Calibrations ›» Home is Where the Synthetic Heart Is

[buildingitsir]

WHO: York Stark & You
WHERE: York's Calibration room
WHAT: Calibrations
WHEN: June 10 - July 10
WARNINGS: Memories are marked accordingly for cw/tw



Mingle Post: 01010011 01110100 01100001 01110010 01101011


The first thing to note about the room is that it’s small. An average human has to lower themselves to fit within, though there's more horizontal space compared to last year's room. And this one is less like the interior of a computer - the ceiling, floor, and walls, are all made of rusty metal, creaking. Pipes and wires run through to different areas. There's a lite sway to this room, like it's on a ship.

It is a ship - the interior of one.

The room is fashioned to look like York's former home in Detroit: Jericho.

There's a table with newspapers on display. All of them have different headlines, with the cover photo moving to capture the visitor's attention. The first shows figures leaping from a ship into the harbor before it explodes with the headline 'DEVIANT HIDEOUT RAIDED' [cw: gun violence; death]. Thers's a splatter of blue on the paper's corner. The next newspaper shows the landscape of a park before hands come to cover the camera with the title 'HUMANS ATTACKED BY DEVIANT ANDROID' [cw: assault, physical violence]. Another paper next to that, this one featuring the library of Temba with 'keep out' tape altered over the image. 'LIBRARY BREAK-IN' reads the title. The paper looks like someone tried to crumple it. And the last one, a wet newspaper, shows a cliffside house being demolished and falling into the ocean below with the headline 'CYBERLIFE ATTACKS STARK'.

The room creaks and at the far wall, sits York, but it doesn't look like the teenager that's a current resident of the city. This form is older, like a man in his twenties. The way he's supposed to look before the shell was lost. Wires connected to the walls are draped around him, keeping him tethered to the far wall.

"Ah," he says when he spots his visitor. "So we're really are doing this shit again. Fanfuckingtastic." Less angry compared to last time. Just annoyed by this shit again.



_{[I'll be using a different set of icons for the older version of York in replies, but that face doesn't apply outside of the calibration room. ~Xi]}

Comments

[butterfly_kiss]

What in the world is this? The room was too small, the things were weird, and Tae was not enjoying any of it. Not by any stretch of the imagination. This was all just a farce and a half.

"And just what," she says to the stranger in the corner, "is 'this shit'?"

[buildingitsir]

The woman is...new. York's never met her before but he wants to say he's seen her face pop up on the network maybe. He sighs and lets his hands drop in his lap where he's sitting.

"The Agrii did this shit last year. Lured us down into the bunker place, and make us go to sleep. And we can go to other people's dreams. Dreamwalk I guess you could call it. I don't...really dream like humans do though, so this is as close as I can get." Bright blue eyes glance around.

"I don't think we've met though, not in the city. I don't...I don't look like this out there. I'm York. York Stark. No relation to the city's Tony mind you."

[butterfly_kiss]

Yes, she is relatively new, and people are not fond of her, so she's got to deal with it. But that the Agrii did this is so...

"This is bullshit," she grumbles. They were supposed to help and they were getting treated like this? That was not very cool.

"You lack his good looks," she agrees when he says he's not related.

[buildingitsir]

"Because I got my Tony's best looks," he retorts with an eyeroll. "And this is bullshit. They lured me down here last year with the image of my brother, and this time... I just wanted to go home. I figured whatever science they used to bring us here didn't work so they had to do it a different way."

York can't say he hates it here though, because it's not true. Not anymore at least. He's got people like Reeve and Richie. A found family like he had in Jericho. The android shifts where he sits.

"Sorry it's small. Fastest way out of here, or at least how it was last year, is to watch a memory and hope the door opens for you afterwards. At least you can leave."

[butterfly_kiss]

Was that true? Well, then his Tony was lacking something because there's no magic here.

"I suppose all of us who are here wanted to go home," she observes. But she doesn't like the 'hope' the door opens.

"Alright then. What sorts of things lead to memories in here?"

The sooner she can get out, the better for them both.

[buildingitsir]

He was lacking alright. York could go on an hour long rant about his creator, but he knows known of the memories are for that. A small miracle, he supposes. So he doesn't, and shifts where he sits. A hand lifts to point to where the newspapers sit, the cover pictures moving to show a preview of the memory it holds.

"The newspapers there. Antique things, paper newspapers, but I saw some at some point and thought they looked interesting." The raised hand makes a dismissive wave. "The sooner you pick and view, the sooner you get to leave."

[butterfly_kiss]

Well, that's some help. She sighs and moves to look at them before finally reaching out for one that includes a library. No chance it's this one here, right?

[buildingitsir]

York watches her, wondering about this new person in here. He says nothing as she touches the newspaper and a white light engulfs her.

...Strangely enough, it's Temba. It's the city square with a much younger York than Tae's familiar with, sitting outside with next to a much older guy with brown fluffy hair and dark rimmed glasses. The man smirks at whatever was said in their conversation before continuing it.

"if you wanna sneak into the library, I'm game for that. Anything to piss Jon off."

York smirks back a little. "Yeah that's the guy I upset. I don't see how he can ban someone from the library. Aren't those supposed to be for the public? Which I'm part of of course." Then he's pulling the black hoodie off, allowing Tae to see the glow of teal visible from under his black shirt. "…for a human you legit don't seem too bad. For now."

"Heh. I think that's the first compliment I've gotten in awhile. I'll take it. Especially since humans on the whole suck, I'm with you on that one." Then Richie gestures at the library by way of his chin. "Also...you might be banned, but Jon is a little busy right now. Might be the perfect time to slip in..."

Whatever York's thinking, it makes him grin. "And if he comes back? Is there a rear exit or a window?" He thought for a long moment and then looked back at Richie. "…You’re coming, too, right?"

Richie scoffs. "Do I look like someone who visits a library? Even if Librarian Douchenozzle wasn't there, I'm not exactly a scholar. But yeah. I'll watch the door for ya. I have one skill and it's talking. Great to slow someone down with."

York started tying the arms of his hoodie around his waist. "Yeah, you do actually. Only nerds would want to help break into a library, and before you say that makes me one, I'm an android. I should be a walking nerd."

The pair head towards the library, talking a little bit more about each other's worlds. Banter about his LED, teasing about Richie being scared of red balloons. The two seem to get along well enough clicking almost like two friends remeeting after a long absence. York says something and laughs, and Richie does too before shoving the kid's shoulder. It's when they get to the library that they stop at the doors. "You're not setting me up on this, right? Last thing I need is that pompous fucking nerd coming over to snap my neck or something."

"I promise you, I would not make you deal with Jon intentionally. I barely wanna see the guy myself so there is no way I would set you up. I've also never been inside this place though... But I promise I'll at least guard the door."

York nods and gives him a long, unreadable look before going into the very building he had been banned from. The white light returns to engulf Tae, putting her back in York's small dreamscape.

"Yeah, that's kind of a boring one," the older version remarks from his spot. He hasn't moved. "That was day two of Temba, and I'll always remember it. Don't know if you know Richie but he's pretty much the first human friend I've ever made.

[butterfly_kiss]

"Day two and you were already on the bad side of someone?"

How intriguing. Especially since Jon seemed pretty wonderful.

[newmemorywhodis]

Good thing Link is short. Otherwise, this place might be quite uncomfortable. It takes him a moment to get used to the swaying back and throw. Link's not been on many proper boats - mostly just rafts he'd commandeered.

"...Hi," he says to the man he finds here. He's not really familiar with York - so he doesn't realise that this is not, in fact, his regular appearance.

[buildingitsir]

If he ever saw it in person, Link might be impressed by the freighter that York called home. Impassable for humans to get through to the heart where the androids hid, it was perfect for the deviants. That is until...

"You're new," comes the blunt remark. Not even a reply. Just...blunt. York's not familiar with this guy, but doesn't get up to return the greeting. He can't, with the wires holding him. "I'm York Stark. No, uh, relation to the Tony Stark in the city if you know him. Coincidence thankfully."

[newmemorywhodis]

"...Four months," Link says. Which doesn't really count as new. At least not in Link's book. With how little he still remembered of his own life, his time here actually represented quite a significant chuck of his own memories.

Then, almost as an afterthought, he gives his own name. "Link."

He eyes those wires, curious as to just how exactly they connect to York.

[buildingitsir]

Four months? Yeah, that's pretty new to York still. But he hasn't been out and about so that's on him he supposes. He looks over the strange manner the other is dressed in, but is polite enough not to remark about it. Reeve would disapprove of his lack of manners.

"Welcome to my programmed brain. Watch a memory, and you get the way out after that." A gesture towards where the newspapers with moving pictures sit on the low table. "Waiting things out isn't an option here and there's no way to hack your way through, either."

oh god so sorry, I missed this tag entirely

[newmemorywhodis]

Link moves over towards the newspapers, crouching down in front of them and inspecting them closely. He admires the way they move - like the Sheikah Slate, but in motion!

He's curious about a few of these, too. Why the figure leaping from a ship? What is an android, and cyberlife? What mysteries were in the house in the cliff?

"...Just one?" Link asks, not yet touching any of them. Is he going to have to decide?

No worries, things happen <3

[buildingitsir]

York watches the guy move around. He's so different to any human he's really seen, with his almost strange accent and way of talking, and the way he interacts with the technology surrounding him in York's brain. It's not the same way Dustin does so the android wonders if there's such tech where this new one is from.

"I mean, you can look at more if you want, but you only need one to be allowed back out," he clarifies. "That's what most people do, and I generally don't like having strangers root about in my database looking for shit, so don't about trying to look for something that's not on the table."

[newmemorywhodis]

Is it the fact that Link is Hylian - pointed ears and all - that makes him different? Or is it just a quirk of Link himself? Without any other Hylians in Temba to compare Link to, it's probably hard to tell.

In response to York's answer, Link nods. So he doesn't have to pick just one. He can see more, if he wants.

Which is good, because Link probably will want. He is curious. And maybe a little nosy.

Choosing one to start with, he reaches out for the newspaper titled 'HUMANS ATTACKED BY DEVIANT ANDROID'.

CW/TW: assault, physical violence against human and android

[buildingitsir]

No one has pointed ears where he's from and there's no background called Hylian as far as York's database is concerned. It just brings up search results of a game, but the android dismisses them. When Link touches the newspaper, a darkness envelopes him to take him out of the headspace and into the memory.

When the lights came back up, it was nighttime, and Link was outside. Bryant Park of Manhattan. The park is fenced in by high skyscrapers that claw at the star speckled sky over him. Before him, alone, stood York as a young man - it has to be him with how similar the two look. He wore a neutral expression on his face as he gazed around at the city skyline from the ground view, and a simple outfit. His LED glowed teal through the fabric. Crickets chirped and there was a distant bubbling of some fountain.

"Look," came a voice from behind York. Three human men, looking a little worse for wear, maybe even a bit drunk. The android didn't have the means to scan for the inebriation levels. They looked disgusted by York as they moved around him. "One of those plastic pricks."

The android calculated the threat level and realized that he shouldn't stick around. "Excuse me, I must go home." His smaller size made it easy to slip past the men, but it was easier for him to be yanked back. The city and park wheeled as York's view point changed - he landed on his back in the grass. One man squatted down as the others held him down by the shoulder and feet. "You're not going anywhere, plastic shit."

One of the men laughed. "See if he's built like a Cyberlife! This looks like that famed Stark tech no one can buy."

The third man's laugh joined the others' as the supposed ringleader pushed the plain shirt up. "LED is in the wrong spot for a start. Who the fuck puts it there?"

York found it in him to squirm, especially as the hands pressed at where panels were hidden under the skin. "Please, let me go. Just let me go back home, I did not mean to do any offense--"

Errors flew up in his HUD, blocking his view of the men. The fine layer of his skin section had been torn through and taken offline. Why were these men doing this? Why was this one prying open his panels? What did he do to warrant this? Was it because... of what he was? No-

Who he was? York wasn't a thing. That much he knew. Yet these men were treating him like another appliance to be examined, to be torn apart for scrap. Were they going to scrap him? Now his body started moving in earnest in an attempt to get away. More errors came up - the panels were damaged.

Humans hands were reaching in, pulling at cables and tubes. "Let go! Please, please let go!" His vision was going red, so many errors were coming up. He was starting to lose thirium as one of the connectors came undone. A spark of electricity crackled through him, and he felt something else break in him.

Then it was red. All he could see was red. Something in his programming broke - whether it was from the onslaught of the errors cropping up, or the human pulling him apart, York snapped. Rage tore through him, fueling his limbs.

The man who was working at pulling out pieces cried out, fresh blood spurting from his now broken nose thanks to York's accurately aimed punch. He twisted his feet and slammed down to hear a crack and he was almost free. Free. The last man, at his shoulders, looked baffled at the sudden turn of tables before the android reached up and used what leverage he could get until - snap.

The three men howling in pain and incapacitated, York immediately shoved his abdomen panels closed before taking off. He had to dismiss the errors to be able to see properly and headed off east. East was home. He sent a message and a tracker to his brother. York wasn't sure if he was going to get far. He at least got out of the park and a block away from his skyscraper home before he had to stop. He didn't feel pain, no android really could, but York knew he hurt. It hurt that the men attacked him for no reason except for being an android. They tried to tear him apart, held him down--

The small android slumped against a wall, his chassis and clothes covered in blue blood. God damn it, York couldn't even cry. He buried his face against his hands and let out a muffled scream against said hands. It didn't help as much as he thought it would. Fuck, fuck, he was losing power.

York curled up as much as he could, vulnerable. Then, as the darkness of his stasis started to power him down, he saw and heard his brother at the mouth of the alley.

"York!—"

The memory went dark just as York did, coming back to light on the small mindscape. The much bigger android crossed his arms over his midsection, which wasn't ruined in this state. "...Don't really go to parks anymore."

[quark_assassin]

Dustin swings himself into the room - only just barely having to duck under the short door, and only to avoid having it clip the fluffy top of his thick head of hair - and as soon as his feet hit the ground, he regrets being here. At this point he logically knows that this is a Calibrations-related dream. This does not stop him from feeling the floor tilt underneath him, or being able to rationalize away the sudden sense of vertigo that makes his stomach do a backflip.

He's never ridden on a boat before, so, great time to discover that he's prone to seasickness. Any curiosity at his surroundings or disdain at being trapped in yet another room must be momentarily put on hold while Dustin stumbles to the nearest wall, breathing deep to force down a wave of nausea.

York's pithy commentary - something Dustin instantly recognizes, memory-related abilities repressed or otherwise - isn't helping. "Piss off," he manages after a few moments. But when he glances up to shoot York a glare, a twinge of surprise detracts from the intended venom. Wired to the back wall? Why? "I don't wanna be here any more than you do."

[buildingitsir]

Of course it's Dustin because the aliens really like fucking around with people that are not favoring each other. After the ordeal in the hospital, York had gone out of his way to avoid Dustin until this Calibrations had happened. Again. This version of York glares at the human.

The ship still rocks gently under them, a familiar feeling he longed for since Jericho was massacred.

"Well neither of us get a choice. And there's no waiting out to avoid my memories. You gotta pick one and watch or you'll be stuck in here." The android shifts in the wires, unable to really move away from the wall.

[quark_assassin]

Same hat, York, same fucking hat. "Yeah, yeah, I know," Dustin mumbles, waving a hand irritably in York's general direction. The older model, interestingly; Dustin's memory might not be perfect at the moment, but with how much he internally studied York's blueprints to work out the abandoned prototype, it'd be hard for him to forget what the android used to look like. "Hate this shit. So fucking invasive. Shove me in some fucker's brain so I can sift through all their personal--"

The whole room tilts to the other side and Dustin cuts himself off, legs wobbling and knuckles white against the hull, looking decidedly green. Don't do it. Don't you fucking do it.

He doesn't, just about. Dustin swallows thickly, trying to distract himself by taking another quick look around. "...The fuck even are we, anyway?"

[buildingitsir]

York watches Dustin curiously. What was wrong with him? Well, okay, loaded question there, because the android could go through a list to be an asshole. His brain searches and scans what information he does have before something sticks out.

"...are you seasick? We're not actually out at sea, but my mental mindscape must have one of the nights where there was a storm outside. We're on a lake freighter. This was my home before shit went down, and also before I was brought here."

"Michigan uses the Great Lakes for shipping between USA and Canada. Jericho was one of those shipping vessels, but it was abandoned. The androids took it as their refuge with clues to get to it that only we can see.

A symbol appears, flickering between them before disappearing again. "Have you met Markus yet? He's from there too. He comes a later time point than I do though."

[quark_assassin]

"Ah," Dustin mumbles with a single, shallow nod of realization. A boat makes sense, not just because of the surrounding architecture and the sloshy twisting of the floor (don't think about it), but also because he used to get motion sick in the car as a young kid. Took him years to get that under control, and even then, he's still diligently avoided things like amusement park rides and the ubiquitous fishing boats of his childhood town.

All things that would be beneficial to tell York, maybe. But Dustin is not in a place where he feels like talking all that much. He lets the android talk, just drinking in what he says and trying not to think too hard about how he's swaying on his feet.

It takes a moment or two for him to formulate an answer. "...Haven't," Dustin says, then frowns at the floor. "Name is...familiar."

I should remember his face from the directory, he thinks bitterly. Of course he doesn't without his powers; he'd need more than a cursory glance to recognize someone now.

"He's like you, then?" Dustin manages to ask, his eyes flicking back up to York. "An android."

[buildingitsir]

"Yes. He's our leader where I'm from." A program window opens up, showing Markus in Jericho, face illuminated by barrel fires that the other androids used to melt the ice from their hardware. He lets the image stay long enough for Dustin to see it, examine it, then the window closes.

"I don't know who chose him, but he's good at what he does at least. And survives Jericho, so there's that too." A shrug and he points to the newspaper with the exploding ship as it's headlining picture. "He was there, same time I was, and I wasn't sure if he got out or not. Apparently he does, which is good. I don't think our movement would've lasted if he had died."

[quark_assassin]

Dustin's head tilts slightly to the side, his eyes squinting at the sudden appearance of the program window, but it's gone too soon - he can only remember the general sense of what the image was without any of the sharp clarity he's used to. He hates it. But the curiosity, at least, draws him a few unsteady steps closer to the other end of the room, still hugging the wall the whole way.

"So...he's from your future, then?" An odd thought. It's one thing to consider a person from an alternate future, so distant and with differing past events that it's pretty clear where the separation in their universes lies; but if Dustin ran into someone he knew that was aware of his immediate future? Lived it? Surreal, is what it would be.

Preoccupied with his thoughts and trying not to lose his lunch, Dustin doesn't notice how his shoulder brushes against the hung-up newspaper clipping of the exploding ship.

cw: mentioned gun violence and blood

[buildingitsir]

They say winter is the quietest season. You would think that, too, with how the snow falls so gently onto the abandoned lake freighter that Dustin finds himself inside now. But there's so much noise now that it's like a horror movie instead of a cozy winter flick.

There's screaming.

There's gunshots.

There's yelling.

So much of everything as androids scrambling through the metal halls. And there's the York that Dustin knows, looking wildly back and forth as though looking for someone. Or a way out. It's not clear.

A lot of the androids are different from York, with the swirling color that's usually seen on the Stark android's chest evident on the others' temples. Everyone's is swirling red with panic. Some androids wear regular human clothing. Others wear what they received from Cyberlife with their name on the back and a glowing blue armband. Markers of an android.

At the other end of the hall, gunfire lights up the open doorway and an android falls into view, the light on the temple going out as they shut down.

Blue blood, like York's, dribbles out of various bullet holes.

York breaks into a run the opposite way, going right past Dustin as the heavily armored military start through the door the android dropped through. He jumps through an open door before moving to slam it shut behind him. A couple of Jerry models help get it shut before locking it. "This way!!" York screams over the cacophony of noise coming from just...everywhere.

There's no escaping it.

The three androids make their way through winding halls, trying to remember how to escape. Like rats caught in a maze. "We have to get to the top. We have to get to the water." York sounds just as panicked as other androids. The trio head upwards, leading Dustin through hall after hall, all of them covered in rust and both blue and red blood. There's bodies everywhere and they're moving too quick to see who's online and who's not.

They finally get to the top, spotlights flashing everywhere from above and from the docks. Military and police are everywhere, chasing the androids from their home. "Get into the water! Swim somewhere safe and get out before you freeze!" And as he's saying that, with the three of them racing for the edge of the ship, the helicoptors are pulling away uptop, military evacuating quickly. Something was wrong. This wasn't over but they were leaving the ship?

"RUN!!!" he screams, before darting over the railing of Jericho with the two Jerries. And just as they hit the water, there's an explosion that pushes them further inward as the ship is detonated.

All that's left of the view is the red of York's chest light and the Jerries' temples before the water fades away and Dustin's back in York's head.

"Welcome back. And yeah, Markus is from my future. Bit weird, really, but stranger shit's happened."