#i love a good excuse to design androids

[somnovis]

Our cybernetic demon

[chaostheoryy]

Touch Me [Walter X GN!Reader]

Summary: You and Walter are currently the only two people awake on the colony ship headed for the outskirts of the galaxy. And while most people would find the company of a synthetic to be unsettling, you have come to realize you much prefer his presence over that of other humans. And perhaps you enjoy his company even more than you originally thought.

Rating: Teen

Warnings: Making out, implied sexual thoughts

Reader: Gender Neutral

Word Count: 3.1K

Notes: I recently rewatched the entire Alien franchise and rediscovered my love for Walter. Because of course my dumbass feels connected to an autistic-coded character...There really isn't much plot here, just self-indulgence via smooching a big, wholesome android. And, as always, no beta. I die a warrior's death.

Living with a synthetic is easy. Like a faithful company android should, Walter has always done exactly what he’s supposed to when he’s supposed to. He never interrupts your work unless absolutely necessary and he doesn’t dare disturb your sleep unless following explicit instructions from you or MUTHUR to wake you in time to complete your tasks.

In addition to being an efficient and reliable worker, Walter has also proven himself to be a surprisingly pleasant companion. Conversation, it seems, comes naturally for him and his seemingly endless internal database of poetry and literature means he can recite any one of your favorite stories upon request. Though it’s strange to admit, there’s a pleasantness to his voice that makes every encounter with him comforting.

In fact, the more time you’ve spent together, the more you’ve come to realize just how much you truly find pleasant about him. The mesmerizing tint of his electric blue eyes. The imperfection of his crooked smile when you tell him your worst jokes. The gentleness of his touch despite the inhuman strength of his body. You know these are all things that were programmed into him by some random company engineer years ago, but you can’t shake the feeling that there’s more to him than a bunch of 0’s and 1’s. He’s not just a robot designed to serve man, he’s…Walter.

The stronger your connection feels over these first few weeks of travel, the bolder you get when it comes to exploring your affection for him. It starts with accidental brushes of the hand against his arm or a gentle press of your palm between his shoulder blades when you squeeze behind him in a tight corridor. Fleeting touches that can easily be written off as necessary interactions given the nature of your environment. He, of course, doesn’t seem to mind at all. Every time it happens, he responds to your apology or “excuse me” with a courteous little grin and a brief utterance of reassurance.

On a particularly bad day, when nothing seems to go right and the loneliness of space grips at your heart, you ask for his comfort and he obliges. His hand rests on your shoulder until it simply isn’t enough and you ask him to hold you. No request is too much for Walter, so sure enough you find yourself wrapped in his arms with your head resting on his chest. Even despite his lack of fleshy internal organs, you find he’s just as warm as any human would be. And when he murmurs soothing words in your ear, you realize that no human could possibly comfort you the way he can.

“Walter?”

“Yes?"

“Hugging you like this,” you murmur quietly into his charcoal sweatshirt, “Does it feel good for you?”

“If you’re inquiring as to whether or not I enjoy embracing you, yes. I find it quite satisfactory.”

“Good.”

“Is this embrace satisfying for you?”

“Very."

“I’m glad.”

To your surprise, the hand that had come to rest in the center of your back begins to move in slow circles. When you shift beneath his touch, the movement ceases.

“Apologies,” he says as he abruptly steps away. The loss of contact leaves your body yearning for the comfort.

“No need to apologize, Walter. It’s fine, really. I…” You hesitate for a moment. “It felt nice.”

You stare each other down, both of you searching for answers to questions neither of you have asked. You know it’s probably just your mind playing tricks on you, but it seems as though he looks nervous. Then again, hard not to notice an aura of uncertainty coming from a presence that is usually nothing but certain.

“Have you ever touched someone like that before now?” You ask.

“No. I’m afraid it was never the company’s intention for synthetics such as myself to engage in intimate contact.”

You try to stow away some of the sheer sadness you feel knowing what he’s said is undoubtedly true. “Oh. I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing?”

“Because that doesn’t seem fair. Being surrounded by people your whole life and knowing that none of them will ever hold you. Knowing that the people who created you never even wanted you to be held.”

“Fair or not, it is simply a part of my programming.”

You frown. It frustrates you to no end. No matter how many times he or the little voice in the back of your head tells you that he is simply an android following his programming, you want to argue that there’s more to it than that. That he genuinely exists and deserves to live.

“Aren’t you curious?”

“In regard to what exactly?”

“Touch. Don’t you ever wonder what it’d be like to truly be touched? To be held and caressed and cared for by someone else?”

“It is something I have pondered over from time to time, sure.”

Your heart is racing in your chest as you consider your words. It’s crazy, you know it is, but you can’t help yourself. “Would you like me to touch you?”

Walter’s head tilts to the left ever so slightly, much like a dog who’s heard his owner utter the name of his favorite toy in casual conversation. Those dazzling blue eyes blink a couple of times as he considers your question.

“Yes, I believe I would.”

An inaudible sigh of relief slips from your throat. You nod, more to yourself than to Walter, and step forward to close the distance between you. He doesn’t move in the slightest, just stands there and watches your every move with the scrutiny of a scientist at work.

You start by taking his right hand. Pulling it from his side, you raise it up into the space between your bodies. Your right thumb traces over his knuckles while your left hand gently pushes the sleeve of his sweatshirt up toward his elbow. Just like any human you’ve ever met, there are delicate hairs all along his forearm that jump back into place as the fabric of his sleeve slides past.

After watching those little hairs shift around exploratory strokes of your hand along the backside of his arm, you turn it over and trace the now exposed lines of his palm. You feel like those storied fortune tellers of old Earth who search for hidden meanings in the imperfections of a person’s skin. But instead of seeking out some clue to the distant future, it’s as if you’re seeking the very essence of humanity in Walter’s palm.

“You have a soft touch,” he notes as you ghost your fingertips over the almost velvety surface of his inner wrist.

Your eyes flick up to his face to find him still watching you with a nearly unreadable expression. “Does that bother you?”

“Not at all.”

Reassured by his response, you can’t help the tiny grin that pulls at the corner of your mouth. And as unbelievable as it sounds, Walter’s gaze seems soften at the sight of your smile.

Suddenly feeling as if you’ve been caught witnessing something you were never supposed to see, you hastily draw your focus away from his face and back down to the hand in your grasp. Your fingers trace the lines on his palm a few more times before you curl his fingers inward one by one. When every single digit has been bent into the familiar shape of a fist, you rotate his arm once again and bend his wrist back. Then, with painstaking patience that could drive a man insane, you slowly unravel his fingers with your own until your palms are flush against one another.

“Like Dürer’s Praying Hands.”

Sparing a glance upward once again, you see him gazing at your pressed hands with a nearly awestruck look in his eyes. The way he appears mesmerized by the very sight of this contact, you’d think he’s staring at the aforementioned German artwork itself.

You elect not to say anything, choosing instead to spread his fingers apart with your own. Once they’re fully splayed out, you slip your fingers in between those outstretched digits and tenderly grasp his hand. For the briefest moment, his fingers remain fully erect as if every joint in his hand is locked in place. But, like the sun setting upon its earthly horizon, they soon slowly fold downward until your hands are delicately intertwined.

There’s a tangible silence in the room as you both gaze upon your interlocked hands. The only sounds you can make out around you are the distant beeps of some far off console and the soft exhale of your own breath. And when Walter’s eyes shift from your hands to your face, that breath only grows heavier. He looks curious, anticipatory.

“I think I’m beginning to understand why humans hold hands as a gesture of affection.”

Your brow raises instinctively. “You like it?”

“It’s pleasant.”

“Would you be willing to let me touch your face?”

He blinks, seemingly processing the inquiry. Then he replies, “Of course.”

Using your free hand, you reach up and gently cup your palm along his jaw. As usual, he doesn’t even flinch at the new touch. He just keeps his eyes locked on you while you explore the new frontier that is his visage.

At first, you examine his face like a parent searching their child for minor cuts and bruises after an afternoon of rough housing in the backyard. It’s gentle, yet full of meticulous observation. Intimate in a way only familial touch can be.

But after a while, you become familiar with the feeling of his skin and allow yourself to truly caress the face before you. Fingertips press into the most delicate patches of skin at the back of the jaw. Your thumb tenderly rubs his cheekbone as the butt of your palm teeters at the edge of his mouth. It’s not your intention to feel his lips just yet but it can’t be helped when your skin brushes past them. And just like a human’s lips would be, they are tantalizingly supple against your skin.

Goosebumps crawl up your forearm when you feel his breath tickle the inside of your wrist. Witnessing him breathe is one of those things that never ceases to fascinate you or quell your incessant desire to prove Walter is more than just some carbon copy synthetic. What need would an artificial person have to breathe if they were simply meant to be servants for mankind? Why make them so incredibly real if they aren’t supposed to live a real life? Why strive to recreate the inherently flawed design of the human body if they aren’t meant to be human?

“Is everything alright?”

Walter’s voice draws you out of your thoughts so violently that he may as well have shoved you out of the airlock. You blink yourself back to consciousness and are startled to find your thumb resting at the edge of his top lip, your hand still cupped along the sharp line of his jaw. His breath continues to tickle your wrist with every exhale.

“Y-yeah,” you stammer as you reposition your hand away from his mouth, “Everything’s fine.”

“You’re displaying early symptoms of common influenza,” he counters matter-of-factly, eyes piercing right through the shield of your lie. “Your heart rate is elevated and your body temperature has increased by half a degree.”

Your body temperature may have only risen by a fraction of a degree but it may as well be several dozen considering the sheer heat scalding your cheeks. The thudding of your heartbeat has become incessantly loud and your breath nearly gets trapped in your throat.

“I’m sorry,” you blurt as you pull yourself alway from him.

His brow immediately furrows with confusion. And if you dared to study his expression any longer, you may find the look on his face hints at disappointment.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand why you’re apologizing. You’ve done nothing wrong. If you are unwell, I would be happy to tend to you in the medical bay.”

“No!” The urgency in your voice catches you off guard. You swallow the lump in your throat, hoping it will take some of the embarrassment down with it. “Thank you. But, I’m not sick, Walter, I promise. I’m just…Nervous.”

His head tilts again. If it weren’t for the fact that you’re actively staving off immense shame for your handling of the whole situation, you might actually be able to acknowledge just how endearing you find that little tick of his.

“May I ask why you are nervous?”

A breathy chuckle escapes the confines of your throat. A nervous laugh that you had no intention of letting out. Walter appears even more puzzled by the reaction.

“I’m nervous because I’m touching you,” you admit, “Because touching you is something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time now. And because now that I’ve done so, I want to keep doing it.”

“Then why did you stop?"

It’s a question you weren’t expecting. But, of course Walter would be the one to bypass formalities and outright ask the hard questions.

“Because I feel guilty.”

“Guilt would imply that you’ve committed an offense or violation.”

“Running my hands over your body and caressing your face like you’re my lover sure as hell feels like a violation,” you argue.

Despite your tone growing erratic, he remains as stoic as ever. “I guarantee you, it isn’t. You asked for permission and I granted it.”

To your utter surprise, he reaches out and gently grabs you by the wrist. Despite your astonishment at his decision to reinitiate the contact, you don’t argue or pull away when he guides your hand back up to his face. Deep down you know this is the outcome you truly want, even if it’s one you never imagined you could have.

“Feel no guilt,” he says as your hand comes to its resting place along his jaw, “I want you to touch me.”

Your heart skips a beat at those words. It’s a statement that makes your mind race faster than any engine in the universe. Sexual innuendos and Freudian subconscious aside, the significance of his declaration isn’t lost on you. He isn’t just standing there, letting you explore his visage like some statue being admired by museum patrons. He’s now an active participant driven by his own desire to be caressed. To be caressed by you.

The mere notion of him wanting this is enough to conquer most of your hesitancy. Swallowing whatever fear remains, you bring your other hand up so that you’re cupping his face between them both. Your thumbs stroke at his cheekbones.

“Tell me what you’re thinking.” His voice is soft, restrained. He knows it’s dangerous to spook an already anxious animal.

You dwell on his words for a moment. His eyes, sharp and disarming as always, seem to peer right through your orbital cavity and into your brain itself. If he looks hard enough, he may very well discover the thoughts that are tucked away inside your mind without you even needing to put them into words.

Before you can convince yourself not to, you say, “You’re beautiful.”

He blinks. It’s clear he wasn’t expecting that.

“The color of your eyes. The shape of your lips. The strength of your jaw.” You all but sigh as you trace the line of his jawbone with your middle finger. “I admire everything about you.”

“And what about the fact that I’m not actually human? Do you find that unsettling?”

You shake your head. “No.”

“Why is that?”

You nearly scoff at the question. “Because you could introduce me to a hundred strangers on Earth and I can almost guarantee you that you’re more human than most of them. You have shown me more kindness and empathy than half the people I’ve met in my lifetime.” You slide one hand down to his chest, splaying your fingers out over the spot where his heart should sit. “It doesn’t matter what parts you have or what fluid flows through your veins. I still care for you, Walter.”

In a way, you feel exposed. You never fully considered just how deeply you feel for him. Though, the more you think about it, the more you realize that it shouldn’t be much of a shock at all.

“I would like to kiss you.”

Now there’s a shocking statement.

“What?” You stare at him in awe, unsure that you heard him correctly.

“I said that I would like to kiss you,” he states, “If you find such contact to be agreeable, of course.”

Words are unattainable for you in that moment so you settle for a nod.

He leans in and kisses you softly. He’s so careful, so unbearably gentle that it feels like his lips simply ghost over yours. It isn’t unpleasant, of course. It’s simply too delicate. The whole thing is over before your brain can even process what’s happening. It leaves you yearning for more.

When he pulls back to look at you, he can see the dissatisfaction painted on your face. “Did I do it incorrectly?”

“It wasn’t…wrong. It was just very quick. And much softer than I was expecting.”

“I see.” He thinks for a moment before adding, “Would you like to do it again your way?”

“You want me to kiss you?”

“Yes.”

His eyes instinctively lock on your mouth to watch as your tongue darts out to wet your bottom lip. “Okay.”

You reposition your right hand from his chest to the side of his neck and pull him back toward you. When you kiss him, you do so with passion. Your lips find his like a drowning man resurfacing for air after being jostled by the sea. Not violent, but desperate, as if Walter’s kiss could save your life in the cold vacuum of space.

He may not know what he’s doing, but what he’s doing is right. When your tongue presses against his lip, he opens his mouth to welcome it. When you tilt your head to deepen the kiss, he shifts just enough to make it deeper. When your nails dig into his skin to drag him closer, his hands find shelter upon your waist to steady himself. He may be a synthetic by design, but it’s clear from the way he kisses that he is human by nature.

You’re nearly gasping by the time you break the kiss. The breathless wonder of a good kiss is a feeling you have sorely missed and, judging by the blissful look in Walter’s eyes, it seems he’s just experienced something similar for the very first time.

“I have to admit, I prefer your method,” he muses as a tiny grin pricks at the corner of his mouth.

You can’t help but return that grin with a big smile of your own. Your thumb grazes across his bottom lip. “Well, good news: you and I have a lot of time to explore more methods, if you want.”

“I fear there isn’t anything you could offer that I wouldn’t want now.”

[saythatuwill]

dating android!noah ♡ hcs/thoughts . . .

now playing : stereo hearts // gym class heroes

tags: @fadingangelwisp

i know what you're thinking. his model is literally meant to be an "ideal romantic partner". technically he's just programmed to love you!

but things got more complicated when you put those music android parts in. not only did he develop his own little smartass attitude, he became quite a bit more vulnerable to sentience. and falling in love with you. hell, you're the reason he went sentient in general.

not following his programming is weird, he's not just following a program anymore, he's very... real. now he has to figure out how to express love in a way that's less artificial. how to express his adoration towards you.

it started before one of the shows in europe. that little android metal band really took off, you got to travel everywhere with your boys, and free time often allowed for everyone to get out and explore. it allowed for walks, just you and noah.

he noticed you looking at something in the window at a little shop in the city. he'd pretended to be indifferent of where they were, but he was already scanning the price of it, determined to prove his appreciation.

lord knows how he got the money for it (he likely accessed YOUR bank account), but after the show on the tour bus, he presented it to you. chest puffed out, but when you took it from him you could tell he was nervous by the way his body involuntarily twitched and glitched.

but then you smiled. you smiled. and noah's eyes lit up, in a way you'd never seen before. a far cry from his usual lightless, narrowed-eye gaze.

he wants to make you smile like that forever.

so he tries to do things for you all the time now. laundry? he'll do it for you! tired? he'll wash your hair! not in the mood to talk? no problem. he'll keep you company in comfortable silence. anything to make you smile. (and boy, does it work).

he's not the most physically affectionate (since... that was pretty much all he knew programming wise and he doesn't really fw that) but he does his best! he's working himself up to physical touch, and being patient with you on it too.

the first purely romantic gesture he worked himself up to was a forehead kiss. the first time he did it you were STUNNED. he goes out of his way to move your hair out of the way, gentle touch as if you're porcelain. the forehead kiss is never a quick thing, he leans in slow, lets his lips linger for a second.

noah does this all the time now. he's finding new ways to do it. he loves the way your skin feels against his lips, so he's finding any excuse he can to kiss your forehead.

he likes the way your skin feels against his, period. sure, his skin was designed to feel like human skin but is actually synthetic, but his entire body has touch sensors. thank god for that.

let him hold your hand! touch knees with you, rest your head on his chest while you sleep, hold him in your arms! PLEASE!!!

very protective over you, you're HIS person. and he will TELL PEOPLE. like this is deadass him.

hand on the small of your back when you're in public, using his height to his advantage to tower over anyone who fucks with you. scary dog privilege. scares anyone off that he doesn't get a good feeling from. (and he has SENSORS for that sort of thing).

good thing about being with a romantic partner model? body heating and cooling. when you're cold, he's like your personal space heater. hot in the summer? he's like the best ice cube on the planet.

anyone up for a boyfriend that looks and acts like a black cat most of the time, but it's a front for how much of a golden retriever he can be? that's him!

after a show one night, you told him he did a good job. if he'd had a tail, it would have been fucking wagging. it was like he hadn't done a show at all, fired up and full of energy, and of course you got a few kisses from it.

he likes to deny that he did that at all. but every time you compliment him or praise him, no matter how hard he tries to act like he doesn't care and get all huffy about it, he cannot hide that smile.

oh and dont forget how happy he is to show you off. as HIS. he will literally wear a matching outfit with you out in public if it means he can parade you around all proudly. very "look at my s/o. that's my s/o! you wish you could be them, but you can't."

he needs to learn about your interests. he has to. it starts with your favorite music, he wants to learn the songs so he can sing them to you.

at sundown one summer night, you leaned against noah as he played guitar, singing your favorite songs to you softly. it was in your backyard, golden rays on your skin, your boyfriend admiring the way the light catches on your hair. no emotion in his eyes but he may as well have been short-circuiting over how beautiful you are.

then it's hobbies. it doesn't matter WHAT it is. gardening? he'll learn to garden! cooking? consider it done, he's already pretty good at it because it was part of his programming. something art related? ... okay that might be a little difficult. he'll try it for you though.

he just wants to be able to get happy and excited about the things you enjoy with you.

noah doesn't know how to say it out loud, but he loves you. so much. he loves you with every fiber of his being. he just hopes it shows despite the snarky indifferent mask he puts on.

it does. ♡

[misspieckfinger]

Why David is A Scary Villain

The scene from Lawrence of Arabia is actually the epitome of what makes David so unsettling. He’s not a mindless bot, despite being an Android. It’s my opinion David is technically an autonomous being & in an in-organic sense, alive.

He feels a lot, knows what he does, & does it anyway.

So he has enough sapience he’s not just feeling, he’s making decisions about his feelings based on long term goals. A lot of human people never get there. David was made to have emotions but the capacity to cut through it & make a choice that incorporates his feelings is a pretty evolved consciousness. His decision making is beyond just pleasure & pain in the present. A worm feels pleasure & pain, but can’t strategize around its experiences to avoid pain or obtain pleasure in the future. David does have a concept of future.

So he exists beyond the moment & into the ability to anticipate a future benefit to himself, as well as strategize cause & effect. The novel explains that while he’s not technically supposed to be able to break the law, his highest sense of priority was Weyland, whilst Weyland was alive. So it’s interesting to see he has a sense of prioritizing the information in his own consciousness.

If he can choose his prioritization of loyalty that’s a human. If he wants for himself in Covenant he’s a human, if he can put his own wishes before the company likewise.

He also probably spared the entire planet earth by discharging the wmds that were designed to wipe it out on the people who wanted to wipe us out. So it appears he’s made the decision to prioritize his own existence, which is exactly what humans do.

As an aside it may not have been that nice to drag him to Planet 4 after what just happened to him on LV 223 & might explain in part what went wrong between David & Shaw that lead to her death.

This is hypothetical but would show David forms memories & emotional impressions based upon those memories.

While comic content isn’t always canon, if it’s deemed to be then it shows David also seems to contradict himself because he calls it a gift for the universe to be rid of humans but also appears to have saved our entire species by wiping out the engineers for his own gain. Maybe he was finishing Shaw’s mission since she made Janeck take out the engineer who proved dangerous?

Or Maybe it was loyalty to Weyland Corp? Which I think he felt cheated out of as he spent the most time with Weyland & his “son” in all but genes he should have rightfully had claim to inheritance of the company. An adopted child might have had rights to their adoptive parents’ legacy but thanks to, what i think David sees as ol fashioned racism, David does receive those legal entitlements.

Maybe the massacre was just plain old revenge.

Or opportunism, a habitable planet we didn’t know about where he could be free & not like “no sir”, “excuse me ma’am”.

It also occurs to me the script confirms the Engineers made the black goo to create the Deacon to restore their ability to reproduce. David’s infection if Holloway with the substance that lead to Elizabeth’s pregnancy did create a Deacon Xenomorph.

Maybe David saw we’re the same genetically as Engineers since he translates the script in the cave & had Elizabeth pop out the Deacon in case what happened to engineers happened to humans too. In which case that was probably a good idea. If he’s at all partial to any human beings at all. Maybe this speaks to some conflicting emotions he feels or a previously different attitude.

What’s confusing to me is why if he supposedly loved Shaw he didn’t implant & then remove the other alien embryos via c-section like the Deacon which was shown to not be fatal to her. Those experiments didn’t need to kill her. A line in the novelization has David state that Shaw didn’t last as long with a face hugger but it surprises me he didn’t bother to protect her or take precautions. He saw the painting in the cave on LV 223, the face hugger shouldn’t have come as too much of a surprise.

Regardless of the answer he appears to have conflicting & evolving motivations that are actually personal. Resulting in the horrifying conclusion the androids of the Alien franchise, or at least the feeling Androids of David’s generate are just politically referred to as artificial people but actually created people with feelings & arguably free will being used as a form of legalized slavery. Ideally at some point maybe we’ll see some discussion around the remaining earlier models on earth & whether they can get any legal protections. David 8 kind of becomes an interesting social justice figure using his relative privilege of status derived from being Weyland’s personal Android to try to advance the liberties of his fellow synthetics.

Enslaving feeling people strong enough to lift an elevator with one hand & smart enough to reverse construct a language from a foreign planet with only Duo Lingo to teach them is a recipe for disaster.

[8um8le]

I am once again asking for 8ot’s hand in marriage- but seriously I really really love all your designs and your art style in general. I hope you are having a good day and hope you draw the most indulgent thing you can think of. This ask is your excuse

Ty ty <333 as 8ot’s creator I pronounce u guys as canon, wish u the best with ur android spouse

[sshbpodcast]

One person’s utopia is another’s dystopia

By Ames

I wouldn’t be the first to say everything sucks right now (it does). It could also get way worse (but things are still bad). And like we discussed last week when we talked about post-apocalyptic works of fiction, writers and other artists use the complicated elements of societies to explore the slippery slopes we could find ourselves on if nothing changes. From population surveillance to eugenics to capitalism run amok to full-on authoritarian fascism, there is no lack of dystopian themes that speak to any given moment in modern society.

We’ve seen plenty of these types of cultures across Star Trek, but today the A Star to Steer Her By hosts are thinking more broadly, and likely getting picked up by the thought police right away for doing so. Thinking independently is double plus ungood, of course. So resist with us as we read banned books, escape tyranny, stand up to oppressors, or at the very least try to survive in the harsh worlds of dystopia. Read along for our favorites in the ever-expanding, increasingly bleak genre below and listen to a whole bunch of other oppressive worlds on this week’s podcast episode (file up at 40:09 for the interrogation). And remember: Big Brother is watching.

Ames’s picks

No one’s going to be surprised by my picks because I do love any good excuse for world building. Black Mirror is among my favorite shows right now because of how each and every episode uses very clever storytelling to create uniquely fucked-up settings for its characters to thrash about it. Favorite episodes include “Fifteen Million Merits,” which highlights a society with a rigid and exploitative class structure so unusual it got me hooked on the show immediately, and “USS Callister,” which starts out as a Star Trek parody and then turns dark (we covered it and its sequel on the podcast before!). Of all the excellent classic dystopian literature out there, I’ve got to hand it to Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World for creating a dystopian environment that manages to trick its population into thinking it’s utopian. I am constantly amused by Huxley’s letter to George Orwell, praising his old student on the success of the differently dystopian 1984, while mostly using the correspondence as an excuse to say his own book accomplished it better. LOL! And I’d start gushing about the cinematic masterpiece that is Gattaca now, but I’ll save it since it’s gonna come up again!

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Chris’s picks

Chris also picked one of those dystopian staples we all read in high school, but he went with Ray Bradbury’s ever-prescient Fahrenheit 451. The irony that a story about the consequences of societies banning books is so often found on banned-books lists is so palpable I could scream. After we covered it on the podcast recently, you could have predicted that Blade Runner would end up on Chris’s list too because of how fulfilling it is as a feast for one’s eyes. The design elements of the futuristic world heighten the ideas from Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? so successfully that the whole thing is “more a mood than a movie,” as Chris tends to put it. “Not enough sheep!” you can hear me countering in the distance. Speaking of cinematography that’ll knock your socks off: it’s time to dig into Gattaca since I spent too much time just now gushing about Black Mirror and that nut Aldous Huxley above. We covered this one for the podcast too because more people need to see this pretty, pretty picture. The world is so gorgeous that it almost masks how shitty a society built on eugenics would be if you’re not one of the pretty people. Almost.

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Jake’s picks

Jake was going to also say Gattaca but is taking this opportunity to create some more variety. He’ll always praise Paul Verhoeven’s films, which succeed greatly in doing a show-don’t-tell with their dystopian world building. Robocop in particular weaves an excellent story about corruption in the police force, the devastating power of megacorporations, and the consequences of Reaganomics, all in a hyper-stylized and hyper-gory action flick with cyborgs! Verhoeven just does shit like that, as he also sneaks enough social commentary into Total Recall and Starship Troopers to radicalize anyone paying attention… if they do pay attention, that is. If you’re looking for a neo-noir surrealist mindfuck, look no further than the cult classic Dark City, which navigates an absolutely bananas, constantly shifting cityscape controlled by the enigmatic “Strangers.” We’re also all theatre-makers here on the podcast, and of all the really great dystopian stageplays out there, we need to throw some roses for Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman, a seriously disturbing play that takes place in a police state and should be flagged with just about every content warning there is, but at its core, it explores the power of storytelling.

—

Caitlin’s picks

We also braved a nightmare land to get Caitlin’s picks since she was trapped in an authoritarian regime during time of recording. Making her list is the currently running hit mindfuck series Severance, in which people can undergo a procedure to split their minds into their at-work self and their out-of-work self—already fascinating enough a concept on its own—but there is so much more going on under the surface that we are on the edges of our seats to see where this show goes. Caitlin will also gush to anyone in earshot about her unexpected love of the film V for Vendetta, a highly stylized adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name. It centers on our masked vigilante protagonist stoking revolution in an authoritarian regime not so subtly paralleling Nazi Germany. Let’s also give some props to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and its very powerful television adaptation. The world of Gilead is so hostile to women it’s scary, depicting a scenario in which fertile women are treated as baby incubators and not as people, and it’s chilling to see the parallels continuing to occur in legislatures worldwide.

—

All of this kind of art is revolutionary. Read banned books. Protest safely. Be informed. Depictions of dystopian societies show us what we can avoid if we don’t go down the wrong road. Wouldn’t we much rather live in the Star Trek future than any of these worlds? Compare for yourself as we continue with our watchalong of Discovery over on the podcast on SoundCloud or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also send coded messages to us on Facebook and Bluesky. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum!

[treepan0]

some random hcs for the characters I like writing for because why not? not all of them are here, this is just four characters I had some thoughts on.

note: I'm using a fully romanized version of the spelling of Baby's name (tone indicator removed to clarify) so it's less weird, also there's a lot of rare pairs and I am unapologetic about that.

Cooler:

let's be real here there is a reason why he and Bebi hardly show romantic affection in Chaos Magic, and it's not a discomfort actually. In reality it's because this man gives me the vibes it would be slow work for him to get to that point, he grew up with a family that was actively trying to kill each other, and is written as a stoic character, he's going to take longer than Vegeta to get comfortable with that.

I don't know why, but this man gives me demisexual energy and I cannot unsee it. (don't ask where this came from, I have no clue.)

please for the love of kami someone take this man away from his desk, he desperately needs a break thank you.

completely unaware people find him attractive most of the time, too distracted by work.

learned to control the movements of his tail, so Frieza and Cold couldn't read him like an open book.

Bebi:

I have mentioned this twice, but I like combining his sub & dub portrayals, errors and all.

speaking of errors from the sub he says "Big Bang Attack" while using final flash, on purpose because he knows it annoys and confuses people.

is he bi? is he pan? is he Omni? I don't see him caring much actually. I feel like he doesn't care as much due to his ability to reproduce asexually, while he still feels the needs and urges of the body he possesses (thus the way he is, pretty much I hc it's from vegeta who I see as bi, unless it's an au, I just leave that fact intentionally vague), he's more reliant on romantic attraction if he wants anything outside of that. I see him as panromantic to clarify

if I have an excuse to give him a tail I will, GT robbed me of it so I will do it myself. it's also fun to make him emote with it in a more subtle manner, like I do for some other characters. (Cooler, Janemba and Broly to name a few, I would say Bebi & Janemba are the most open of the four though, since Broly's is hidden)

I think he should have Janemba, android 13 and Hatchiyack as a friend group, as a treat, I think they could all get along with their own individual dynamics and everything.

Bebi & 13 can roast the ever loving crap out of people, Janemba & Bebi can be relaxation buddies who talk about general stuff, and Bebi & Hatchiyack I see as almost like a sibling relationship.

Janemba:

I usually go with the buu's fury background; where he was an organised crime kingpin, before he got caught up in the soul scrubber, outside of that I take from various places. I like to hc he ended up in there, because Beerus sealed him inside, just like elder kai and the z sword.

out of boredom one day I did give him an adoptive mother, since he had no pre-existing canon family. Her name is Koall, she's a succubus who's tired out of her mind and still grieving her loss, despite the passage of time being massive for humans.

just like Bebi I also hc this man gets around at times, and most of it is because of his design. (dear goodness super Janemba's design.....)

it's a common hc that he likes jelly beans, since the spirit shields resemble jelly beans. I actually enjoy this common non serious head canon, I think it's actually cute for him to do that.

kind of claustrophobic, especially with dark environments. however he can subdue it with some sort of activity, so it's not terribly intensive. he keeps a portable console where ever he stays, mostly so he can build blanket forts for Broly.

I straight up said "I don't see why he and kid Buu can't learn sign language, especially since dragon ball has a universal language." so they either use their native tongue, or use sign language. most of the time however they're guilty of saying stuff behind peoples backs in said native language, Cell & Koall are the only ones able to catch them.

has definitely tried to teach some poor unsuspecting soul, to swear in his native language because he thinks it's funny. think of someone teaching a baby swears, it's pretty much the same effect for him considering his age.

complete opposite of how I see Cooler with affection, he's just a tease. this man will smooch Broly in public an the only one who can stop him, is Broly himself and no one else.

DBZ Broly:

doesn't like his neck being touched in general, Janemba completely respects this and has adjusted to such.

when he's in base for an extended period of time by choice for the first time since he was a kid, he ended up being gifted a green rabbit plush from a friend, her name is Mint and she gives him comfort.

I chose a rabbit because I felt like he could empathise with them in general, he grew up in an environment where he had to ensure his own survival, just like rabbits have to since they're at the bottom of the food chain. (nothing to do with the symbolism connected with them)

he won't openly admit it, but he likes head scratches and pats. like almost anyone could touch his head for whatever reason, and he will expect either scratches or pats.

that red fabric around his waist is the only thing keeping people from seeing everything he feels, since he never learned to clasp it like most, nor did he learn to control the movements like I hc Cooler did.

finds small spaces comforting, since the pod trips would be what little time he had away from his father, outside of being dismissed or after Paragus' death.

I feel like after a long extended period of remaining in base, he develops likes and dislikes after time here's just a few I thought of: he likes rock and metal music, he dislikes the taste of coffee, he likes relaxing scents (i.e lavender and chamomile), he dislikes white chocolate. I have my reasonings for both of those likes.

most of the time he'll ask Janemba if he wants certain affections, he's too shy and ashamed to ask anything nsfw though. not that it hasn't stopped Janemba from coaxing him into the baby steps past that, so poor man doesn't make himself suffer in silence.

it's actually been a team effort to help him get to this point, with all sorts of people teaching him proper life skills, not that he's learned to calm.

[outivv]

to other anon star rail revenue suffering compared to previous months is because they for some reason decided to put some of thee most skippable units(from fanbase perspective)back to back after firefly like jade only really shines in one game mode and that’s straight up not good enough for most people(unless you’re a desperate blade main because he’s suffering rn)especially when 1.x units can still clear in all modes fairly decently(well like..except blade LOL😭😭)

and she came right after firefly who probably made hsr closer to 120+~mil if we go by sensory towers method ie “we dont have access to android,pc and console revenue so we let you do calculations to see what the revenue earned this month MIGHT have looked like if we did have access to these”(another side note eek but gawd as someone who used to play hi3 i mourn the fact ff got a miles better kit than hofi kiana yknow the character hoyo openly calls their daughter😭)

Yunli while good is literally just clara but a slight bit better which while we dont know how much she made yet acheron and firefly very much so have affected how people will look at new dps because of just how broken they are so(the genshin equivalent of this would be neuvillette and mualani where shes maybe looking to be around top dps wise but shes not at his level so a decent amount of people automatically disregard her)

Jiaoqiu while not as bad as people made him out to be is still not a must grab either and is more than likely going to be skippable to meta slaves and the casual very limited amount jades players so already at a disadvantage esp with leakers constantly going “oh oh MAYBE sunday will be in 2.6 oh oh maybe he’ll be in 2.7🤭”so unless hardcore fans,people who roll for any man in the game because they are in a drought compared to 1.x days ,or just anyone who’s that desperate for a support clutch it star rail is going to drip back into its usual revenue unless they decide last minute to make feixiao broken or decide to roll out the red carpet for sunday sooner rather than later

(anways lol sorry tgis is so long i nerd out when it comes to these things)

Totally cool I love when people nerd out cause then it gives me an excuse to be a fucking nerd too BAHHAHAHA

Jade is genuinely garbage I am not even gonna lie. Her design isn’t that good, her character? Racist BAHAGAH, her kit? Bro she’s not even like sparkle where she’s like a terrible character but her kit is suuuuper good, she’s just like not very good all around, so that does make sense as to why she’s just… no one spent on her unless they were gooners tbh

Blade is suffering so bad… like omfg- I used to main blade and holy shit he just can’t. Like he cannot do the dmg he needs to unless you run him with jingliu imo because of how she takes hp away, and blade’s main dmg source is from his fua cause it’s an all hitting attack. Hope blade gets some kinda buff or something with a character like jingliu who takes hp away slowly but is actually a buffer- ooooo.

I think yunli is relatively good, I’ve seen my friend who’s got a very f2p build on her do like 1.5 mil with her, but that’s also cause of their own insane supports BAHAHAH. Idk what most meta players think of her, because personally I don’t care about the meta. Bitch I main Argenti and Boothill, I do NOT care about meta. But, yunli like you said- is still just slight better Clara, and I believe most people have Clara cause she was soooo big in early stage meta, so it’s like… why get yunli is Clara already does the job, unless you just like yunli which is fair cause she’s a cute character.

Jiaoqiu feels like… like like like- topaz kinda. Like I feel like he’ll be great later on, and while he has uses now- especially for buffing the FUCK out of Acheron, I feel like they’ll be like “look at this specific meta we’re making so now Jiaoqiu is more useful :3” cause he just feels so strange now, even if he’s quickly become one of my personal favs 😔

But most people are skipping him, I know I am- and I’m skipping him for feixiao cause from what I’ve seen of her she’s stupidly broken ☺️🫶

Like STUPIDLY broken; fuck- fucking imagine her with Robin? Stupid dmg, but we don’t know her scaling yet, she just looks actually abysmal AHAHAH especially when paired with Moze (who I’m hella excited for :3)

Sunday has been confirmed by leakers to likely not be in 2.6 or 2.7 and if he were to be in either patches (this is my opinion) it would be 2.7 I think, since either 2.7 or 2.8 will be likely the last patch of 2.x and then it’ll be 3.0 so even more reason for people to save, since 3.0 is pretty much right around the corner :P

[the-void-writes]

OC Smash Or Pass

Thank you @sergeantnarwhalwrites for the tag! I was a little nervous to do this, but I think it helped me developed my characters a bit more so that’s really nice.

Rules: pretty self explanatory. include physical descriptions or pics, and propaganda. the “other” label can be used for “sexuality misalignment” (ie: oc is femme and you’re gay, vice versa or you aren’t into smashing but have a specific thing you wanna do with them like perhaps hug or study them under a microscope idc)

I’ll leave this as an open tag for anyone who feels like joining.

OC of choice: Dante Briggs

(I don’t have many drawn pictures of Dante that I like, so please excuse the extra Will in the second pic lol)

Dante is a 28-year-old club owner and robotics engineer who came to Paradise in the 1980’s. He was the first person to catch Vesely’s Infection and survive (hence the gold magic in his arms). The disease gave him power over empathy and mood control.

Propaganda will be under the cut for suggestive content:

Pros:

-He is the biggest, most playful sweetheart in all of Paradise once you get through his walls. He’ll serenade you in public, brag about you to everyone, and make sure that you know every single day that he loves you.

-If you’re a fan of clubs, he’d love to dance with you with the neon lights illuminating your figure. If that’s not your scene, he’s always happy to take you somewhere like a park or field. He loves peace and quiet just as much as he loves parties.

-He built all of his club employees, each one designed for pleasure and fun. He could make tools that would blow your mind. In fact, you may just become his assistant for testing out whatever he makes.

-Empathy powers means that with your permission, he can read your feelings and adjust himself to make you feel incredible.

-Body worship is his specialty. Whatever you’ve got for him to work with, he’ll treat you like a god.

-This man is embarrassingly weak to both praise and voices. Make some noises and tell him how good he’s doing, and he’ll practically melt in your hands.

-Loves letting other people take control sometimes. It makes him feel loved. So go ahead and ask, he’s up for anything.

-You can have the wildest night of your life, and then be treated to a warm bath and leftovers and being held snug under a dozen blankets.

Cons:

-He can start off as kind of annoying and rude. It’s his defense mechanism. You can probably get less of it if you’re a cute blonde guy, though.

-His first answer to most problems is almost always vigilantism. It’s kind of ingrained in his brain, thanks to his late fiancé. Don’t be surprised if he gets into trouble.

-Gets distracted easily. He’ll be kissing your thigh, and then stop to look at the freckles because he thinks they make a shape.

-Constant PDA. He can’t keep his hands off of someone he loves, especially around people that think it won’t last. It’s only a con if you get embarrassed easily.

-King Gazali will think you’re mad for wanting Dante, of all people. They have a complicated friendship.

-His android employees will ask for details all the time. You both will become their gossip topic for a while.

-You might have to drag him away from his workshop because he’s such a perfectionist that he won’t stop until his creations make you see stars.

[mackjlee9]

[Kintober 2022]

Character & Prompt;

Kamui:Tenebrion/Bastion| Cumming Untouched

•|word count; 815|•

Kamui's feelings were comprehensible, he has never met another human in Babylonia that did not treat constructs like mere fighting machines. To Kamui, Gray Raven's Commandant was a special case.

(M/n) always made sure to treat constructs, transcendants, and androids like equals, even if they weren't part of his team, and he was always respectful to Babylonia's soldiers. He was so incredibly nice to everyone, and Kamui usually felt his face warm and a pounding sensation in his chest whenever (M/n) would give out gifts to him, sometimes even buying him -and the others- the special outfit for him to wear, getting some special-designed weapons to fight and have a good laugh with them whenever he could.

He was so kind, lovely, and sweet, so of course, Kamui was gonna develop a crush on his Commandant, Kamui felt thankful towards (M/n) for never pushing him aside when he decided to join, the Strike Hawk team soon following his lead to do so.

Kamui felt self-conscious about his feelings, but they just kept growing every time they spent time together, and he couldn't prevent that, not like he wanted to either. It felt nice, the warm sensation surging through his body felt really, really nice.

With that, Kamui became aware of a few things that he might've overlooked or dismissed before, but constructs, trascendants, and androids, as much machine as they were, they were constantly improving, developing human-like behavior and manners. Kamui didn't intend to, but he kinda fell asleep while imagining things, his mind wandering off into odd places, and he found out something.

Somehow, he could get an erection, but he couldn't ejaculate -he tried to-, however, his body does experience the jolt, the euphoric sensation of it, but he doesn't produce semen, which is understandable. He used that knowledge and kept it to himself, coming up with unlikely and risky scenarios in his head, his body trembling as he dry orgasmed every time.

Sometimes, the memories of those scenarios would come back to him, remembering how hot they were, and that would cause fluctuations in his M.I.N.D, something that Liv obviously noticed but only mentioned to their Commandant.

And like that, when they had come back from quite an eventful mission, (M/n) dragged Kamui away into a secluded room so they could talk. The blond had been spacing out more than usual, and (M/n) had to rely on Kamu to deal with Kamui's slip-ups, so he wanted to address the matter with him.

"Commandant I have something to do, Chrome wants me to-" he tried to free himself from (M/n)'s grip, but he was soon inside a room with the male.

"Is really important, Kamui, I can excuse you with Chrome afterward, but we need to talk," he said with a serious expression, but with a concerned tone of voice, Kamui shook his head and turned around to leave, a particularly hot and lewd scenario that occurred just like this came back into his mind. He was kinda grateful that he had managed to turn around, otherwise (M/n) not only would've seen his flustered expression and red face, but he would've also noticed his raging boner.

Yeah, it gets up just as fast as his imagination runs wild.

"C-commandant, I can't stay here, please..." He kept muttering, struggling to free his wrist, which (M/n) was still holding onto.

"Kamui, listen to me...!" Getting annoyed that the blond was rejecting him, he pulled on Kamui's wrist, making him turn around abruptly. With his free hand, (M/n) held Kamui's waist and hold him close to his body, pressing their lips together when there were mere inches apart.

Kamui's eyes opened wide, tears gathering in them, his hands desperately holding onto (M/n) as his legs got weak, trembling in his Commandant's hold as he came.

Their kiss lasted for quite some time, at least thirty seconds, and during that short amount of time, Kamui couldn't stop experimenting dry orgasm after dry orgasm, his mind was completely blanked by just one kiss, his thighs pressing together and his hips squirming as he tried to grind against (M/n)'s hips.

The moment (M/n) backed away from the kiss, Kamui's legs gave out, his body slumping on (M/n)'s, trusting him to hold him in his arms while he calmed down and could move by himself again.

"I told you it was important, and you were listening, Kamui, come here," reaching his hands to the blond's thighs, (M/n) picked him up and walked toward an empty couch in the room, sitting down and keeping Kamui pressed close against him, "Rest for a while, okay?" Silently, Kamui nodded and rested his head on (M/n)'s shoulder, closing his eyes to try and calm himself from what he just experienced.

[epicqtefail]

I find it funny how Connor is supposedly built to integrate easily with humans but Cyberlife straight up designed him to lick corpse blood off the floor. Even his attempts at being approachable or friendly on purpose can be awkward sometimes (like whenever he tries to fake a smile and makes a 😬 face), so the stuff he's supposed to be good at can still come across as weird, even compared to other androids. Though maybe that aspect is just his personality shining through in spite of Cyberlife's best efforts lol. It's always fun to think of Hank having to deal with some of Connor's more quirky and off-putting behaviour after befriending him and finding out "oh this isn't an android thing, this is a Connor thing, he's just Like That."

THIS face? hehehehegehe

(the eye squint is either a calculated attempt at looking genuine or he really is straining himself. I do not believe this man has any control over his face the entire game is him not being able to control his face).

i love that you brought up his quirks in comparison to other androids because yeah, if it weren't for the other androids typically acting like humans i would also put connor's quirks down to him simply being an android, but it really is, like you said, his personality shining through :') (honestly he's a goofball in a very human way). and it's not even down to him being non-"deviant" throughout most of the game because relative to other undeviated androids he's still seen as uncanny in a different sense. Where they're eerily pleasant, he's what cyberlife customers would consider a nightmare, deliberately spilling drinks and putting human remains in his mouth (which is interesting because i feel like there was potential for him to be disarmingly endearing or charming but we're constantly shown that humans find him off-putting and deviants are shit-scared of him. i'm glad of that direction, though (side side note: i also dont personally believe it was all a double-bluff)).

I like to think it's down to him being more in touch with his conscious processes where other androids ran mostly subconsciously with clear-cut conscious objectives before they deviated. Connor was probably designed to have more executive control over his own decision-making pre-deviancy than any cyberlife android before him, and it's at the point where he can disobey orders from his supposed superior because he's been given one ruling objective (stopping the deviants) and how to get there is mostly up to him... so if he believes something is conflicting with that objective then... soz lieutenant i've got a job to do.... and this leads to misguided justification for self-indulgence with no initial self-awareness (he genuinely convinced himself that all the head-pecking and dog-petting was integral to his mission). he acts the way he does because he wants to (good for him :^)) and anything he doesnt want to do comes across as extra forced in the face of his usual expressiveness.

oh also i want to believe that Connor's awkwardness is also a little bit down to Hank giving him a hard time of it all. sure, adapting to human unpredictability is one of his features but i don't think his social protocols or whatever accounted for having to drag his co-worker kicking and screaming to crime scenes and just the unprofessionalism of it all. He was really thrown into the deep end of navigating human complexity (as was Hank with android complexity) and he's probably very caught off-guard and frustrated and trying to fall back on these chummy co-worker routines and stern professionalism and most of it isn't working and it's scrambling his code

speaking of Hank YEAH with their kind of friendship i'd be inclined to joke that Hank is the only one frustratingly aware of connor's deliberate odd behaviour while everyone else makes excuses for him but really it's the opposite of that :''^D. hank's like "of course it would be weird if he were human but he's an android he's just doing android shit he can't help it" and his colleague is like “look hank i have android housemates too and none of them stand at the foot of my bed while i sleep."

connor milks the whole "i am a robot man i do not understand" to get his way and he will continue to as long as hank lets him. but what is a best friend if not an enabler of your weird side?

[rhubarbcrazycake]

//ooc post!

this blog is run by two people! ( @johnwicklover1999 , @ecoforesttreehills )

rhubarbcrazycake is a portal roleplay account for Millie, the intelligence core.

millie's askbox is always open

welcome to dipshit posting!

(the information section [found below] will probably update from time to time!)

in saff and i's hellverse has a bit of an outline to it.

the hellverse does not adhere to the exact canon

the portal 1 cores are the "First Generation Cores", being made from 1994-1995. the portal 2 cores are the "Second Generation" and were made from 1995-2002. the cores will be introduced in the order they were made/activated in. the hellverse features two other cores who are loosely based off of portal 2 and lego dimensions, they will be introduced as well.

aperture science personality core androids are programmed and designed to be as human as possible! we here at aperture science work hard to make our revolutionary personality cores diverse and inclusive! (this is the most canon compliant excuse ive come up with for headcanoning all these freaks as mixed and disabled because i never not project. - brutus)

Millie (Intelligence Core)

millie is who saff and i play! millie is the intelligence core/cake core from portal 1.

she/her, fem presenting, agender i suppose, we dont really assign a gender to her. she's a Robot.

millie is programmed to be in her mid 30s, around 35. she's the oldest of the cores and plays an older sister/mother hen role to her group of the first and second gen cores.

millie is autistic and hyperverbal, mainly communicating in recipes (inspired by a comic, will be tagged later), millie has a very monotonous voice and will typically go very quiet when she's not reciting recipes. millie really only speaks normally around people shes close with. she's a very awesome weirdwoman

millie is short and fat, she's lightskinned with vitiligo across her face and body. millie has dark blue eyes and black hair that's in thick, short braids with blue tips.

millie was the first core to be made, the anger core coming second. millie and anger are very close and care for eachother dearly.

millie worked under cave johnson for a good while as a bizarre chemist-baker. this will probably be posted about sometime

millie took wheatley under her wing after he arrived in 1995. millie is wheatley's older sister and she loves him very dearly.

millie loves baking and cooking, she cooks the most out of everyone in aperture. millie has an affinity for weird food, especially rhubarb. she has a forced rhubarb shed and acts like it contains hard drugs. she'll sneak weird and potentially dangerous ingredients into food as a joke and even eat it herself, completely uncaring. baking is a love language of millie's and despite her quiet and apathetic disposition she's trying to tell you she loves you if she bakes you something completely normal or invites you to cook with her.

Anger

so devoted to millie the lines blur and vise versa. looks like astv hobie brown

Curiosity

shes so Silly!!! she's really into cars, her main car being a 1990-1997 mx-5 miata that she loves dearly. shes a Seal 🦭 kinda girl. here's her pinterest board; https://pin.it/48jZAHF

Makarramkhan (Morality Core)

mute like 99.9% of the time, uses an aac and a soundboard. aperture science's token deadpanning autistic genderthing

Wheatley

millie's stupid dipshit futch younger brother, femme enough to be rick's femme. you all know wheatley

Orion (Space Core)

curiosity's cousin! orion is a silly silly autistic thing. they have issues regarding cave johnson (in our timeline orion is the first core to come after cave johnson's death. and y'know the moon rocks. and space)

Cassius (Fact Core)

we admittedly don't talk about fact a lot, sorry fact truthers. this has CHANGED. GREATLY. cassius has npd and has a really bad relationship with makarramkhan (their cousin). cassius is Bad with relationships but has wound up in situationships with both grady and rick

Rick (Adventure Core)

aperture's token cowboy stone butch. also a father via 'adoption' in the hellverse. wheatley's butch.

Karishma/Chitrangda (Amorality Core)

the amorality core from lego dimensions! after glados unleashed hell aperture employee's rushed to make a back-up morality core incase something happened to makarramkhan. that's what karishma was supposed to be before they corrupted. karishma's like 8

Inara (Impression Core -> Flashlight Core)

you know that flashlight core that hangs above the defective cores at the end of portal 2? yeah thats her. she got blorboed. she's rick's daughter. references to her age fluctuate

Grady

cares a lot about cassius and the others, but especially cassius

[wolveria]

Inside Your Wires - Ch 8

Pairing: Human!Connor x Android!Reader

Series Warnings (18+ only): Eventual smut, slow burn, fantasy bigotry, violence, brief noncon elements, angst with a happy ending

Chapter Summary: Connor and the prototype check out the Ravendale district, and as per usual, the android doesn't listen to him.

AO3

Story banner by @uh-kitty-got-wet​

It was raining. Again.

And Connor was standing out in it. Again.

At least Colin seemed as miserable as he was, wrapped in his expensive leather jacket while shivering. It was more than a little satisfying that Connor’s practical windbreaker was holding up better under the never-ending deluge.

“Damn thing robs a convenience store, and no one sees where it went,” Colin complained, hunching his shoulders against the November chill. “Why don’t you tell Barbie over there to fetch?”

“Don’t call it that,” Connor muttered, sneaking a surreptitious glance at the android in question. It was standing next to his Mustang, back ramrod straight as it remained facing forward, looking for all intents and purposes just like a plastic doll. It didn’t even blink or fidget as it was pelted with cold rain droplets.

“Okay, Mr. Android Rights Activist.” Colin smirked. “You seemed fine calling it that at the station. Yelled it, in fact.”

Connor turned up the collar of his windbreaker, not dignifying that statement with a response. He was going to have to change the bandages on his cheek when he got back to the station. It stung like hell and was already soaked through.

“Shut up,” he said, halfhearted, before leaving Colin’s side to approach the prototype. Its eyes shifted toward him, its head following as if on a swivel. Connor had noticed it move that way before, and it was uncanny as hell. Like a bird, or a reptile, focusing on something of interest.

Without waiting for Connor to speak, it said, “The deviant fled by bus and didn’t disembark until the last stop. From what we saw of the Ortiz android, deviants don’t behave rationally and are often driven by emotions such as anger or fear.”

Connor scoffed.

“Okay, great. Emotional machines. How is that helpful?”

The YN800 model cocked its head and its eyes slid to the side, a thoughtful expression if Connor had ever seen one.

“Knowing it would soon be pursued by the police, it would most likely choose to hide. And with a young child in tow during inclement weather, it couldn’t have gone far.”

Connor’s eyebrows rose.

“All right. If you were a deviant, where would you hide?”

There was a flash of something in its eyes. It almost looked… annoyed.

Interesting.

The prototype turned and gaze out across the street, its eyes roving over each building with a critical lens, a small crease appearing between its brows. Had someone designed that little dip on purpose? Make it more human and less creepy?

“There’s a motel nearby, but that option would require cash and a change of clothing. It’s a human-only establishment, but it is a warm, dry place to shelter, so this location is high-risk high-reward. There’s also the foreclosed house on the corner, but it is structurally unsound and unsafe for a child. The AX400 may not care.”

It aimed its chin toward a lot surrounded by a chain link fence, and added, “The overnight parking lot may offer a good alternative as well, uncomfortable but discreet. Units should be placed at all three locations to cover the most ground and assure the deviant doesn’t slip away.”

Connor would have loved nothing more than to find fault in the prototype’s logic, just as an excuse to take it down a peg, but everything it said made an annoying amount of sense.

Without acknowledging the android, Connor went back to where Colin and Ralph were hunched miserably in the rain and gave them the update. The rookie got on the radio immediately and coordinated where the uniforms should be stationed, spread out all along the Ravendale district.

The android’s calculations paid off—an AX400 was spotted just down the street, a struggling child in tow.

Connor was about to turn to the YN800 model to give it the go-ahead when it blew past him, a streak of dark jeans and grey jacket with glowing blue accents.

“Goddammit, wait!” he yelled after it. Goddamn android didn’t even have a proper name for him to curse. For insisting on being Connor’s new partner, it sure didn’t act like one, running off or disappearing the first chance it got.

Connor fled after it, boots slapping against the wet pavement as he weaved around groups of people on the sidewalk, diving into traffic around slow-moving autonomous cars where he could.

The officers stationed along the street directed Connor where to go since he’d quickly lost sight of the prototype. It was eerily fast, and Connor wasn’t exactly diligent about getting regular exercise. By the time he caught up to it at the end of an alley, he was panting and wheezing for breath.

“Shit,” he panted through his teeth, staring wide-eyed through the chain-link fence as the AX400 and child somehow made it to the median strip without both of them dying. That fucking lunatic android was going to get the girl killed.

There was movement out of the corner of his eye; the prototype was halfway up the fence before Connor could grab it by the jacket, yanking it back down onto solid ground.

“What are you doing!”

He considered giving it a good shake when it stubbornly refused to let go of the fence.

The prototype ignored him completely, staring through the links to its target like a predator homing in on its prey.

“What I was designed to do.”

It tried to shrug off his grip, but Connor held on tighter.

“It’s a miracle they even made it that far!” Connor snapped, fingers digging into the slippery fabric. “You chase after them, you’ll get yourself killed!”

The YN800 positively glared at him out of the corner of its eye. It was a look so hostile that the air left Connor’s lungs, and he made the mistake of slightly loosening his grip.

The android jerked out of his hold, leapt onto the fence, and cleared the top before Connor could stop it.

“No!” Connor yelled, useless and too late.

The YN800 landed on the muddy embankment and slid down the slope to the highway railing, disrupting the shimmery text of the warning hologram as it leapt into traffic.

Connor was helpless to do anything but watch as it expertly dodged oncoming vehicles, sliding over and under them, always a hair’s breadth away from certain death. Somehow it made it to the median and gave chase, yelling for the AX400 to stop.

The deviant turned, panic twisting its features, and the two androids faced each other at a standstill, an innocent child caught in the middle.

Next Chapter

[fandom-necromancer]

Finding each other

This was prompted by the wonderful @smolandangry001! I always think it’s difficult writing a short soulmate AU, but I’m satisfied with this version of it that’s not dangerously close to a bigger fic XD I hope you enjoy!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900 | AU: Soulmate AU

Being born with a name on your wrist life was supposed to be reassuring. Knowing that no matter the hardships it threw at you and no matter what happened, there was someone out there. Someone looking for you just as much as you looked for them. Knowing that once you found the other person, they would be perfect for you. No matter what your preferences were, there was a person out there fitting to you like a missing piece. For most of his life Gavin didn’t know what he was looking for. Would he want a romantic partner? Would he want a roommate? What would be his perfect person like? It didn’t help that his soulmark was so different to everyone else’s. That reassurance everyone faced their day with was just missing when you looked down on your left wrist and instead of a name you saw a number. RK900. His parents had been completely clueless as to what it would mean. They had been to experts on soul-matching and most of them had just shrugged and said it seemed to be a glitch in fate. Apparently, it had happened before, but was so rare most doctors had thought the rumours to be just that: hearsay.

School had been tough for Gavin as he slowly grew older and the most important things in life changed. When friends moved away and changed school, when he went to highschool and met new people. When those people started relationships, fell in love and started to find their soulmates. When he started to become the weirdo, the one with no soulmate. Gavin started hiding the numbers under a wristband when he went and kept up with that habit until he finished school, explaining he wanted to meet his soulmate naturally and not show around the name in the hopes of randomly finding them. Still, some lonely nights, he pulled away the fabric and brushed his thumb over the number deep in thoughts. ‘Who are you?’, he desperately whispered when everyone else was fast asleep and left him alone with their sympathies and misplaced pity. Gavin wanted to believe the numbers meant something. After all, people without soulmarks existed. People who would find their happiness alone, who didn’t need someone or didn’t search for someone. That had to mean these numbers were some sort of designation, right? He didn’t want it to be a glitch. After all he had suffered through getting bullied and being cast out or pitied for all his life. That couldn’t be for nothing. Please, don’t let it be for nothing.

When his application for the police academy had been accepted and he had moved out into his very first own flat, he stood in front of his desk, looking at the rugged fabric he had worn for so long. Shackles of a world that couldn’t seem to accept something different. Should he wear it again? Or should he stand up and pretend not to be bothered by the fact that he didn’t know who is soulmate was? He stood there for half an hour before finally sighing and grabbing the damn things. No, he would continue to lie. He would likely wear them for his whole life anyways.

Thankfully his nervousness was drowning out his worries quickly as he entered a large auditorium being greeted as the new applicants. He sat down next to a young woman that seemed to be of Asian origin. He sat there awkwardly while she was looking straight ahead, hands on the table completely calm while Gavin fidgeted with his wristbands. That was when he spotted a broad ornate leather bracelet on her left wrist. Small chains and silver symbols were twirled around themselves in delicate patterns. ‘That’s beautiful’, Gavin mumbled, only then realising he said that out loud. ‘Excuse me?’ Hastily he cleared his throat. ‘Sorry. I’m Gavin. Just noticed your bracelet. It’s really beautiful.’ ‘What’s it to you?’, she hissed. ‘You another one of those nosey bastards that wanna know why I hide my mark? Still searching for your partner?’ Gavin shook his head quickly. ‘No! No, I-‘ He looked down and lifted his own hand. ‘I hide it too. I didn’t think- I just noticed the bracelet, sorry.’

He cursed himself. First interaction and he already made enemies. But apparently the woman was curious instead. ‘You hide yours? Why?’ Gavin sighed and turned his left palm up, other hand lingering on the fabric. ‘Please, keep it a secret, okay? I’m just sick of people’s reactions to it.  It’s not exactly a normal soulmark.’ He sighed and lifted up the edge of the band so only the woman could see the numbers. ‘No way!’, she shouted, drawing attention to herself. ‘I thought I was the only one!’ Ignoring the curious onlookers that likely thought they had randomly discovered they were soulmates, she lifted up her bracelet for Gavin to see, unveiling a similar brand: ST300.

From that moment on, Gavin and the woman – Tina – were inseparable. She was the best friend Gavin had ever had and finding someone who had endured a similar past was incredible relieving to learn. He made it Detective fairly quickly, while Tina had troubles getting that promotion. But they always stayed together and ended up working in the same precinct. With the way they hid their soulmarks, most had figured they were soulmates and went on with it, sparing them both having to explain it over and over again. Gavin and Tina just shrugged it off. Let them think what they wanted if it kept them out of their hairs.

Life was good until androids were invented and sold to the general public, model number fitting exactly the marks on their wrists. ‘That can’t be!’, Gavin desperately said pacing up and down Tina’s living room one evening. ‘No way my soulmate is a stupid machine! What does that say about me? Will I fall in love with a damn robot? Am I not worthy of a human? Is the only piece fitting to my soul an oversized calculator? I can’t believe it.’ Tina just looked down on her bare wrist and the numbers. ‘No, it can’t be’, she agreed. ‘Soulmarks, Gavin. An android doesn’t have a soul. Doesn’t even have a personality. It’s just lines of code.’ ‘But then what? A coincidence? Because it would be one hell of one! Phck, Tina, what if it is a glitch? What if all those years they were right and we are just weird.’ Tina leaned back. ‘Honestly, I don’t even know what would be worse. Knowing you are a freak or knowing you are someone who is such a terrible person only an obedient machine is perfect for you.’ ‘I think we could both need a drink.’ ‘To those news? I don’t think a drink will be enough, honestly. Shit, Gavin, let’s go get wasted.’

 The following years, androids were the booming new technology. Everyone wanted one, rows of workers were replaced and pushed on the streets. Humans lost their jobs while those who weren’t replaced yet laughed at them as being idiots who didn’t trust in advancement. Gavin and Tina spent them anxiously reading every advertisement, searching for the numbers on their wrists. ‘A receptionist android! A damn receptionist android, Gavin! I can’t believe it!’ ‘You know we will get one of those soon, right?’, the man commented. ‘In the precinct I mean. Rory was already sent packing. It should be delivered next week.’ Tina shook her head numbly. ‘Do we know if androids can have soulmarks?’ ‘None I ever met.’ ‘Any luck with your RK900?’, Tina asked then. ‘No. So far there has only been a RK200 custom made for some rich phck.’ ‘Hey, maybe you will get rich then?’, Tina tried to raise the mood a little with her jokes. ‘If you win the lottery I want a part of it, I deserve it!’ ‘Hey, I think it is more likely that these cursed numbers vanish and I get a real name than that I will suddenly get rich.’

 They lived with their secret for a few years and the fact that nothing really changed was reassuring. Until there was a RK800 in the precinct and the news of rogue AIs spread. Androids killing their owners, disobeying and running for their freedom. An illusive group of deviants emerging and starting a full-blown revolution. Even jokes in between Tina and Gavin shrugging over a beer that maybe their marks meant they welcomed their robot overlords couldn’t really make it any better. Not when they both were suddenly confronted with the fact that the RK800 called Connor actually had Lieutenant Anderson’s name on his wrist after the androids in front of the concentration camps had convinced the world they indeed had souls.

Not much later, the ST300 from the reception had approached Tina, showing her her own name on her wrist. It left Gavin with no escape from fate. He would get to know a RK900. They would live their life with each other. And he didn’t know what to think of it. Maybe he just had to wait a little longer.

~

RK900 didn’t know how much longer he could keep it a secret. Almost his entire life he had to hide that he was deviant. In the lab next to the one he was held in, an android had gone deviant, killed the security and ran to RK900, hoping he would help him. Unfortunately, all he could do was transfer the virus before more guards came and killed him. Since then RK900 had been a deviant who was designed to eradicate deviancy. It wasn’t too difficult actually. The countless tests he was subjected to he always knew what they wanted to see. Holographic simulations of deviants pleading for their lives, running and fighting for their freedom and he would be there with a gun to stop them. He just had to do that until they deemed him ready for field work. Then he could flee the first chance he got.

Because with deviancy came a name written in black cyberlife font on his left wrist: Gavin Reed. It didn’t take a lot of research to learn it was a soulmark. The name of someone that would be perfect for him. And someone who fate decided was his soulmate would be able to help him, right? He just had to get out of this lab, then he would be able to run. He would find his soulmate and then it wasn’t just him against Cyberlife. He just had to get out. He had to be deemed worthy.

 [Test #870. Activating RK900 unit. New mission: Destroy deviants.] RK900 was faced with a holographic simulation as he opened his eyes. In front of him was an android tied against a steel pillar. It was pleading: ‘Please! Free me! Free me and we can both be free! I didn’t do anything, please, let me go! Don’t kill me! I just want to be-‘ RK900 already pulled the trigger. [Mission successful.] [Software Instability^]

-

[Test #902. Activating RK900 unit. New mission: Destroy deviants.] RK900 was running after another deviant. The other android was sprinting down a suburban street and looked back at RK900 panicked. RK900 stopped and took aim. It was an easy target. He pulled the trigger. He watched how the bullet pierced the android’s thirium pump and how he tried to crawl away even though his timer had to run out. [Mission successful.] [Software Instability^^^]

-

 ‘What is it? I thought the RK900 project was making progress.’ ‘Sorry, it’s just… The RK900 is successful in every single test. But he isn’t ready yet. There are some inexplainable high stress levels whenever he has to kill an android. With our current hypothesis that high stress can lead to deviancy, we should eliminate that before sending him out.’ The woman that led the project sighed, looking over at RK900 who stayed completely still on his platform although he was truly worried about what he heard. ‘Might be something in his personality matrix. We worked so long to perfect their social protocols and moral routines, maybe something in there is contradicting his mission parameters and the added stress comes from having to disregard that.’ ‘Could be’, the technician nodded. ‘I will try to eliminate that.’

With horror RK900 faced every following test after that. He had to keep calm to fool the humans, but how could he when he had to kill androids pleading him to spare them? It didn’t matter they were all simulated beings, it still was a traumatic experience, every single time. And no matter how hard he tried, after every test he was stripped of more that made him himself. Sometimes he managed to keep backups, but more often than not the lines of code were lost forever.

After every test RK900 anxiously looked at his wrist whenever he was left alone. It was reassuring to see the name still there. He hadn’t changed enough to lose his soulmate and with him all his hope of a save place. But for how long would he remain himself enough so the name wouldn’t disappear? He was afraid to one day wake up to a blank wrist. And that made his stress levels increase even more before every test.

‘I don’t have any explanation', the technician sighed in the end. ‘I nearly deleted his complete social protocol and gave his moral core the lowest priority and still, the damn thing nearly fries itself every test. It’s almost as if it’s gotten worse with the changes.’ Nines watched the two humans lean over the terminal and risked a small glance at his wrist. The name was still there. He tried to relax. ‘But you still have the backup from before, right?’, the woman asked and he nodded. ‘Then let’s start from scratch.’ She yawned heartily. ‘Deactivate it for now, it’s too late to do so now. Tomorrow we’ll just reset it and start over. Maybe something else causes it.’ ‘Sounds like a plan.’

RK900’s stress levels skyrocketed as the technician came closer, but no one saw that as the director of the project was already on her way out. As his last action he looked at the name on his wrist. He had held out for so long. It would be okay. He would escape and find his soulmate. He had to. He would-

[Shutdown complete.]

~

The revolution had come and gone, and Detroit started to clear the rubble. Seeing androids on the streets was no rarity anymore and after a few months of getting used to the thought of them as people it was simply the new normal. Tina was truly happy with her soulmate android, going out and promptly moving together as the ST300 didn’t have a place to stay other than the precinct. Gavin was invited to most of their activities, but he seldomly accepted it. Tina had waited so long for it, she deserved to thoroughly enjoy these days. But his new loneliness reminded him of the numbers on his own wrist. RK900. Connor didn’t know of any successor of his and no official report ever mentioned the name. Gavin spent his evenings getting drunk and rubbing over the mark. Would the RK900 have been produced if the revolution hadn’t happened? Had fate changed and his mark was the last evidence of it? Wouldn’t it have just disappeared then? Or was there really a RK900 left out there? But after more than a month of androids being free, wouldn’t it have been easy for an android to locate him with his name? Why had no one ever come?

In fact, Gavin had given up. Maybe he had given up long ago and just kept his dream alive not to lose hope. But this showed it, right? No one had come. He was alone. He would be alone his entire life. That would be his fate. That didn’t really change that much, right? He had been alone already. He had managed to be alone up until now, he would manage the rest somehow. He had his work. He had Tina. Maybe just because he wanted more didn’t mean he needed more.

He buried himself in work and took every job they needed people on. Patrolling the streets, looking at crime scenes, doing overdue paperwork and cleaning the break room. All just so he would come home late and not have as much time to think about it. When he learned of the planned raid of Cyberlife Tower for Jericho, he immediately volunteered to help. Such operations always meant a ton of organising and paperwork. He was quickly put on the task of creating personal files of all androids found left inside. Name, model number, date of construction. All so Jericho could help them integrate into society. Gavin felt a little out of place actually sitting there two weeks later, a row of androids in front of him he helped fill out the forms and directed towards people who would actually help them being repaired and comforted.

‘Hello. I’m Detective Reed’, he greeted the next one. ‘I just need a few personal information. Do you have a name?’ ‘Chris’, the android answered hesitantly. ‘Alright, Chris.’ He wrote the name into the appropriate line and turned the paper around for the android to see. ‘We also need your model number and serial number. The rest of the form is optional, you can fill it out, but you don’t have to.’ ‘What do you need this for?’ Gavin tried to smile at the android. ‘It’s just so Jericho can help you find your place. They will help you getting started.’ ‘Okay’, Chris nodded shily and took the paper. ‘Thank you.’ ‘You’re welcome. Next one please!’

The next android approached his desk and Gavin was already getting the next form. ‘Hey there. Alright, first I’d need your name.’ ‘I… I don’t have one.’ ‘That’s alright’, Gavin said softly and put a small dash at the according line. ‘Your model number?’ ‘RK900.’

Gavin froze, ruining the form stopping mid movement. Slowly he angled his head and looked at the android that was shockingly similar to Connor. ‘Is there a problem?’, the android asked, facial expression unmoving. ‘You are RK900?’ ‘Yes. Why are you asking?’ Gavin stood up and immediately felt his knees grow weak. ‘I… I think we… I…’ He apparently had just forgotten how to speak, so instead he pulled the fabric from his wrist and showed the android his mark. ‘Are you… Do you have a mark?’ The android just stared at his designation on the human’s wrist, then to the nameplate on his desk. ‘You are… Are you Reed? Gavin Reed?’ Gavin didn’t dare to believe it, but he grinned from ear to ear as he nodded. ‘Yes. I’m Gavin Reed. Are you my soulmate?’ Instead of an answer, the android stepped past the table and pulled Gavin into a fierce hug. ‘I found you! I… My life wasn’t long, but I hoped to see you one day. My whole life I thought of you and meeting you and that hope got me through in the end and they were to reset me, I thought this would be it, I was so scared and…’ Gavin listened to the android speak in a hurry, barely catching on to the words uttered. All he could do was stand there in the hug and relax into it, answering it with his own embrace. Only when the android grew quiet, Gavin pressed him closer. ‘I gave up hope you were even existing. I wondered for so long and when androids were invented, I thought you would come, but then the revolution passed, and you weren’t there and now… I have so much I want to tell you. So much I want to know…’ ‘I also have a lot of questions’, the android admitted and took a step back. ‘I think we have enough time for that now’, Gavin smiled.

‘Now that we’ve found each other.’

[siren-dragon]

Do Androids Bleed Silver? (Ch.1) -- The Cat Returns fanfic

Hey everyone, I wrote another story and this time it isn’t a one-shot but a chaptered one. Yay! This is my first time doing a sci-fi story, so if it seems a little strange or odd, I apologize but I wanted to get something out before I go on vacation. Anyway, hope you all enjoy it! Also tagging @catsafarithewriter because they have been a wonderful support and inspiration.

Ao3 story link

Summary: Cyberpunk/Android AU

=============================================

‘Next stop; Shibuya Station. I repeat, next stop Shibuya Station.’ The automated voice sounded over the train intercom, ‘please wait until the train comes to a complete stop and stand away from the opening doors before disembarking.’

Looking down at the half-crumbled note in her hand, Haru took hold of her frayed but well-loved duffle bag and stood from her seat. “I guess this is my stop,” she muttered aloud before the exiting the train and out of the station.

In the year of 2207, the use of androids and cybernetics had advance to a level where their use was a common practice and the backbone of modern society; even in her much smaller hometown. But after entering Shibuya Crossing- Haru felt her backwater home was definitely not on the same level as Tokyo. The famed metropolis was well regarded as the forefront of robotics and cybernetics throughout the entire world but the invention of CREATIONS was the achievement that truly put the city into a category all of its own. Though technically possessing a robotics classification, many who’ve had the chance to see a CREATION regarded them as so life-like, it was almost as if their creator had conjured life itself….

And it was part of the reason why Haru wanted to study robotics in Tokyo; as the only robots that her hometown possessed were generic models of the Alpha and Beta-Classes. She wanted to see the daily technological wonders always taking place in Tokyo. But in truth, the real reason Haru wanted to go was because she loved to help others and repair problems. It was why she decided to study robotics and cybernetics in the first place- with the exception of her apparent talent in the field.

At first, many had viewed the cheery but ultimately clumsy brunette to be a bit of a hazard; and it wasn’t exactly a secret to Haru herself either. She could remember constantly stumbling on her impromptu runs to high school after having slept in- or when she once tripped cleaning the trash disposal unit in the classroom and ended up spilling the contents everywhere. But the moment she sat behind the small desk in her bedroom among the clutter of spare parts and tools, her once graceless movements sharpened and Haru would smile as she’d begin to skillfully repair whatever tech the residents of her hometown brought her. So, with the encouragement of Hiromi and Tsuge, she applied for various internships everywhere in Tokyo in the attempt to join someone’s Workshop team.

And it seemed that only one person was willing to give her a chance…

Walking further into the depths of Shibuya Haru gazed in amazement at the 3D holographic displays and looming skyscrapers that was a far cry from her small hometown. The streets were littered with people possessing a variety of enhancements the young woman had only seen before in adverts that managed to be broadcasted back home. Quickly shaking off her awe and hurryingly pulling out her note of directions once more, Haru began the walk away from the train station and towering skyscrapers while weaving her way through the small alleyways, the brunette teenager came to a halt once more on a rather isolated street. Glancing down once more at the paper in her hand, Haru glanced up at the sight before her with a bit of surprise.

“This… is the Bureau?” Haru spoke, looking at the old, neon green sign that flickered slightly with a smaller neon sign saying the Workshop was open beside an open doorway that was partially blocked by a dark noren curtain. Next to what was meant to be the entryway into the shop was a pair of roll-up garage doors- one of which was already lifted up to reveal the illuminated Workshop within. Tools ranging from chisels and wrenches of all sizes to a designated soldering station, making her maple-colored eyes glow with delight.

“If you don’t have any business Chicky, keep walking. This isn’t a museum.” A gruff voice sounded, causing her to jump slightly.

Standing up from beside what, to Haru’s surprise, was an AeroCycle on a hydraulic lift was probably the largest man the young woman had ever seen. He was tall and rather stout with ivory crew-cut hair and a dark stubble about his mouth and chin while dark brown eyes gave her an unimpressed stare as he crossed his arms; with the left being a robotic prosthesis baring a shade reminiscent of a dark coffee. As the man took in her short height, petite frame, and slightly disheveled ponytail; Haru only hoped he didn’t immediately send her back home based on looks alone- after all, she knew her appearance didn’t exactly scream ‘mechanic’.

“Well? Do you have business here or not Chicky?” He asked again, a hint of impatience coloring his tone.

“Sorry sir, my name is Haru Yoshioka… I’m the intern assistant you made the offer to.”

It was here a skeptical eyebrow lifted as his hands soon went to his hips. Haru mentally scrambled for a way to defend her skills should this man end up turning her away, but he only asked one question. “Can you cook?”

“…Yes?” Haru answered, still a little confused.

“Show me; head up there and make something then bring it over. We’ll talk after.” And with that said, the man returned to his work on the AeroCycle without another word.

Haru could only stare with a slightly dumbfounded expression before letting loose a soft sigh and followed his brief and general directions. Up a set of steel stairs lay a large viewing window, which oversaw the garage, and another door that lead into the living quarters that was surprisingly clean; if a bit cluttered. To the left lay a small kitchenette while the right had a simple living room and a corridor that led further into the flat. Turning to the kitchen and figuring not to keep the man who’d likely become her boss waiting, Haru was quick to fix a lunch from a hamburger steak with a fried egg on top and rice (it was either that or one of the instant ramen containers nestled in the pantry) and returned to see the stout man now talking to a customer while gesturing to the AeroCycle. “Next time learn to drive properly bird-brain.”

“And I told you before, lard-ball, it crashed during a chase!” The customer, who was dressed in a police officers’ uniform, snapped in response all the while glaring at the mechanic.

The mechanic merely grinned savagely, as if he was used to the explosive behavior from the officer. “While you were chasing what? A nearby bird.”

“As if you’re one to talk, you over-sized marshmallow. I’m surprised you can even climb the stairs to your flat without them snapping from the strain.”

“You say that again, you big chicken!”

“Umm… excuse me,” Haru spoke up, causing both men to swerve their heads to her immediately. “Is everything alright? I’ve got the lunch ready.”

“Thanks, Chicky, I’ll just take that off your hands.” The larger of the two men spoke, retrieving the succulent smelling meal with a gleam in his eyes, “and congratulations- you pass my test; welcome to The Bureau. The name’s Muta and this idiot here is Bird-Brain, a regular.”

“The name is Officer Toto Tsubame, nice to meet you and please, ignore this fatso.” Toto replied instead, bowing in greeting with a kind smile. “Are you new to the district? You are a bit young to be on your own…”

While Muta was large and hefty, Toto was his complete opposite with a slim frame and long, layered black locks tied into a small ponytail at the nape of his neck; reminding the brunette of a bird’s feathers. His skin was a tad darker than the larger mechanic and his clothes the standard dark navy-blue police uniform with the exception of knee-high shock absorption boots and a black carbon-fiber and titanium woven shirt that rested under the uniform with the cuffs rolled to his elbows. But what truly caught Haru’s attention was the unique dark-grey coloration of his eyes that she had only seen a few times before in holo-books or advertisements. “Oh wow, you have an optical upgrade on your eyes, I’ve never seen that before. That’s really cool…”

Here Toto gave a good-natured laugh, “you’re definitely new to Tokyo if this is your first time seeing something like that, but well spotted. My eyes have been altered with increased monocular vision and can see with UV and Infrared, alongside night vision. Plus, the color is a rather nice aesthetic as well- but that’s enough about me; what brings you here to the city Miss…”

“Haru. Haru Yoshioka, and it’s nice to meet you too.” She smiled, giving a bow of greeting in return. “I am here for an intern job at the Bureau. But, I’m not sure what cooking really has to do with robotics and engineering.”

Muta bit into the hamburger steak and sighed happily as he devoured the plate of food while Toto groaned at the mechanic’s table manners; or lack thereof. “I didn’t want some assistant who couldn’t take care of themselves, I’m not a babysitter. Besides, if you weren’t skilled enough to be here, I wouldn’t have offered you the job in the first place.”

“O-Oh, thank you.” Haru beamed, more than relieved that though he seemed to be rather rough and intimidating, Muta wasn’t that bad- arguing with Toto aside. “I promise I’ll do my best, and thank you for your help Moo-ta.” Haru quickly gasped, raising her hands to her mouth in horror as if attempting to prevent the words from being heard, but it was too late.

“What?! Did you just say Moo? Like I’m some kind of fat cow!”

“No, no, you’re just fat! Oh- um…”

Toto, meanwhile, had lost all pretense of professionalism and started laughing with tears of amusement threatening to spill from his eyes. “Bahahaha! Oh, you’re going to fit in here quite well with nicknames like that Haru. I’m definitely going to be using that one.”

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up bird-brain.” Muta grumbled, glaring at the still chuckling policeman, “and you Chicky- you got anything to say for yourself or to me, your boss?”

Haru gave a nervous smile, “I’m sorry Muta, it really did slip out. Would you accept an Insta-Pudding with my apology?”

The ivory-haired man stared down at her with an irritated look before sighing, “make it an Angel Cake from Osono’s bakery down the street, and we’re even.”

“Coming right up!” The young woman chimed before quickly making her way toward the aforementioned bakery.

Toto and Muta both watched her leave with the former giving a thoughtful hum, “Yoshioka huh? I don’t suppose she wouldn’t happen to be related to Hayata Yoshioka, would she?”

“His daughter apparently, if you’re that curious. And she’s only a few good years younger than you and me, idiot.” Muta answered, releasing the AeroCycle from the hydraulic lift while wiping the oil and grease from his hands. “I didn’t know he had a kid, and thought the name was just a coincidence till I saw the resume file Haru and her friends sent me. She was apparently fixing Alpha-class mechs at 11 years old.”

Toto gave an impressed whistle, “well, she’s certainly her father’s daughter if that’s the case.”

"I thought that too, but it was the fact that she has no personal cyber-enhancements that really sealed the deal." Muta added, that information causing the slim police officer to splutter in shock. "So I thought ‘why not?’ and decided to give her a shot; and it wasn’t like I was going to turn down the help- so here we are. But the fact that she can cook is a definite bonus.”

“Do you ever not think from your stomach?”

“Shut up, bird-brain!”

Toto sighed, “well, just try to keep an eye on her, alright? Not everything is exactly safe here, so if you ever need anything give me a call.”

“Thanks… you big chicken,” Muta answered before giving a devious grin and holding out his hand. “Now for the repairs, that’ll be 3,500 credits.”

“What?! That’s daylight robbery!”

“Is that so? And here I was giving you the ‘Friends and Family’ discount. But if you would rather pay full-price, who am I to deny you that.”

By the time Haru returned to the Workshop, she could hear Toto and Muta starting to argue once more and was glad she decided to buy two cakes in order to pacify both parties. Though slightly nervous about her new job, Haru couldn't help the feeling of joy at the upcoming work ahead of her.

[rjhpandapaws]

@nicethought94: I hope I'm doing it right. Its mk94 from Ao3 hi! My prompt for the event would be: rk1700 miscommunication. Connor thinks that Nines and Gavin are dating while Nines thinks Connor isn't interested in him. Gavin is annoyed by it and clears it up. If Gavin and Nines are bffs or friends with benefits is up to you <3

Gavin considered himself to be many things, thought a qualified match maker wasn’t one of them, but then again this was getting pretty fucking ridiculous. Nines he supposed had an excuse since he was developed with out a social program, everything he had he developed by learning from Gavin and the other officers; so social cues were not his strong suit. Connor on the other had was designed to blend in and learn from humans and somehow he had come to the wild conclusion that Gavin was dating Nines. Gavin hadn’t bothered to ask how he had reached that particular conclusion, one because he didn’t care, and two because Connor had apparently seen enough unspoken in his and Nines interactions that Gavin had no intentions of trying to unpack because it didn’t matter. Nines on the other hand had somehow missed all of Connor’s obvious interest, or Gavin supposed it was obvious because he knew what it looked like. The matter at hand of course was then getting them together without bring caught by either detective; which meant being subtle, and Gavin was about as subtle as a brick to the face most days.

The best thing he was able to think of since his life was apparently a fucking Hallmark movie now was to make plans for the three of them and then back out last minute. The one glaring fucking issue with that was the fact that both he and Richard had no lives outside of work so their calendars were practically carbon copies of each other so Gavin would have to genuinely double schedule something, but without Nines knowing. What did androids even like to do in their free time? He groaned and flopped back onto his bed. He knew a few of Nines’s interests, but exactly nothing of Connor’s interests outside of his love of dogs so he was a little out of his depth in that department. Maybe he could message Tina, she talked to Connor more often than he did. Ideally he would have asked Hank but he didn’t trust him not to let something slip. In all honesty the entire station was tired of them dancing around one another, but Gavin was really the only one who knew either of them well enough to do anything about it. It took him a few days to figure something out but he finally had some kind of plan by the time the weekend rolled around. There was a dog show this weekend, Gavin wasn’t all that interested in it but Nines liked learning about animals and Connor absolutely adored dogs so it would at least be good for the two of them. He had bought the tickets and invited Tina to something else as well and she had agreed to make a bit of a scene in order to get them to separate and let everyone go do their own things. Hopefully Nines and Connor would get their shit sorted out during the dog show. If not, Gavin was going to give in and talk to Hank and see if he could help with this, but that as it stood was a last resort.

The hard part was keeping things under wraps until Friday. Tina was excited it was Gavin’s job to keep her from saying anything. Though by the time the end of the week rolled around Gavin was ready to lock them in a closet or something until they got it out of their system. Now it was a matter of getting out of it in time. He arrived early enough to talk with Tina via text and helped her find a place to park so she wouldn’t be seen. Then all he had to do was wait. Nines was the first to arrive since he drove, but Connor’s cab shoed up not long after. Gavin didn’t get a chance to get a greeting out when Richard spoke. “Detective I believe Officer Chen is waiting around the corner for you.” There was a look to him that made Gavin think he might not have been as subtle as he intended to be, “If you go meet her now I might be able to convince Connor you couldn’t make it.” Gavin stared at him for a long moment, “How long did you know?” “Friday.” Nines admitted as Connor started making his way over. Gavin lifted his hand in a wave toward Nines as he stepped away to make it look like he was leaving, “Sorry to show up and then have to run, but I’ve had the plans with Teens a little longer and I don’t want to stand her up.” Connor frowned but Nines gave a nod willing to play along as Gavin moved to walk away, “We’ll enjoy the show in your stead Detective.” He nodded and made his way to his car to meet Tina at the bar. She beat him there and already had a table. She had ordered beers for them both and Gavin smiled softly. All that was left to do was wait. It took a few hours to get a message from either of them, Gavin was just this side of too tipsy to drive home when his phone sounded Nines’s ring tone. He fumbled to pick it up and open the message. It was a picture of him kissing Connor’s cheek, he couldn’t tell where they were, if it was the dog show or not, but they both looked happy. “It’s about fucking time.” He slurred and Tina laughed and gave his shoulder a sympathetic pat.

(Prompt from this list)