff we can get locally?" And now comes his thinking cap- he touches his chin in thought. "If we can't do a full backup, we may be able to work with a snapshot and focus on that central programming- but I'm still trying to figure out how much your, ah, memory-files tie in with that as opposed to basic functionality."

Translation; he's not a hundred percent sure doing it that way would prevent memory loss.

[hunter2_0]

Artemis rolls her eyes. "And you had been doing so well, too."

She considers his question uncertainly. "...I think we could get them locally." She hopes so; since she can't exactly get in contact with the lab for supplies these days, she'd better be able to work with what's available. "My memories are stored separately at first, then integrated over time - so I'm pretty sure long-term memories are connected to central programming."

[ravirn]

"Give me time, I'll do worse." It's half-teasing, half-warning; but then, she seems to figure he's okay enough to check her systems like this.

And he's already thought of an alternative. Folding his hands in front of his face, Ravirn pitches it; "We could try working with a snapshot to start with, focusing on the central programming and trying to back up everything else as time goes on and we find the resources; I don't know how often you're wanting to do that, but it'll at least help so that if something serious happens, you haven't lost everything."

[hunter2_0]

She nods - not eagerly, exactly, but there's certainly no hesitation. "That should work. Backing up memories every couple weeks might be a good idea..."

She pauses, refocusing to look directly at him again. "Thanks for helping me with this. I'm... not sure what I could do if something happened otherwise."

[ravirn]

A nod. "Alright- as soon as we get some pieces together, we'll make a setup and try a basic snapshot. If that works- we'll try to do a bit less basic."

And now, a crooked smile. "And hey- you're letting me play with new things. Or at least copy 'em. I should be the one thanking you, and probably promising that I'm not about to try and tinker with it in my spare time." Ravirn pauses for a moment, then runs his hand over the top edge of the laptop screen. "Melchior's enough for anyone."

Not that his own laptop isn't still giving him shit about that, but it's the thought that counts. On both ends.

[hunter2_0]

"Sounds like a good promise to make." She gives him a look that says, distinctly, if you mess with my code you will regret it forever, but there isn't much seriousness behind it - if she thought he was inclined to pull something like that she wouldn't have gone to him in the first place.