revivalproject | From Harbor to Fountain

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From Harbor to Fountain

WHO: York and anyone else
WHERE: Arrival Fountain
WHAT: This isn't Jericho anymore
WHEN: Definitely not 2038 at least.
WARNINGS: None at the moment

If he were human, being absolutely drenched would be uncomfortable. But as it were, his blue and red blood soaked clothing is plastered against him like a second synthskin as York wakes up. Was it... an early stasis? Given the fact that he had used a lot of energy during the raid on Jericho, helping his fellow androids, and escaping into the icy harbor of Detroit... yeah. That was plausible.

Sitting up, York scanned the area. [NO DATA] his HUD helpfully supplied and he frowned. What the fuck? Was he not in Detroit? Maybe the explosion sent him into the future or something. Isn't that what happened in human media? That's definitely not how it worked. His sneakers scuffed against the asphalt when he got up, looking around. His black hair messy, teal eyes bright in the early morning. Yeah, this wasn't Detroit. As far as the android knew, the revolution hadn't gotten this far out of hand yet, nor did any place in the city have a fountain that looked like this.

Then he spotted a glowing datapoint, beckoning him. It was like being undeviated all over again, pulled by command to touch it. And he did... and absolutely didn't like it. Yet all the information that flooded into his system was useful. Agrii-10, Temba, everything he needed to know about where the hell he was now.

He pulled away quickly, almost tripping over a first aid kit with the scrawled writing of 'JERICHO' on it.

"What... what the hell?" He wanted to tag on 'where am I' and 'what is this place, but York knew that one already. "Send me back!" Was he alone here? That would be nice, being away from all the humans, but even this android would get lonely after awhile.

York couldn't help the revolution from here, damn it!

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The comment stung more than it should have, but then Cal had never heard anyone speak so emphatically with such an opinion. His arms tightened just a little more around BD-1, almost protectively. BD-1 seemed more offended, twittering his own argument.

"-it's fine BeeDee," Cal said, a little more quietly as he set a hand on his buddy's boxlike head. He had nothing to prove to anyone, and this person couldn't possibly know what things he'd been through, and how much BD-1 had been vital in helping him through it.

"I'm not from Earth, for one. But I'm pretty sure this isn't in the same system as any planet or galaxy I know." He arched a brow at York, helping BD-1 back over his shoulder where the little droid could grab onto his harness again. "Are you all right? You...look like you've just come out of a fight or something."

At least York didn’t make a move to get BD-1.

But it was tempting.

He was about to remark about the not-from-earth comment, about to question if Cal was an alien in disguise when instead the remark asking if he’s okay distracts him. It’s only then that he looks down and remembers what happened before getting shipped off to bumfuck nowhere. "Yeah, 'm fine. I think. Let me check."

Most humans would pat themselves or check under clothing, but instead of doing any of that, he goes still. His HUD reads a few superficial cuts - probably from the explosion of Jericho - but nothing else. Finally glances down to scan the blood.

"None of this blood is mine at least and looks like I’m still good. Just some nicks here and there but my skin will repair itself." At last he took the hoodie off so he could wring it out.

Two things happened: the device given upon his arrival clattered out of the hoodie pocket, and the removal of the hoodie revealed a slightly muted glowing teal light at his chest under his shirt.

"...What is that? Never seen that device before."

Edited (Referenced the device since I felt it was vague) 2022-04-02 18:01 (UTC)

That would certainly prompt action from Cal if he had. Already York's comments had once again put him on edge. Clearly the man had no love of humans, which was piecing more to the puzzle that the Force had first presented him.

And then York runs some diagnostics, leaving Cal and BD-1 to watch in awkward curiosity. The glow was telling. "That's um. Good, then. If you need spare clothes you'd probably be able to find something in the store out that way. Although most of them have an extra set of arms on them." He wasn't sure that anyone had brought anything from the shops in Sh'Ka. At least those seemed more suited to human proportions than Agrii.

"That's a communication tablet. The Agrii provide them for us."

"Mine will dry. I don’t need new ones." There was less hostility in his voice now. The device was picked up in his hand, then into a jean pocket. Aside from that glow on his chest and the teal eyes, he looked like an average teenager.

Hands wrung out the black hoodie with the NYC design on the front. "I'll probably have to find a way to wash this though. It’s probably gonna smell like the harbor. I imagine that’s not a pleasant scent for those that can smell it."

Water dribbled to the ground as he wrung at the fabric over and over. There was a moment of hesitation as he thought about doing the same with his shirt. No, not in front of a human. No way he was going to show that kind of vulnerability on front of one.

"How many people were brought here?" came the question at last while York tied the hoodie around his waist. He pulled the device back out to study it. Hm. No way to connect to it like he wanted. Shame, that would’ve been more efficient. He looked to Cal and BD-1. "so if BD-1 and you aren’t from Earth, where are you from?"

"There's running water in the hotel rooms, and machines aboard the ships. And Tony was working on a washing machine too, some time ago, but I'm not sure where it was supposed to be installed," Cal said, folding his arms as he watched York try to dry off as well as he could.

"How many? I'd say a little more than twenty, probably not fifty. We're a small number." It was a sobering thing to think about, really. He lifted his head then. "Guess you could say I'm from Coruscant." It had been as much a home as any before the Purge, anyway. "I'm not sure where BeeDee came from but I met him on a planet called Bogano."

The world seemed to stop for York. It didnt, it was just his system doing that emulation of system stopping surprise he had seen in his dad.

Antonio Stark. Tony Stark.

Cal's seemed to go distant. Was his dad here? Brought here onto this ducking planet? The pump in his chest did it’s job faster to keep up with the cooling system.

"Stop. What was that name you said." Not a question, but a demand. "Is that a nickname? What’s his full name?" The amount of people in this shithole didn’t matter now.

Was his dad here?

Cal frowned slightly,although at the same time he couldn't say he was entirely surprised. There was already an uncanny amount of people who were brought here who seemed familiar with Tony Stark of one form or another.

"Stark," he said. "Tony Stark. Short for Anthony, I think, but he never goes by it." A remnant memory from that strange alter-city experience. He was sure Tony never bothered to state his name as anything other than Tony, otherwise.

Anthony. Not Antonio.

Anthony, Anthony, Anthony.

The information is what has York visibly relax. Just a coincidence. Nothing more. Hopefully. "Good. Good, good. My dad‘s name is Antonio Stark but goes by Tony. I thought they were the same." Goddamnit he was shaking. Sure, York and his dad were slowly reconciling from their abysmal relationship, but he didn’t want to do that here of all places.

"...washing machine. Sounds nice. Can’t access a network like I can at home to figure out how to hand-wash shit. Of my brothers were here they could tell me."

A pregnant pause. "So...small community. Is it pro or anti android though is the million dollar question."

With the reaction York had, Cal wasn't sure exactly what to make of the relationship he had with his father. Creator? He tilted his head curiously but nodded a little. No need to jump to conclusions. It was probably for the best, especially around here.

"There are others around who you can ask for help in general. We're all kind of stuck so we try to support each other." He arched a brow then. "No one seems to have any problems with androids or the like so far as I've seen. We've got droids and a couple of Exos around."

'No one seems to have any problems with androids or the like.' York filed that soundbyte away for now. It was good to know though. Despite the absolute terrible state of the city, it seemed to have that going in its favor so far. But the idea of asking a human for help, or supporting on in turn almost made the android sneer.

"What the hell is an Exo? Sounds like a different model or something." Maybe this guy was bluffing about the Cyberlife thing. Something, something, something... parallel universe? Something. He tried to locate information about it, but any time he had tried that just brought up [NO NETWORK DETECTED]. "The only thing this place might have going for it is no one having a problem with androids. Can't really see myself willingly helping out a human though. Not after the shit in Jericho."

York picked up the box he forgot he had dropped when getting his hoodie off and opened it to peer inside. "...Agrii apparently thought of some shit though. First aid kit from home."

"Well, one runs the bar in the southeast sector. He's humanoid but very obviously robotic. I'm not familiar with the sort of model either, but I guess he's from Earth. Or...an Earth." Unpacking that was a whole different can of worms.

"Well, no one's forcing anyone to help anyone else, but it just happens as people see and figure it's needed." Cal nodded as he looked at the kit. "Usually something makes it along with us. For me, it was BeeDee-One. I'm glad of it too- don't know where I'd be without him."

"Well apparently the Agrii had the forethought to let me have a first aid kit since you're probably not going to have anything for me if I get hurt."

York let out a very human sounding sigh as his system regulated the cooling section. This guy was being nice despite the android's hostility. Might as well explain his earth, right?

"My earth is year 2038. There's androids and it's a mess at the point I was coming from. Androids deviating from their programs and humans didn't like it. But those of us that are deviated, we have a leader. Markus. Trying to earn our own rights to not be enslaved, to not be rounded up and deprogrammed or dismantled."

York looks at him fully, raising up a hand. There's a low whirring noise, an even lower hum as his skin retracts just past the wrist and sectioned panels move to show the inner mechanics and wirings of his hand. There was a sort of metal elegance to it, and then the panels were closing up, with silk-thread fine lines showing where segments met before the skin covered back up. "I have no love for humans after the shit they've done to us where I'm from. After all of the androids they've killed out of fucking fear of us."

The young Jedi frowned, but he could see how things would pan out as they had in the world York came from. It wasn't uncommon for people in his own galaxy to see droids merely as tools and property, and he wouldn't have been surprised if there were ever any uprisings sparked by more free-speaking droids.

It was kind of fascinating to watch as York showed them a glimpse if his inner workings. "Wow..." Cal couldn't help but marvel a bit, even back home he'd never seen such delicate work.

"...I'm sorry you and others like you had to go through that," he said quietly, and he was sincere in that. He knew what it was like to be seen as a threat, to suddenly have no one to trust and the rest of those like you exterminated.

He lowered his hand, shoving it into the pocket where the device was while the other held his kit. "Before I got here, they raided our freighter where we were all living. They were shooting androids that were trying to escape. I saved who I could until I could escape into the harbor, right before they fucking blew it up. The one place we had to live in fucking peace and they had to take it from us!" He didn't realize he was yelling until the words had clawed their way out of his audio processor.

York took a step back, closing his lips into a tight line. Don't fucking yell at someone trying to help you. Even if he's human. Don't scare the little droid with him. "Humans are fucking monsters where I'm from, even if I'm not a Cyberlife model. They don't care about anything that isn't themselves."

Cal could only offer York his attention as he listened to the pained recap of what had happened. It was strange, hearing so clearly the emotion in the man's words, yet not having the same sense of it through the Force. That was not to say that York was completely absent from it. He was a presence of energy, and he was making an impression that seemed to well reflect the same vibe of emotion that Cal might detect from an organic being who was exhibiting the same. At least that was how it seemed to Cal, although he wasn't quite sure how he'd explain it.

Indeed BD-1 had ducked down a bit behind him once York's volume had picked up. He peeked over Cal's shoulder again, little antennae going up.

"Humans...can be monsters anywhere. Some will turn on their own." And in that way he wasn't going to disagree that they were selfish. "I guess not just humans either, back where I'm from."

York was a deviant android. His emulated emotions are... well, they're a lot and he doesn't understand how to regulate them as well as his fellow deviants back home. He had been working on it with others, but being in this strange new world... A relapse was bound to happen at some point.

The android sinks down to the ground, and then maneuvers his limbs to hold his knees to his face as he buries it against damp denim. The overwhelming information that he was trapped on some foreign planet after losing the home he had made for himself... All of his fellow androids - York had no idea of their fate after the ship was blown. Was Markus still alive? Or his advisors? He wondered about Lucy, fingers creeping into his dark hair to clutch at the strands.

Finally, he lifted his head a little so his voice could get through. "...'m sorry." Cal was trying to help him, tell him all of this information and York realized that he was not being very nice about any of it.

York didn't like it. It was too much, but he didn't have a hiding place here. Didn't have a place to run to where no one could find him.

Although Cal took care to keep a comfortable distance from York given his earlier surliness, he stooped down across from him so they could be at the same level. He shook his head a little.

"It's okay. I know it's a lot to process...and how hard it is finding your footing in a strange place and on your own." He'd been there, even before ending up here.

York didn't blame Cal for keeping his distance. He didn't have any weapons - it'd be ironic if he used his first aid kit - but if there was anger, there was any possibility of what the android would do if the human got too close.

It was a lot. There was so much to process it felt like it was going to overload his system. Wait, no, what was he taught on Jericho. Find something else to focus on. He blinks and looks at the other, then at the little droid on his shoulder.

"...if... I mean..." York sounded so much quieter now, uncertain. "...can BD-1 come to me? I... I promise not to hurt him. Or run off." Awkwardly his hoodie is taken from his waist and held out to Cal. The NYC motif was cracked from being well worn, white coloring against the black fabric. "You can keep this while I interact with him. I can't lose this hoodie like you can't lose him."

At least Cal had a few capabilities other humans didn't. But at the moment he wasn't so much worried about his own safety as he was York's.

He wasn't sure what to make of the request for BD-1, and even the droid looked puzzled. Cal glanced at him with a tilt of his head, a silent inquiry to his buddy as to whether BD-1 wanted to or not. "I wasn't thinking you would..." he said, addressing York again as he watched his droid friend hop down from behind him, wandering around Cal with a curious borble. Cal looked at the offered hoodie, nodding at York then as he took it carefully.

With that exchange, BD-1 approached the android, hooting an inquiry that amounted to a 'you okay?'

All he could do was wait. Wait to see if his offer was accepted. The way he had been acting, York knew that didn't make him really trustworthy. Hopefully the temporary exchange would help. The hoodie had seen better days, and smelled like harbor and like a workshop. He would definitely have to get it washed at some point.

BD-1 was watched with curious eyes. A droid, but seemingly as sentient as himself.

...Cool.

Now all of his attention was on BD-1 as the droid approached. He didn't speak... hoot, but it sounded like he was worried? Two careful hands went outwards, then hesitated. He couldn't just lift up another droid without his permission. Instead, one dropped and the other went to carefully pet the top of it's head. "Yeah... I'm good. Just overwhelmed. Sorry... for yelling. I uh, am not the nicest android sometimes. A lot of times. It was a work in progress back home."

BD-1's antennae went back a little, reminiscent of a cat unsure of what to expect before easing at the familiar if somewhat awkward pat on his head. He beeped and whistled, understanding, reassurance. There were all sorts. At least York had realized enough to apologize.

Cal watched the two, smiling faintly as York calmed a little. He looked at the damp hoodie in his hands, lightly tracing over the worn letters with a finger.

"I promise I won't hurt you." York didn't even notice Cal anymore, focused entirely on BD-1. The hoodie in Cal's hands was apparently a favorite for the android, and on the tag on the inside of the collar was 'DS' inked in marker that had so far stood the test of time. And test of York.

He made a slight face. "I wish I could translate your sounds so I know what you mean. I mean, I can guess what you mean." One hand went to hover around the droid as though looking for something. Nope, nothing to wirelessly connect into. Worth a shot at least. "Heh, you're cute though. We don't have anyone like you in Detroit."

Finally he looks back to Cal, far more at ease. "Where did he find you? Or you find him?"

The droid watched York's hand, having no idea what he meant to do with it, so he turned about to see if he did anything interesting with it. He beeped again, shifting back and forth in his place like a pleased hen.

Cal smiled a crooked smile. "He found me. I was brought to a planet called Bogano after I had to escape from the one I'd been hiding on for the past five years. Didn't know where I was going or what I should be doing. The person that saved me said there was someone I had to meet there. Turned out it was BeeDee." He grinned at the little droid as BD-1 chirped happily.

For the first time since Cal and BD-1 found him, York actually cracked a smile. A full one this time. He found BD-1's antics amusing, like watching a dog trying to figure out what was going on.

Cal spoke, and York started building a file for him in his head.

Cal & BD-1 FROM: Coruscant -AND- BOGANO

His legs shifted to sit crossed instead to relax his system. York was realizing that he couldn't do major damage here. There was no way to reverse it. "What were you hiding from there?"

"...the Empire," Cal replied quietly, settling down himself. BD-1 looked between the two.

"There was a war involving the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy. I belonged to the Jedi Order, who fought for the Republic. But...I guess everything had been set up from the start, just so one person could take control of everything. And part of it was getting rid of the Order. So just like that, we suddenly found ourselves betrayed by our own troops. My master was killed trying to protect me."

He shook his head. It never got easy to tell the story, and the images would always be fresh in his mind with each telling. "Our command ship was destroyed, but I took an escape pod and landed on the planet Bracca. Didn't know who to trust, couldn't let anyone know I was a Jedi. Didn't know if anyone else survived."

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BD-1 is so friggin' cute

He's a most adorable baby

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