ａｕｄｉｏ

[uncurse]

Is there anyone still dealing with, uh - bonding issues - since the jump?

I feel like if I start thinking I'm out of the woods, it's gonna bite me in the ass - but it's been a few days since I had the pleasure.

[ grudging sarcasm drips in her voice. the whole connection bit seems to have been fairly constant over the past few weeks - emma had barely gotten a breather, herself - but still, she's hesitant to go the optimistic route when everything's so overwhelmingly sucked for her lately. not even lately - since the curse broke, really. right now, she hasn't entirely ruled out a full-stop hemorrhage and vulcan mindmeld (or your appropriate, un-fourthwally sci-fi equivalent) being some fourth ring of empathy hell. ]

Maybe next time, we can just try trust falls, instead.

[ honestly, she's been trying to dodge coming to the ship's network about this at all for fear that anyone who'd gotten memories from her like irene had might crawl out of the woodwork and recognize her. but at this point, she wants answers more than she wants to hide from her past mistakes, and her present vulnerability. ]

Comments

[logicunlocked]

"Bonding issues," heh. Well, that's a way of putting it.

For me though, that's probably meant the other way 'round from what you mean it.

[uncurse]

What do you mean by the other way around?

[ because she definitely meant it as she has deep-seated issues with bonding attempts, particularly given that this one was forced. emma doesn't like airing her shit. ever. in fact, the less people know about the crap she's been through, the better, because it means it's easier for her to just shove it in her past and not think about it. ]

[logicunlocked]

There's someone I had a close bond with, where we come from. Even closer than this kind of mental link was. We could send our thoughts to one another whenever we wanted. We hoped...hoped this could go deeper. But there was no way to do it. Not that we found.

[uncurse]

You're saying you - you wanted to be further in someone's head than you already were?

[ the incredulity is clear; emma doesn't have a single person she could ever wish that with. she doesn't have the ability to trust someone like that, to be entirely open like that. it's not even just 'not easy' for her. it's downright impossible, with all the baggage she carries around. even if she did miraculously trust someone enough, she'd still feel like shit dumping all of her life's bullshit on them. ]

[logicunlocked]

More than anything I can think of. He's got his own body here, that makes it harder. He's an AI, you see.

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

Bonding what?

[kutte]

Calling it clear on my end, but I'll pass on the trust falls. Had about all the trust I can handle.

[uncurse]

So, not really a person in the strictest sense.

[ she's trying really hard to think about whether that'd actually make it easier. ]

[uncurse]

There was this mental link ... thing going on. [ and it was a bit hard to miss, so she follows up with; ] You new?

[uncurse]

And here I thought we were growing as people. [ her voice is dry, because she actually ... is 100% on his team as far as that goes. ]

[logicunlocked]

Yeah, 'course he's a person. He's got his own consciousness and stuff. He's been my best friend for years.

[ Though that hadn't been the experience of everyone who'd received an AI from the Project. York was well aware how much he'd lucked out with Delta. ]

[uncurse]

But it's a computer program.

[logicunlocked]

Do you think that means he's not sentient or something? 'Cause he is.

[uncurse]

I think it means someone built him. I have SIRI on my phone, too, but if it showed up here with a body of all a sudden, I wouldn't start calling her a person.

[logicunlocked]

I don't know who SIRI is, but as far as I can tell only sentient AIs are given bodies here. I know more than just one. There's a lot more to them than just a string of code. They don't just respond to things, they adapt.

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

Yes, I-

[He pauses and sighs]

I guess I am new.

[childofthemoon]

Don't tell me there's some weird magic stuff going on here. Anything I need to worry about?

[Because seriously, as if being in space isn't weird enough. Throw her a bone, Emma - and laugh about the dog-puns later.]

text;

[jacked]

Now you've jinxed it

[uncurse]

Based on a string of code that somebody in a lab wrote.

[uncurse]

I'm not exactly winning any veteran stars myself. But, it explains how you missed it. There was this ... Something was going on, everyone on the ship kept getting connected. Our minds were linked, or something - memories, emotions, it was all getting shared between people.

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

That doesn't sound....

Wait, does that sort of thing just happen? Like magic?

[uncurse]

Sounds like it's mostly cleared up. Whatever it is, I don't know that it's magic.

text;

[uncurse]

Feel free to blame me if it kicks back up again, but it sounds like we're in the clear.

[uncurse]

As far as I can tell, it hasn't before. But it was a little like magic.

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

Well.

All right.

[Magic. He can handle magic.]