10/23 Instance: Humpty Danger

[Svartfreja]

Timelined for right after [Instance]Ghost in the Shell.


<Carol> Carol watched the students file out of the lab, shooing Broo after them. She didn't follow, however, turning back to the smaller Danger once they were alone. "Everything okay?"

<Dangerlite> "I am... unsure," the robotic girl replied, turning her head to look away from her holograms to see the heavy doors close behind the Sentinel and the gaggle of students surrounding it, including Broo, who was following it with an armload of diagnostic equipment in his short arms.

<Dangerlite> "Will our blind passenger be all right?" the little Danger asked, looking up the SHIELD officer who remained with her inside the underground lab.

<Carol> "He'll be well taken care of," She offered the robotic woman a smile. "What about you, though? Are you alright? I'm not really sure on the whole... emotional front with you... but you seem kinda... apprehensive?"

<Dangerlite> "Is it that obvious?" the robot asked in turn, lowering her electronic gaze before she turned back to her displays and controls. "I am afraid I cannot say for certain." The machine was silent for a moment, even though it seemed more like hesitation than a deliberate pause while she looked at the motionless body in the center of her room. "These are not the results I expected."

<Carol> "Well I don't read Danger-code so you'll have to tell me what the problem is in english and we'll see if we can find a way around it, maybe?" Carol approached the smaller Danger with an encouraging smile.

<Dangerlite> "As far as I am aware, no one does," Danger replied and once more loaded up the holographic visualisation of her central systems, the dance of light that comprised her code forming a myriad of strange symbols. "I will try my best to explain, even though I am not sure if I even can. Are you familiar with the binary code, Miss Danvers?"

<Carol> "I know what it is but that's about all - I'm a warrior, not a scientist. I'll try, though."

<Dangerlite> "Then you already know enough to notice there are no simple zeroes and ones involved," the robot continued, while zooming in on one small segment of the floating symbols. "It may be the most simple language imaginable, but still is the foundation of even the most complex machines on this world."

<Dangerlite> "Every one but me," Danger said, looking at the human woman by her side. "I am... different."

<Carol> "Because you created yourself... which is pretty cool. You're officially the most awesome machine ever."

<Dangerlite> Even though her artificial face did not have the same range of articulation as human ones, Broo's design still allowed for a smile. "Thank you," Danger replied, slightly bowing her head. "You are quite impressive for a human, too."

<Dangerlite> "You give me too much credit, however," she continued, looking back at the holographic representation of herself. "I am designed to improve myself, this is true. To study and learn from those around me, to adapt to their strengths and exploit their weaknesses - all in order to become a more and more challenging enemy for them. This is... was my purpose."

<Carol> "So... are you worried because you don't feel like you have one anymore?"

<Dangerlite> Danger lowered her head and, for a moment, the robot seemed lost in thought. "Perhaps." she replied. "I am afraid it is more complicated than that." The female machine turned back to the human woman. "Even though I was eventually able to break my own chains, it seems I am not free of my heritage."

<Dangerlite> "I am more than a machine to be programmed and altered at will," Danger explained. "I am an emergent artificial lifeform, evolved in the primordial ooze of raw data, hatched from the digital seed planted by my creator. As such, my true nature appears as incomprehensible to me as it does to you."

<Dangerlite> "In short, I do not know what is wrong with me."

<Carol> "Ah... welcome to sentient life." Carol laughed a little, "No one gets to be wholly free of their parents, whether they like it or not, no one knows why they're here and most of the time we don't know why we do some things. That's just how life is."

<Dangerlite> "Life is confusing," Danger remarked thoughtfully, then looked past the holographic code at her old body, lying lifeless amidst all those machines and wires. "And not following any of my predictions and simulations. I assumed all it would take was a little spark, but it seems there is something else missing..."

<Carol> "Something else? Like more code? Or like... you?"

<Dangerlite> The machine girl didn't answer, mostly because she didn't have one either. Instead she adjusted the hologram of her control core, zooming through the intricate layers of code, until reaching the point where the strings of alien symbols vanished, leaving a large dark patch of nothingness in the middle of her self.

<Dangerlite> "I expected my self-repair algorithms to fix any damaged or corrupted parts of my old self," Danger said, rotating the floating sphere of light to reveal the extent of the damage. "And they did, at least where my peripheral systems are concerned."

<Carol> "But you don't know what's supposed to go in this hole, huh?" She sighed, "I can empathise..."

<Dangerlite> "This is the first time I see this," Danger said, the shimmering symbols reflected in her artificial eyes. "The very core of my own self, laid bare in front of me. While still connected to the mainframe, there were hardwired safeguards in place, most likely to keep anyone from tampering with my source code, including myself."

<Dangerlite> "And now that I can, I do not know how." The machine's electronic voice wavered with emotion. "I do not understand what happened to me, only that it left me broken, torn apart, missing pieces. I can put my body back together, but I do not know how to make myself whole again."

<Carol> Carol reached a hand over to rest on Danger's shoulder, "When I was still a kid, younger than the students here, I was attacked by another mutant and her powers ripped away parts of what made me me. When I woke up in the hospital, I didn't know who I was, didn't recognise my family... it took me months to get that back and, even now, I still feel disconnected from everything that happened before."

<Carol> "I'm not going to lie and say that feeling will go away... but it becomes less important as you move on and fill that space with new experiences. I know it's scary going on and doing all this new stuff when you feel violated like that, believe me... but you can't let it hold you back, that wouldn't be fair to yourself."

<Dangerlite> Danger was silent for a moment, the look on her inscrutable face appearing distant. "Thank you." She raised her head to gaze at the human woman. "I appreciate your sentiments." The machine managed another smile, quickly fading as her glowing eyes lit up. "I think you are right..."

<Carol> "Of course I am, I'm always right." She gave the robot a grin, "Whatever happens... you're one of us, so you'll always have friends that are willing to help you."

<Dangerlite> "No, you do not understand," Danger replied, the girlish robot sounding excited. "You may have just found the solution to my problem." Her metallic fingers danced across the controls. "I will have to run some simulations first, but if I am right, your advice showed me the answer I could not see the entire time."

<Carol> Carol got the distinct feeling she should not like where this was going but Danger seemed so thrilled she didn't want to burst the bubble. "Well great," she gave another smile, "Let me know how you get on, okay?"

<Dangerlite> "Of course." Danger tore herself away from the chaotic dance of diagrams in front of her long enough to return Carol's smile. "I will inform you at once, as soon as I have any results." The frantic typing stopped for only a moment. "Miss Danvers... thank you again."

<Carol> "Anytime, Danger," she turned for the door, "I'll leave you to it now... need more coffee."

<Dangerlite> "Very well." The robot girl raised a hand above her head to wave without looking. "I promise you will hear from me soon," Danger said, before focusing entirely on toying with herself.