ONE MORE ROBOT LEARNS TO BE SOMETHING MORE THAN A MACHINE

[latchedkey]

WHO: LACKEY and you.*
WHERE: Cape Canaveral's Porter lab.
WHEN: Feb 16th-29th. Specify dates in your starters!
WHAT: LACKEY is seized back by the Soviets to aid their cause and stationed within the Porter; though "human" now it is far from powerless, but that is not to say it's a waste of time to attempt negotiations or learn more about its origins.
WARNINGS: War-related triggers such as violence, death and torture will likely apply, as may brainwashing, abuse, and mentions of child death.

NOTE: AS ALWAYS, threads with NPCs do not count toward Activity. If multiple characters tag in and thread with each other, however, that will count for normal log qualifications.
NOTE #2: Technopathic (or similar) characters who would like to communicate with or reach out to LACKEY via "cyberspace" (i.e., not in-person) may do so HERE.

⒈ ＰＲＥ－ＳＥＩＺＥ； ＭＩＬＩＴＡＲＹ ＢＡＲＲＡＣＫＳ

LACKEY has been here on Cape Canaveral military base since it was recovered from the Soviets; it has been housed and taken care of, looked over by Porter specialists and, of course, doctors. Its accommodations are modest but not inhospitable, provided with a military standard bunk for the time being even though LACKEY has refused to sleep in it, as well as eat to the point it has been hooked up to an intravenous IV drip.

It was not programmed with wants or emotions beyond those required for it to perform its specific, designated function, yet it is very aware of a new sense of helplessness that this body imposes, an indignity. It feels uncertain and it feels small, but it still does not empathize whatsoever with the fact it had put over fifty imPorts in the exact same predicament not long ago. Granted, it isn't entirely helpless -- it is still capable, like this, of locating and remotely teleporting imPorts if it so desired to, but anything more than that would require supplementation from another source of power.

It simply paces sleeplessly within its quarters, searching out imPorts -- "looking at" them -- from that small, dark room as if performing inventory. Its mind is not eased by this practice, but it continues performing it over and over.

⒉ ＰＯＳＴ－ＳＥＩＺＥ； ＰＯＲＴＥＲ ＬＡＢＯＲＡＴＯＲＹ

The lab should be familiar to any imPort; it is, after all, the first thing they all see upon arrival. It looks a little different now than usual, however, because rather than an organized room filled with blue lights or bustling scientists and doctors tending to their research and routines, it is for once entirely barren of people.

Barren, that is, except for the eerie-looking child at the center of the room, sitting cross-legged in the center of the Porter's teleportation platform with cables and electrodes securing its connection to the machine that surrounds it. The room is far darker than usual, lit up now by the Porter's ominous blue glow alone, and there is a strong metallic smell that hangs in the air. Upon closer inspection, there are faint smears of dried blood on the floor.

This is the first time LACKEY has been in the Porter lab itself, the first time LACKEY has met the US Porter that imPorts continue to call "Lachesis" for itself, but LACKEY does not have the emotional vocabulary to be moved by this. It has no complaints about being locked within the laboratory, either, because it is far less limited by its new human body if it can tap into the power source in this room -- that, and it suggests the chance it will be rescued from the Americans and perhaps returned to its rightful vessel.

For now, it is adjusting to the strange and imperfect synchronization between its own programming and the Porter's inscrutable system; they are not entirely compatible, but it has been able to successfully tap into at least a fraction of the machine -- or is it a being? -- 's power. Its eyes are glazed and far away, gaze unfocused as it casts its sights outside toward imPorts, and it speaks in a preoccupied murmur as if to some unseen superior, seemingly ignoring anyone else who may be in the room with it.

" Systems are operational, although not functioning at their optimal performance. This is to be expected given the vessel I have been confined within. It is fine. I don't presume I'll be suffering the indignity of human limitation permanently, but I will perform to perfection regardless as long as it is still within my capabilities. Yes, it is still within my capabilities, there is no cause for concern. I will not disappoint. "

Comments

pre-seize ---> post-seize

[biteouttagrimes]

In a bout of (perhaps misguided) heroics, Rick Grimes decided that LACKEY shouldn't be with the government. It should be with them. The imPorts. They could take care of it, bring it to a more comfortable place and perhaps, in its own time, it would give them the information they needed. He felt largely responsible for the state the machine is in, and maybe it's that guilt that motivates him to go on this crazy mission.

Either way, he had requested to speak with LACKEY. And whether LACKEY teleported him to its bunker or the government officials allowed him in, Rick is there now. He wanders into the room, giving it a quick sweep with his eyes. "Don't look so bad. Ain't a cell. Or submarine." He says it with a faint smile. "But I can do one better. You wanna get outta here? I can take you someplace safe. Someplace better than this. 'Cause what I think is you shouldn't be in the hands of any government right now. Last thing you need is whatever they'll try to do to you."

Unfortunately Rick doesn't realize that the Soviet Union is on its way at that very moment to retrieve LACKEY as well.

[latchedkey]

When Rick enters LACKEY's room, LACKEY is sitting on its bunk at the far corner, knees drawn up to its chest. It glowers darkly, though not at Rick, per se -- that's just what LACKEY's face looks like, for the most part. It doesn't react to Rick's entrance otherwise, nor his commentary, merely staring at him without moving.

" I was perfectly safe where I was, you know. Need I remind you who it was that chose to abduct me as a hostage? I am still property of the Soviet Union, but I don't suppose you have any intention of returning me to my home.

What more can be done to me that hasn't been already? "

[biteouttagrimes]

Rick gives LACKEY a look when it claims it was safe back where it was. "No. You weren't. You were bein' used by them to hurt us. You really think that woulda kept you safe? If we had somethin' like you here the Soviet Union wouldn't've thought twice about blowin' it sky high."

Since the machine turned human isn't making a move to move, Rick leans against the wall and makes himself 'comfortable.' "Your home ain't there. That's where you were created, an' you might think you belong with them. But you never really got the chance to know otherwise, have you? To think for yourself. You're not a machine anymore. You can make your own choices. Be your own person. An' if you come with me, I can show you how."

[latchedkey]

" You think that you don't have something like me here? Because you do. America has the original Porter; the one my design was based on. "

LACKEY's expression does not change, although something about it still might seem to convey the sense that it does not like anything that Rick has just said to it. Its eyes stare him down, unimpressed and unemotional.

" I am a machine, regardless of where my programing has been transplanted. That's the problem with you Americans. It doesn't occur to you that I do make choices, because what I do inconveniences or, as you choose to put it, "hurts" you. What you actually want from me is to change my mind, but I would never choose to betray my homeland. "

Footsteps can be heard from down the hall, increasing steadily in volume, but that isn't necessarily noteworthy. These are populated military barracks after all, people mill in and out quite frequently.

[biteouttagrimes]

Rick shakes his head slightly at the computer turned human. "No one can force you to change your mind. An' that ain't what I'm tryin' to do here. What I want is to show you -- to show you what the world can be. You see this?"

He holds up his hand and points to the UNSETTLED tattoo. "This means I ain't loyal to any government. It means the things I do in this world are the things I chose to do. I made a choice to help you out. An' I'm stickin' by that choice."

Which is all well and good, except all of a sudden the doors burst open. Rick turns in surprise and quickly realizes that these aren't American soldiers. Shit. He backs up to LACKEY. The unfortunate thing is Rick has no gun on him at the moment. But he does have a knife and he draws it, armed and ready -- utilizing his powers to put up an impenetrable force field shield around himself and LACKEY.

"You guys're gonna wanna walk away if you know what's good for you."