apocalypsehowcomm | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Who: Cortana and ...you!
When: Throughout September
Where: ADI apartments + various locations around town
Summary: Cortana runs some tests in preparation for her plan to transfer herself to a robotic body + supernatural music interfering with errand running
Warnings: Fainting spell + possible mention of nightmares in the last prompt. Will warn for anything else that comes up.

A) There's a roomba wandering the apartment buildings.

It can be most often found in the hallways of building A, but that doesn't mean it never shows up in the others. At first glance it might seem ordinary, but there's a sort of purposefulness to its movements that an ordinary roomba would lack. It's not mindlessly covering as much ground as possible in an attempt to properly clean the floors; in fact, it doesn't appear to be cleaning anything at all. It moves in a straight, or at least mostly straight, line down the hallway, occasionally bumping into obstacles (primitive sensors suck) but does a remarkably good job of navigating around them ...at least until it bumps into your feet.

...Hey, Cortana recognizes those feet! Or at least, she thinks she does. Roombas can sort of see the floor under and in front of them but they don't see very well and Cortana is trying to limit herself to the abilities of the system she's currently inhabiting. She gently bumps against the feet in question before doing a little circle around you, whoever you are. Hi friend!

B) Apparently Cortana got a package in the mail. It's a pretty big one too, the box doing a pretty good job of blocking her view as she tries to carry it to her apartment. She's stumbling around a bit awkwardly as she tries to avoid tripping or bumping into anything. It's probably kind of funny to watch, honestly.

...You might want to get out of her way though, lest she bump into or trip over you.

C) There's a strange robot wandering the apartment buildings again. This time it's a more advanced design, modular, with several possible configurations:

A wheeled robot is driving through the hallways. It's a bit faster and more maneuverable than a roomba, but it's still a bit clunky in comparison to a human-and it absolutely cannot handle stairs. Which is why one might find Cortana in her normal hologram body carrying the thing between floors.
This time the robot is still in a wheeled configuration, but it's also equipped with an arm. It's a bit awkward, and even slower and clunkier than the first version, having to fold the arm up in order to move without tipping over, but it has one ability in particular that is proving to be invaluable: it can operate the elevator.
This version doesn't have wheels (or an arm), but stubby little legs! Cute! ...And also very slow and awkward. Still, it can move around outside without immediately getting stuck, so Cortana has taken it outside and is now 'joyriding' on the lawn.
No new configuration here, Cortana just managed to send her temporary body tumbling down the stairs by accident and a bunch of those oh so convenient modular parts popped right off and scattered over the floor. Her bound flash drive took a bit of a hit too-her hologram's nose is distinctly bloody and there's a lot of grumbling, pained noises, and swearing as she picks up the mess she made.

D) Oh hey! Cortana is actually out doing something other than playing with her new robots for once.

Or at least, she was.

Caught in the rain while on her way back from running some errand or other, she's taking shelter under a tree when the music reaches her ears. It's nice-the audio receptors on the robot bodies just aren't as good, when they even have them, roombas can't hear unless you hack them to do so-and she'll spend several minutes just listening, and listening...

She's not stressed, but transferring between systems and forms as much as she's been doing takes power, and she's been cutting back on the whole 'scaring people into practicing proper cybersecurity' teaching tactic, so she's been running low...

Yeah she's out. One moment she's got her eyes closed and an expression of peace on her face, the next she collapses bonelessly into the mud.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

AI don't sleep, precisely, but they do dream.

Cortana's dreams are rarely good.

It's one of the reasons she prefers to avoid running maintenance on herself, or at least to only do it when there are people up and around the apartment so she has something in the background to keep herself from completely losing touch with reality. Unfortunately, it doesn't always work out that way. Maybe when she first settled down and started offlining systems her surroundings weren't so silent and so empty, but it's late, and hours later when she finally stirs it's after being tormented by images of the Chief staring at her with an expression of shocked betrayal as his blood pours out into her hands, and the apartment is dark and she is alone.

When Jaeger enters the area, provided he isn't too loud about it, he'll be greeted by the sight of a tiny glowing form curled in on itself and shivering, and the sound of what might be... sobbing?

Jaeger does sleep, but this isn't one of those nights. His restlessness, his need for constant reassurance of his surroundings, leads him out to the halls of the complex on a grim nighttime patrol. There might be a curfew in the apartments, but he is security, and he can roam the halls of the complex with at least a bit of impunity, another watchful gaze keeping things safe.

For a little while, at least, but eventually it comes to a point where he decides to try and rest, even if actual sleep doesn't come. He lets himself back into the apartment with surprising grace for a man his size, light on his feet and, if nothing else, considerate of his roommates. He's more than capable of quietly making a cup of tea and returning to his room for whatever's left of the night, practiced as he is at making a soft entrance to an occupied house.

Except, it's not quite as calm as usual. Jaeger pauses in the dimness of the apartment, alarm prickling the back of his neck and down his spine at the sound of clear distress, before he fixes his attention on the source.

"Cortana?"

She looks up, startled, and there's a burst of light as she uncurls and shifts to her larger form. Her color is a very pretty silvery blue that's common when she's in a quieter or more solemn mood, but she's doing her best to hide any sign that she was crying or that anything was wrong at all.

"Jaeger?" Unfortunately, the thing about real actual tears is that the streaks they leave behind don't just instantly disappear, and her voice has a telling thickness to it.

"It's just me." His voice is quiet in the stillness of the dim apartment, softened by the late hour. "Are you alright?"

He's still not entirely used to Cortana as a presence. His world doesn't allow for that kind of technological progress, and while magical illusion is certainly capable of it, it's not a common thing.

Even with that difference, though, he can still read the more obvious signs of her distress. He might not always have something to say, but he watches, very carefully, filing away little details about his surroundings and the people around him. A survival mechanism most of the time, but also...

Well, he's human. And he genuinely likes Cortana even if he can't always figure her out. So he stands there, a bit uncertainly, but his voice gentle.

"I'm fine." It's said, perhaps, a bit too quickly. "Just a dream."

Except no, she really did betray the Chief, even if it didn't unfold like that.

How can she be doing this? How can she just be here, just live as though nothing had happened?

She doesn't look at Jaeger. "Do you need something?"

"Ah." He's entirely too familiar with that. Though he rarely has capacity for tears anymore, late, silent hours and the heavy weight of his mind's nighttime wanderings is something he knows all too well.

"No, I didn't need anything. I just came in, and I wanted to make sure that you're alright." He hesitates, torn between what he can offer and the option of leaving her be. Sometimes solitude is better. Sometimes, it's an immeasurable burden when you're alone with your thoughts.

"I'll be awake a while longer if you need anything, though." He finally settles for that. "And...I'll make some tea, if you want any?"

She makes a noise. "I can't drink tea, remember?" She can't drink anything. Even just trying to put stuff in her mouth results in it falling through her to the floor.

No matter how much she wishes she could taste it.

Jaeger still isn't entirely used to the concept of someone that he can talk with, interact with (sort of), but can't share a cup of tea with. This world does occasionally throw him for a loop, even as experienced as he is, and he flinches slightly, immediately apologetic.

"I'm sorry. It's reflex to offer." Is there anything he can do for her? He's not entirely certain, and he's still and quiet for a moment, searching for the right thing to say.

"If you'd be more comfortable, I can leave."

Back out into the night, or into the quiet refuge of his room. If nothing else, he can offer her that much: space to gather herself.

She didn't mean to make him feel unwelcome.

"No, it's fine." After a moment she gets up. "How about you make that tea and I'll come and watch?" Like she does sometimes when he's cooking.

She's not gonna to force him to stay, but she doesn't want to be alone.

Not unwelcome at all, just considerate on his part. It's late and retiring to his room is no hardship if she needs some space. He's all too familiar with needing a little bit of time and peace. There's a lot of stress in this place, from various sources, and people handle it differently.

And if she would rather have company, that's okay with him too. He does actually want tea, and he gives a small nod at that, the slightest tug of apologetic smile. Then turns toward the kitchen, to start the kettle and retrieve his mug.

"I have a bit of work to do, still, before I go to bed. I can stay in the living room, if you want the company."

"That'd be ...good. Thanks." She's spent too much of her life alone in the dark.

After a moment she gets up, crosses the room, and hops up onto the counter, transitioning to her tiny form as she does so. She sits on the edge, kicking her feet.

"Did I ever tell you that I spent four years aboard a derelict spaceship?"

Jaeger works quietly and briskly, the same attentive professionalism that he applies to most tasks. Even his evening tea. Cortana settles herself and he's prepared for quiet companionship, so he can't help but glance up in mild surprise at the offering of information.

"No, you didn't." He pauses, processing that information. The idea of extended space travel is still a new one to him, given the world he comes from has barely made it to Mars, and it always seems a little unbelievable.

But she's talking, and he's happy to listen. "That sounds quite lonely." It's an invitation for her to keep going, if she wishes, and he glances up occasionally with steely blue-gray eyes, watching her thoughtfully between the simple tasks of tea.

"It was. The ship-Forward Onto Dawn-was torn in half when the slipspace portal it was traveling through collapsed. Me and the Chief were the only ones left on our half and he spent most of that time in cryo."

She watches him work. Most organics she's met prefer coffee-Halsey had cups of it strewn all over her lab-and while it's no longer new to her it remains interesting.

"No one came to rescue us."

Coffee is good for earlier in the day, but Jaeger does intend to at least try to sleep eventually. Even if he just closes his eyes for a while and rests, it's still a plan that's better tackled without the extra caffeine.

So, tea it is, the simple ritual of preparing it with a bit of honey as he listens to her.

"Was that where you were when you were brought here?" His voice is quiet, sympathetic as much as he can manage with his rough timbre.

She almost laughs at the question, but it's out of bitterness, not joy.

Wouldn't it be nice if none of what came after had happened?

"No. After a bit over four years, we fell into orbit around an artificial planet, where a hostile alien craft attacked and boarded us. I woke the Chief and we escaped together. That was over two years ago."

Jaeger turns from the counter to give her his full attention, steely eyes serious and focused as he processes all that.

It still sounds fantastic to him, the existence of other worlds and aliens and everything she's spoken of so casually, but he can put aside that lingering disbelief. He's getting better at it, with the entire concept of exposure to those from other worlds.

And his world is pretty difficult to believe in, too, at times.

So he nods quietly, indicating he's listening to wherever her story goes, however much she decides to share with him.

"There's not much more to tell." This is a lie, but she's not talking about the damage she suffered or the creeping onset of insanity she experienced as she spiraled into rampancy.

"It was a long time to be alone out there, is all." She'd been so certain she wouldn't survive it.

She's glad she isn't alone here.

Jaeger nods quietly. Even just what she's told him has been a lot, and if there's any more, he won't press it out of her.

And it answers a few questions as it is, speaks of her aversion to loneliness and longing for company.

"I'm sorry you went through that, and I hope things are better for you here. As difficult as it can be, here, I mean."

He pauses for a moment as he dumps a drizzle of honey into his mug, then speaks again.

"I was alone for a long time, but nothing like that. Space...I think the idea of space scares me a bit, honestly. How distant it is, how desolate."

She snorts. It's almost sad how much her situation has been improved by coming here.

"Well, here I have more than one actual friend." Well, most of it's improved. The Chief isn't here, after all.

He's got a new AI now. He doesn't need her anymore.

"It is pretty big. To be honest, I could do without the lengthy travel times." It doesn't scare her (not so long as she's got a working engine, at least), but the waiting... she understands why the Chief hates spacetravel.

"Friends make a difference, even if it takes some time to get used to," he says, stirring the contents of his cup and wrapping his big, scarred hands around the mug to soak up the warmth of it. "I try to look on the better side of what I've found here, myself. It's not always easy, but there are good things. Mostly in the company, and having a direction and purpose that I know I'm good at."

This isn't about him, but he lets that much go, because it is what it is. There's a thoughtful moment that lingers briefly, Jaeger's mind going back to the six months he "lived" in the Visionary's trance.

He's mostly shaken the quiet introspection that followed those revelations, but he still walks with a slight, on-again-off-again limp. Another small souvenir of another world, another life.

"It's all fair, though, I suppose. There are things in my world that I take for granted that are terrifying to others."

Cortana smiles. "I should probably do that too, considering I'm not going home."

It hurts to say it. But she ...she can't keep dragging the Chief down.

"Seems like there's a bit of that in every world. As much as things here are completely terrifying, none of it quite compares to the worst of what I've encountered in mine."

Jaeger nods solemnly, because he understands that. Assuming the choice is up to them, at least, but who knows, when they aren't sure how they got here in the first place?

"I don't know what's going to happen. I'm making the best of things here, but..." He huffs quietly, and takes a long sip. Then shrugs his broad shoulders.

"We do the best we can with what we have. And I find it strange, and interesting, that most of us seem to be pulled from some sort of trauma. It makes me wonder if there's something about us that draws...whatever it is that brought us here."

"I dont." She says flatly. "Think about it: it's probably something related to the entities, and what better food source for something that consumes fear than people already conditioned to be afraid?"

It is the simplest explanation: Occam's razor and all that. It's also one that fills her with worry~~hope~~worry. The Chief has had more than his fair share of loss and pain. What if they bring him here?

He doesn't deserve to be used as a food source for extra dimensional assholes. None of them do, of course, but the Chief has given up so much of himself in the service of others, she won't let it happen here, too.

Edited 2022-09-30 22:13 (UTC)

"Marked by the trauma we've already suffered. The Powers are attracted to darkness, both those who survive it and those who inflict it." He nods slightly, because it makes too much sense to be ignored.

It's a grim subject, and Jaeger shifts in his chair, giving his knee a bit of room to flex. Working out the threads of phantom pain that linger in his thigh, the place where there's supposed to be a scar but instead is the ghost of an injury he's never actually suffered.

"But...let me know if there's anything I can do. I know I'm not the most...expressive of people, and I don't know that I'll always have advice to offer, but if nothing else, I can listen."

"Yeah." Her expression is equally grim and she dims further, pulling herself inward.

She gathers her knees to her chest and lets her chin rest on top of them. Her gaze is focused on Jaeger.

She snorts at his comment about not being expressive. Oh if only he knew: this is nothing compared to the Spartans.

"Honestly, you're already doing a lot more than you realize. AI in my ...situation are usually decommissioned." It's, she didn't plan on telling him that. But it's not like people don't already know.

For Jaeger

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject