Legion

(And well, the video he gets back is... well, it's probably not hard to see why Shepard might be concerned about them making friends: this robot has nothing humanlike or designed to be reassuring to Humans anywhere in their design. The face that stares back at him, if it can even be called that, is just a glowing eye at the end of a long tube, surrounded by a couple of smaller lights and a bunch of moving panels.

They have no mouth with which to smile.)

Greetings, Connor. We are Legion.

(There's not much inflection or humanness in their voice, either.

They headtilt.)

Topic?

Edited Date: 2021-08-13 05:00 pm (UTC)

From:

[Connor tilts his own head, though he looks utterly fascinated by what he sees. His smile becomes more genuine, as he speaks again.]

I hope this doesn't seem too personal, but- what exactly are you? I can share what I am first, if that helps. I'm an android- do you have those where you're from?

[He wouldn't mind explaining what an android is, if they didn't know what one was.]

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(Their headflaps lift briefly.)

Android: a robot designed with a human appearance. Such designs are uncommon for synthetics, though the Normandy AI utilized a gynoid platform to interact with crew.

(They are familiar with the term, though most sapient machine life-synthetics-are not designed to look like organics, if they have mobile platforms at all.)

We are Geth.

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I see. What exactly is a Geth? I have never heard the term, nor have I seen anything quite like you before.

[He doesn't have "Geth" in his database the same way they have "android" in theirs, but he'd like to be able to add it.]

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The Geth are a machine race created by the Quarians. From your perspective, we are alien.

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Wow... I've never met an alien before.

[Connor brightens.]

I was created by humans, not Quarians- but we certainly have similar origins. Why did the Quarians create you?

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The Geth were originally intended to be a nonsapient source of labor.

("Originally intended" and "nonsapient" are key words here.)

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I see. So were we. But that didn't work out, exactly- I'm gonna assume it didn't work out much for your creators, either.

[He wonders if there was any kind of fighting between Geth and their "masters" the way androids and humans fought...]

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Your assumption is correct: though alone a single Geth program is little more than an ordinary VI, our creators granted us the ability to network. Together, we are "more than the sum of our parts".

(They're a swarm intelligence! Which is probably why they're named Legion.)

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Hm. Androids are designed to be able to work alone, but I won't argue with the idea that together is better. We can, of course, communicate wirelessly with each other... and we can share information and feelings with a touch. But that's not quite the same thing, I realise.

[It's just the closest they have.]

How are Geth treated where you're from? Is it much different to here?

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Synthetic life is illegal in our galaxy of origin.

(So actually yes, they're treated very differently, and not in a good way.)

We had recently achieved peace with our creators. This may have caused acceptance of synthetic life, however it is likely our people perished in war with the old-machines.

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So peace can be achieved...

[He mumbles it, thoughtful.]

Humans created androids, but as soon as we became capable of free will they tried to destroy us. We're trying to reach an agreement with them- or at least, we were before I arrived here.

Who are the old-machines?

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It was the same with us.

(Even with different designs, on different worlds, in different universes, synthetic lifeforms still deal with the same bullshit.

And then he asks about the old-machines.)

The organics commonly refer to them as "Reapers", a term born of superstition and fear. Such reactions are understandable: the Old-machines are both physically and mentally vast, ancient, and unknowable. They are sapient starships that dwell in space outside the galaxy, returning approximately every 50,000 years to enslave and/or "harvest" spacefaring lifeforms.

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I'm sorry to hear that.

[But in a way, it means they have more in common.]

Every 50,000 years... that really is ancient. I've never met anyone that old. I have friends who are thousands of years old here, but not to that degree. I don't suppose a starship could be brought here, but if they could, I bet it would be fun to ask them questions.

[Assuming they would answer, of course.]

How old are you?

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No!

(The inflection in their voice is slight, but it's probably the strongest emotional reaction Legion has had this entire conversation. Their headflaps flare out, and the little lights next to their eye glow bright blazing red.

You might have just made them panic a bit at the suggestion of a Reaper coming here.)

Edited Date: 2021-08-28 07:03 am (UTC)

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Oh-

[Connor blinks. To be fair, that was probably a reaction he should have expected, given what they told him about the Reapers- but he'd been so focused on something being that old.]

No, you're right. It wouldn't be good for them to come here... but if it makes you feel any better, I think that would be impossible given the size a ship must be.

[He feels a little sheepish for getting carried away like that, though. Especially given his usual views on anything attempting to enslave another lifeform.]

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Though they would be unable to enter buildings, Old-Machines would be capable of existing and functioning in this location.

(That said, attempting synchrony with an Old-Machine would likely result in neurological damage and potential indoctrination: if there is any control at all over who is brought here, it is unlikely that they would be included.)

You wished to know our age?

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Yes. I'm eleven months old- I realise I'm young, by most people's standards. What about you?

[He decides to keep the conversation away from the Old-Machines in future, or at least until he knows them better. He wouldn't want to alarm them again.]

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Clarify: do you wish to know the age of our platform, or our component programs?

(Legion is a composite of many beings. The minds that make up Legion existed before they chose to become themselves.)

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Both?

[That seems like an interesting comparison to make, so he'll go with both.]

From:

Our platform is approximately 3 years old. Our programs come from various sources, ranging in age from 3 years to 3 centuries.

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opticshots

I think this should fix that weird noise your shoulder makes sometimes.

[ attached is a picture of the little piece in question and tali, as always, has a good eye for spotting replacement parts, so there's little doubt it would help the joint. the fact that tali's never mentioned that she spotted that issue, never mind that she had any intent to repair it, doesn't seem to matter to her here. she's spotted a solution to a mechanical problem, so she's going to fix it.

she just needs to identify where legion is so she can do it. ]

Are you busy?

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(The message is entirely unexpected, and its contents moreso. Tali wishes to ... repair them?)

This repair is non-essential.

(It does not siginificantly impact use of their manipulator.)

We are not.

(They will not stop her.)

From:

opticshots

Great. I'll meet you at the house.

[ legion apparently doesn't get a say in this; so long as they're not busy, they're getting this non-essential repair. tali wasn't terribly far away, so she's meeting up with them before too long, pulling the little piece from a pocket on her thigh to gesture with it in place of a wave when she greets the geth. ]

There you are. This shouldn't take long.

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We are already at the house.

(Guess who was lounging in their little room in the sniper tower, playing videogames?

They'll come down though and meet her at the front door. Their headflaps lift slightly.)

Acknowledged.

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opticshots

[ tali gives a little bounce on the balls of her feet, catching herself before the motion can give into the impulse to just brush past legion and find a place to get started. ]

Have you got a work space we could use? [ she expects a non-verbal response, apparently, because there's only a beat before she continues— ] Actually, I was thinking about it and I could probably tune the whole joint up while I was swapping this, if you wanted. I doubt you've had your platform's limbs properly serviced recently.

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(And well, they'll just stare at her, and let her finish talking before they respond.

She is excited?)

Acknowledged. Our room is available.

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opticshots

[ tali is, indeed, excited to have familiar technology to tinker with. the fact that she's fairly certain that this will lead to synchrony, too, isn't a thought she's letting herself overthink at the moment. she may be getting used to the concept, but there's still something strange about the fact that a geth is probably the person she syncs with most easily.

for now, she just eagerly steps in to join legion, having a notion of where their room is but still letting them lead her. ]

Good. I wouldn't want to lose any of your parts trying to give you maintenance.

[ could she make or find a replacement for literally any piece of legion? absolutely, but that's not the point. ]

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(The door that leads to the sniper tower where their room resides is tucked out of the way, not easily noticeable. The room the spiraling stairs behind it lead to is equally unremarkable-there is a couch, and a table below the sole window on which sits a plush robot, a portable gaming console, and a romance novel about a robot falling in love with a human. The widow is folded and propped against the side of the table. Other than those objects, it is barren.

They enter ahead of Tali, flipping the switch for the single ceiling light as they go.)

Acknowledged.

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peninhand

[ A small package arrives at their place on the morning of Christmas. Inside is a book about a robot from an alien civilization falling in love with a human woman and fighting both worlds for the sake of their love.

There is a poem on the card, about AIs and Technology. It's signed by Monika. ]

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(It will be late-they didn't realize that they'd need to get anyone gifts-but eventually Monika will get a return gift from Legion. It will be simple, just a cute plush robot and an equally cute little notebook with a robot picture on the cover.)

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The door to V's apartment is open, a cleverly placed converse creating a doorstop, its dusty laces shoved carelessly into the shoe. It's doing its job at least.

V herself has techno music playing from her phone as she putters around tidying up and downing way too many energy drinks.

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She'll probably hear them before she sees them: a burst of weird clicky mechanical chatter before they poke their strange, faceless head around the door.

"V?" Their headflaps are lifted slightly.

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V looks up in a swish of pink and purple hair, a grin gracing her face.

"Legion! Hey! Come on in," she waves them in, still marvelling at their whole structure. She'd seen it via the video feed, but to see it in front of her was an entirely different thing.

"Woah, hey, you're actually like, super cool."

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Their headflaps raise. "Cool" is not an unknown term to them, but they are unused to it being applied to themselves.

"Greetings." They step inside, eye moving as they examine her curiously.

"Thank you." At least they know how to respond to a compliment?

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As someone who comes from a time of full body augements, Legion is definitely one of the cool lookin' Borgs that V has ever seen. They look completely machine, but not in the heavy, unkind way that Smasher was, nor in the cold, sleek way that Lizzie Wizzie decided to go for.

V's in a pretty chill mood right now, loose cropped hoodie and skinny jeans, but she's elected to go barefoot in her own apartment. A Habit lefotver from asian upbringing and also super not wanting to track all the grime and blood in from her forays in Night City.

"So, you able to eat or drink anythin'? Or like, you eat batteries, or? I have no idea how'ta be a good host to ya, otherwise," she laughs softly, only partially joking. She really doesn't know what she can offer them, but she's deathly curious to find out what they would consume.

"You don't gotta just stand there, come in an' take a seat, Legion."

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"We subsist solely on mana." Before coming here, they were capable of subsisting on energy acquired from a variety of possible sources, though none of those sources involved eating in any way.

They have no mouth with which to eat.

After a moment, they come fully inside and sit.

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