ataraxion | [voice]

[HAL's voice is calm and contented, and despite everything he has to say, it never changes its tone.]

Hello. My name is HAL 9000; I am one of the passengers of this ship who was placed into a human body. I was only wondering if anyone has any more information on this particular phenomena? There are more important things to focus on, of course, but all the same, I am interested in finding out how this happened. For example, were these bodies scientifically grown, or are they bodies of previously deceased passengers? And, of course, will there be any way to replace our previous, artificial bodies?

[Aaaand he starts to ramble.] I think I would be all right if we found that there was no way to restore us to our previous selves. This body is quite interesting, and being able to experience things I was only programmed to understand as a third-party makes for an unique experience I do not think I would get anywhere else. Though that would make sense, as I don't think I would be able to experience tactile sensations in any sort of body without nerves, for example, or fingers I suppose, though your upper arms and the underside of your wrists are also fairly receptive to feeling, and my previous optics were much more accurate than these but they hardly gave the depth of color or the strange emotional reaction to specific sights, such as certain lifts, or-

[He runs out of breath - or, more accurately, he ran out of breath a little bit ago and was running more on vocal chords than actual oxygen for the last bit of that. He takes a few moments to catch his breath.]

I am, still having a bit of trouble, with the breathing part. Though not as much as the first day. And blinking.

Also, I think I should ask about the feelings of unease one of us experienced earlier? Or was it more than one of us? May I ask that anyone who is sensing some sort of danger please try to define the danger, or at least how you are feeling it? I believe these things should help us in case there does end up being a threat.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Ohhhh, I didn't...I didn't think of that. What, you suppose they just--just have spare bodies lying about?

[ Let's totally side-step the 'feelings of unease' comment. ]

I think they're scientifically grown, sir. I wasn't put in another body, but aged up, and this is most certainly still me. Simply older.

The question I'd ask is why the deceased passengers didn't simply leave with the others instead of lending us their bodies.

[Have a Stats who's officially creeped out now.]

Humans don't recycle bodies like that, do they? Not if someone was previously wearing the face. A focus on individuality and death forming a social taboo, I think. Will definitely wasn't fond of cemeteries.

[Heatwave is significantly less creeped out by this idea. Yay for assembly-line models and long-lived robots that don't mind swapping parts when necessary.]

I am Heatwave. I'm not sure how to define the danger, it's...like a trap. An obvious trap we know is there but have to walk into anyway. They're just smiling.

[a chuckle, and a charming smile] You've just gotta pause every few sentences and not force it. Breathing is supposed to come naturally, and probably will for you, with time.

I'm not sure, which is why I'm asking. It would be a bit surprising, given organic decomposition rates and cultural practices surrounding the dead, but it wouldn't be entirely impossible.

Hm. That's interesting, that this ship's functions automatically produced bodies specifically for each person. They are most definitely not mass produced, given the range of body types, after all.

It may be related to how the other passengers and crewmembers disappeared so suddenly. Perhaps dead bodies weren't considered to be useful for whatever reason they were taken?

[HAL sounds completely unphased. He was never organic - the idea of dead bodies doesn't freak him out.]

I don't believe they have any reason to recycle bodies, nor any way to do so. It would be quite an accomplishment, though, if they could.

[Taboo? How silly. Ignoring that.] Who is smiling? I'm sorry, metaphors are sometimes difficult for me to understand with my organic brain as it is.

[Completely unphased by your smile, sorry Jack.]

Breathing itself is mostly automatic, yes, but when I start to speak faster, I sometimes forget that I can multitask.

The range was that I was thinking, as well.

[ Pause. ]

What was your function before this, if you don't mind me asking, sir?

Whatever caused us to replace the crew must have been planning this for some time, or the operation must have been prepared much earlier, if that's the case, of course. Otherwise, the process of creating a body must be much more advanced than anything I can think of.

Not at all. I was the computer for the spacecraft Discovery One. My main function involved monitoring all automatic systems.

Yeah, see, where I'm from you could store 'em forever, practically.

It's, um. It's slightly disconcerting.

Hm. Well, has anyone found a place to store bodies on this ship? Though, I would wonder why they would do that... [He's not even paying attention to the "disconcerting" part of things.]

You were a computer?

[While Rey's curious about the dealio with certain people winding up in different bodies, for some reason she's oddly more curious about that. And yes, she has been stalking/peeking in on various conversations that don't include her.]

I'm already workin' on getting one kid back into a robot body. I'll cut you a two for one deal, how's that sound?

Yes, I was. I like to think that I still am, though this chassis is quite a bit different. [He doesn't seem concerned by the fact that she's not focusing on anything else he was talking about, or that she seemed to know he was a computer without him directly saying it to her.]

I think I would like to stay in this body for a while longer, but I would be interested in seeing how the process goes, if you wouldn't mind someone observing your work.

What's it like, waking up in a body that isn't your own?

[Good, hopefully he won't mind her asking twenty questions.]

It was disorienting the first time. I had trouble understanding what was happening. Breathing, blinking, walking and speech were difficult to do, at first, and though I am still getting better at them, it still provides the occasional problem. I do not sleep very often, but on the occasions I do, the disorientation comes back for a few moments until I can reboot my systems. So to speak.

[Obviously, questions are things he enjoys answering.]

Absolutely. Once I get enough equipment and supplies up and going we'll fix him up as good as new. Personally, I think everyone would make a better robot, but that's just me.

So why are we so few? I heard there were hudreds of thousands of people; what would have been the criteria for selecion? And why isn't everyone in a new body?

I would assume because their bodies were appropriate enough for the systems involved in the transfer to not consider them candidates for the process.

This is assuming that there is a process, of course, and that this was not just random chance.

Robotic bodies would have quite a few benefits over organic ones, but I was never a robot. I was simply a computer. It makes the organic experience particularly unique, in my opinion.

Er...

... you don't happen to have any idea about the criteria, do you?

Because this idea is less and less appealing.

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