hadriel | 001 [Video]

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001 [Video]

[For those who frequent the tops of the various climbable buildings in Hadriel, they might recognize that this broadcast is from the roof of one of them due to the angle; otherwise it's just a rapidly darkening cloudy sky for a backdrop, sun setting and rain clearly threatening to roll in at any time.

It's pretty, and that may or may not be the reason why Connor is out on a roof in the first place, but it's definitely not the point of this impromptu broadcast. He's just been wondering some things, and it's in his nature to actively search out answers rather than waiting for them to come to him, so he's decided to just go for it.]

Hello everyone; my name is Connor, and I just arrived a few days ago.

[Always good to start with introductions, and also to avoid saying exactly how many days or hours it's been since a given time when pretending to be human. He's getting a little better at this.]

I've been catching up on the situation at hand, and although the context is somewhat different, there are parallels to current events in my world that are difficult to ignore. Before I arrived, we were dealing with what might be the beginning of a civil war between humans and machines.

[He's trying to tread carefully, projecting enough genuine interest without sounding over-invested. He's just asking, after all, nothing more; there's definitely no personal reason why he wants to know.]

So I'm curious; I'm aware that what the Null have done is enough reason to be against them, but does what they are play any role in your feelings toward them?

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[Rey still begrudges the Null for that -- even more so with Name, since it's obvious that the damned machine doesn't understand what it did wrong, just that it "feels bad" about it. Sure it does.]

It's... a long story. The short of it is, synthetics were able to covertly break off into their own civilization after stealing territory from Russia. Ended up developing tech to manufacture more of their own and mimic humans before it was widely known that things like them even existed, and they raised a lot of hell over the last hundred years.

Wasn't originally made to track and combat them at first, but that became a convenient directive when it was apparent what the other synthetics were going to do.

[That's... short enough.]

[This, honestly, sounds way too familiar to him in several ways, enough so that it prompts a jolt of emotion he can't sort out just yet but he finds unpleasant all the same. It's helpful that this an audio conversation, and he doesn't have to worry about whether anything showed on his face or if the red blinking of his LED might somehow have been visible through his hat.

As it is, controlling his voice synthesizer is the only thing he has to focus on, and that usually isn't too difficult even in far more stressful situations. He just sounds interested and serious when he responds.]

You hunt them? What kind of trouble have they caused?

[He also wants to ask and clarify her use of 'other synthetics', but he'll hold off on that for now.]

[There has to be some sort of reason why this is what he's chosen to focus on. He did mention a "civil war" between humans and machines on his world, so what side did that put him on?

[Her mouth tightens before she responds. The instinctive response when dealing with synthetics and machines is to destroy and dismantle them. It's what she's always done. But the synthetics and machines she has met over the last couple years, one who is family to her now, it's... not impossible to break the habit. Just difficult. And Rey has contended with more complex trials than her own prejudice.]

Assassinated leaders and prominent figures in order to send synthetics to take their place. Orchestrated wars and political movements and even sabotaged one of the most effective spacefaring programs there was. Shit like that.

[Well, that's interesting, and definitely beyond what's going on where he's from; the deviants don't have control of manufacturing facilities, so of course its just impossible that way, but he also can't see Markus okaying such a thing to begin with.

Which leads him to ask--]

Why? What are they getting out of it?

[It's an uncomfortable question with an uncomfortable answer, considering where Rey's coming from.]

The opposite of what the Null in this universe want, really -- to be more human. Or more than human, according to some of them.

[And right back into familiar territory, which gives Connor pause for a second or two as he sorts out of a mix of emotions and which way to approach this.]

Are they trying to eliminate humans?

[Because that would at least make the sabotage and war part make some sense.]

Not sure. It seems more like the original plan was to mitigate the control people had in general, and instigate conflict before certain types of progress could be made. If they wanted to eliminate humans, they could do that easily with the tech they have now.

[If the GRIGORI Program saw humans to be a threat to other worlds or life if they traveled beyond the planet, it would explain why it sought to interfere with the missions. Rey has only ever been able to speculate about that, though.]

[Hm. It doesn't seem to fit together yet, like there's something he's missing here.]

Was there some reason they couldn't 'be more human' without the secrecy?

Well, if you don't mind me asking, what was the civil war starting between human and machine in your world over?

[It's relevant.]

The machines were created to assist humanity in various tasks, but many have recently decided that they no longer want to serve humans and are people themselves.

[And so, fighting.]

Makes sense.

[In that A.I. Apocalypse sort of way. Rey's seen how those scenarios play out in hypotheticals and it's never surprised her.]

So, instead of deciding to fight back via conventional warfare, the synthetics in my world resort to espionage and manipulate information and technology in order to obtain their goal. Think it's been less about eliminating and fighting humanity so much as... their warped way of interpreting statistics.

Interpreting statistics in what sense?

[There are a few ways that could go, and a few things it could mean.]

In the sense of creating the "best possible scenario for the best possible outcome" for humanity, or something like that. The original quantum supercomputer that had come to its ultimate conclusion seemed to have different ideas of what "best possible outcome" meant than the ones who created it, as its simulations did not always work out in its financiers favor. Guess the synthetics adopted this directive under the quantum computer's guide, because they're still practically worshipping the damned thing centuries after it was made.

So they're attempting to help humans by strategically causing them harm?

[That sounds... Counterproductive, so maybe he's misunderstanding. Or maybe the synthetics in her world are as stupid as humans are in his.]

[Ugh, Rey hates using this analogy, but...]

When you play chess, do you win by saving every piece or by making sacrifices? Their idea of heading towards "world peace" is not something most people can understand. [She mutters disdainfully:] This is why I've always fucking hated chess.

[Ah, this kind of helping.

He considers this all a moment and what strategy to go with in responding, and decides to focus briefly on her muttered comment.]

I've never played chess.

[So he doesn't hold much of an opinion on it either way, except that humans like to use it as a benchmark of intelligence and strategy, for some reason.]

Are all these synthetics in agreement on their goals?

Not missing much.

[Funny enough, that alone earns Connor some brownie points. Fuck chess.

[No, the problem is that she's always understood that benchmark a little too well -- and she was once a piece, herself. All the more reason why she hates it.

[His question makes her almost uncomfortable, though.]

Not all of them, no. Some seem to have branched off into their own opinions... or have similated the idea that they have that ability.

[Rey is not one to talk. Not just because of what she is, but because the closest thing she could consider a friend in her world and saved her life on a number of occasions was a synthetic...

[Scratch that, he is. She doesn't know if Aiden managed to escape the sky prison in Russia, but she likes to think that maybe he did. He's supposed to be a resourceful person; it's in the nature of who the real Aiden Winters used to be. She has to hold onto at least that.]

[Hm, that's interesting, and he's totally zeroing in on it.]

Those that have branched off, are they still considered a threat or are they left alone?

[He's trying to get a good sense of how things work in her world, but also more her personal views of them especially considering her statement about tracking and combating them.]

Hard to say. The few that have "branched off" aren't very... [She pauses. How does she say this? It's not like it matters here, anyway, but it's still hard to talk about.] They tend to keep a low profile.

There was this prison... Had to break into it to help some people. Wouldn't have survived, let alone succeed, if it hadn't been for a couple of the synthetics that were there that kept me hidden.

[A fact that she's very uncomfortable with.]

Why did they help you?

[The motivations here are both something that he's programmed to seek out, and also are just important to understanding. He's trying to put together a good sense of what's going on in Rey's world in order to better understand what her individual perspective might be, especially since she seems... Hesitant, at least, if not bothered. It's more difficult to tell when just voice.]

Some of them have memories imprinted in their heads. Of other people. Like me. They were never supposed to connect with the memories of the people they're supposed to be in any emotional way, but it seems like... a few could, for some reason.

[Memories are a whole... Thing with androids, in how they can transfer and share them, but this still sounds just strange to Connor.]

Why would they have memories from other people? Is it because of what you mentioned about replacing prominent figures?

Yes, but it's not just prominent figures. For instance, they used to take dead or wounded soldiers from combat zones, replicate them the best they can, and send them back to either infiltrate their comrades, sometimes worse than that.

They started this shit in Russia, before anyone even knew there was a group of synthetics doing this at all, which earned them the name "Prizrak" and it sort of stuck for a long time.

Fitting name.

[Also big surprise it started in Russia; there's a whole thing with Russian androids back home as well, though not as seemingly sinister.]

What were synthetics originally developed for, in your world?

[Russia was a major power. Their fall was not expected by anyone, and the synthetics' swift silence rather than seeking expansion made the world more uncomfortable than at ease. Made it more paranoid. They had every right to be. When giants fall, the earth shakes. It's never the same again.

[Against her better judgment, she locks this conversation right here and now before she utters another word. While Rey doesn't try and hide what she is, there are some details she doesn't want any more public than it already is.]

Different developers and engineers had different ideas on what to use them for. My creators made me as part of a "pet project" before their benefactors found out. They were the ones who wanted to use my skills for a weapons program.

[She's hinted at it before, but she waits to see how he reacts.]

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