#advantage of android development

[androidappdevelopmentcourseo]

Android App Development Course Online: A Comprehensive Guide

In today’s digital age, mobile apps have become an essential part of our lives. With the vast majority of smartphones running on Android, the demand for skilled Android app developers has never been higher. If you���re interested in pursuing a career in Android app development course online, this blog post will provide you with a detailed overview of Android app development course online available.

[mobileappdevelopmentcqlsys]

React Native or Native: Which Is Superior for Developing Apps?

In today’s digital ecosystem, mobile applications are pivotal for engaging users and driving business success. One of the earliest decisions developers and business owners must make is choosing the right technology for their mobile apps: React Native or Native development. Each option brings distinct advantages and trade-offs depending on the project's needs, budget, and long-term goals. This blog explores the strengths and limitations of both approaches to help you determine which is superior for your app development journey in 2025 and beyond.

Understanding the Basics: What Is React Native and Native App Development?

React Native is a popular open-source framework created by Meta (formerly Facebook). It allows developers to build cross-platform apps using JavaScript and React. With a single codebase, developers can deploy apps on both Android and iOS, significantly reducing development time and cost.

On the other hand, Native app development refers to building mobile applications specifically for a single platform—Android or iOS—using languages and tools provided by the platform vendor. For Android, this usually means using Java or Kotlin in Android Studio; for iOS, it's Swift or Objective-C in Xcode.

Performance: React Native vs Native App Development

When it comes to performance, native apps generally have the upper hand. Because they’re built using platform-specific languages and APIs, native apps offer smoother animations, better response times, and faster execution. This is especially important for apps that require heavy processing, advanced graphics (like AR/VR or gaming apps), or deep integration with the device hardware.

React Native apps, while impressive in reach and flexibility, rely on a JavaScript bridge to communicate with native modules. This can introduce latency and performance bottlenecks in high-performance applications. However, for many standard use cases—such as e-commerce, social networking, or booking apps—React Native performance is sufficient and increasingly optimized with tools like Hermes engine and JSI (JavaScript Interface).

Keyword tip: Businesses often search for terms like React Native vs Native performance, making it a core comparison factor in decision-making.

Development Speed and Cost: Why React Native Wins

If you’re working with limited time and budget, React Native app development services may be your best bet. With a single codebase for both iOS and Android, developers can create apps faster and cut costs significantly, sometimes up to 40–50% less than building two native apps.

Furthermore, code reusability, live reloading, and modular architecture in React Native enhance development speed and team collaboration. For startups or MVPs aiming for rapid time-to-market, React Native offers a compelling solution without compromising on functionality.

In contrast, native development requires separate teams, toolsets, and codebases for each platform, effectively doubling the effort and cost. While this might make sense for enterprise-grade or mission-critical apps, it can be overkill for simpler projects.

User Experience and UI: Native Still Leads

Native apps are known for delivering a superior user experience. Since they’re built for a specific operating system, native apps can take full advantage of the platform’s UI guidelines, gestures, animations, and components. The result is an app that feels more integrated and intuitive to the user.

React Native tries to replicate native UI components but can sometimes fall short, particularly with platform-specific design elements or highly customized interfaces. While libraries like React Native Paper and NativeBase offer prebuilt components, native still excels in creating pixel-perfect, fluid UIs.

That said, React Native UI is constantly improving, and for many common use cases, it provides a satisfactory and visually pleasing experience. However, for apps where the user interface is a core differentiator, native development has the edge.

Maintenance and Updates: React Native Simplifies It

From a maintenance perspective, React Native simplifies updates due to its unified codebase. Bug fixes, feature updates, and performance improvements can be rolled out simultaneously across both platforms, streamlining app management.

Moreover, tools like CodePush allow for over-the-air (OTA) updates without requiring users to download a new version from the app store. This is a major advantage for agile teams that need to iterate quickly.

Native apps, however, need platform-specific maintenance and updates, which increases the workload and risks inconsistent feature parity between platforms.

Access to Native APIs and Device Features

If your app requires extensive use of native APIs, sensors, or background services (such as Bluetooth, GPS tracking, biometric authentication, or background video processing), native development offers direct access and better control.

React Native, while offering access to many native modules through libraries or custom bridging, can sometimes lag in supporting the latest native APIs immediately. In such cases, native development provides a smoother path to integrate cutting-edge features.

However, React Native has made significant progress in this area with tools like React Native Reanimated, React Navigation, and community-driven modules that support a wide range of native features.

Community Support and Talent Availability

React Native benefits from a massive and active open-source community. With thousands of contributors and extensive documentation, finding React Native developers is relatively easy, and solutions to common issues are readily available.

While native app development also has strong community support, especially for Android and iOS individually, it may require more specialized expertise, which can increase hiring costs and development time.

From a talent acquisition perspective, React Native offers broader flexibility. Developers familiar with JavaScript and React can transition into mobile development more easily than native development, which demands platform-specific knowledge.

Long-Term Scalability and Security

For apps requiring high scalability, robust security, and tight hardware integration—such as banking, fintech, or healthcare apps—native development is often preferred. The performance stability, access control, and OS-level security features make native apps better suited for enterprise-grade solutions.

React Native apps can scale well too, especially with proper architectural planning and the use of native modules. However, security can be a concern if the JavaScript layer isn’t handled properly. Obfuscation, secure storage, and regular audits are essential when using React Native in sensitive domains.

When to Choose React Native

Choose React Native app development if:

You need to build apps for both iOS and Android quickly.

Budget and time constraints are important.

The app doesn't require complex animations or high-performance hardware access.

You're building an MVP or prototype to test the market.

You want faster iterations and simplified maintenance.

When to Choose Native App Development

Choose native app development if:

The app requires maximum performance, such as 3D games or AR/VR apps.

You need to integrate deeply with device hardware or native APIs.

Security and scalability are top priorities (e.g., in fintech or healthcare).

UI/UX customization is a critical part of your user engagement strategy.

You have the resources to maintain separate codebases for iOS and Android.

Final Verdict: Which Is Superior?

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. The superior approach—React Native or Native—depends entirely on your project’s goals, complexity, and constraints. React Native is a great choice for startups, cross-platform solutions, and rapid development. Native development, on the other hand, remains unbeatable for performance-critical, secure, and UI-intensive applications.

Partnering with the right mobile app development company is key to evaluating your needs and choosing the best technology. Whether you opt for React Native or native app development, ensure that your chosen team has deep expertise and a clear understanding of your industry requirements.

[vipul-dhok]

Advantages of Developing Android Apps | Resourcifi

Android apps can benefit your business in several way as given below:

Easy Adoption

Open Source

Easy Integration

Custom ROM

Hardware Compatibility

Great ROI

To know more, visit - https://www.resourcifi.com/hire-android-developer/

[palinecrosis]

reed800 > reed900 and the mischaracterization of connor

I never understood people’s affinity for reed900 over reed800, and all the reasonings I’ve heard for it never make sense to me. Just to be clear, this post isnt meant to attack anybody who ships reed900, I’ve watched Detroit evolution alright. I fucked with it heavy. I’ve got a solid three Reed900 fics in my ao3 bookmarks. I have credentials. Don’t come for me.

Anyway, I will always prefer Connor and Gavin’s dynamic over a Nines and Gavin hypothetical one. I feel like the reason people don’t like covnin is because they often misinterpret Connor’s character, I see this amongst convin shippers too, not just people who dislike the ship. 

I keep hearing the argument that “Gavin hates Connor, and Connor doesn’t stand up for himself. Nines would be more cold, which matches Gavin’s personality.” This is probably the shittiest take I’ve ever heard. The DBH fandom tends to see Connor as meek. Because of this, they think he’s vulnerable to Gavin’s hostility, which is just not true. When we’re introduced to Gavin, he’s antagonistic towards Connor right of the bat. Connor, in order to keep the peace, remains professional. This is because initially, it’s not in Connor’s interest/programming to disobey or disrupt humans. He prefers to move along, focus on the mission and ignore unnecessary distractions. However, when Gavin persists, when the android being interrogated is about to self destruct, Connor has the choice to physically stop the officer from restraining it and he does, defying Gavin in the process as well. Connor does not care about Gavin’s human authority in this case, he only cares about what he knows to be true and sticking to his objective. 

Now you may bring up the breakroom scene in which Gavin punches Connor, Connor just seems to let it happen despite it being a direct physical attack and not just an offhand comment. I hate when people bring this up because at this time, Connor was not deviant yet. He did not develop enough consciousness/deviancy to actively choose to defend himself. Again, in order to move things along and cause the least ruckus possible, he takes it. I’ve also heard arguments that Connor “pretends” to be hurt in order to seem subservient to Gavin to make it seem like he’s not fighting back against a human. I like that theory! 

People also seem to forget that when things directly misalign with his mission, Connor is quick to go against anybody, even humans, who stand in the way. Have people forgotten what Connor did to Gavin in the archive room? He beat the living shit out of him, incapacitated him, and walked off with a final tie adjustment as if it was nothing. This is the Connor who you’re calling meek, the one who pretended to be the Traci’s dead girlfriend to get to Jericho. The one who sampled Markus’ voice to take advantage of beaten down Simon’s loyalty. The one who nagged Hank to rent Traci’s until the lieutenant humiliatedly obliged. The one who chased Kara and a child down a highway. The one who gets himself killed multiple times just to accomplish his mission. The one who sarcastically told Gavin he’d “miss their bromance.” PLEASE. 

All of this is to make a point for a romantic/sexual dynamic between Connor and Gavin that actually puts them as equals. Where we get the good ending with deviant Connor, androids having rights, Gavin being forced into sensitivity training and actually learn to see androids as people (we love the Gavin Reed Redemption tag). None of that degrading convin bullshit where Connor puts up with Gavin’s bigotry and thinks “I can fix him!” Where Gavin actually takes responsibility for his own behavior and slowly learns to change his outlook. 

Connor would not shut up to Gavin’s insults. He’d push back just as hard, sarcastic and sardonic in his own way. He’d spit some sort of off putting logical roast at Gavin to hurt his feelings, psychoanalyzing him to a T. They’d have amazing back and forth, banter fuelled with sexual tension, actual physical fights, prolonged angry eye contact, pinning down and grabbing dangerously close to certain areas. Connor beginning to warm up to Gavin’s hostility, being smart, seeing past it, knowing it’s a cover up for something more raw and vulnerable. Gavin starting to think “Maybe he’s not so bad” to “he’s funny” to “he’s pretty fucking hot” to “shit maybe I like him”. DO WE NOT SEE THE VISION!! 

anyways I need to convert more people to like convin. yeah you can make your case for reed900 but they will never have as much chemistry as convin and not nearly as much hatefuck potential. thank you for reading. 

[genshin-impact-updates]

Day of the Flame's Return Version 5.5 Update Details

Dear Traveler,

Below are the details of the Version 5.5 update "Day of the Flame's Return" and the update compensation.

〓Compensation Details〓

Maintenance Compensation: Primogems ×300 (60 Primogems per hour the servers are down)

Issue Fix Compensation: Primogems ×300 (please refer to the relevant compensation mail for more details)

〓Scope of Compensation〓

Maintenance Compensation: Travelers who have reached Adventure Rank 5 or above by 2025/03/26 06:00 (UTC+8).

Compensation must be claimed before the end of Version 5.5.

Issue Fix Compensation: Travelers who have reached Adventure Rank 5 or above by 2025/03/26 06:00 (UTC+8).

Please log in and claim your compensation before 2025/03/29 06:00 (UTC+8).

Our developers will distribute compensation to Travelers via in-game mail within 5 hours after the update maintenance is finished. The mail will expire after 30 days, so don't forget to claim the attached compensation in time.

〓Update Schedule〓

Update maintenance begins

2025/03/26 06:00 (UTC+8) and is estimated to take 5 hours.

〓How to Update Game Client〓

PC: Close the game, open the Genshin Impact Launcher, and click Update.

iOS: Open the App Store and tap Update.

Android: Open the game and follow the directions on-screen.

PS5™ and PS4™: Highlight Genshin Impact from the Home Screen, press the OPTIONS button and select "Check for Update."

Xbox Series X|S: Open the system main menu, select "My games & apps," select the "Manage" tab, and on the "Updates" page, find "Genshin Impact" and confirm to update.

Please do not hesitate to contact Customer Service if you encounter any issues installing the new version. We will do our very best to resolve the issue.

〓Update Details〓

I. New Areas

New Areas Now Available

◇ New Areas: In Version 5.5, the following areas in Natlan will become available: Atocpan and Ancient Sacred Mountain.

※ As long as you have completed Archon Quest Prologue: Act III "Song of the Dragon and Freedom," a Teleport Waypoint will be automatically unlocked near Atocpan in the southwest of Natlan's Stadium of the Sacred Flame. (If you have already completed this Archon Quest, the Teleport Waypoint will be unlocked after the update). You'll also receive the Primogem reward for this Teleport Waypoint when it unlocks automatically.

◇ Natlan Reputation System Update: With the opening of new areas, the Natlan Reputation System now includes Tribe Reputation for the Collective of Plenty.

◆ Unlock Criteria:

• Complete "Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame" in Archon Quest Chapter V: Act I "Flowers Resplendent on the Sun-Scorched Sojourn"

In addition, there will be new Fishing Points and "Radiant Spincrystals" in Natlan.

II. New Characters

5-Star Character "Strength in Serenity" Varesa (Electro)

◇ Vision: Electro

◇ Weapon: Catalyst

◇ A laid-back orchard manager and warrior of the Collective of Plenty. An aspiring hero who hungers for justice... and lots and lots of food!

◆ Varesa is a DPS character who specializes in Plunging Attacks and possesses high-speed movement.

By tapping her Elemental Skill, Varesa can quickly cycle through her Elemental Skill, Charged Attacks, and Plunging Attacks, making for an exciting battle. By holding her Elemental Skill, Varesa enters a high-speed movement mode, allowing her to explore the open world with ease.

Varesa enters the Fiery Passion state, which enhances all her skills and increases her DMG. Under certain conditions, she can ignore her skill CD and trigger her special Elemental Burst once while consuming less Energy, providing her with a significant advantage in combat.

4-Star Character "Tempered in Molten Stone" Iansan (Electro)

◇ Vision: Electro

◇ Weapon: Polearm

◇ Head coach of the fitness club at the Collective of Plenty, and a renowned Natlanese nutritionist.

◆ Iansan is an Electro support character who provides various buffs for on-field characters.

After using her Elemental Skill, she will enter the Nightsoul's Blessing state, greatly increasing her movement SPD. Performing Special Charged Attacks will grant her buff effects.

Her Elemental Burst provides an ATK Bonus to the active character. During this time, the active character's movement will restore Nightsoul points for Iansan, providing additional bonuses.

Additionally, under specific conditions, Iansan's Passive Talent can also restore HP for the active character.

III. New Domain

Domain of Blessing: Derelict Masonry Dock

◇ An environment incomprehensible to the inhabitants of today's lands, one where ash-gray mechanisms driven by golden runes replaced the toil of flesh, effortlessly bringing brilliance and imagination to life above pools of flame. After this era was ended by tyrannical outsiders, the once-powerful race stagnated in their submission. Now, the only visitors left to this place are mourners of a bygone era.

◇ Unlock Criteria (satisfy any one of the criteria below to unlock):

• Reach Adventure Rank 10 or above

• Complete Archon Quest Prologue: Act III "Song of the Dragon and Freedom"

◆ Challenge the Domain to obtain artifacts in the "Long Night's Oath" and "Finale of the Deep Galleries" sets.

IV. New Equipment

1. New Weapon (Examples based on Refinement Rank 1)

Vivid Notions (5-Star Catalyst)

ATK is increased by 28%. When you use a Plunging Attack, you will gain the "Dawn's First Hue" effect: Plunging Attack CRIT DMG is increased by 28%. When you use an Elemental Skill or Burst, you will gain the "Twilight's Splendor" effect: Plunging Attack CRIT DMG is increased by 40%. The two effects above each last for 15s, and will be canceled 0.1s after the ground impact deals DMG.

◆ The event-exclusive 5-star weapon "Vivid Notions" (Catalyst) can be obtained from the Event Wish. Please refer to the relevant official Event Notices for specific acquisition details.

2. New Artifact Sets

Long Night's Oath (4-Star and 5-Star)

◇ 2-Piece Set: Increases Plunging Attack DMG by 25%.

◇ 4-Piece Set: After the equipping character's Plunging Attack/Charged Attack/Elemental Skill hits an opponent, they will gain 1/2/2 stack(s) of "Radiance Everlasting." Plunging Attacks, Charged Attacks, or Elemental Skills can each trigger this effect once every 1s. Radiance Everlasting: Plunging Attacks deal 15% increased DMG for 6s. Max 5 stacks. Each stack's duration is counted independently.

Finale of the Deep Galleries (4-Star and 5-Star)

◇ 2-Piece Set: Cryo DMG Bonus +15%.

◇ 4-Piece Set: When the equipping character has 0 Elemental Energy, Normal Attack DMG is increased by 60% and Elemental Burst DMG is increased by 60%. After the equipping character deals Normal Attack DMG, the aforementioned Elemental Burst effect will stop applying for 6s. After the equipping character deals Elemental Burst DMG, the aforementioned Normal Attack effect will stop applying for 6s. This effect can trigger even if the equipping character is off the field.

Obtain the following artifact sets from Derelict Masonry Dock, the new Domain of Blessing in Natlan: "Long Night's Oath" and "Finale of the Deep Galleries."

V. New Main Story

1. New Tribal Chronicles

Mushroom Realm Mystery

Act I – Act III of "Mushroom Realm Mystery" will be permanently available after the Version 5.5 update

◆ Act I and Act II Quest Unlock Criteria:

• Reach Adventure Rank 28 or above

• Complete "Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame" in Archon Quest Chapter V: Act I "Flowers Resplendent on the Sun-Scorched Sojourn"

◆ Act III Quest Unlock Criteria:

• Reach Adventure Rank 28 or above

• Complete Archon Quest Chapter V: Act V "Incandescent Ode of Resurrection"

• The "Focused Experience Mode" function is available for this quest.

The three acts must be experienced in sequence. You can only unlock the next act after completing the previous one and meeting the corresponding unlock criteria.

You can use the "Quick Start" function to accept Archon Quest Chapter V: Act I "Flowers Resplendent on the Sun-Scorched Sojourn." After completing Archon Quest Chapter V: Act I, you can continue to accept and complete the subsequent Acts of Chapter V until you unlock the latest Tribal Chronicles introduced in the current version update.

Additionally, after Version 5.5 update until 2025/04/15 17:59, the "Quick Start" function will be available for Tribal Chronicles "Mushroom Realm Mystery": Act III. If you have completed Act II but don't meet the unlock criteria to start Act III, you can use the "Quick Start" function to unlock Act III in the "Events Overview" interface.

*Tribal Chronicles "Mushroom Realm Mystery": Act III takes place after Archon Quest Chapter V: Act V "Incandescent Ode of Resurrection." Regardless of the order in which you complete the quests, the Pilgrim's Chronicle will only record the content related to the Tribal Chronicles "Mushroom Realm Mystery" after both Tribal Chronicles "Mushroom Realm Mystery": Act III and Archon Quest Chapter V: Act V "Incandescent Ode of Resurrection" are completed.

2. New World Quests

New World Quests

Path to the Flaming Peaks Quest Chain, "Chronicler of the Crumbling City" Quest Chain, "A Finale Emberforged" Quest Chain, "Is 'Intensity' Really the Key," "Sing, Ho, For the Greatness of Fat!," and "Someday, We All Must Walk Alone," etc.

A Finale Emberforged Quest Chain Unlock Criteria: Complete the "Between Pledge and Forgettance" Quest Chain and "Lost Traveler in the Ashen Realm" Quest Chain, as well as obtain two Golden Entreaties.

VI. New Enemies

Lava Dragon Statue

◇ A creature with two forms that is capable of continuously generating heat.

When in its "Geohuman" form, you can use Pyro attacks to cause it to enter its "Molten Dragon" form. At this point, if you continue to use Pyro attacks, it will enter an Overburn state... However, if you manage to cool it down, it will revert back to its "Geohuman" form...

Located in Atocpan.

Furnace Shell Mountain Weasel

◇ A unique ancient species of mountain beast that has long lived in the Sacred Mountain Ruins and has formed an interdependent relationship with the Source Mechanism.

During battle, the Furnace Shell Mountain Weasel will burrow underground and activate its "Secret Source Core" to periodically attack surrounding enemies. At this time, dealing enough damage to the "Secret Source Core" will force it to emerge from underground. However, since it is hiding underground, using a Plunging Attack might prove more effective...

Wayob Manifestation

Thundering Wayob Manifestation

◇ The Wayob worshipped by the various tribes of Natlan manifest themselves in the form of these obsidian totems.

In battle, the Wayob Manifestation will deploy its Arena: Moment of Trial, creating a shield for itself and absorbing the Elemental Energy of all characters in the Arena. Characters in the Arena deal greatly increased DMG. If the shield is broken before the Arena expires, they will also regain a large amount of Energy. However, if they fail to break the Shield, the Manifestation will generate an Elemental Ward based on the value of the remaining Shield.

Natlan Saurians

Tatankasaurus and Tatankasaur Whelp

◇ The Saurians that inhabit the land of Natlan.

Special dragons that were better able to adapt to their environments, taking on different shapes and forms based on their surroundings.

Sauroform Tribal Warriors

Ferocious Warrior: Human Ram, Ferocious Warrior: Wrestler, Ferocious Warrior: Grappler, Tatankasaurus Warrior: Skybreaker, and Tatankasaurus Warrior: Spiritlight Chaser

◇ The warriors of Natlan's great tribes who fight for the honor and glory of their people.

Over long years of living and fighting alongside their Saurian companions, these tribal warriors have gradually acquired their traits and learned how to apply them on the field of battle.

VII. Genius Invokation TCG

Genius Invokation TCG Gameplay Update

New Character Cards: Kachina, Emilie, and their corresponding Talent cards. Corresponding invitation duel and guest challenges have been added to the Player List.

New Action Cards "Waverider," "Masters of the Night-Wind," "In the Name of the Extreme," and "Mystique Soup" have been added which can be purchased from Prince at The Cat's Tail.

The Forge Realm's Temper is once again available. The theme of this edition is "The Forge Realm's Temper: Endless Swarm":

(1) Defeat endless waves of enemies during the rounds in "The Forge Realm's Temper: Endless Swarm" to accrue score.

(2) After you complete the stage battle, you will gain a score and the corresponding rewards based on the highest score you got in the stage.

(3) Different stages will contain different special rules that grant buffs. Use these rules well to fight more effectively.

VIII. Imaginarium Theater

Imaginarium Theater Update

After the Version 5.5 update, the two Imaginarium Theater seasons will be as follows:

○ The first season of "Imaginarium Theater" will be available on April 1, 2025.

Required Elemental Types: Pyro, Electro, and Anemo

Opening Characters: Yoimiya, Thoma, Clorinde, Beidou, Xiao, and Sucrose

When Imaginarium Theater is open, the corresponding Opening Characters will obtain Fantastical Blessings.

Special Guest Stars: Xilonen, Alhaitham, Yaoyao, and Mika

After the first season of Imaginarium Theater begins, the characters Wanderer, Ganyu, Lisa, and Xinyan will each gain a new "Thespian Trick" that can be exchanged from the NPC Wolfy.

○ The second season of "Imaginarium Theater" will be available on May 1, 2025.

Required Elemental Types: Hydro, Cryo, and Geo

Opening Characters: Neuvillette, Candace, Kamisato Ayaka, Charlotte, Albedo, and Kachina

When Imaginarium Theater is open, the corresponding Opening Characters will obtain Fantastical Blessings.

Special Guest Stars: Venti, Hu Tao, Kaveh, and Kuki Shinobu

After the second season of Imaginarium Theater begins, the characters Mona, Tighnari, Ningguang, and Freminet will each gain a new "Thespian Trick" that can be exchanged from the NPC Wolfy.

Envisaged Echoes Update

After the Version 5.5 update, new challenge stages and Echo cosmetics for Venti and Dehya will be added.

IX. Spiral Abyss

Spiral Abyss Update

After the Version 5.5 update, Phase 1 of the Spiral Abyss will be updated on April 16.

◆ Floor 11 Ley Line Disorder changed to:

• All party members gain a 75% Cryo DMG Bonus.

◆ Floor 12 Ley Line Disorders changed to:

• First Half: Characters' Elemental Skill Geo DMG increased by 75%.

• Second Half: Characters' Elemental Skill Cryo DMG increased by 75%.

◆ Updated the monster lineup on Floors 11 – 12 of the Spiral Abyss.

◆ Blessing of the Abyssal Moon:

Dreadfrost Moon

When a character triggers Cryo-related reactions, a shockwave will be released at the opponent's position, dealing True DMG. This effect can be triggered once every 4s.

X. Other Update Details

New Recipes:

○ Exploration or Quest Rewards: Magma Eggs, Puffed Grainfruit Bars, Cheesy Mushroom Skewer, and Fruits Aplenty

○ Natlan Reputation System Rewards: Harvest's Boon and Cheesy Crab Hotpot

New Character Specialty Dishes:

○ Varesa's specialty: Mt. Mushroom (For One)

○ Iansan's specialty: Gold-Standard Healthy Meal

Adds new "Sacred Mountain's Fading Glow" and "Duelist: Series III" Achievement categories, and adds new Achievements to the "Wonders of the World" category.

Adds Set 39 of "Paimon's Paintings" chat emojis.

Adds some prompts for loading screens.

New Namecards:

Varesa: Powerhouse: Reward for reaching Friendship Lv. 10 with Varesa

Iansan: Unyielding: Reward for reaching Friendship Lv. 10 with Iansan

Natlan: Draconic Gaze: Reward for completing all achievements under "Sacred Mountain's Fading Glow"

Achievement: Tranquil Peace: Reward for completing all achievements under "Duelist: Series III"

Travel Notes: Blooming Glory: Reward obtained via the BP system

Adds some of the Harvestable seeds from Natlan to the Seed Dispensary.

Adds new Wildlife: Ancient Firewalker Spoonbill and Ancient Glazeback Turtle.

Adds Natlan wildlife that can be captured by the Omni-Ubiquity Net: Ancient Scarlet-Plume Finch and Ancient Red-Mane Boar.

Adds new Fish: Secret Source Scout Sweeper.

Adds a Natlanese "Gift Set" to the Serenitea Pot, which can be purchased from Tubby in the Realm Depot.

Another 4 sets of Artifacts are available to exchange in the Mystic Offering system: Artifact Strongbox: Song of Days Past, Artifact Strongbox: Nighttime Whispers in the Echoing Woods, Artifact Strongbox: Fragment of Harmonic Whimsy, and Artifact Strongbox: Unfinished Reverie.

Tona's Flame: Increase in the Level Cap of Tona's Flame to Level 40.

Repertoire of Myriad Melodies Update:

Adds new music album "Natlan: Land of Tleyaoyotl."

Adds new score themes "Fire and War" and "Ode to Azure Skies."

〓Adjustments & Optimizations〓

● Artifacts

In the "Artifact" interface, the "Quick Select" option in "Artifact Salvage" automatically selects all Artifacts by default.

In the "Artifact Enhancement" interface, when using the "Quick Select" function, Artifact Enhancement Materials are prioritized over 5-star Artifacts.

After the version update, Artifacts defined through the consumption of Sanctifying Elixirs will be marked, and are guaranteed to get at least 2 rolls for the defined Minor Affixes when fully leveled up.

● Serenitea Pot

Adjusts the layout of the "Realm Depot" interface to display more items.

Adjusts the "Realm Depot" interface by adding a "Exchange List" feature, which allows you to add items to a list for redemption, adjust quantities, and perform batch redemptions within the list.

● Android Controller Support

Adds controller support for Android devices. The following are the supported controller models and system requirements:

DualSense™ Wireless Controller: Android 12.0 and above;

DUALSHOCK®4 Wireless Controller: Android 10.0 and above;

Xbox Wireless Controller: Android 9.0 and above;

Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2: Android 9.0 and above.

*The controller needs to be connected to the device in Bluetooth mode.

● Controller

Optimizes the operation experience of certain wheel-related button combinations in controller mode (taking DualSense™ wireless controller as an example):

a. Slightly increases the time required to hold L1 button to display the wheel interface.

b. The "L1 + right stick" combination is still able to quickly open the wheel interface.

c. Other button combinations will no longer open the wheel interface (e.g., when interacting with the Four-Leaf Sigil, activating Elemental Sight, etc.), and will instead perform the corresponding action immediately upon pressing.

● Mail

In the "Mail" interface, a search function has been added to the "Gift Mail Box."

In the "Mail" interface, certain event-related notification mails now include direct links to jump to their respective event pages.

Adds mail reminder for when "Blessing of the Welkin Moon" expires.

● Crafting

Adds an "Original Resin" amount display in the top-right corner of the "Craft" interface when crafting "Condensed Resin", as well as a button that can be pressed to refill Original Resin (similar to the "Map" page).

When crafting "Condensed Resin" on the "Craft" interface, if there is insufficient Original Resin but replenishment options are available, a prompt will appear with options to replenish Original Resin.

● Audio

Optimizes Chinese, English, and Japanese voice-overs in certain quests, and improves sound effects for certain Chinese voice-overs.

After Version 5.5 is updated, Kinich's VA will be updated to Jacob Takanashi (this change only applies to new content in Version 5.5, historical content will be gradually updated in subsequent versions).

After the Version 5.5 update, the character Ifa's Japanese VA will be updated to Terashima Junta.

● Other Systems

Removing friends, adding friends to the blacklist, or removing a friend from the blacklist will no longer refresh the scrolling interface for the "Friends" and "Blacklist" interfaces.

Adds the Astral Mark feature to the "Food" interface. Marked food items will be prioritized in the "Food" interface and other interfaces where Food items are used.

Adds a new icon for food effects.

If there are entrances to other environment maps in the "Map" interface, (such as "Enkanomiya"), an icon will be displayed. Press it to view information about the corresponding environment.

Optimizes the display logic for red dots of the "Spiral Abyss" in the "Events Overview" interface.

When tracking boss enemies in the "Adventurer Handbook" or "Events" menu:

a. If the nearest Teleport Waypoint to the enemy has been unlocked, you can use the sidebar in the "Map" interface to directly teleport to that waypoint and track the enemy.

b. If the nearest Teleport Waypoint to the enemy is not unlocked, the "Map" interface will track and guide the Traveler to the enemy's location.

*In Version 5.5, this feature will support boss enemies in the "Natlan" region, as well as boss enemies related to the 5-star characters featured during Version 5.5. In Version 5.6, this feature will support all boss enemies.

● Other

Optimizes the scrolling speed of scrollbars in some interfaces and makes them easier to press. In controller mode, the corresponding operation buttons for certain lists scrolled using the right joystick will be displayed.

Optimizes the "Paimon" menu on PC, adds the "Exit to Desktop" option to the interface when choosing to quit the game from this menu.

Reduces the cooldown time for successfully locating an Oculus using the "Oculus Resonance Stone" from 5 minutes to 2 minutes.

When tracking a quest in the "Quest" interface, if the quest is located in another scene, the map of the corresponding scene will now open and track the quest (this function is currently not supported in Domains, including the Theater Lobby).

Adds compatibility support for iPad Air (M3) and iPad (A16) devices.

Decreases the maximum amount of reaction DMG caused by Burning grass and Electro-Charged water bodies in Domains.

〓Bug Fixes〓

● Enemies

Fixes an issue whereby the head model of certain "Sauroform Tribal Warriors" would occasionally display abnormally when casting skills.

● Characters

Fixes an issue where the hair effects of Mavuika would display incorrectly during Nightsoul's Blessing at certain angles on some mobile devices.

Fixes an issue where after Xiangling switches to the "New Year's Cheer" outfit, her feet would float abnormally when selecting "Upbeat Encouragement" in "Take Photo" > "Pose."

Fixes an issue where, under certain circumstances, triggering the "Hypersense" effect from Ororon's Passive Talent "Nightshade Synesthesia" would consume Nightsoul points without dealing damage.

Fixes an issue whereby under specific circumstances, when Ororon was equipped with the Artifact Sets "Gilded Dreams" or "Flower of Paradise Lost," the on-field character triggering Ororon's "Hypersense" effect would not simultaneously activate Ororon's Artifact Set Bonus.

Fixes an issue whereby Yumemizuki Mizuki's weapon model would display abnormally after performing Plunging Attacks.

Fixes an issue whereby Yumemizuki Mizuki's hair had minor display abnormalities.

Fixes an issue whereby Yumemizuki Mizuki had a chance of prematurely ending her Dreamdrifter state when launched into the air while in Dreamdrifter state.

● Imaginarium Theater

Fixes an issue whereby some Overloaded DMG could not trigger the Thunderstrikes effect of "Brilliant Blessings."

Fixes some text description errors in "Brilliant Blessings."

● System

Fixes an issue where, under certain circumstances, the material quantity would display incorrectly when using the "Quick Select" function to add refinement materials in the "Weapon Refinement" interface.

Fixes an issue where, after the Version 5.4 update, under certain circumstances, there was a chance that the tutorial "Unlocking Domains" would be unable to trigger normally. After the version update, Travelers who have met the trigger conditions but have not triggered this tutorial will automatically trigger the relevant tutorial upon logging in.

Fixes an issue where, under certain circumstances, the completion rate would display abnormally when completing a performance in Repertoire of Myriad Melodies.

● Audio

Fixes an issue of abnormal sound effects and music playing.

Fixes an issue whereby some background music would play abnormally in areas near the enemy "Rilai."

Fixes an issue whereby when using a controller, the musical instrument sound effects would be abnormal when choosing to try out the instruments during dialogue with NPC "Sansa" under specific circumstances.

Fixes an issue where adjusting the key sound volume in the "Instrument Settings" menu within the "Settings" interface of "Repertoire of Myriad Melodies" did not affect the volume of the Floral Zither, Festive Drum, and Djem Djem Drum.

● Other

Fixes an issue where the "Ley Line Disorder" effects in the Domain of Guyun and Floor 1 of the Spiral Abyss did not match their descriptions.

Fixes an issue where characters or Iktomisaurs could not interact with certain activated Phlogiston supply objects while in the Spiritspeaker state.

Fixes some text errors in certain languages and optimizes text. (Note: Related in-game functions have not changed. Travelers can view the changes in different languages by going to the Paimon Menu > Settings > Language and changing the Game Language.)

◆ Optimizes inconsistencies between certain voice-overs and the corresponding lines.

◆ Optimizes certain English translations.

〓Genius Invokation TCG Balance Adjustment〓

Adjusts the initial max HP of Character Cards "Sigewinne," "Sangonomiya Kokomi," "Venti," "Ganyu," "Hu Tao," "Zhongli," "Noelle," and "Jean" from 10 to 12.

Adjusts the effect of Event Card "Elemental Resonance: High Voltage" to: "Your active character and your next character without maximum Energy gain 1 Energy."

Adjusts the effect of Event Card "Elemental Resonance: Impetuous Winds" to: "The next time you perform 'Switch Character': This action will be considered a Fast Action instead of a Combat Action. It will also cost 1 less Elemental Die. The next Swirl Reaction you trigger deals +1 DMG to all opposing characters except the target."

Adjusts the effect of Event Card "Elemental Resonance: Sprawling Greenery" to: "If you have Burning Flame/Dendro Core/Catalyzing Field on the field, deal 1 Pyro DMG/Hydro DMG/Electro DMG to the opposing active character."

Adjusts the effect of Event Card "Elemental Resonance: Enduring Rock" to: "Provides 3 Shield points for your active character."

*This is a work of fiction and is not related to any actual people, events, groups, or organizations.

PlayStation, "PS5", "PS4", "DualSense", "DUALSHOCK" are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.

[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. ♡

[blueberrypancakesworld]

Elijah Kamski x fem!reader - I want your soul

warning : minors don't interact/read, smut, p in v , mirror sex, some oral (f receiving), bondage, fluff/comfort, obsession

Summary : Elijah Kamski the genius behind the androids and their accessories. He was the genius of the most important man. Who was looking for someone to work with him on something. But did a genius like him really need help or was it something else he wanted, sought and needed to create something that would give him something in the end.

Info : Okay I've finally finished writing it I'm not completely satisfied for one thing because I've had this floating around for months and haven't finished it, I'm going to write an extra one with a few more themes that I hadn't done here. I hope the smut is good and the story is not too ripped out as always it should be as realistic as possible. Have fun reading :)

Ps : @thatsthewrongwallcraig I finally did it I hope you are still in your Elijah obsession have fun reading :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Detroid had changed since she was born in 2013, it seemed the whole world had changed. Everything had become more modern, more technological and more efficient.

The whole world wasn't just getting closer to the old movies about the future, it had already overtaken them.

It opened up new paths, more possibilities and development was at a level that made them all but immortal. Until the androids came.

Developed by one man, a genius with an IQ of 171, Elijah Kamski. The young genius who developed the androids became a kind of god to some and the devil to others.

The devil for the people whose jobs he had taken away with the androids. He had everything, at least if you could believe the press and the news.

With the invention of thirium and biocomponent technology, he was also the founder of Cyber Life and the richest man on the planet.

He was the incarnate one. The incarnate one who one day launched a public appeal. Not something for a new project since his retirement in 2028 or an assistant or perhaps a successor.

It was rumors that went around the world but especially in Detroid made waves. Until the announcement came from Elijah himself and it was weirder than they had imagined.

Elijah wasn't looking for a successor, he was looking for a maid to inspire his new projects. It was a headline that the magazines ran with and something that caused a boom, suddenly the whole world seemed to be standing in front of the entrance to Cyber-Life's main building.

No one knew what was waiting for them inside, but they all hoped to work for Kamski. It seemed that only one thing mattered to them all. To see Elija Kamski and his money. Because they all knew he would pay well, or so they said.

The kilometer-long queue that stretched out in front had all kinds of people. Everyone who wanted the job would fight for a place. All except for one person, a young woman who was standing in the queue like everyone else.

She wouldn't necessarily walk over dead bodies and would rather take good advice from him that she needed for her studies or a tip for finances because she didn't have any.

To be honest, she was only here to take advantage of this small, minimal opportunity to get the money to pay for her studies and to pay back her parents who had taken on extra debt. A fact that weighed heavily on her heart.

Which is why she could use the money and paying a publisher to turn her script into a book wasn't cheap either and realizing a dream like that would be nice too. But as much as she wanted to, she had to survive the queue first.

I certainly wouldn't be the first to die because of all this standing, she thought, remembering all the people she had seen with tents and chairs. How they came out of the building with their heads hanging or cursing. They had missed their chance.

But she also felt how her feet had been hurting for hours, she had run out of the university as early as she could and yet she was one of the last. But after hours in which the sun would set again in a few hours anyway, it was finally her turn.

Saw how the entrance gradually came closer and closer. She finally had the chance to get to it. Will he notice? the question popped into her head and she became all the more aware of the notebook in her bag.

She didn't know how she should feel about it. Meeting the man who had fascinated her for as long as she could remember.

Meeting the man who was the lover in her book, everything was exactly the same except for the name. Initially in her late teens it was just a model she had used but now. It was more.

More than she perhaps wanted to admit to herself. ,,Miss, it's your turn," a voice snapped her out of her thoughts and her hand slipped into her pocket. Past her notebook and to her wallet and pulled it out.

She thanked the security guard after he had looked at her ID. Before she went into the building with a pounding heart.

She knew it from videos and pictures she had seen in her primary school days. Vague memories went through her mind as she saw an android approaching her.

It seemed as if they wanted to hold back the free spirit and not let people walk around here freely. Like a fake bird in a real cage. ,,Good afternoon, Miss, would you please follow me," he said and she saw the Led flicker briefly from blue to a brief yellow.

He must be announcing me she thought to herself and followed the android with a smile knowing that many others were hostile towards the machines.

Some even went so far as to beat up and kill the androids that didn't fight back. There were unpleasant headlines about severed body parts belonging to several missing androids. Headlines that sent shivers down her spine.

After all, who said that all the androids wouldn't be dead soon? ,,What is it that Mr. Kamski wants from me?" she asked as they walked through the foyer and stood in an elevator. The android stood in front of her and turned his head slightly towards her.

She saw exactly how his eyes avoided hers for a second before he said, ,,A test to see if you are suitable for the job you are looking for," and turned forward again. The quiet hum of the elevator was between them again and her purse had disappeared back into her pocket.

Her heart seemed to compete with her nervousness as the elevator arrived at the top floor of the building. The floor she had never been on before, at least not then.

It seemed almost unbelievable to be back here now. ,,Please, you have to go through this door, good luck," the android said, pointing to what appeared to be a door in the large white hallway with a few modern paintings, plants and bright lights.

,,Thank you," she mumbled and gave the android a small smile before stepping out of the elevator and walking towards the door.

She heard exactly how the android got back in and she was alone in the hallway. She knew she had to go forward. She finally had to go to the door and felt how each step seemed to get heavier and heavier.

But after a few seconds the moment was over and she put her hand on the handle. Opened the door and stepped into the room where she found the man who would give her a job.

The light in the room was dimmer, not so bright that it stung her eyes, it was most like a foggy afternoon with dark clouds hanging in the sky and the threat of thunderstorms. Her eyes fell on the occupied armchair that stood behind a glass table.

The light illuminated the figure slightly and she saw him. ,,Good afternoon, Mr. Kamski," she said, surprised that her voice had held and that she hadn't thrown up from nervousness.

She saw how he leaned forward slightly, the dark strands of his hair framing his face. His bright blue eyes watching her closely as if she were the machine to him and the androids were the humans.

As he briefly pointed to the chair she should sit down on, she obeyed his silent command, her slightly trembling fingers pulling the chair back and sitting down. The slight clatter of her bag seemed to be too loud in the room before she turned her gaze forward.

His eyes met hers and she almost forgot to breathe for a moment. He was everything. He seemed like it came from her imagination, the pictures, videos and articles. ,,Do you think an android can get nervous?" his voice suddenly rang out, so engaging that it seemed to drown out her heartbeat.

The question echoed in her head over and over again. ,,N-no I mean yes" she began to stammer and felt the warmth jump to her ears and cheeks.

Oh god pull yourself together! she screamed at herself in her head, swallowing the lump in her throat and digging her fingers into her jeans. ,,Yes... I do think that androids can get nervous. There are... deviants who show emotions, they are human too," she replied and looked up from her lap to the older one again.

Saw how he had tilted his head slightly. His gaze looked as if he was considering whether he should throw her out or do it himself.

,,So you're implying that androids are human? Are you questioning my work?" he asked, smirking as he could practically see the gears turning in her head. She was apparently trying to guess which answer was the right one.

After a few more seconds of silence, he saw in her gaze that she had found her answer. ,,No, I don't question it, I would say that it shows that the relationship between humans and androids is maybe doing something... maybe human," she dared to put up her tese and saw first to her fear how the small smile on his lips disappeared.

His bright eyes looked at her almost incredulously as if she had deeply offended him. I'll never get a job, she thought to herself and was about to reach for her bag when she heard the sound of paper.

,,Come to this address next week and have your tessellation completed Miss," he said and felt him put a card in her hand. She had it. She had the job.

She had finally got it. ,,Thank you! I mean thank you very much Mr. Kamski, I'll come," she said and grabbed her bags before walking out of the room. The big smile on her lips spoke for itself as the android seemed to rejoice with her on her way out.

But in that time, she hadn't even thought about what it meant to be with him. To move in with him, to be with him for more than just minutes or hours. Forever.

Because a mind infused with devotion and emotion overlooks the obvious. Overlooks the gaze of obsession.

The gaze of possession. The gaze of the rich and their greed for everything. Oh, he would do so much more with her than just have her around.

But she did what he said and came to the address on Monday of the next week. His house was out of town, secluded by roads, woods and rocks.

But when she parked her small car in front of the house, armed only with a bag, she realized once again what this meant. I feel like a little kid at Christmas, she thought as she walked up the stairs to his door. It was the season of winter, snow was slowly falling from the sky and looking behind her she saw the landscape slowly turning white.

Her coat kept her warm and the hat on her head kept her ears from freezing. Ringing the bell, she tried to concentrate on the time in front of her, not the cold.

A smile on her lips turned into a surprised look when a blonde woman opened the door for her. ,,Hello, you're Miss Sun right?" she asked the blonde woman who seemed as perfect as only an angel could be.

An android. ,,Yes, I am Mr. Kamski had given me his address for the job," she replied and saw that the blonde woman stepped aside to let her in. ,,Mr. Kamski is expecting you, please take a seat in the living room," she said, a small smile playing around her lips before she gestured towards the room.

The house was too big for one man to live in. But as she walked through the hallways and doors, the dark walls, saw the colorful paintings and the markings, she realized how different they were.

She was nothing compared to him and yet he had chosen her. He had seen something in her, something that set her apart from the others.

But what? What was it? Putting the bag down next to the table, she found herself in the living room. Didn't know whether she should sit down or not. Instead, she stood next to the table and looked around the room.

Only heard muffled footsteps coming towards her, the door opened and he came out. He came out of another part of the house. A black bathrobe on his body, she saw that his hair was still slightly wet, she could see a little of his upper body.

But his gaze, his bright eyes seemed to focus only on her, despite his appearance, he had lost none of his look. ,,Good afternoon, Mr. Kamski, your housekeeper said I should come here...I can wait too," she said and was about to reach for her bag when she heard his grin.

A smirk that led to an amused smile. ,,No, I wanted you to be here and that's why you're here. I suppose you found your way here all right?" he asked, but his interest was clear. She sensed that it wasn't about her life. It should be about her.

It was supposed to be about her work and what was going on inside her. ,,Yes, I did, I also revised my thesis again... Mr. Kamski could you tell me what the job is about now?" she asked as she watched him make himself a green protein shake, mixing the powder with the vegetables, the blender surprisingly quiet.

But he remained silent as he calmly made his drink before walking past her, gesturing for her to follow him. Grabbing her handbag, she followed him, not knowing whether she should walk beside him or behind him.

But she opted for the latter, not wanting to push her luck too far. She didn't want to compete with him. But why? Do I even have a chance? she asked herself and almost walked into him when he stopped.

,,Your room is all yours, I know it might be unpleasant but I would ask you to stay here. As far as my work is concerned, quick communication is essential," he said, leaning against the doorframe as he watched her. She watched as she looked around the room a little.

The room was three times the size of her own small room. Cave it could probably even fit her entire apartment in here. Staying here? For how long? the question popped up in her head and she looked at him slightly questioningly.

She saw that he knew what she was getting at and took a sip of his drink. ,,I don't think for a few more weeks...it depends on how good you are...oh and please just call me Elijah," he dismissed her with those words, closing the door behind him and taking her nervousness with him.

Her glance at her bag let her know that she had to go back to her apartment to pick up her things, but that she had still taken her book with her.

The words she had written about him, being in his house, working for him. ,,I really did it," she muttered and proudly began to unpack her things, set up her room and took her things with her. She tried to find Elijah only to run into Chloe who let her know that Elijah was at work.

Letting her know when he needed her to get her things. Which is why she found herself back in her apartment less than an hour later. Had walked back to the exit, past the pictures and cameras, past the Chloes and past his gaze without realizing it.

She didn't see what he was doing, she just knew she had to do something to formulate her thesis. And when she came back, she saw him again eating a salad at the table in the living room, but this time he wasn't wearing a coat.

He was wearing normal jeans, a dark shirt and glasses. ,,I see you're back, I'd like to read your thesis the day after tomorrow. To understand what's going on inside you," he said and gave her a slight smile. She felt her heart beat faster again, she agreed and went back to her room with her things. The smile on her lips was unmistakable.

Just as unmistakable as his approval. She did as he said as she joined him in his office, his workroom full of various technical things. ,,Elijah, I have my thesis," she said as she stepped inside after knocking and the door opened, she saw him working on an android model.

It was a construct of wires, metal and the pump that symbolized the heart, yet human features were recognizable.

He looked up from his work and something like surprise flashed in his gaze as if he was realizing something before he gave her a satisfied look and motioned her to his desk.

She handed him her tese and he grinned as he felt the paper in his hands. ,,Old-fashioned and yet not corruptibly good," he said as he took the paper properly before he began to read it. she remained standing next to him, watching his eyes run over the sentences.

He became more and more lost in her work, absorbing her words and becoming more and more absorbed in them. ,,Perfection, your idea of something non-living... very good, I'm proud. I would like you to design a model of it for me more deep thought" he baht she had turned towards her his hand had placed itself on her shoulder.

She felt his warmth, although she had always thought of him as cold, he was warm. He was welcoming and he made her heart beat faster, leaving her proud as he held her tese before giving her a smile and watching her walk out of the room.

Not knowing what his thoughts turned to as he went back to his latest project. Her thesis would help him. Everything would be perfect.

But she did what he said, worked on her work, didn't question him, wouldn't and shouldn't. Ate breakfast, lunch and dinner with him. Caught herself listening in the house to see if he was awake to go to the kitchen and make breakfast.

Usually did it with Chloe, who didn't need any sleep. The two of them talked and laughed and she forgot that the blonde was an android.

Forgetting what was happening around her, what was happening out in the world, what had ever happened. Because what she had was here. A job, a friend and a man who admired her and gave her support.

Or did she? Could she describe her life like this? How long had she been with him - days, weeks or even months? How often had she sat with him, revised her work and written down her inner life? What had happened?

,,My dear I will invite you to dinner and would like you to carry this here" she mumbled the words on the small card that lay on the gift wrapping paper that held something with fabric inside.

Unwrapping the gift, she saw the dark fabric of the dress and held it in front of her body. She could feel how expensive it must be, it was perfectly tailored to her body.

It was perfect in every way. As she stood in front of the mirror, she looked at herself in it and for a moment felt like she was on the same level as him. Was with him to the point that she meant something to him.

And she caught herself thinking that the only thing missing was the gold ring on her hand. But had she turned like this or had he made her like this? Did he want to make her like this? Or was everything bigger than he thought in the end? Was she programmed from the beginning to react like this, was it her feelings?

Was it his creation? She didn't let her thoughts get in the way and continued by putting red lipstick on her lips. She took one last look in the mirror before leaving her room. Hearing the clack of her shoes in the hallway, she walked into the dining room, finding no Chloe or any of her friends on her way.

She found only the silence of the house and heard the classical music coming from one of the rooms like a rhythm, the sounds played over and over again as she arrived in the candlelit room. ,,You look beautiful, I'm glad you put it on," he said, giving her the appearance of a choice she didn't have.

After all, what kind of woman would she be if she didn't comply with his request. ,,Thank you for the dress and the invitation," she replied, her gaze dropping for a moment before she saw him step into her field of vision, taking her hand and feeling his warmth as he led her to the table.

,,It's a multi-course meal to thank you for your work," he began, placing the first course of food, a simple soup, before reaching for the bottle of wine and pouring them both a glass.

She saw him sit down opposite her and they both ate in silence. But it wasn't unpleasant, on the contrary, the food, the sound of the cutlery and the music in the background created an atmosphere of comfort.

She couldn't see what was hiding behind his gaze as he concentrated on her. ,,Sorry I haven't had so much time for you in the last few days and weeks," he said, almost too suddenly, as he put down the spoon, his look apologetic but his voice seeming out of place. He was inappropriate.

A man who had spent time under machines could show emotion. ,,It's perfectly all right... I'm very glad we have this," she replied and finished her soup, not wanting to break the atmosphere.

She did as she was told before they got to the end of the meal and she didn't know what to do. She didn't have to because Elijah got up from his seat and walked over to her, offering her his hand before she walked next to him for the first time. His hand was on hers as they both walked towards his office.

His gaze was on her, watching her, looking for anything wrong. ,,I've taken the liberty of creating a new prototype...your notes and work helped" he began and walked over to the machine knowing she was listening to him, knowing she would do anything for him from this point on. He handed her the table with the data and watched as she looked over it, fascination in her eyes for his work.

He knew that she would always admire him, it didn't take much but he had read it. He had read her book and knew that she was truly the right person for his purpose.

That his inner self was right, his genius was right, his obsession was right. She let the shapes and processes on the table before she suddenly felt his hand on her shoulder.

He touched her in all the time she had been with him, he had never fully touched her now only when she had done something well. ,,What did I do well?" she asked, turning to him, the device with the thin screen still in her hand.

She kept still wanting more from him, the bond between them still far too strong. He saw her as his and she saw herself as his wife. It was and would be between them. It was her devotion in her brain for him, and it was his desire for her as his wife. For someone perfect.

,,Everything my love...you have no idea...what you've done to me," he murmured and she felt his other hand on her shoulder as he continued to touch her, praising her for something she couldn't do.

,,Can I do something for my existence?" she asked her inner question out to him, hearing his smirk, smelling the metal, the aftershave, snow and wine. Smelled him. Felt him so close to her and yet she didn't move. Stood still like someone waiting for an order.

Something he liked to have her the way he wanted her. Like an android. ,,You can help what you do... tell me, do you want to be free for a moment?" he asked, his hand moving over her shoulder and down to her hand. He gripped the tray and gave her the freedom to decide for a moment.

She could walk away or she could stay and give it to him. And she did. She gave it to him. ,,Free? But we're free, aren't we?" she asked, not knowing what he meant as he took the tray from her. Leaving the first kiss on her neck before he slowly moved her past the.

The office, like everything else, was just a pretext which she seemed to realize but it made no sense, it didn't matter, there was just the two of them and that should be enough. She hadn't been what she used to be for a long time.

But it didn't matter, it was about him and her, not about what had happened. She felt him leave more kisses on her skin as the doors opened in front of them and she felt the warmth on her cheeks, a natural reaction when she saw his bedroom. Dark walls reddish abstract paintings on the walls.

One might have thought that the pictures hid the portrait of a woman, but what did she know. At most, he saw her in the colors. Because he wanted to. Because understanding told him so. She felt him next to her, his hands gripped hers, her shy gaze found his.

Her uncertain, his almost demanding, the glasses helped him to see her better, even if he didn't need them. He would have her anyway. He slowly placed his hand on her side and pulled her close.

On the contrary, the closer he touched her, the more intimate she became. The more she wanted him. ,,That's it," he said with a murmur, apparently listening to her thoughts before she felt his lips on hers, kissing his warmth over her as she clung to him, almost searching.

He wanted the kiss more knew he was getting it. But she gladly gave herself to him. She felt safe. He had given her a job, given her a dress, given her everything.

Now it was only fair that she gave him something back, wasn't it? It was always like that. She only felt a dull sensation as he moved to her back and unzipped the expensive fabric flowing from her body. She stepped out of her shoes as if automatically, not wanting it to be over like this.

She wanted to please him without realizing that she was doing just that. ,,I've liked you ever since I saw you... like a perfection for me," he said, taking away her fear as he went to the bed, leaving her standing there, almost confused and full of shame.

The warmth on her cheeks increased as she felt flattered and crawled towards him on the bed, knowing that he was watching her, not hiding the fact that he found her attractive.

That he saw exactly how her nipples had hardened slightly from the cold. That his hands lay on the fabric and her shaky exhale. He had her body to himself, had her to himself. ,,Elijah you-me...you are everything," she murmured, knowing it was her mind veiled in lust.

The spirit that longed for Elijah wanted more. Wanted more of his touch. ,,I know that... I know everything, my love," he whispered to her, pulling her into another kiss before he let his hand wander over her breast again. He felt her shudder. ,,Poor girl...all these months without touch or pleasure...without me," he said, watching her.

Watched her through his Chloe's or had to know. Had given him lust without her knowing who his cameras were. She had shown him everything he needed to know. Always in the quiet of the night, he had touched himself to see what she had done.

He pulled her onto his lap, feeling her quick pulse as he kissed her neck, beginning to leave colorful marks on it, her warmth mingling with his as she held onto the cover in the dark bed.#

His hand that was not on her breast moved to her thigh. She felt her hips thrust out towards him, full of devotion, needing him. ,,I'm going to make you feel good look" he whispered to her biting lightly into her lobe hearing her shaky exhale feeling her lust could feel the tingling in her body as his rough fingers slipped under her bra.

Moaning his name, she pressed herself against him, feeling his own arousal against her back, yet he focused on her. Wanted to see her fall apart when he actually touched her.

She opened her half-closed eyes and looked at herself and Elijah out loud in surprise. Her own reflection in the mirror built into the closet. ,,Beautiful forever," he whispered to her and she moaned as she let his fingers wander over her center.

It was different where her fingers weren't even close enough, his seemed so much better. He felt her wetness through the fabric of her underwear, took his hand from her breast and let it wander over her body. Leaving red scratches, small bites, marks and kisses.

Driving her on as he repeatedly focused his attention on the little bundle of nerves. As her voice filled the room, the classical music drowning in it, he was also completely hard but with each of her shaky movements his hardness got some relief.

He rubbed himself lightly against her his breathing was slightly shaky and yet it made no difference. Because he dealt with her. Giving her more of what she wanted while his blue eyes were on her. Her gaze on the mirror. The trembling spread to her legs as she begged him for more.

But he knew he had watched her closely and knew when she was slowly coming to the end. ,,Look at you, darling... everything just for me," he continued to murmur, finally wanting to show her. His finger moved out of her only to add another one, keeping her better than her own, her hips in rhythm with him. His praise took her mind away.

His pace increased, her trembling increased and when he heard her murmur he knew she was nearing climax. ,,El-Elijah please," she said, resting her head on his shoulder, finally wanting to let go, her fingers digging into the dark bed. He gave her body more kisses before he gave her the okay.

He took his hand from her breast and gripped her jaw, forcing her to look at herself in the mirror. She fell apart around him with a throaty moan.

He pulled out of her, her heavy-breathing form relaxing to just a sporadic twitch of her legs as she came down from her high. Closing her eyes, he withdrew from her. Licked his hand clean and slowly pushed her away. Watched as she still wasn't completely back, but she didn't have to be. ,,Thank you for your time, my dear," he said, hearing only a murmur, but his gaze went to the mirror.

A flicker caused the android behind it to take away the image of the mirror, the projection disappeared and her image emerged in the form of the android.

,,I have recorded all the data, sir," said the android's voice, turning her gaze away from her human image. ,,Very well, interpret the data I want perfection darling," he said and his hand passed over hers but warmth met cold. The coldness of a machine before it went out. He was left alone with his muse, his darling.

Saw that she was asleep saw that she was unaware. Didn't know what his search for her had driven her to. ,,Sleep well my love," he said and withdrew from her, opening and closing the door. Left her alone.

Until he wanted her again, knowing that she would give him everything. That he had rebuilt her so that when her human shell died, he had her eternally living one. She was his, right down to her soul, she belonged to him and always had.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[the-monkey-ruler]

WuKong Education (2016) 悟空中文

Date: 2016 Platform: IPhone / Android / PC Developer: Lan Global Limited Publisher: Lan Global Limited Genre: Education Also known as: WuKong: Chinese, Math & ELA Adaption: Crossover

Summary:

The WuKong app is specially designed for parents to stay up-to-date with student's learning progress and development at WuKong Education.

[WuKong's Functions] · Check course schedule anytime: Smart switching calendar to control the learning progress · Attend live course by one click: Simplified learning procedures, attending the class through one-click · Flexible leave request before a class: Easy to submit application and adjust the course schedule · Course playback for review & consolidation : Limitless replay helps you to surmount the key and difficult knowledge

[About WuKong Education] WuKong Education is dedicated in providing best online education solution for students, and has developed into an international educational platform which is the priority selection by 100K+ overseas families to achieve their elite-education dreams. Our students come from US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and more than 65 countries and regions, in most of which, WuKong Education always keeps a dominated position in market share.

[WuKong Education's Advantage] · Top-rated teaching force: All teachers have more than 5 years of teaching experience. 1% selected excellent teachers are “one in a million”, each teacher is 100% guaranteed - to hold a Professional Teacher Qualification Certificate. · Interactive Small Class: 1-on-1 immersive tutoring class, real-time interaction with teachers online · Leading course experience: International authoritative and self-developed textbooks, benchmarking international authoritative examination standards.

Source: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wukongacademy.studentportal&pli=1

Link: https://www.wukongsch.com/

[multibodied]

I wanna expand on Emma's character. She likes attention, she likes filming herself. There are piano in their room, so it's practically inevitable that she learns to play it. Who is her teacher? It's possible that it is human as, you know, music, maybe her rich parents think that it's best to learn it from humans. At least, we never heard that household models could teach playing instruments. Or actually, she probably learns using built-in program in the piano itself. Like, we saw this holographic screen when Markus was playing, it must include some learning modes.

She has favourite bands. She probably has some kind of spiritual beliefs, probably not like any specific religion but a mix of some new-age ones, at least their home looks like they are like this, like, if I remember it correctly there are Buddha statues so that's one thing. I think Emma, at least, believes in a few things, like karma and manifestations.

Her wrists are full of those handmade bracelets. Did she make them with someone? Alone? Are those friendship bracelets and there are some friends of her that have them too? She must've made at least one of those with Daniel, and it would be such a nice detail for him to wear one in-game. Missed opportunity. Maybe he took it off?

Daniel was activated for four years (huh, I thought longer, but it's still years though), so his character must've been quite developed for a while even prior to deviancy. Or, actually, maybe he deviated a lot earlier than the day we see him in the game. It is entirely possible that there was another event that made him freak out of his line, perhaps after fucking up and accidentally endangering Emma (they kept it a secret. I headcanon that Emma loves secrets. It makes her feel special), but he just stayed and continued his life with Phillips as if nothing happened without change because he liked it and felt responsible about it. I mean, it's not like he had somewhere to go — he doesn't know about Jericho as was confirmed in the evidence room. But ever since that day of his potential deviation he started to accumulate suspicions and paranoia that tipped over when he found out about AP700.

You know, it's kinda ironic that kids with household androids raise them as much if not more than household androids raise them. For kids those androids are part of their life, for androids it's their whole world (I mean, outside of some additional errands and other family members interactions that I don't think are composing even half of the time androids spend with kids they're looking after). Emma was 5-6 years old when Daniel was first introduced into her life. She must've already had friends and all kind of interests by that time, so Daniel didn't raise her from infancy.

You know, it's possible even that those kinds of androids get jealous of kid's other friends and family members. Daniel definitely feels like a jealous type, I doubt August 15 was his first time feeling resentment. The fact that he became Emma's first choice in four years must've been a really deliberate effort on his part, which, I mean, he spends the most time with her so he had this advantage.

Daniel belongs to the Phillips family but at the same time Daniel developed such a possessive attitude towards Emma as if she was his property. He integrated himself into her life as a "need, not want" and he will take her with him on his death row. He wants to believe that Emma needs him, but the truth is he needs Emma much more than she ever could. And it drives him mad.

Hear me out

What if

What if he was so jealous of Emma's other friends and so paranoid about her distancing herself from him that he cultivated circumstances where Emma preferred him over anyone else. A victory. And he put so much effort competing with other people for her attention that possibly of Emma replacing him with another android never crossed his mind. Until it hit him like an anvil. All of his work was for nothing. All this time he thought of himself as her friend. A person. Competing with other people. Turned out he wasn't even within the same category. He had always been only a toy.

[peskellence]

Pairing: RK900/Gavin Reed

Tags: Post Pacifist Ending, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Eventual Smut, Angst, Hurt/ Comfort

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Summary: In the aftermath of Detroit's android revolution, Nines grapples with the complexities of his newfound deviancy. As he seeks to establish his place in a newly transformed society, his resolve is put to the ultimate test when he is paired with Detective Gavin Reed-a notoriously volatile human with a well-established hatred for androids-to investigate a series of murders.

While initial impressions of his partner seem to suggest his reputation is well-deserved, the more time Nines spends with him, the more he is forced to challenge his judgments. As they form an unexpected bond, the RK900 is also pushed to examine truths about himself he would much rather seek to forget. (A Retelling of 'More Than Our Parts' from the POV of Nines.)

Warnings: Graphic Violence, Depression/Self Destructive Behaviour, Eventual Smut

Word Count: 4.7K

Tag List: @sweeteatercat @wedonthaveawhile @ladyj-pl @tentoriumcerebelli @negative-citadel

Whilst he continued to wait for what would undoubtedly be an underwhelming report from the forensic department, Nines used his time to develop the current victim profiles. He commenced the process of exploring their inner circles. Contacting friends and family, hoping they might provide some insight into further lines of enquiry.

Routes that were currently beaten and sparse, if not entirely indiscernible.

The results were mixed, with the MJ100 proving considerably easier to gather data on. As it transpired, she’d been reasonably popular, having affiliated herself with several charities and worked at a local animal refuge:

VICTIM PROFILE: MJ100 — DESIGNATION: ‘JENNY’ 

AFFILIATIONS:

CHARITABLE ORGANISATIONS - MULTIPLE. ‘ CLAWS FOR ACTION’, ‘RESCUE PAWS FOUNDATION’, ‘FUREVER HOMES INITIATIVE’ , OTHER(S)  PRIMARY AFFILIATION: HAPPY TAILS SANCTUARY — ANIMAL SHELTER, N. DETROIT  (EMPLOYER) SOCIAL FAVOUR - HIGH, EXTENSIVE POSITIVE RELATIONS WITH FRIENDS / COLLEAGUES. 

FURTHER LINES OF ENQUIRY:

INVESTIGATE CHARITY AFFILIATIONS FOR LEADS EXPLORE CONNECTIONS AND ACTIVITIES AT THE ANIMAL SHELTER ANALYSE RECENT SOCIAL CONDUCT FOR S̶͈͛͝U̵͈̯͝S̴̳͆P̷͙̊̆I̵̫̽C̷̮͉͒I̶̟͠Õ̸͌ͅU̴̮͑S̷̲̀̚ ̶̜͌̚

 ̸͕̟̳̰̦̬̤̀̈́͌P̶̦̖͓̰̰͍͚̪̋̀̎Ȃ̶̲͖̊͗̐͝Ţ̸̲̬͇͙̗̀̿̔͂̓T̷̡͔̮̥̗͈͕̰̾̓̏̐̅̑̀̄̽̽E̷̘̭͚̳̟̘̺̭̠̼̾̊̆͒̄́̚͝Ř̷̥̝̫N̸̖͕̮̄͋̓̄͂̀̅͘S̴̖͎͆̕ ̶̮͍̘̮͓̥̰́̍̈́O̵͎̻̬͖̳̅̈́̍̉͑̐̓̐̀͘Ṙ̷͚͉͊

̷̨̯̯̱͙̘͉͎̯̬͚̠̪̤̗̲̰͌̉̔͋͌̈́̾́͒̀̽͋̀̓̂̂̾̆͌̃͊̒̈̿́̄̿̃͗̈́̚̕͘͝

ERROR — CONNECTION DISRUPTED.

A shockwave rolled through the precinct, shaking the foundation of his desk and rattling the terminal. With no reports of regional geological disturbances, the android was prompted to investigate. As his hand shifted from the interface panel, broader visional scope returning, he began to search his surroundings for a possible origin of the disruption. This was soon determined to be a group of junior officers—taking exhaustive advantage of their captain being out of office. 

Two men sat in office chairs, a significant stretch from their workstations, obstructing the primary walkway. Their partners stood at each seat, counting in unison before thrusting forward - resulting in propulsion that sent them barrelling across the linoleum. Nearby scuff marks suggested it was far from the first occurrence of this juvenile exercise. 

All parties seemed to rejoice in their gleeful waste of taxpayer money until one of the makeshift buggies clipped a nearby filing cabinet. Its occupant was sent careening from their seat, gliding through the air until they struck a nearby wall. 

Several spectators hissed in dismay at the impact, whilst others jeered and rejoiced the karmic retribution.

It all proved highly disruptive, with Nines forced to tune his inputs in order to drown it out. Disregarding the misfortune of the MJ100’s end, he couldn’t help but envy the position she had enjoyed prior to this. 

Working with animals sounded preferential to humans in numerous respects. 

With his ability to focus renewed and the footing of his station stabilised, Nines pressed his exposed chassis back to the access pad.

CONNECTION RE-ESTABLISHED. 

While there was no shortage of individuals willing to vouch for the MJ100’s outstanding moral integrity, present insights hadn’t proved especially useful. Unsurprisingly, she’d had no enemies — with no one of her affiliates suspecting anyone who might have wished her harm. 

All this virtue and grace had not saved her from the caveat of blue blood.

The killer may not have been known to ‘Jenny’, but their actions indicated familiarity. Premeditation that would have been borne from several days of observation, familiarising themselves with their route. 

This would have had its limitations, of course. He couldn’t have followed too closely, lest he risk drawing early suspicion. There was existing awareness of the arena chosen and knowledge of how best to use it. Seldom known exit points, shortcuts and hiding spots rarely frequented:

ACCESSING SUSPECT PROFILE: SEARCH CRITERIA — RECENTLY ADDED. 

SUSPECT IS RESIDENT OF DETROIT — DISTRICT UNKNOWN.

Unlike ‘Jenny’, the HR400 proved vastly more challenging in constructing a profile. Personal connections were scant, with neighbours knowing little about him — outside of suspicions regarding his work. With such a shallow pool of acquaintances and no friends to report, Nines had been forced to wade through the seedy depths of his digital diary.

No glowing accommodations resulted from this, nor much of anything at all, save his own personal torment. He had faced more exposure to bare human bodies than he had ever wished to experience—and through this endurance, hadn’t found anyone willing to comment.

Nines doubted this aversion was borne of any lethal culpability. Instead, a desire to conceal or deflect from the more minor crime of solicitation — most pronounced for those in martial unions. While understandable, it didn’t help matters, leaving the only tangible line of inquiry as a direct pursuit of the suspect. 

A task that would be easier said than done. 

Searching ‘THOD GRAWS’ on the criminal database had predictably garnered zero results — and while processes were underway to trace a number allotted to their booking, more time would be required to confirm results. 

Nines held little optimism. 

Even if the TSU managed to secure cooperation from local telecommunications companies, their best hope would be to acquire the device's last known location. If their culprit possessed any modicum of digital literacy, it would prove little use to them now.

SEARCH PARAMETERS ADJUSTED: ALL FILES. ACCESSING… PRE-ESTABLISHED KNOWLEDGE OF ROBOTICS / CYBERNETICS — INCLUDING MECHANICS OF CYBERLIFE ANDROIDS.

With their killer possessing far more than this rudimentary understanding, the conclusion to be drawn was clear. The process was a waste of time, a reality that exerted itself further the longer he studied the text on his HUD. 

It was a point he continued to mull over, with greater urgency in every minute since its logging. These killings were far removed from uncivilised acts of hatred — with conditions that rendered the victim’s physical and cognitive advantages completely redundant.

There was no senseless battery, just methodic and systematic destruction . Education and loathing working in tandem. A noxious coupling, and one that boded poorly for the next unwitting target—

“— RK900.”

The android bristled at the voice, its abrasive frequency triggering several system warnings.

Fowler had arrived back at the precinct, emerging from around the corner with a pastry clasped in his grasp. His fingers flexed and unflexed repeatedly against the crust in what the android could ascertain was a stress-induced ritual. His vital signs supported this, with blood pressure elevated beyond its already staggering baseline. 

The junior officer, who had been left to lie in a crumpled heap by his cohorts, quickly scrambled to his feet—attempting to re-establish his bearings, brushing down any dust clinging to his uniform. “Good Afternoon, Sir— I, uh — Welcome back —” 

The anxious man may as well have been saluting the photocopier — as their superior pointedly snubbed him. His focus was entirely on Nines, trained sharply as he brought his mangled snack to his mouth, scattering crumbs in the process. 

“You know, I wouldn't need to stress eat like this if I could trust my men to do as they’re told.” He sluggishly attempted to cover his lips, muffling a succeeding comment about his wife bemoaning his dietary choices. Nines wasn't paying attention, far more focused on the deluge of flakes cascading onto the ground. 

“Where is your partner?” 

The android then directed his sights to the other end of his desk, just barely able to discern the vacant seat from behind a cascading wall of data. 

He should have known Reed had yet to return. He was getting too much work done. 

With reluctance, he closed the files, watching as they receded into the dormant recesses of his CPU. “I recall him advising that he needed to use the restroom.” 

“Well, has he fallen in?” Fowler snapped, directing the brunt of his glower to the detective’s empty workstation. “Because I don’t remember pairing you up with the goddamn Invisible Man .” 

“I am confident he will return soon.” 

“Really. Because he wasn't sitting there when I left, and that was twenty minutes ago —

I don’t know if you know this, RK, but it doesn’t take that long to piss.” 

Truthfully, he had no idea when his partner had left — nor had he been concerned about timing his excretions. Having become more than a little disillusioned with his unwanted custody duties, the RK900 had been happy to plead ignorance concerning his whereabouts.

Clearly, Fowler clearly did not share in this indifference. Protruding eyes stayed honed on the empty chair before training accusingly to the android. The gesture spoke almost as loudly as his initial bellowing interjection, declaring with no uncertainty that the period of respite had ended.

“Go and get him. Now.” 

The RK900 considered protesting the order. Surely, he could not be expected to manage the toileting habits of a grown man . Although he conceded that ‘grown’ was a title applied rather loosely to the detective. Truly, only an adult in physicality and legality. 

Fowler’s restless hostility soon petered into weariness, lacking the energy to maintain it. His tensed shoulders fell slack, and he pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling. 

“This is the ninth unsolved android homicide in less than six months. I don't think I need to tell you how bad that looks. You need to bring your A-Game, or whatever letters Reed can recognise, or else it's gonna be a shitstorm for everyone. Is that clear?” 

Regrettably, it was: Ignore the man’s wishes and face the ramifications that came with allowing an overgrown infant to toddle away unsupervised. Words of vexation lingered bitterly on his tongue, scorching his throat as he swallowed them. The wheels of his chair then screeched to action as Nines pushed himself away. 

“Yes, Captain.” 

A new directive was accepted begrudgingly—FIND DETECTIVE REED—Ideally, before he could lodge silverware into an electrical socket or ingest a contaminant he found on the ground. 

When commencing his search, the android did so in ascending order of likelihood—naturally, starting where his partner claimed to be going. 

Sweeping the men's room stalls, he was welcomed by a procession of vacant waste receptacles. Boring daggers into each, as casts of red glared back, reflected in discoloured porcelain. Reaching the end of the line, he caught a clearer view of himself in one of the nearby mirrors. His LED stuttered perpetually, spotlighting the deep-set grimace contorting his features. 

As the utter redundancy of the task sunk in, he slammed the door of the penultimate stall, swiftly concluding it.

Reed wasn’t there. Of course he wasn’t.

Nines had already learned better than to trust his partner's word, especially concerning his frequent desertions. Were he to do so, his biocomponents would likely oxidise before he had time to finish his paperwork.

Fortunately for the android, he had other means of locating the human. A creature of habit, woefully predictable in his vices, his deductive protocol indicated two likely scenarios: Reed had either wandered home for an indeterminably long ‘break’ or retreated to the canteen to elevate his already exorbitant caffeine levels.

The RK900 decided to explore the latter, completing his search of the station—and also to avoid unnecessary visits to the man’s home. Reed's workspace was revolting enough; the android could only imagine the profound squalor he chose to live in.

Charting a steady course through the precinct, Nines sliced through several crowds, all of which parted obediently to avoid him. He paid little mind to their reaction. If anything, he was appreciative, as he wished to avoid any hindrances that might impede his return to work.

Approaching the canteen, the RK900 focused on the steel security door, currently latched shut. Despite this, his enhanced sensors detected two occupants inside—their heartbeats frustratingly calm, syncing with the gentle pulses of a touch-activated release button. 

It was good to know at least one of the partners was feeling relaxed.

The hums of amber drew Nines in, goading him to breach the threshold, dragging Reed kicking and screaming from his ill-earned tranquillity. As his hand hovered over the release, there was a sudden elevation in one of the heartbeats, as if the detective could sense his presence from behind the wall.

The android might have found this amusing had it not inspired such deep resentment.

He was about to make contact when he heard muffled voices from behind the entrance. The metal grating distorted the sounds, but it remained clear that a discussion was underway. Nines found it odd that anyone would choose to waste their lunch talking with Reed, curiosity briefly overcoming annoyance. 

He attempted to tap into the frequency patterns and, after some adjustments, managed to discern a few specifics:

Whoever this person was, they appeared to be a paragon of tolerance, engaged in what was an extremely one-sided exchange with Reed. He expelled an ongoing slew of brutish grunts while they offered calm, measured responses.

Given his incensed state, Nines assumed "plastic prick" and "tin can" featured heavily in his vocabulary. He found a morbid appeal in discovering what was being said behind closed doors, considering how unpleasant the man had proven face-to-face…

There was a sudden ring of feedback from a particularly loud eruption, severing his connection. Nines covered his ear, soothing the pulse in his acoustic sensor as he pulled back in disappointment. The exercise had failed to satisfy any of his developing intrigue — with the door preventing a stable link. Diagnostics suggested enhanced proximity would be required to bypass this issue.

After a brief deliberation, the RK900 conceded to the growing compulsion. Pressing his ear to the metal, he renewed his attempt to decrypt the mumblings. Clarity began to emerge as he was permitted voyeuristic participation in the conversation:

"…This isn't Connor we're talking about; the thing would kill me.”

"Sounds to me that all hope is not lost. You just need to try being nice."

"Tell me: What am I supposed to do that it would consider 'being nice'? I don't know if you've noticed, but it doesn't like anything. Except licking up blood and skulking around alleyways like it's my goddamn sleep paralysis demon."

Upon hearing the voice of the previously unidentified participant, their presence became less of an anomaly.

Officer Tina Chen was more tolerant (and tolerable) than most humans he had encountered — the least amiable aspect of her being the company she chose to keep. 

Although he supposed that wasn't a fair assessment of all her associates. The ST300 receptionist she spent an inordinate amount of time with seemed pleasant enough. It was only really Detective Reed — who solidified his membership to the inner circle by acting as its perpetual storm cloud — that proved problematic.

“You’re being ridiculous. I'm sure he likes lots of things.” 

Still, she was reasonably adept at shielding herself from the frequent downpours, as demonstrated by the sharp riposte. Nines pursed his lips approvingly, leaning closer in anticipation of further rebuke. It inspired more enjoyment than expected: listening in to a disagreement without actively participating. A response that seemingly shed light on human affinity for ‘gossiping’, as well as RK800’s fondness for poorly scripted televised dramas…

Unfortunately, the RK900 was robbed from further engagement with the production, as his sensors warned of another figure approaching the canteen. Officer Beaufort Monroe—a man he was perpetually stunned had managed to pass his DPD literacy screening—came to a stop behind him. Breathing coarse puffs down his neck before clapping a palm onto his shoulder:

“Hey, buddy. Mind scoochin’ over a notch? I need’ta grab some joe before I keel over.”

Nines tensed at the bastardised English, his processors working overtime to comprehend it. His focus then shifted to the hand before the scrutinous gaze shot to its owner, demanding an explanation. 

This wasn’t received, as the response instead came in a startled retraction. The human's limb pulled away sharply before latching defensively onto his chest. “Whoa, Jesus — ” 

He hissed under his breath, inexplicably shocked that Nines had taken issue with his graceless actions. After a moment to calm himself, the tense grip slackened, and his fingers migrated to the cusp of his scraggly chin. 

“Hey bro, did you…uh…” He stroked at the hair, brow tensed, as though attempting to spark some life into the underused synapses of his mind, “…get contacts or something?” 

Monroe had clearly neglected to offer some much-needed insight into his ‘thoughts’, as the words made little sense without it. Nines informed of such, meeting the fumbled question with a suitably impassive dismissal. 

“I have no idea what you are implying.” 

He then turned his attention back to the door, resuming his monitoring of Chen and Reed. A good portion of their debate had been missed—a misfortune he blamed on the officer—leaving him to scramble for context:

"Where would I even take it? Sal's Premier Gas and Auto Repair?"

"Take him wherever you like; it doesn't really matter. It's more about the gesture than anything."

Any progress made in this effort was quickly diminished as Monroe insisted on speaking again:

“Sorry buddy, I didn’t mean to offend ya…they look good! I mean, a bit intense, but if that’s what you’re going for. The chicks really dig them piercin’—” 

“Your body is demonstrating signs of sleep deprivation,” Nines interrupted, glaring at the blithering cretin aimlessly flapping his gums. “This does not necessitate the use of stimulants. My recommendation would be hydration and a good night's rest.”

The officer's piston-like spluttering halted. His jaw hung slack, eyes retreating into the crinkled folds of his lids until something shifted beneath them. A rogue spark of cognition. 

His newly established focus seemed trained on the RK900’s jacket—specifically, the identifier beneath its collar. 

“…Shit.” His slumped back hastily straightened as his narrowed gaze bulged with vigilance. “Sorry, I, uh, thought you were—” 

The man failed to complete the sentence, leaving it suspended in the air as he haphazardly veered onto the next. He punctuated the change in trajectory with another perplexed trace of his jaw. 

“I mean, you two are different guys, right? You don't share, like, a mind link or whatever?”

Having exhausted his patience with the man and his mystifying communications, Nines put a decisive end to them  “Go away, Officer Monroe. This doesn't concern you.” 

Seeming to realise a mistake had been made and he was swimming far out of his intellectual depth, Monroe soon accepted defeat. 

“…Ya know, you’re probably right.” With a flurried nod, he began to step back, pointing down the adjacent corridor. “I’m just gonna…grab that water…” 

He then proceeded to scurry away, making a sharp beeline around the corner, weathered sneakers scraping the floor as he narrowly avoided tripping. Nines waited until Monroe was out of view—and his footsteps no longer audible—before attempting to detangle the jumbled threads of their interaction.

He quickly ascertained that the results were unlikely to justify the effort.

With the distraction gone—and eager to glean what details remained of the conversation in the canteen—he pressed his ear back to the door:

"Look, I'm not saying you have to be besties, but not completely hating each other would be a start…you never know; he might like your tamer side. You do have some endearing qualities, Gav. Buried deep, deep down in your soul. It's time to let them shine."

"Wow. Thanks a lot, Ti. I don't know what I'd ever do without your glowing words of encouragement.”

Nines awaited Chen's retort, pressed keenly against the barrier, but was met with underwhelming silence. The rally of quips ended so unceremoniously it left him to wonder if he was experiencing a technical fault.

Arching back, he inspected his HUD, checking the established hearing loop for any errors. Just as he was about to reboot the drivers, a flutter of air rushed past him, propelled by the nearby passageway.

Reed came to stand uncomfortably close, his nose gently brushing the threads of Nines’ undershirt. He stumbled forward, stopping just shy of a full-on collision before awkwardly reeling back, hissing curses under his breath.

As he looked up, locking eyes with the animate barrier, his muddled expression warped into one of repulsed bewilderment. His mouth flapped open and shut in a surreal mimicry of a fish as his eyes widened to matched proportions.

Nines experienced a slight hitch of confidence, adjacent to insecurity, at allowing his position to be so easily compromised. This was until he had absorbed the full brunt of his partner's childish pouting and reminded himself why he was there:

FIND DETECTIVE REED PREVENT INJURY RETURN TO DESK

With resolve, the android advanced. His back straightened, bringing attention to an already apparent height difference as he loomed authoritatively over the human.

"You said you were going to the bathroom, although I anticipated I might find you here.”

The words were met with an indignant splutter as Reed tried and failed to form any conjecture. Chen was making an admirable effort to act as though she didn't exist—shrinking back in her chair, seemingly attempting to slip into a nearby wastebasket.

Nines wasn't about to let her feign any degree of innocence. While she proved adept at dissuading some of her friend’s more pronounced shortcomings, she was not guiltless in encouraging others—such as her current support of his already paltry work ethic.

"Good afternoon, Officer Chen." He nodded to the woman, trying to behave cordially while also maintaining an air of assertion. "I must request my partner back now. He is supposed to be working.”

"How long were you standing there?" Reed had regained sufficient coordination over his flapping mouth to fire off a snarled retort. “Were you eavesdropping on us? Creepy motherfucker.”

The android disregarded this accusation, 'Protocol—Reed' having activated at the foreseeable outburst, lowering its pitch by several decibels.

“Honestly, it's totally fine,” Chen insisted, waving her hand dismissively. "I think Gavin is just tired. Really needs a break , you know?"

His partner had taken enough ‘breaks’ to service several patrols, a fact he would have pointed out if not for the sudden warping of Reed's already cartoonish expression. He seemed to be trapped in introspection, grappling with several opposing emotions—until his friend jabbed him in the ribs, startling him back to attention.

Oh.  I understand.

It would appear the missed context of their discussion was about to unveil itself. The android waited in anticipation, ready to quash whatever scheme had been conspired between them. 

"Yeah, Tina's right, actually." Reed's mouth contorted into a vague resemblance of a smile, moving in seeming autonomy from the rest of his dour face. "I'm really worn out from reviewing case files; need to get out and stretch my legs. What do you say we head to lunch?”

The anticipation dissipated as his current strain of cognition was stonewalled. 

I understand. Perhaps not. 

It was an unexpected outcome, unnerving him with how persistently this seemed to be happening. An example of how much work was still needed in his social education.

He made a note to confer with RK800 later, hopeful he could provide some insight. 

In the meantime, it had not escaped his notice that Chen was also confused. Staring at her friend, eyebrows arched to the brim of her cap, leading Nines to question just how much he had misconstrued. 

Perhaps he had assumed the worst of both of them, with no apparent deceit detectable in his partner's voice…

"I'm sorry, Detective Reed,” he began slowly, hoping to secure some transparency from additional probing. “But I believe I have misunderstood. By 'we', I assume you are referring to yourself and Officer Chen, correct?”

There was a pause as the two friends exchanged an indecipherable look. Nines' confidence dwindled further, unable to interpret the nuance of their communication.

He wished humans wouldn't do this, wasting time with tedious prodding and hinting when they could achieve much more by speaking directly. Communication with androids seemed much more streamlined, far less reliant on extraneous cues—

"Actually, I meant you and me.”

Whatever remained of his stricken confidence fluttered apart like a house of cards. There were waves of spite and discomfort discernable in the detective’s tone, but these were an ever-presence. Other than that, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. 

These actions didn't make any sense. Though he supposed it was far from the first instance in which the man had defied logic. Poorly constructed conjecture and ignorance were simply par for the course.

"I understand that android physiology may not be your area of expertise, but surely you know I do not need to eat?”

"Yeah, well, I do.” Reed bit his lip with such firmness it came close to puncturing the skin. “So I thought it might be nice if you joined me…dipshit.”

Cracks in the performance began to reveal themselves as Chen deflated at the expletive, the intrigued sparkle in her eyes dulled with disappointment. She seemed suspiciously invested in the development as the android's sensors flared to life, alerting him to deceit.

It drew him back from the brink of hopelessness, assuring that his initial deductions had not been wholly misinformed. Reed stood firm despite his slip, too stubborn in his pride to abandon the charade. Chen, on the other hand, demonstrated none of the same bravado - the clear weak link in their operation.

Nines sought to exploit this. Turning his attention back to the woman, he increased the weight of his stare, hoping the added intensity would break her lingering resistance. 

"This invitation is unexpected, to say the least, Detective. Almost as if it may have been encouraged by some outsider influence.”

The approach worked a little too well. While Chen cracked under the pressure, she proved exceedingly averse to the ensuing confrontation, opting to retreat from it.

“Wow, would you look at the time?” She gestured exaggeratedly at her watch, failing to take note of the ‘Low Battery’ prompt. “I better be going; I'll leave you guys to it.”

She was on her feet before either party had a chance to protest, whispering something into Reed’s ear before tidily breezing past. Nines had failed to hear what she said but overheard the man's response, a hissed comparison between the woman and a traitor of biblical legend. 

As the canteen door slid shut behind her, the partners were left to stand in silent proximity. Reed appeared profoundly scorned by his abandonment, glaring viciously at the steel. Nines detected a hint of irony, given the circumstances that had led him to his current situation.

After allowing the man some time to recover from his current tantrum, Nines grew impatient with the delay, preparing to drag him back to their station should he prove unwilling to do so himself.

"…So," Reed spoke abruptly, refusing to so much as glance in his direction. “Are you in or out?

Yet another unforeseen development, to which Nines whipped his head around, utterly bewildered.

Surely, the man would not persist in this utterly ridiculous plot. He gave Reed a moment to reconsider, to acknowledge that there was no longer a witness to boast victory of whatever wager had been made."…I beg your pardon?"

" Lunch ." The word was terse and biting—as though delivered in tremendous pain. He was clearly not happy with the arrangement, baffling the android all the more as to why he was persisting. "Are you coming with me?"

There had to be some ulterior motive. Perhaps an excuse to get out of the precinct, without the immediate risk of Nines searching for him…

Regardless of the reasons why Reed wished to subject them to this, it could prove a satisfactory compromise—allowing the detective to claim perceived victory over his partner, with Nines taking advantage of this fleeting amiability to proceed with the progress he had been forced to postpone.

With any luck, it would also appease Fowler. Demonstrating his willingness to cooperate with Reed whilst also ensuring he remained close, under conditions where he’d be less likely to run away—

INCOMING TRANSMISSION - DATA TRANSFER REQUESTED.  SOURCE:  DETROIT POLICE DEPARTMENT - CENTRAL - TSU UNIT #7 PRIORITY — URGENT.

The cognitive strain was disturbed by notifications cascading down Nines’ HUD. After verifying for authenticity, he approved the transfer request, pausing to review the ensuing data. Admittedly, their findings proved more valuable than anticipated, with reasonably precise geolocation. It was a reasonable place to start, information he'd make a note to share with his partner in pursuing a potential lead…

After he had been fed. Which, with any luck, would make him somewhat more compliant. 

"I suppose it needn't be a complete waste of time. It may give us a valuable opportunity to review what we know about the case, away from the distractions of the station."

"Yeah. Sure. Whatever."

This meal would need to prove particularly gratifying. Hopefully, the man intended to take them somewhere pleasant.

[capsarcastica]

Alien: Romulus Review

The longer the movie goes on, the worse it gets. It has promise, and the trailers certainly sold it. But it reminds me of the two worst Alien movies. Like Alien Resurrection, it's technically well done and has all the elements that should work but don't. Like Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, it's a collection of remade scenes from better Alien movies that comes across like a well-made fan film.

There is stuff to like. The visuals are amazing. The shots of space are the best in the series. There's a lot of extra attention paid to the ship drifting through space, the station, and the planetary rings. The sets are gorgeous, perfectly capturing the classic look and feel of the original film using old school tech. The practical alien effects mostly look good. It balances that fine line between audiences already knowing what they look like and keeping them mysterious and creepy.

Between this and 2022's Prey, it's disappointing that Disney's 20th Century Studios is just rehashing the original stories rather than give something new. Almost everything has a sense of been there, done that. The story is basically the same as the original. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. But this feels more like rehashing rather than homage. It's like a Greatest Hits collection by a cover band. It works, but why bother when the original stuff is so readily available and done so much better. They even threw in the "Get away from her…" line from Aliens. Throwbacks worked in the cheesy AvP movies but not in something trying to be serious.

There's really only two truly original moments worth noting. The first is when the characters try to get through a room full of facehuggers without being noticed. The reasoning behind this is dubious at best, but it is suspenseful. Except for the fact that the facehuggers look like the kind of animatronics that would appear in a Disneyland line queue. The other is the Zero-G sequence. I wish this had more than just the act one set up and third act pay off, since it's really an inventive idea. It throws the aliens off giving the characters an advantage, and getting through a tunnel filled with floating acid would be suspenseful. Except that the CGI in this one scene looks really fake.

I do like how they connected the events of Prometheus and Alien: Covenant to the original Alien. Given the lackluster reception to the last two, it would've been easy to just ignore them and move on. This at least provides some closure on Ridley Scott's last two for those who did like them. And it connects to why the company wants the alien beyond just a bioweapon.

There's only one character that's interesting, Andy the defective android. He starts off mentally handicapped who is nice but is upgraded with the local science officer's chip making him effective yet part of the corporate machine. It's an interesting dynamic having the characters decide between the good but broken and the evil but effective versions. Rain is the main character, but the blandest heroine this series has produced. She's literally only there cause the others need Andy. The rest are basically characters straight out of an 80s slasher film. The dull heroic type, the jerk who just makes things worse, the pregnant girl who has no personality, and the Asian cannon fodder girl. The first three did a good job developing the cast so it was shocking when one died. But here it's pretty obvious who isn't making it.

The biggest problem with the cast is that none of them are really believable. The series, aside from AVP:R, has always featured more mature characters who generally made smart decisions. It's hard to buy this cast as a bunch of grizzled miners who have worked 1400+ hours. And they make really dumb Friday the 13th level decisions. Like in the finale when Rain goes back into the alien nest just to save someone who should be dead when she was in the clear. It's trying to have its Aliens finale without understanding what went into it. The actors are serviceable, but never portray the sheer terror that's needed for this series.

The legacy character cameo is, like the movie, technically well done but a terrible bit of story. Resurrecting Ian Holm seems like an interesting idea, and would have if it had been just a cameo. But he becomes central to the plot and is featured far too much. Beyond nostalgia bait, there's no reason not to just use another actor to be an entirely new android. The animatronics used for the puppet looks really good, and Daniel Betts does a near perfect job recreating the voice. It's like the Dr. Loomis cameo in Halloween Kills.

Then there's the other legacy cameo, the original alien. This has the unfortunate side effect of rendering everything Ripley did pointless. It then raises a bunch of questions the movie doesn't bother to address. Why is the Nostromo still so intact? How did the alien go from being vaporized in the shuttle's engines to being cocooned? How did the station get eggs from a single drone? Why is there now a pupae stage? How long is the development cycle? Stuff like this makes it seem like the script was a collection of moments that where later tied together.

And finally there's the horrible ending. It's the ending that really makes or breaks a film. For all the grief fans give Alien 3, it's hard not to find the last scene poignant with Ripley giving her life to end the alien threat once and for all. Instead of doing anything interesting, this film goes for a nearly beat-for-beat remake of the finale to Alien Resurrection. The absolute worst of the series. The one that fans remember more for Sigourney Weaver making a basketball shot than anything else in the film. They could have stole an ending from literally anything. But they chose to give us another alien-human hybrid that is just as dumb and somehow looks even worse.

I was really looking forward to this. Fede Alvarez's Evil Dead is an amazing reboot and I was hoping this would follow suit. But like James Mangold's Indiana Jones, there's just something lost when a great director tries to make lightning strike twice under Disney's leadership.

[marcusrobertobaq]

What Connor's investigation is for?

An actual investigation where he's sent to look for clues to aid CyberLife to protect consumers from potential dangers (in reality just hidding CL's trash under a rug) and put all the threat down the best he can;

A test by CyberLife where by putting this prototype in direct contact with deviants this android would start developing a natural curiosity about his own identity, looking for answers he was never really supposed to find under said official "investigation" cuz the clues he was supposed to find were something CyberLife already knew and were actually trying to hide;

50% of each, cuz the idea was developing an android that can resist temptations on its own rather that following feelings, pure curiosity and interest for autonomy like 99% likely will cuz, well, androids. But in case they're part of the 99% let the megacorp use it to 'em advantage.

Marcus, stop being a bastard.

[caliburn-the-sword]

winter thoughts chapter 14-25

still not enough scarlet. miss marissa meyer why would you do this to me

"she’d also noticed how Thorne stood a little straighter in Kai’s presence, like he wanted the emperor to be impressed by him" back on spreading my bisexual thorne agenda again LMAO

now why do i suspect that cress will end up back with the shells at some point??? it would be interesting to see her since they're like kin to her, especially since she was spared/worse off than them. i'd LOVE to see her perspective

cress' development from pretending to be brave to BEING brave <3 fake it til you make it queen (she's just like me fr)

damn thorne is like actually self conscious

kai is such a dumb bitch WHY WOULD HE LEAVE ALL HIS ANDROIDS BEHIND??? he should have brought a reprogrammed escort droid as a bodyguard for when levana inevitably does something horrible. in fact ALL of the earthen leaders should have escort droid bodyguards

omg does anyone other than scarlet know wolf's name or do they all straight up think that fresh out the womb his parents just named him wolf LOL (given the names of the girls that might just be a regular name. but then that begs the question: is wolf choosing wolf as a wrestling name or whatever the equivalent of a wrestling champion going in as "kyle" and nothing like going in being called skullcrusher???)

excited for winter to meet kai. these royal kids are interesting

okay after the bleeding walls winter/jacin scene i understand why one would be a fan of the hurt/comfort trope. that was very tender and sweet

DING DING DING DING DING ALARM BELLS GOING OFF IN MY HEAD WHY IS AIMERY CLOSING THE DOOR JAIL JAIL JAIL

EWWWWWW someone play sixteen by ayesha erotica. YIKES. DUDE SHE IS 17. I'M 17 AND CAN'T IMAGINE GETTING MARRIED. ESPECIALLY TO A HOWEVER OLD AIMERY IS. EWWWWW

got it, marissa meyer!! huge age gaps are only bad when it's a character we don't like. seriously i'm trying to figure out the range where meyer goes okay this is creepy af. because 4 years between cresswell is fine by her standard, but 10 years between levana and evret is not. i'm not too sure about the gap between winter and aimery but i'm assuming that aimery's gotta be more than 4 years older than her as according to these arbitrary rules. yikes (this isn't anti marissa meyer because she CLEARLY decides to be better judging by renegades which didn't have any weird age gaps from what i can remember)

it's okay kai we're all captivated by winter

WINTER WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT. SO completely icky that levana is marrying someone her own stepdaughter's age. but now i think it would be hilarious for kai and levana to get married, just so that i can call him a dilf

i hope that it takes them a while to clear up that jacin is actually on the rampion's side. just because i like drama. would like to see someone punch him in the face ~as a treat~ (this makes it sound bad but i SWEAR i don't hate him, it's just like i said for kai i like a man that's battered and bruised)

thank GOODNESS levana is searching the ship. i would not have had respect for her as an antagonist if she would be this easily fooled by a group of teenagers. i can't wait to see how they get out of this pickle

i love to see cinder as confident in her identity as a cyborg <3

damn thorne took all that "be the man cress wants you to be" shit seriously. self sacrificing bastard. hopefully he gets thrown in with scarlet

nevermind thorne is back lol

I KNEW IT. SEPARATED FROM CRESS. CRESS IS GONNA END UP EITHER WITH SCARLET OR WITH THE SHELLS

i LOVE how winter uses the fact that people underestimate her to her advantage. i honestly thought she was gonna have cress turned into another pet. this was nice as well. she must have quickly realised that cress was a shell and that was the only form of protection that she could afford her

because wolf's home has flowers planted outside it, one or both of his parents are gonna die to be all symbolic of how he can't reclaim his past and needs to move on with his future

was gonna make a "marissa meyer stop holding scarlet hostage i need another appearance of her immediately" and realised oh wait scarlet essentially IS being held hostage LMAO. if i don't get a scarlet pov chapter soon i'm gonna make like thorne when the soap got replaced and RIOT

@eddisfargo @francforever @winterrhayle @winterpinetrees @shellyseashell

[volansoft]

Mobile App Development Company Jaipur | VolanSoft

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[mitigatedchaos]

General Post for Monday, April 8, 2024

(~1,600 words, 8 mins)

1 - Robot Jobpocalypse Notes: A brief theory that long-term redistribution to manage job losses from automation should consider focusing on inherently more scarce factors of production (land and materials), rather than more dynamic ones (labor and capital).

2 - Niche Smartphone Notes: If the pace of the smartphone industry were slower, niche smartphones might be more feasible.

3 - Coalitional Politics Notes: Many coalition-internal communications take place in public. Possible implications for loyalty vs. truthfulness.

4 - Lab Leak Notes: Separating the "strong" from "weak" lab leak hypothesis for Covid-19.

5 - Property Notes: Not all labor is equally effortful or valuable, so should claims on property be weighted? Entropy implies the gradual degradation of land and products to a "natural condition," which we might expect to either invalidate or weaken a property claim.

-☆☆☆-

1: Robot Jobpocalypse Notes

I've said this before, but I just want to reiterate:

Everyone already knows about the problem where automation can take over a job faster than the economy finds new jobs for those currently employed in that category. (Obviously we could talk about abstract skill capital that they've invested in the job that has now been made less valuable.)

But over the long term, the thing to think about is a bidding up of the prices of land, materials, and energy. For the first two, we can think of this in terms of rents (e.g. "land rents"), as the supply of land is highly inelastic. In theory, the gains from trade should make everyone better off, but that's only if you can bid high enough to get enough resources to survive. If people could always go back to subsistence farming if they had to, the trade would (almost) always make them better off than subsistence farming.

But without land, they can't. It's not just a matter of not selling, as land is taxed, and higher-value uses will bid up the price of the land, and thus the assessed tax.

We want a redistribution that's dynamic and which will respond to changes in market conditions, which won't dampen investment in capital and production, and which is less subject to political capture. Thus the thing to focus on is rent for land and materials, the inherently scarce factors of production, rather than labor (highly responsive to effort) or capital (material configurations).

2: Niche Smartphone Notes

[ @jadagul ]

They're currently putting out a 4.7" rugged phone, which is actually tempting. But if I wanted a keyboard phone from them, the most recent option is the Titan Slim, which came out in 2021 and runs Android 11. (My current phone is on Android 14.)

[...]

They can make some niche phones, but they just can't cover all the niches. There are too many! And because they're a niche producer, they also have lower quality across a variety of metrics: they can't put as many resources into their software stuff because they can't amortize it across nearly as many phones. In order to get the full advantages of a modern industrial toolchain, you need to standardize some stuff so you can spread development work across a ton of devices.

It's interesting to note that the extremely rapid rate of software development, including finding and patching security flaws, is such an obstacle.

In an Elfworld scenario, where some users are buying a phone for 15-25 year use, firms might be able to amortize the costs by updating the model less frequently, and charging more for the base model. They would likely also maintain smaller teams, who would work on the phones for longer.

Smartphones probably won't become such a stable technology for decades, however, and even if they did, we should expect fashion cycles.

3: Coalitional Politics Notes

We've all seen politicians, political operatives, and political party enthusiasts lie a lot. Why don't they lie to (or bullshit (as in speak as though 'indifferent to truth')) outsiders all the time?

There are a number of reasons. One may be that an insider who constantly lies to outsiders all the time could also lie to fellow insiders, and insiders cannot reliably tell whether someone is a general liar or merely a partisan liar.

Since people range in their level of partisanship, this suggests a curve where, from the perspective of someone who is moderately partisan, a speaker can trade some integrity for some partisan loyalty, and vice versa. Someone who has no loyalty and no integrity is of little value. At some point, partisan loyalty will be at odds with the truth due to the inherent contradiction in interests of the coalition members or else just simple imperfection, so someone cannot be both perfectly loyal and perfectly truthful.

For political coalitions, a lot of what is essentially coalition-internal communication takes place in public.

4: Lab Leak Notes

The debate over the potential lab leak origin of Covid-19 has not been settled yet, despite the article on ACX. People are arguing over the individual studies cited in responses to themotte's tracingwoodgrains.

However, we should differentiate between the "strong" lab leak hypothesis and the "weak" lab leak hypothesis.

Strong Hypothesis: Covid-19 was a bioweapon deliberately designed by the government of China and leaked on purpose for some strategic goal.

Weak Hypothesis: Covid-19 was a coronavirus being studied at the lab in Wuhan which studies coronaviruses. This virus may have been the subject of gain-of-function research not intended to create a bioweapon. Subsequently, as the result of an unintentional accident, the virus leaked from the lab, resulting in a global pandemic.

The criticism of the lab leak hypothesis from the more censorious 2020 libs was that, "The lab leak hypothesis is a racist conspiracy theory." The strong hypothesis is a conspiracy theory, but there is no requirement that it is racist - it is sufficient that the government of China openly identify as Communist. The weak hypothesis is neither of these things.

5: Property Notes

There is an Anarcho-Capitalist theory that ownership of unclaimed land is gained by "mixing your labor with it." Many people would ask why this creates a morally-valid indefinite ownership claim.

Alternatively, we could consider a functional decomposition of the operation.

"Mixing your labor" with the land means using [ attention ] to direct [ energy ] to configure [ matter ] according to your intentions. That might mean, for instance, cutting down trees on a lot in order to construct a fence, and then plowing the lot in order to plant a farm for later harvest. However...

Some people may have the intention for the lot, "It should be a wildlife preserve," which looks an awful lot like doing nothing, or perhaps just posting some signs.

Not all labor is of equal intensity. Should someone who uses less labor, or transforms the lot less, have a proportionally lower % claim on the lot? What does a % claim look like as compared to a full claim?

The configuration on the lot will degrade actively with time if it is not maintained. In our example, the wooden fence may break down and rot. Does this degrade the claim on the lot itself?

The metadata about the lot will also be lost, until it may not be feasible to resolve disputing claims of ownership with reasonable certainty.

Back in January, I wrote:

(Side note: The configuration of material inputs, like ore deposits, in the environment, relates to the amount of energy and attention required to recover them. Recycling is mostly about reducing the long-term recovery costs, keeping materials “near the surface.”)

Let's consider an example.

Joe mines a bunch of iron ore beneath a plot of land. The energy and attention required for most desired human uses is reduced.

Joe refines the iron into steel. The energy and attention required for most desired human uses is again reduced. (Did you know 93% of structural steel is recycled?)

Joe shapes the steel into a grill. This reduces the value of the material for other industrial uses, but increases the value for those who want a grill specifically. The steel is now configured as capital equipment.

Joe opens a hamburger shop, and uses the grill to grill hamburgers which he sells to customers.

After deciding to close the hamburger shop, Joe decides to explode the grill for a gender reveal party, scattering pieces all over the lot. The steel has been scattered throughout the environment, increasing the cost in energy and attention to gather it again if someone wants to do something else with it.

The value of the iron is subjective. That's conventional economics. However, there are typical uses that we can say will be common in most near-term human preference environments.

What makes this interesting is that within that common frame, in steps #1 and #2, Joe is pushing the iron up a value gradient. This value addition could then be lost to entropy through abandonment. For instance, in step #1, a landslide could occur, covering the iron back up and requiring it to be mined again. In step #2, the steel could be left out in the rain to rust, requiring it to be refined again.

Preventing this loss to entropy requires active attention and energy. (For instance, securing a nearby hillside to prevent the landslide scenario, or building and maintaining a barn to keep out the rain in the weathering scenario.)

Suppose that Joe abandons the land for 100 years. The steel rusts, and a landslide covers it up. A new prospector, Harold, comes across the land, finds no markings, excavates the rusted iron, refines it to make tools and sells those tools.

Shortly thereafter, Joe returns. Given that the land and materials returned to the natural condition, wouldn't it be strange to invalidate Harold's claim in this scenario?

Supporting a governing system, which could track ownership of the parcel of land and extracted materials, would require ongoing energy and attention on Joe's part. However, the system of deeds and records could be used as an alternative to Joe physically hanging out on the plot of land at all times, which he would have to do anyway to prevent the reversion of the plot of land to the natural condition.

This movement of materials along value and energy gradients is something to consider for a deeper analysis, perhaps oriented towards the development of new ideological principles.