Video | Built for helping

[giveusfreedom]

[Markus is a bit nervous about introducing himself, but figures it's better late than never.]

Hello, everyone. I am new here, my name is Markus. I have reached a Data Point and learned more information about our...Mission.

[Is it even the right word? He's not sure.]

I am not built for heavy manual labour, [literally] but I am quite strong and resistant, and my senses are sharper than average. I can also give hand if we need to work with AI.

[Look at him, the proud leader of deviants tiptoeing around revealing his identity. What would Josh think? God, he's feeling guilty already.]

Let me know what you need help with, it's best to make the most of every second we are here.

Comments

[Video]

[buildingitsir]

_{[He knows that voice. He knows that face. York had seen it at enough 'meetings', in the media outlets, everywhere. The android never thought that someone else would be brought to this world from his own... and it almost made him lock up. The small android fumbles with his own communicator before the video feed switches on.]}

Holy fucking shit it's you! Markus!

_{[He's holding the device so that the familiar teal glow is visible, even under his shirt.]}

You probably don't know me, but I'm from your world. Detroit.

_{[York feels like he's going to short circuit, and there's a flickering red before it soothes into teal again.]}

Agrii will bring anyone here, won't they?

[giveusfreedom]

[Markus does indeed tense up when he sees someone recognizes him, but he knows that it's not necessarily a bad thing. He forces a smile, although it doesn't hide the tiredness and tension.]

Yes, it's me. And you are...? I'm sorry, I don't think we have met before.

[He is not sure about how to answer the question.]

It looks like it. I think I have seen a child being brought here.

[He's already wondering about what to say in an eventual private conversation.]

[buildingitsir]

_{[It's hard to analyze through the communicator, but it's also not exactly York's directive, either. He can scan architecture and gather all the data he needs. People, not so much.]}

Sorry, just.. _{[Excited is too strong of a word, so he drops the sentence entirely instead.]}

Welcome to Temba. My name's York, android 'son', so to speak, of Stark Tech androids. Granted, there's only three of us so I don't know how much that counts... but whatever.

_{[He pulls it together.]}

You still in the city center where the fountain is?

[Video]

[thepurpleone]

Wow, you're really sold on this whole thing then.

Re: [Video]

[giveusfreedom]

What do you mean?

[For a deviant android leader whose revolution has taken a violent turn lately, Markus can be naïve about others' intentions at times.]

[giveusfreedom]

Yes, I'm still here at the moment. Would you like to meet up?

[Video]

[thepurpleone]

[Meanwhile turtle teen is cynical and realistic.]

I mean...you're not annoyed we were more or less brought here without being asked, and then basically expected to clean up someone else's mess? Not even a little?

[audio : UN:quintet]

[quintet]

Hey, society needs all kinds of people, not just muscle.

Do you have any art?

Re: [audio : UN:quintet]

[giveusfreedom]

I did not bring anything with me, but I have memorized many books and I can paint and play the piano for entertainment.

[It's in moments like this that the way he talks makes him sound like an android to the point that he barely seems deviant. It's good, though, robots are not human in the same way people are.]

Re: [Video]

[giveusfreedom]

Well, I don't think feeling annoyed would change the situation. I personally was in the middle of something very important...I assume that the more we do to help here the sooner we can get back home?

[Video]

[thepurpleone]

No, but it's still annoying. Inconvenient.

Not sure that more in this case equals productivity. I think the big thing we've been expected to fix is what's been keeping the supposed original inhabitants from coming back to otherwise fix up this place themselves. Aaand from what I've surmised from those who've been here longer than me, that hasn't necessarily been very fruitful so far.

Re: [Video]

[giveusfreedom]

I see. Do you have an alternative strategy in mind? Either way we should talk this out with the Agrii to have a more complete picture.

[quintet]

Well, paintings are nice...

[Fortunate then that Quintet has no notion of what an Android is, let alone a deviant one, and is only barely aware of the idea of an artificial person— and is highly skeptical of the concept, as far as she does understand it.]

But I meant more Art-art, not... decoration, or entertainment. It's fine, I just keep hoping there's at least one other place where people understand the practice.

I'm Quintet, by the way. You could probably tell.

[giveusfreedom]

Art-Art?

[Markus echoes.]

I can make copies of classical pieces, if that is what you're asking.

[He hasn't quite gathered the courage to paint again ever since the incident. Honestly, he's been having other things on his mind...]

[quintet]

[What's classical about paintings? She's almost afraid to ask.]

No, like— like an expression of personal perspective. A natural style all your own. A Metanoetic thesis, or an alembic, for example. You know... Art!

[He clearly does not know.]

...Nevermind, guy. Nobody else here seems to get it either, so seriously, don't worry about it..

[giveusfreedom]

I wouldn't say I have had the chance to experiment enough to call myself an artist.

[He's somewhat humble and self conscious.]

But if you would like to talk about your art, I am interested in listening. I used to share a living space with a professional artist and he found it helpful to have me assist him.

[quintet]

...A professional? [There is a beat.] Like, a professor?

[Wait, is this guy an idiot, or some kind of VIP? She can't tell.]

I mean, I could— explain a few things. Probably.

[giveusfreedom]

He was Carl Manfred, a painter of the Neo-Symbolist movement of the 2020s in Detroit, Michigan.

I was mostly his caretaker, but he has exposed me to art.

audio > video

[quintet]

...

[There is a rather long pause.]

I don't have any context for any of that. We're— actually, wait. This is stupid. Let me turn this thing on.

[The video comes into focus. It's a cat! She sits back a bit, considers the readout on the screen with a careful head-tilt. No, that seems right.]

Right. See me? [Seems like you should.] Okay, so. We're obviously from different Societies. Can you say that last thing again, but this time explain it as if you were talking to a stranger.

[crystalmaster]

Hi there! Another newcomer, huh? I'm Radley.

[giveusfreedom]

[Markus takes a long, awkward moment to stay silent. Cats, real cats, don't talk where he is from. He won't make any remark, though, he is the last person to make someone feel inadequate because of their species.]

Yes. I see you. Um...Carl Manfred was paraplegic after an accident and I had to step in as his caretaker, so I was by his side when he made art and attended events. In the 2020s there was a comeback of the movement of Symbolism, originally developed in the late 19th century in Europe. It opposed the previous art movements that were about anti-idealism and sought a newer sentimental expression to be understood through poetic intuition beyond the senses.

[He doesn't think he's not being genuine or being too technical, especially since this individual seems very informed on the topic of art.]

[giveusfreedom]

Hello Radley. It's nice to meet you.

[crystalmaster]

Thanks for your offers to help around here! We'll sure be able to use you. You're handy with AI, huh? That's cool.

[He imagines that will come in handy sometime.]

[quintet]

...Alright, that makes a little more sense. [Symbolism, eh?] Extra-sensory input is much more likely to trigger denial, but if you can pull it off, it's got an enormous expressive potential. There're plenty of public alembics based on that theorem— it's not my specialty.

[But she certainly sounds confident, at least.]

It's amazing that he was still able to practice Art, if he was hurt all the badly. I only injured my eye, a few months ago, and it put me off for weeks.

[giveusfreedom]

I do my best.

[He grimaces forgetting to let out a dry laugh.]