revivalproject | [ open

Current Mood: busy

Entry tags:

[ open | action ]

WHO: Keith, OPEN
WHERE: Out and about Temba
WHAT: Doin' things
WHEN: Early July
WARNINGS: None, yet?

[Keith had kind of been keeping to himself recently. There wasn't a particular reason for it. He'd just been feeling like being a bit of a hermit. Not that Lance seemed to mind since that meant they were spending more time together in their current residence... which was something they were working on changing with some of the exploring he'd been doing. But, still... Sometimes, introverts needed to introvert, and Keith had been in that kind of mood.

Either way, he was doing more things outside again. Checking some of the buildings to see if he could find a good one for him and Lance to use for a home. Poking at the ships in the hangar again, even if they hadn't really been going much of anywhere unless someone wanted to move between the cities without using the train. Keeping up his workout and training with Kosmo.

It wasn't a whole lot, but it kept him busy, and it kept him from backsliding too much...]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Have you ever been to space?

[Keith smirked a little. Because, honestly, meeting a blue cosmic wolf in outerspace wasn't exactly something he would have expected to happen to him, either, before he left Earth.

Kosmo tilted his head slightly, ears perked forward in curiosity towards the kid. Still, he didn't move from his spot at Keith's side. He was very well trained.

That didn't stop the tail from swishing back and forth. Kosmo definitely wanted to say 'hi'.]

Yeah, no, I'm not game for a one-way mission like that.

_{[York studies the wolf from his position, glancing at the human before extending a careful hand out in offering to... the name? Cosmo? Seems close.]}

I'm going to presume he's not exactly a pet, but sort of like one?

It's not so one-way where I'm from. [Keith glanced at a nearby rock wall to make sure it was stable enough, and, seeing that it was, he settled against it for the time being.

Kosmo stretched his nose forward, twitching it a little as he sniffed the offered hand. Then, he moved closer for pets.

Keith smiled a little and then tried to think of a way to answer the question.]

Yeah, kinda like that. He's more of a companion and partner, I guess. I trained him to work with me in battle. And he has his moments of self-initiative, but that's because he's still technically a wild animal in a lot of ways. But, he's friendly, and tame. Kind of just a big dog in a lot of ways.

Yeah, I don't expect it to be one-way for you. You're human. _{[York knows that's obvious of course, but with how he looks and what he says, that's probably confusing. He watches Kosmo sniff his hands, which smells of mechanical oil and metal, and something else strange. Something cold? Or electric? Definitely something different.]}

Like a canine that works with police. Well, used to I think. I don't know if they do that anymore. I've always wanted a pet, but dad always shut the topic down.

_{[He carefully pets the hound, scratching with plastic fingertips behind the ears and at the neck.]}

I've wanted a pet so much in my own world though.

[That got a bit of a look.]

Okay. I don't see why that would make a difference. [And Keith wasn't as human as he looked, but he didn't comment on that for now.]

I didn't have any pets as a kid, either. I mean, we probably would have gotten one at some point. Maybe. I don't know. Dad's job took him away a lot, and... [He trailed off for a second, a shadow passing over his features.] Well, the foster care system doesn't exactly let kids have pets before they're adopted.

[And Keith didn't exactly get adopted, either. Once you hit twelve years old, you were pretty much in the system until you aged out at eighteen. People only wanted to adopt younger kids.]

Edited 2022-08-08 02:26 (UTC)

_{[He glances up at Keith and tries to cool his anger. Not everyone knew the issues of his world. No need to get upset about it.]}

Because humans send out androids to space with no intention of bringing them back. They're exploration fodder so no humans die for the sake of science. I only look human, I'm just an android.

_{[His own expression falls hearing about the foster system. His hand pauses for a moment before resuming the petting motion on Kosmo.]}

Sorry. I don't know how it is in your world, but if it's anything like mine, the system is fucking bullshit.

[Okay... that made sense. But that didn't make it a good thing. Keith frowned.]

And you're sentient enough to be angry about it. [Keith didn't like that.] We don't exactly have sentient androids or robots or anything back home for me. But, I mean, you can clearly think for yourself, it seems like. [Not that he was trying to be insulting. He was just making some observations out loud.] That's pretty bad.

[Kosmo, meanwhile, was quite content to just let York continue to pet him, android or human. Didn't matter to him.]

Well... I mean, it is what it is, I guess. Most people don't want to adopt older kids, and I was already ten when my dad died, so... yeah. I was pretty much stuck. [Keith crossed his arms. It was a kind of nonchalant looking stance, but it was also a protective gesture, a way to close himself off when he felt uncomfortable.]

_{[Keith was about to see York angry. The android wasn't sure, nor did he really care what the intention was with the human's words, because he knew exactly what it sounds like.]}

That's because I am fucking sentient. I have my own will and emulated emotions after deviating off of my programming. Why wouldn't I be fucking angry about androids like me being used as goddamn fodder for human experiments?! I hope you're saying 'that's pretty bad' about the androids being fodder and not that I'm a sentient being like you, asshole!

[There was the initial shock. That was a sharp emotional shift, and it took a second for Keith to realize that he probably said something dumb. Because, really, that was usually the case. Keith was bad at tact.]

[Then there was a flash of his own temper because, wow, kid, way to misread intentions. Keith's temper did tend to run hot and it probably hit harder and longer than another person's might have. But, still.]

[And that was when the understanding hit. Keith took a breath to squash down his initial knee-jerk reaction to get angry back. He put his hands up.]

Okay. No, you're right. I'm sorry.

[Another breath.]

I didn't mean it like that. I mean that it sucks for someone to develop that and still be treated like they're less than a person. You're right to be angry. I get it.

_{[York's waiting for the fight that doesn't come. For an argument that dies on his lips when Keith goes from shocked, to angry, to apologizing. Apologizing. Without needing any prompt for it.

All of the fight drains out of his circuits at once, looking scolded even if Keith hadn't actually done any scolding.]}

Sorry it's... it's a fucking touchy subject. Humans don't really treat us with same kind of respect like I've been getting here. Before I was brought here, they raided our safehouse and gunned down the androids that didn't comply to deprogramming.

_{[He squats down to carefully go back to petting Kosmo. The action is pretty soothing, he finds.]}

[Keith had heard a lot of similar stories from various races subjugated and controlled by the Galra Empire... people who refused to submit being 'eliminated' from the equation in order for the Empire to maintain control over the population.

It was never easy to hear. Even now, Keith still didn't really know how to respond.

But he nodded.]

I understand.

[In the meantime, Kosmo was quite happy to lend his presence for comfort's sake. For a creature that was still technically a wild animal, he made a very good emotional support companion.]

_{[York's hands pull from Kosmo, fisting them in his lap. He at least wasn't going to hurt the wolf despite his own frustration. A glance at the human.]}

I shouldn't have yelled at you. _{[A pause.]} You didn't know.

_{[Another long pause.]} Where does Kosmo come from?

[Keith did manage a small, but sympathetic smile at that.]

Hey, it's okay to get angry about something. I used to do it a lot. Had something of a temper when I was a kid.

[Even now, almost in his mid-20s, he still had a bit of one.]

Kosmo? I honestly don't know. He was trapped in a comet or something that crashed on the spacewhale I was on in the quantum abyss back home. Mom and I were using the whales to get through and avoid the time drops. When the comet hit, Kosmo was injured, and some massive bug things tried to grab him. Mom and I rescued him, treated him until he was healthy, and he ended up being really easy to train. We developed a bond during those two years we were stranded.

_{[Anger and fear were the easiest to tap into for York, since those were the emotions he had deviated with. Being torn apart will do that to someone, York silently supposes. He shifts where he's at, looking at Keith somewhat sullen.]

That sounds like some scifi stuff. Or a fantasy novel plot. A wolf trapped in an asteroid that crashes on a spacewhale. Time drops, quantum abysses, massive bugs.

_{[He chuckles, though it sounds halfhearted at best from the residual anger that's melting out of his circuits]}

I'm York, by the way.}

Yeah. I know. [Keith shrugged.] I would've thought the same if I hadn't experienced it. But, hey... from my end, cyborgs still sound like sci-fi. None of the AIs in my world have their own personalities and feelings. That said, though, after traveling the universe, and then getting stuck in Drift Fleet and here, I've been exposed to a lot that wasn't actually true back home, but is for someone else.

[He nodded.]

I'm Keith.

_{[There's a slight smirk on his face at the other admitting that it did indeed sound like a book plot.]}

I guess that's fair at least. Androids are a staple in my world, and those like me that develop their own personalities are deviants which are actually illegal. It's stupid.

_{[He nods at the name, but tilts his head.]}

What is Drift Fleet? Something else from your world?

[Keith nodded a little.]

Yeah. It is.

[But Drift Fleet? No. Keith shook his head.]

No. It was in another world I got pulled into before this one. I'm not exactly sure of the details, but apparently, that's what got the Agrii started on trying the same thing. Those ships in the hangar... they're based on the ships we had in the Fleet. It was some like reality show, and the Agrii saw it. And they saw us working to help people. So, when the show ended, they found a way to bring us here from the show.

Though, there's only a few of us from the Fleet left...

_{[Geez, how many worlds were there? He supposed the answer could be 'infinite', which meant there were potentially infinite worlds to be pulled to and from and York doesn't want to think about that in fear of erroring out. His kind of programming wasn't meant for that sort of thinking, deviant or no.]}

Huh, I didn't know you could be pulled from another world you were already pulled to. I found it strange to be pulled from Detroit to here in the first place. But where you were at previously was a show? That seems pretty sick and twisted.

Yeah. It kinda was. We got like weird sponsor gifts sometimes, and then there was fanmail. People asking us all kind of weird stuff. [He shook his head.] I don't know. It was a lot.

This place is kinda better, at least? Like, as far as I know, it's only the Agrii that are watching us. Not like an entire multi-verse or something.

Fanmail? That's an actual thing? I've seen traces of it on the net back home, but figured that was just like... weird human stuff made up. I guess since you said it's a show, that makes sense... Still fucking weird though.

_{[He looks away, uncomfortable at the thought of a multi-universe watching him.]}

Yeah, fucking yikes. I'll take the Agrii just watching me instead. I'll take going home even faster though. Or yours, since you guys have... sand racing things there.

Yeah... it was really weird. Some of the stuff people sent was just... Awkward, too. Like, I don't know if you've met him, but Shiro? He's like a brother to me, and people were asking if we were like a couple and stuff, and it just felt weird.

[Keith shook his head at the memory.]

Heh... I don't know if we can go back to each other's worlds in the end, but it would be nice. I know a few people who'd rather go somewhere else than back where they came from.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ open | action ]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

i'm so sorry keith...

Never say sorry. Keith feels like he's looking into a mirror of his past right now - 1/3?

2/3

3/3

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

I don't think they've exchanged names yet soooo

I don't think so, either! :O

yikes, sorry about that messed up html in my last post

no worries :)

<3

no subject

no subject

no subject