secretasshole | 014 웃 VIDEO

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014 웃 VIDEO

[Public, Backdated to Day One of the Flood]

[The differences between David as a robot and David as a human are definitely on the subtler side, but there's something unmistakeably... off about him when he clicks on the video feed. For one thing, his perfect posture is gone - he's slouching a little on the couch in his cabin, with his arms balanced on his thighs, and he looks tired. It's reasonably late at night, and he's not really on board with the whole actually needing to sleep thing.]

I'd like to speak with anyone who's suddenly found themselves in an android's body. If we've truly switched physiologies, there are a few necessary maintenance practices you should be made aware of.

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[Felix, too, looks just a little off, but in exactly the opposite way: it's maybe the first time he's been on the network in weeks and hasn't looked a little tired. His posture already tended to stiffness, so that hasn't really changed, but he oddly and paradoxically looks more comfortable with it now. His voice is measured and calm, and there's something just a little too neutral in his expression, something just slightly blank behind the eyes.]

I suspect that would be me, David.

[It's strange, and David wonders for a moment if Felix has been swapped with Aaron instead, but he does sort of see some of himself in the former-human, and he lets out an uncharacteristic sigh.]

Is there a place you would be comfortable meeting?

It seems like I would be equally comfortable just about anywhere. [He knows, intellectually, that he'll be very upset about all this later. It's distant at the moment, though. He knows what upset means, knows what it will look like on someone else, but it's detached from himself, somehow. That was, and will be, Felix Gaeta. He's... Felix 4.

There's still that very slight aura of blankness about him, but his lips curl at the corners to indicate a mild joke. Everything feels very mild, really.] But I've mostly been occupying myself in the library.

I can meet you there shortly.

[And he's already on his way down with the necessary equipment, because he wants to get this over with. It's unsettling to see someone else operating the way he's supposed to, especially considering how run down he feels right now.]

I'll be here. [And he is. He's in the advanced sciences, of course, going through it systematically and intently, standing by the shelves with his nose buried in an open book when David arrives. Not that it's exactly taking him long to get through; he's scanning and turning the pages rapidly. He doesn't look up when he hears him coming.]

This brain is remarkable, I'll give you that much.

I wish I could say the same, [He replies, voice as dry as the Sahara as usual, but he definitely sounds tired, which takes some of the bite out of it. He's still dressed the same, though, and he's carrying two canisters with him.]

You might need to ingest both of these at least once over the next few days. You should know when your levels are running low.

That's oddly short-sighted of you. [His voice, too, is dry, without the snap it would usually have. It's not in him to take offense, although he can't help but raise a brow at the comment. He reaches out to take the canisters.] You sound like you're getting frustrated. Levels of what?

[He doesn't bother responding. That's been freeing, to be able to have a little more control about what he has to say in response, rather than sitting on the feelings of frustration and irritation and finding other ways to express them.]

Lubricant for your joints and eyes. Unless you'd rather not be able to move comfortably.

It wouldn't be the first time. [But he tears his attention away from the books to study the canisters, curious and thoughtful. He blinks once, slowly, deliberately, registering the internal change as his body responds and helpfully dampens his eyes.] Hm. Thank you.

You don't want to talk about the change? [He glances back at the book, reading -- memorizing -- while he talks.]

[He looks at Felix curiously, almost wondering if he would be capable of really discussing it right now, considering he isn't used to functioning this way. Admittedly, David isn't used to functioning this way either, but at least he's familiar with humans, and Felix likely isn't familiar with his exact specifications.]

Do you?

[He pauses before he answers, looking sort of curious in a different way.] I... don't want much of anything, compared to the way I did before. [He could lie, he can tell, if he wanted to -- or evade, at least. But for now, he doesn't.] I don't feel very strongly about it one way or the other.

That's why I called you short-sighted: this is pretty limiting in its own way. Not that I mind a few days off. Living that way is-- [Crippling, he could say; killing him, really. Slowly, but it is, all that stress and panic all the time, chaining himself to work to avoid feeling the things he feels anyway.

But he's lost his intensity of feeling, not his judgment. Actually, that's better than it usually is. So he just finishes with:] --tiring.

I assumed you would have questions, though.

[David considers that for a long moment. He wonders if Felix is reacting to his sudden lack of humanity in a different way because he's Felix, not David, because he does feel things, just... not very strongly, like Felix said. He can be annoyed, or irritated, or amused, but not in the way a human can. He has preferences, likes and dislikes - he prefers Lawrence of Arabia to Casablanca, he likes Erik and Chris and dislikes Iris - and he's wanted things - nothing more than freedom and respect - but he obviously lacks the passion and dedication and faith he's seen in humans. Erik had been able to look Shaw in the eye as he killed him, David had simply waited for the inevitable, and nudged it along in the way he could.

It's strange to have this outside perspective about which way is better, and he's going to have to think about it for a while, because he's not sure how he feels about it. Even less sure now that he did have a much less limited emotional capacity, and he wasn't sure how that would translate after the flood's end.

He finally shakes his head - another human gesture.]

I'm very familiar with the human body. Do you have any questions?

[That is, of course, the big difference to Felix. He's quiet, often snippy at worst and dry at best -- when he was young, when skinjobs weren't even a blip on the radar and the Cylons themselves were gone long enough to start to pass into joke material, he'd heard himself compared to a robot once or twice by his classmates. He's quiet, but that's always hidden a great deal of passion. Passion for the world, when he was younger, and then for the sciences, and his career; passion for humanity and justice, truth, a brighter future after the war began. When he's a 2 on the outside, lately, he's been ramped up to 15 on the inside.

This is pretty soothing, by contrast. He feels things, he can tell he does, but it's so small compared to what it was before. All that anger and fear is just... dull to the point of irrelevancy, and if anything's risen at all, it's his curiosity. The books, he thinks, will help when things return back to normal.]

I don't think so. I'm not sure the ones I do have are ones you could answer. I'd like to know what will happen when this is over. I'd like to know how much of this I'll be able to retain. [He taps one of the books.] Otherwise... is there anything you feel I need to know?