AI: Apocalyptic Intelligence (Nivansrywyllian, Windsong)

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The knot of emotions that belonged to Mario let off a spike of sullenness when she called him a computer. The voice that came through the internal speakers however, sounded no different than usual.

"Almost done. There. All hoses and wires connected. The suit has sealed completely, so we're in a closed environment."

Mario suppressed his sullenness, and allowed himself to bask in all the sensation that was involved in having skin. "I feel so much... Everywhere." Even if it was a synthetic skin that was actually just a prototype suit for dangerous environments. It was fantastic.

"Yes, you can move now. Please do. I... Is this what it's like to have hands?" After a moment, he hastily added, "I have no control over your motions, Elly. I just get feedback from the suit's surface. Don't worry."
 
It wasn't a moment after the suit let out a soft hiss as it vacated any of the outside atmosphere before replacing it with its own filtered air that she took a leap forward, a burst of energy that she'd been wanting to get out as soon as she was in the suit. "This is amazing! It's so light! And the composites don't interfere with movement at all!" She was excited that was for sure, looking down her arms with her fingers splayed as she tested her range of motion before feeling the suit go taut.

"You feel what I feel when I touch something?" She asked curiously, a bit unsure of how things on his end. The thought was dismissed as she patted herself down, seeing how snug it fit. Stomach, flat. Hips, still a bit wider than she'd like. Butt, ooh, this thing might show it off a wee bit too much. Her hands came from that awfully quick. "It's like.. Wearing a cloud."
 
Mario's concerns were washed away in the rush of new sensation. Awe, and excitement came through the connection, echoed by the knot of sensation that belonged to Elly. "This is fantastic." He said, energetically. He did however sound as if he were trying to moderate his volume, to be considerate of his host.

"Well, I don't feel exactly what you feel. Your tactile sensation is coming from beneath the suit's polymer. While it remains thin at the fingers, I think that it still somewhat changes your tactile sensation. Unless... Does your connection through me allow you to feel through the suit's polymer as well? If so, this technology is fantastic. A neural link without any invasive surgery is something scientists have only ever speculated about, really. It hovers on cusp between science and fantasy, and it promises future expansions into mind-technology that humans have only ever written about in science-fiction novels. ESP, telekenesis, maybe even automated piloting from the safety of a planet's surface! Why we could even-" The AI's brimming excitement was practically overflowing in the bond, and just when it seemed as if he was going to explode with the untold possibilities that were suggested by the abilities of the suit, he cut himself short.

"Oh." Embarrassment blossomed in the bond. Her hands were... "Oh um... What was I saying?"
 
She was already testing out what she thought she could feel and what she thought she couldn't. Fingers poked and prodded different parts of herself from neck to knee as she found out what parts were thicker than others. All while he rambled on she marveled about the different intricacies of the technology she'd been 'gifted'. With this suit she'd have no issues in scavenging in even the most desolate of places, well, somewhat, assuming she could carry the supplies.

"I think.. You were talking about how neat it is?" The excitement was tempered by the sobering thought of having to leave the building sooner or later. Though given the security drones and filtration systems she might have been able to make a permanent home of it. Figuring generators could be rigged for more power, sun lamps, maybe they even had some seeds to grow? It all seemed like a pipe dream as she forgot where she was going and ran into a wall, knocking the wind from herself and falling backwards.

Expecting a rough landing that her butt would absorb she gritted her teeth, only to thud, as if a steel plate was tied to her rear. It was the armor going rigid a mono-second before the impact, saving her from a painful reminder of her own brief clumsiness. "That'll come in handy.."
 
Mario tried to jar from his memory the sensations of touch that had traveled through the surface of the suit. Did humans always feel so... good? He gave himself a mental shake. "Right... Uh... Oh, watch-" And then they were on there collective -and generous- bottom. "-out." He finished, belatedly.

"As I was saying, the suit is a marvel of technology. I think I will have to continue experimentation and research when we come across another suitable lab."

The AI -now broken from his tangent- played back the incident of coming across this would-be savior since her arrival.

"Um... Elly? Weren't you going to take a weapon? I thought your pistol got destroyed."
 
"Yeah.. We're locked into an armory.. What's the rush there." It was less of a question and more of a statement as she paced the room bit by bit. Growing used to the way the visor sort of deflects her vision at certain angles, stopping to pick up her clothes and gauge distances and the like. Even hopping up and down a few times to make sure she wasn't going to topple back over or smack into another wall.

Her eyes looked to the door, followed by her head inside the helmet, looking at it curiously as her brows knitted together. She could've sworn she heard something, though the solitude might be getting to her. "Are the security bots still active?" She quipped, glancing upward for some reason, as if imagining a face would show and answer her, though all she could see was the dimly lit top of the inside of her helmet.
 
"Oh. Alright." Said the AI. "I suppose that there is no need for urgency. The storm still rages above."

The question of the sentries' activity gave him pause. He linked remotely to the facility's remaining video-cameras. A little rectangle of video popped up in the bottom left of Eleanor's HUD, showing several different angles of a series of hallways and offices, including one looking in on the armory they were in. Outside, there were no sentries, but they still appeared to be active within the compound.

"They still seem to be following their patrol subroutines." He observed from her internal speakers.
 
"Any idea on how long the storms going to continue?" She queried, eyes drifting to the corner of her visor again, still nothing was there. Perhaps she'd have to live, for now, with no face to the voice. Though in her mind she'd made one for him slowly.

Young, quite young, with a boyish face and tawny eyes and a mop of short hair, she'd not decided on brown or blonde yet. Either seemed to suffice.

"What I'd give to move in to this place.. A bit of work and it's exactly what I need.." Her sigh was wistful as she watched the cameras at the corner of her vision. One lit up more of her visor semi transparently as she mentally focused on it. "I bet we could reprogram them remotely too. Best hounds on a budget."
 
"If the patterns over the last fifty years hold true, this storm should end within the next two hours. I will admit that the margin for error on this estimate is larger than I'd like, but I haven't been able to collect much data firsthand."

Mario set a pattern of video-feeds to swap in and out, following the progress of one of the sentries, as Elly seemed to be interested in them. "You certainly could move in. We have plenty of bedding, although I'm not sure about how well the beds themselves held up. There are no cameras in the sleeping quarters." Finally, Mario keyed the release to the armory doors, allowing them to come open again.

"I could reprogram the sentries as well, although I might need a hard-line into one of their access ports to do more than send them from place to place. Which should be easy, now that you and I are in the same space. What would we reprogram them to do?"
 
That was a short storm to be sure, his data was far off. Her lips slid into a thinly pursed line as she sighed, it was a blessing if she chose to leave. At least it wasn't one of the seasons week long super cells that would crackle for weeks, it'd be dangerous to touch anything remotely conductive outside from the sheer power in the air.

"Not shoot me in particular.. Maybe move some debris if you had other automated workers. Sure beats sweeping." The idea of cleaning it all by hand was daunting, it was so hard to pass up such a prime spot she could turn into a good home.

"Nevermind about that for now. As long as they don't shoot me now that'll have to do for now. The more we leave up and running the better off we are if I change my mind." She'd paused to mill in the armory doorway, turning abruptly to find a weapon. A basic hand cannon, meant for armored targets and soft alike. She let out a squeak as the weapon seemed to suck to her thigh like a magnet. "Oh that's cleva'.. Very very cleva'.."
 
"They won't shoot you as long I'm in your suit. That said, I think we should enter you into the system as a primary researcher. We can put a dermal chip on you, and it'll keep you safe from the security, even if I'm not with you."

"I think I could repurpose some of the dormant security drones to take up maintenance."

When the pistol maglocked to the armor, Mario grunted in surprise.

"That's new. I wonder when they put that function in. I'll spend some more time experimenting with the suit's functionality, and reading it's update-list. I think that soon we ought to try to do some maintenance on the sentries themselves, while we're at it. I think I can fix the data-corruption that is eroding their software before it is too late."
 
The idea of a chip beneath her skin didn't sit well with her, a suit around her body was enough. Having something inside her was a too different and foreign. "I'll stick with the suit for now."

His grunt caught her by surprise, brows lifting and eyes lifting to peer at the top of her helmet, again greeted by nothing but the interior. "You made a noise just now. How'd you know to do that?" She asked curiously, wondering how the association with the light impact would elicit a response he'd never known to do.
 
"As you wish." He said, idly. He didn't much care one way or another, as long as Elly remained unharmed. He could always get her a pass-badge for when she needed to be out-of-suit.

"What?" He asked, confused. "Umm... Well, it's pretty easy to activate your helmet's internal speakers when I need to speak with you. It's a little complicated to explain, but really pretty easy to do. I do it every time I speak with you. It's no more surprising than when I was speaking to you from my transport unit, really."

"Why do you ask?"
 
"No-no-no. You didn't talk. You uh.." She fumbled for a suitable word, a scholar she was not after all. "I dunno. Made a noise that wasn't talking."

It was a bit frustrating not knowing how to explain it exactly, more so when he pretended, or simply didn't know he'd done it to begin with. The growing irritation made her thump her opposite and unarmed thigh much the same way the gun had. It was unintentional at least.
 
"Did I?" He asked, confusion radiating from the bond. "You mean... Like I spoke to you telepathically? Without the suit's internal speakers?"

When the woman thumped the thigh opposite her new weapon, he was caught by surprise once more, letting out another grunt. (short!)
 
"No, that!" She exclaimed with a beaming grin. "You made a grunt! That's what it was.." She was most pleased with herself for finding that out. Somehow it was still a bit troubling he'd found it out and done it so naturally, despite never having had felt it before.

"How did you know to make that noise when I did that?" Eleanor asked, walking the hall and retracing her footsteps to the kitchen, hoping for maybe a restroom nearby as well, all that water coming through her dry system. "Computers don't go oof when you poke them." Least she'd never heard one do that before when she kicked them out of anger. Suddenly it seemed a bit mean to kick a stalling generator.
 
The little knot of emotions in the back of Elly's mind spiked with frustration again.

"I'm not a computer." He insisted, sullenly.

"I don't know how I knew. I just did. I was surprised, and I made a noise. You made a noise when you fell down, and I didn't go around calling you names for it." She'd obviously upset him. "Let's go do... Whatever we're supposed to be doing. What are we doing anyway?"
 
She rolled her eyes as she continued on her way, looking for the kitchens still. "You're basically a smart computer." She replied, sounding a bit sullen as well. A drifting occurring between them, his felt colder, more mechanical to hers, it was a bit disconcerting.

"Looking for food. I want to be able to leave when the storm finishes.. Or at least be ready to.. Finding more edible food is on my priority list now that I'm back in an enviro-suit." She stated pleasantly, shaking her head momentarily as she looked inside the dim kitchen. The light's seemed darker, the darkness making her feel nervous. As if in reaction a headlamp clicked on somewhere near the side of her head, casting the room in its glowing cone. It didn't help.

"We are alone in here.. Right?" She queried, the camera feeds still in front of her were all clear still at least.
 
Mario's frustration spiked into anger, before the entire node of his emotions vanished. There was something that remained there, but it was shrouded. The AI was still there.

He fell silent, confining himself to quietly exploring the suit's functions and abilities.

"Nothing lives here but you and some computers." Was all the response that Mario had for his partner.
 
"Are you sulking?" She asked quickly, checking the other sets of pantries while avoiding the refrigerators at all costs, she didn't want a closer look at what might have moved earlier. "You are!" Quickly her brows knitted together, scowling a bit inside the helmet with a sigh. "Look, m'sorry. It's been a long time since either of us had someone to talk to, so o' course its gonna be really really weird when we're in each others heads.. Brains.. Whatever.."

Promptly she sighed and began filling a pilfered pack full of sweet cakes and canned food, hoping they held together just as well as the others. A bit more rummaging provided her with some bottles of water, likely stale, but still cleaner water than she'd ever find outside of the building. At least the work kept her busy and her mind blank for the most part, nothing for either of them to bounce off one another.
 
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