[catch all for luna!]

[survivaltricks]

Comments

[brokethefirst]

[Congratulations on reaching the floor! She'll let his hand go once he's back on his crutch, content on just walking beside him.]

Well, no, not just that. Your energy, your attitude... the fact that you're still trying, even with something horrible happening to you...

Not many people have that kind of fortitude. It takes a lot of inner strength.

[survivaltricks]

[and walk he does! he's figured out how to evenly distribute his weight between the crutch and his real leg, so. . . he is moving at a decent pace, albeit slower than one may normally walk]

Mm. . . well.

[he gives his head a small shake]

I can't let it keep me down. All I can do is stand up and learn how to live with it, you know. . .?

[another nod]

So that's what I'm doing. It happened, but life keeps going.

[and he keeps going with it]

[brokethefirst]

That you've accepted that in such an incredibly short time... it's really admirable of you. But please, don't push yourself. Even if the mind is ready to fight, the body needs time to adjust.

Ah... Here. I'll get the door.

[Chivalry schmivalry, only one of us has two working hands. Out we go, soldier.]

[survivaltricks]

[. . . snorts a little, a half-laugh, half-appreciative noise]

I'll pace myself. I promise.

And. . . thanks.

[for more than just opening the door, but he doesn't have to get into that now. OUTSIDE THEY GO. . .!]

[brokethefirst]

[It's the garden! Even with how late it's getting, Luna still seems to shed away a layer of her normal, distant melancholy the moment she steps outside into fresh air. She looks... oddly content.]

It's always so nice and quiet out here. I keep meaning to thank Pumpkin for all her hard work... I don't think this place would be bearable at all without a part of the great outdoors.

[survivaltricks]

. . . yeah. That first week we were here was torture.

[his cabin fever was SO BAD that week. . . he needed the fresh air like a fish needed water]

[and even with one leg, Akira manages to crouch down to the flower's level, bracing himself upright with one hand clutching the crutch as he reaches out with the other]

The flowers are here are really beautiful. [. . .] Just looking at them brightens my mood.

[brokethefirst]

It was, wasn't it... I kept hoping that they might open the windows of the conservatory. But... just being out on the balcony was okay for me, at least to start. Even just the trees outside the manor were enough.

[She'll stay on her feet, perfectly fine with looking out over all of the colors in the light of oncoming twilight. There's something charming in looking down to see the soft expression on his face, simply enjoying the plant life in front of him...]

Is this something you're used to, Akira? I always imagined Tokyo as a more urban type of landscape.

[survivaltricks]

[well, she isn't wrong. his hand falls away from the flower as he looks up at her, still smiling]

I'm not from Tokyo originally. I used to live in a smaller town surrounded by nature, so you could say I'm used to it.

[and, in addition to that?]

I also worked in a flower shop while I was living in Tokyo. I guess I got kind of used to being surrounded by them all day.

[brokethefirst]

O-oh, oh, that's right... I knew you moved there, but... I-I'm so sorry. [Aaaaaaaaaaa.......]

I always thought it would be nice to work somewhere like a greenhouse. Helping people choose things to make their homes look nice, or to cheer up someone they care about... and you'd get to spend time taking care of a whole world of living things.

I think it would be so... so nice.

[survivaltricks]

Why are you apologizing?

[he doesn't seem offended, just! lightly amused as he stands up and gestures to a nearby bench. time to sit!!]

I think you're a really good doctor, Luna. [but] But if you want to do something like that instead?

Then I think you should try, once we leave this place.

[didn't Luna say she was dead. EH. DETAILS]

[brokethefirst]

... I think I might really like that... but...

[Hm. She falls quiet as she crosses over to take a seat.]

Akira, did I ever tell you what year it was on Earth, the last I remember?

[survivaltricks]

[hn. . .? he blinks at her a few times as he lays his crutch across his lap]

You didn't, though I could tell it was some time far in the future compared to my world.

[brokethefirst]

It depends on your definition of far, I suppose. Considering your age and the year you remember... with a good life, I'm sure you might be around to see it.

It was January of 2074.

[survivaltricks]

[opens his mouth]

[closes it again]

[and then, his expression VERY SERIOUS]






I'm old enough to be your grandpa.

[AKIRA???]

[brokethefirst]

[She LAUGHS, a sudden and brisk noise.]

I-I... I don't think that's how it works...

How old do you think I am?

[survivaltricks]

[HMMM. . . he gives her a thoughtful expression, his gaze almost scrutinizing]

Early twenties?

[brokethefirst]

A good guess, based on my appearance. I believe I was built to appear twenty five.

But you have to remember that I'm not a human.

[survivaltricks]

[oh-- that's true. he raises his brows at her curiously at that]

How old do you think you are, then?

[brokethefirst]

... I suppose it would depend on when you would consider a robot to be themselves, by definition. Is it when their body is made, or when their mind is programmed?

I have logs going back all the way to the time of my initial construction. But the AI, particularly the, um.... part of my brain that controls how I think and act and process... that's much newer.

So... I suppose I wouldn't be able to give a firm answer.

[survivaltricks]

[wow, this is getting complicated. Akira lifts a hand to rub the back of his neck, slightly sheepish. . . and here he is, asking her these personal questions. one isn't supposed to ask a lady her age!1]

Sorry, sorry. . . I guess that is kind of a personal question, right?

You just made me curious about the answer.

[brokethefirst]

I don't mind giving it to you, regardless. I just... I'm not really sure which one to pick.

Hephaestus GAULEM GTF-DM-L-016 as a unit has existed since the year 2032 - that's when I was initially shipped to the person who would inevitably put me into service. But my AI wasn't complete in its full capacity of operations as "Luna" until 2057.

So... I guess you could say that my body, for all purposes of the word, is technically forty-two, but my mind is, um... seventeen, I think? Something like that.

[............]

I... don't know it that helps at all.

[survivaltricks]

[. . . . . . . . STARES INTO THE DISTANCE]

[but he also lets out a breathless laugh despite himself]

Let's go with-- whatever you're most comfortable with.

[brokethefirst]

I-I really don't have a preference... I've... never had anyone really ask.

But...

I guess I would say the latter, if I had to. I can remember bits and pieces from further back then that, and I have plenty of logs of things like tests and troubleshooting, but... I... I feel like I wasn't really recognized as me until around then. That's when I think I was finally aware that I was no longer a work in progress, but a completed intelligence.

[Congrats, I guess???? She has no idea what's going on anymore but it's fine.]

Um... anyway... we got a little sidetracked. Can I continue?

[survivaltricks]

Oh--

[oh, yeah. this is a big digression isn't it? Akira nods, amusement flickering onto his features briefly]

Yeah, of course. I'm interested in hearing the entire story.

DONT LOOK ANDIE

[brokethefirst]

Mmm. I wouldn't call it a story so much as a history lesson.

[So, uh. Strap in.]

In 2028, there was a pandemic. A virus called Radical-6. Many believed it to be biological warfare, but no one could prove it - only that it originated in Nevada in the United States and spread like wildfire. Over two million people died. Containing it became close to impossible, and society quickly started to collapse. People started to starve to death, or grow ill from the bodies that piled the streets.

In a desperate attempt to eradicate the pathogen and save what they could of humanity, in April of 2029, the remaining world leaders set off eighteen antimatter reactors across the world. I... can't really explain it right now, or we might be here forever, but... that's an equivalent explosive force over 180,000 times what was contained in the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan during World War 2.

The resulting radiation wiped out the virus... and many, many people. Between the initial pandemic, the collapse of society, and the explosions... 6 billion people were killed.