it was never about certainty

[arkproject]

WHO: Catherine Chun + YOU
WHERE: Heropa, anywhere, De Chima.
WHEN: The week of her arrival-- so, early August-ish.
WHAT: Open prompts, see below!! Also one for De Chima #008 housemates.
WARNINGS: None except if people are sensitive to body dysphoria, she's going to have some of that.

    > 01. ICE CREAM SHOP, HEROPA.

[ An average looking middle-aged Chinese woman is sitting happily on a bench outside an ice cream shop, drinking a milkshake. Which they'd given to her for free, no less, due to being an imPort. ]

Wow. I totally forgot how amazing ice cream is. So there are advantages to having an organic body-- taste receptors, at least.

[ If it seems socially maladjusted for someone to be talking to themselves in public, well... You'd be right. ]

    > 02. 'SUPREME PURCHASE' ELECTRONICS STORE, ANYWHERE.

[ Some time later, Catherine can be found arguing with the clerk at a computer supply store, brow furrowed, voice hesitant and quiet. ]

That's not nearly enough. I need several thousand terabytes-- you know, petabytes? Don't you sell them more than two or three terabytes at a time?

    > 03. DE CHIMA #008 [CLOSED].

[ It might take a while to realize that someone else is living there, largely because Catherine doesn't even take a physical form most of the time. So there's no unmade bed in a previously unoccupied room, no new groceries or dishes piling up, absolutely no trace of another human being living there.

If they have a computer or any other piece of technology, though, the screen might flicker from time to time as Catherine gets used to her new digital accommodations-- and she won't be shy about introducing herself and speaking to anyone who notices it and comments on it out loud.

Or you might run into her in one of the rare times she is physical, quiet and reserved as she reluctantly pokes around the kitchen and reacquaints herself with food. ]

Comments

03 and open to threadjacking?

[catalysmic]

[AFTER THAT ONE TIME WITH DARYL, THE NOT-GHOST, you would think Betty would know better than to take an undisturbed room as a sign of non-occupancy. You would think, but you would be wrong, because assuming people are there just because they leave no trace is still a crazy way to live, even here. (At least Clark has a presence. Clark leaves pies and notes and has semi-regular working hours... anyway.)

Catherine's arrival goes entirely unnoticed; whatever minute changes she may have made to their living spaces while corporeal could easily be covered by the activities of any number of housemates - or housemate guests.

Which is also what Betty assumes Catherine is the first time she nearly bumps into her at four in the morning while not particularly awake. It's one of those nights that's going to turn into one of those mornings, and she just... can't right now. She wordlessly presses a can-opener into the other woman's hands, even if she isn't actually holding a can, before drifting to the sink and turning it on, filling an electric kettle.]

[arkproject]

[ Time really seems odd to Catherine after spending a while in the omnitool, blipping in and out of existence as Simon plugged it in and removed it in various locations. She can track time passing now while she's in a computer here, doesn't have any of those blips, but she still perceives herself as going indefinitely. She has no real need for sleep, not even to let her consciousness rest, but her human-formulated habits don't buy that so easily.

Tonight she'd tentatively taken human form to try to get some real sleep despite not needing it, and promptly found that was easier said than done.

Her brain wouldn't stop going, thinking about the ARK. Wondering what it was like there. Whether Simon and Catherine would be happy forever, whether another comet would take out what was left of humanity by wiping out their satellite... There was nothing she could do about that, and she was stuck here. She'd always known she would be, unlike Simon; and yet... This place wasn't really what she'd signed up for.

Catherine blankly accepts the can opener from where she'd been trying to puzzle out how coffee machines work in this century-- she hasn't used anything but the food-print for food prep in actual years, even when she had consumed food-- and hesitantly forms some words. ]

Um... Sorry if I woke you up.

[catalysmic]

Mmm? [That was some pretty good word formation there, Catherine! Betty's probably worse but they'll manage.]

Oh. Oh, no. No, I was...

[If Catherine's problem is being too awake, Betty is struggling with the opposite. The kettle fills, then overflows while resting in the sink, and she finally looks up properly. She drags her consciousness up the few steps it takes to actually notice the other person in the room (although not her struggles with the coffee machine).]

I was up. Sort of. Sort of still... sorry, I'm Betty. I live here. [She holds out her hand with a smile, automatic but sincere enough.]

[rathercommon]

[ That, of course, catches Kitty's attention. It's not that she's some sort of groupie for nonhumans or anything, but, well - they're interesting, their experiences so much more varied and fascinating than humans' so much of the time. She can't help but perk up with curiosity when she hears that idle comment, can't help but look over at the woman. Definitely an imPort, almost certainly new -

So she comes over and sits on the bench beside the woman. As a cat, which she hopes won't cause any alarm. Her human form might be easier, but frankly, people tend to be a lot more prone to sharing ice cream with cats than with other people. It's a hot day. She'd like some free ice cream.

She flicks her ears at the woman - ]

Hullo.

[arkproject]

[ Catherine's tolerance for the strange has always been fairly high, but her experiences post-impact had just heightened that to absurd levels, which stands her in good stead in this universe.

She looks over and has to look a little further, and down, to spot the cat. ] Are you a talking cat? [ she asks with interest, in an even voice. ] I didn't know we had those. That's interesting.

[rathercommon]

I'm a girl, actually. I can just take the form of a cat.

[ She fluffs up her fur cheerfully, and flicks her ears again. Warmly: ]

My name's Kitty. No jokes, please. Can I ask what you are, if you're not used to a physical form?

03

[dirtyredneck]

[Daryl hadn't been in the house for a while. With Rick having dePorted and that announcement having happened on the first of the month, Daryl had spent quite a bit of time around Carl and the rest of his people. But he needed to get back and get things settled. Until they got a place of their own, he'd offered the assigned housing as a safe house of sorts. A spot for them to go if they needed to get somewhere most people wouldn't know to look for them.

He still knew when to hit the house for when everyone else was gone, though. Or thought he did. At least until he got to the kitchen and spotted the unknown woman poking around in the cabinets. And considering that was how he'd met Clark the previous month, this time he opened with a far more polite:]

Guest or occupant?

[More polite because he wasn't being gruff and growly. Just curious.]

[arkproject]

[ Catherine jerks back, startled, not so good at sensing people around her as a human yet. Her senses are so different-- she has different senses in the first place, and the range of input is all off, and... Okay, really it just feels wrong and she's been trying not to use that word specifically. Because she needs to adjust.

She takes a deep breath and turns to face him, rubbing at her face briefly. ]

Sorry, um, you-- you startled me. Occupant. Do you... live here, too?

[dirtyredneck]

[It probably didn't help that unless Daryl was purposely making noise, he usually didn't. A natural habit after a good 40-odd years of hunting and tracking. And having other reasons to not let his footfalls be heard.

She was a jumpy one, though. Clearly not used to being around other people. Or maybe just not used to being surprised. Which usually meant the former, but not always.

He nodded.]

Been out for a bit. Take it you got the big room?

02

[hypnotherapy]

If you want to order them in bulk, you'll probably have to look online, or go to one of the imPort tech companies. [ He's shopping himself, but at a smaller scale. He doesn't need much for upkeep. ] Though I'd recommend imPorts, first.

What do you need so much space for? [ His voice is curious. ]

assuming we're keeping the TDM??

[arkproject]

[ As a human, she comes off way more stilted and unsure than someone who'd met her online might expect. Her whole body language is drawn inward, reserved. ]

I'm... well, trying to make a backup copy of myself. Just in case.

[ She sounds matter of fact and undramatic, at least. ]

heck yeah

[hypnotherapy]

[ Well, he doesn't mind. It may be the stimuli of having a human body, it may just be the difference from a digital world to a physical one. He doesn't know, and he won't pry. ]

Ah, I see. I've made backups of my own memories before, but a whole copy is a different story altogether...

I don't think they stock enough here for you to get the type of storage you need, though. [ It's not a huge store. ] I'm afraid hardware isn't my expertise, so apart from recommending a few sites, my knowledge is a bit limited...

Or you could ask Starktech, I suppose.

01

[khajidont]

[Luckily, Jaime's been around for long enough to regard someone talking to themselves about taste receptors not as strange, but as a mark of inhumanity -- and as such, the mark of a new imPort. He pauses, wondering whether she wants to enjoy her time alone or not, but then figures he's standing right there anyway, so he might as well be friendly.]

If you like their ice cream, you've gotta try their brownies sometime. It makes tastebuds totally worth it.

[arkproject]

[ Catherine might not remember that more-than-a-year post-impact in PATHOS-II, when the aloneness had started to get oppressive, but she's still on the side of being overwhelmed and relieved that there's so many people here. That society still exists to sell her ice cream. As such, she doesn't mind meeting new people at all, though she's disgruntled at the abrupt return of her long-remembered social awkwardness in human form. ]

Brownies... Oh, right! It's been ages. [ Not like they had normal food on the ocean floor even before she was copied. ] Any other suggestions? I have a list.

[khajidont]

Well, I can help add to the list, but I might need some more information to go off of.

[Jaime hops onto the back of the bench, feet grounded where his ass is supposed to be, because like many teenaged boys, he seems to have problems using seating equipment the way they were specifically designed to be used.]

You said it's been ages... does that mean you used to be human? Uh, sorry if I'm assuming or anything, but you did mention the whole taste receptor thing.

[Hopefully he's not being insensitive and she isn't someone who just got, like, a robot tongue after someone chopped her real one out.]

3!

[hyperkinesia]

[ Much like the rest of the household, Bruce is unaware that they've recently gotten a new housemate, and the fact that the empty bedrooms continue to be very much empty, he sees no reason to think that's changed.

He wouldn't exactly connect the flickering of his laptop screen with a new arrival, either. He just thinks it's either a minor electrical failure or some issue with his computer, and when it happens, he tries to save what work he's been getting done as fast as he can before the laptop actually dies out on him. ]

Oh, come on...

[arkproject]

[ Catherine's calm, faintly chipper voice comes out of the speakers when he speaks. ]

Don't worry, I saved everything for you. I just need to use your system resources for a while.

[hyperkinesia]

[ That does absolutely nothing to soothe Bruce. Actually, he's so startled by the sudden voice that he nearly jumps out of his seat when it comes from his laptop's speakers. ]

Jesus—! [ Well, at least he manages not to curse. Staring intently, he leans in a little. ] What the hell? Who are you?

01

[megabytes]

[Well that's a comment that catches Megaman's attention. The bitty AI might be used to interacting with humans constantly, but he still deeply misses interacting with his own kind, and when he finds himself passing by what has to be another imPort musing about the wonders of an organic body, well...conclusions are leapt to.]

They'd be a lot more enjoyable if they didn't require simultaneous tactile processing.

[It just kind of pops out without him thinking. There's a beat as he slowly realizes what he just said, and going by his expression it's obvious the second it clicks.] Ah, s-sorry, that was rude, I shouldn't...!

[Good job, kiddo, excellent first impression there.]

[arkproject]

[ Catherine startles and looks over at him with uncertain curiosity. ]

... What do you mean by simultaneous processing? [ She doesn't have any difficulty doing both at once, but then-- She takes a closer look at him. ] So you were never human? [ She makes the leap quickly, based off of her other discussions with A. I. here. Catherine ends up thoughtful rather than offended or surprised or even reassuring, fully preoccupied with the technical implications. ]

[megabytes]

[Megaman's glad she wasn't offended, though that question is all kinds of uncomfortable. That's probably the most direct, explicit question about being human he's ever gotten in his life. How is he gonna dodge that one?]

Eheh, well...I am an AI. I've never...I never had a body like this back home. [Teeeeechnically not a lie. He's never had a weird navi-human hybrid body before, that totally counts, right?] There's a lot out here that I'm still not really good at.

[He shuffles awkwardly, not really making eye contact. This is really not a line of questioning he wants to deal with. Quick, time to change the subject!] S-so what about you? You were talking about organic bodies...

Lab

[failureisntachoice]

[ It's not her first time being in a place that reeks science. Far from it and not always with the best associations. She's arrived, unarmored, at the place indicated when Catherine contacted her about the VR simulation being ready. If she's finally found someone who can handle the software side of things, she may be set for all future maintenance issues.

The mess doesn't give her the best first impression and she's tempted to kick a stray part on the floor before giving it A Look and walking over it instead. Better to not get off on the wrong foot when this could be beneficial for her. ]

Anyone alive in this craphole? [ At least she tried. ]

[arkproject]

[ A voice comes from a nearby speaker, though if she can spot it in the mess of parts is a trick. ]

Yes, sorry, come into the back room. That's Holtzmann's workspace. I have a server room set up-- back here.

Heropa, ???

[iamtetsuo]

[Close your eyes.

Listen.

Thomas walked him through the steps almost a year ago now, phantom words drifting unwanted through Tetsuo's mind. The wind ripples his thin shirt, tearing at white hair and sending a chill down his spine despite the Florida heat. It pulls at him, making his whole body tilt in its perch atop the highest building he can find. It whistles painfully in his ears, countering the throb deep in his head.

The sun tints the world beneath his eyelids a uniform bright orange, giving him something further to shy away from. After a while, that nuisance fades. The wind dies away from his mind. And around him, the world unfolds.

Life and sound and light and color wheel together in a maddening dance of thoughts and intentions. His mind's eye roams, drifting away from his body aimlessly, listening to the world around him. It's easier up here, where the closest minds he'll meet are passing birds. No one who'll think anything that catches his attention away from pure meditation.

This is unlike his exercises before. He's hunting now, for a mind he's never really touched despite his proximity for many months. Somewhere out there lies Peter Pan. Somewhere out there...

Through his mind's eye, the landscape is a twisted parody of the real one. He can see things as others do, a kaleidoscope of images ready for him to look through if he dares try. It's enough to drive the few bits of sanity he's clung to straight out of his mind if he tries, so he doesn't, operating by feeling.

What feels out of place? What unsettles him? That's what he should look for. And sure enough, it takes no time at all before something catches his interest. A mind.. sort of, but...

He turns his focus on it, circling. Something about this mind is wrong. He can't say why. He can't know what. Some instinct he can't know tells him to pull away. So, of course, he does the opposite, shoving his awareness down closer, zeroing in on that mind until the creepy otherworld of hopes and fears dims from his third eye.

She might feel a presence, something watching her beyond sight or senses. That impossible feeling that she is not alone where she should be. If he's not been careful enough, she might even feel a curiosity that didn't originate from her own thoughts - who?

Of course, she might also feel nothing at all...]

[arkproject]

[ Even within Catherine's experiences, fully human minds tend not to react well to being in a wholly digital sphere. She has to be careful when taking scans not to make them too real, or they get... distraught. So it's no surprise that she herself would feel deeply unsettling to a natural telepath who's never felt a technological version of a human mind before.

To Catherine, he's pretty unsettling himself. Her mind rationalizes the sensation of his intrusion as the feeling of being watched, which is not something she's ever felt in a computer before. She has no actual hair to stand on end, so what is going on? What's the real event that she's interpreting as being watched?

She speaks out loud from her phone's speaker-- the phone itself abandoned in a covert, safe place-- in a wary tone. ]

Hello?