Machinations

He wasn't sure where to start when it came to deciding upon a name. Coming up with titles for different came easy to him, but none of those titles have ever applied to him directly. He tries to recall a name he'd heard only in passing, starting with an M but nothing like the man who brought him books. It was an easy name to remember. A nice fit to the new eyes that now danced like shimmering orbs of the finest make--it was plain, but he supposed that if a person could be plain, so could he.

He nodded curtly at the mention of the book, and curled one arm close to himself, testing out the new joints and how well they responded under stress. He could not feel the relief of a stretching muscle or a set bone, but the feeling still came to him as pleasant and distinctly good. Perhaps self-programming a response to such physical actions would help him develop physical sympathy.

"Marcus," he said suddenly, looking uncertain yet proud. "That is my name."

A good name, he thinks.

(I thought it was pretty fitting.)
 
"Marcus." Annie nodded in agreement. "It's a good one."

She was more pleased that he'd chosen it for himself. If he wanted to change it a few days later, she'd still like it. Her android, Marcus, was thinking on his own and it was a step in the right direction despite what society might say about him. Annie pulled his hands towards her, rolling the joints in her palms to make sure they'd been properly installed, and now that they were she could formally introduce herself as Annie.

"Nice to meet you, Marcus." Annie extended her hand, placing it in his grip. "My name is Annie." Annie tightened her grip around his hand and glanced up into his new eyes. "I'm sure you've seen it before, a handshake. It's how you introduce yourself to someone." She waited patiently for Marcus to respond to the gesture.

This was definitely something she'd need to keep quiet. Her brothers could know, refer to him as Marcus if they wanted, but the news could never leave the shop. Marcus was thinking more and more on his own, which was against laws set in place by men with more power than Annie Redd. Laws forbid androids from becoming too self aware, but she hardly cared. He was more and more interesting the longer their little escapades went on. Annie grinned with the knowledge of their little secret, hand holding silently onto his fingers.​
 
He wasn't sure what the name meant, or who else it belonged to, but he thought it fit nicely with the rest of him. The eyes, the voice, the personality. A name was either a title with no meaning, or a title with the entire life story of its owner. Marcus didn't have much of a life story, but the name he'd chosen would fit just fine.

He'd known the name was a good one, but her confirmation settled his mind and assured him. Marcus glanced down briefly at their hands and recognized it as a greeting between two people, nodding slowly. The joints in his wrist rolled with his movement as he gripped her hand in his own, gently as to show he was not experienced nor did he know how another's hand was to be held.

"Annie." He paused for a moment, averting his gaze as he formed his thoughts. "I'm Marcus. Nice to meet you." And he brought his eyes back to hers. He was learning, and while the eye contact felt strange and new to him, he felt he would get the hang of it soon.

And perhaps, one day, he'd be able to greet more than one person in such a manner.
 
This was certainly a teaching moment. Annie held his hand, gripping it harder while looking into his eyes curiously. "When you shake someone's hand..." She went through the motion, again and again, as she wasn't about to take the time to program handshakes into his hard drives when she could show him. It was a thousand times more satisfying to watch him learn anyways, the progress was astonishingly fast, Annie was so proud.

Certainly if he wanted, he could always try out his new skill sets with her brothers. The four of them were sworn to secrecy anyways when it came to the newly named Marcus. None of them really had a problem with the sentient android, he was interesting to watch, more so to talk to, and his craving for knowledge gave each and every one of them something to talk about with him. Each of their specializations were something they could drone on and on about, Marcus never seemed to mind when they talked for too long. At least, Marcus never protested.

"The silicone, skin, should be in maybe two or three days from now." Annie informed him. "If you don't like it, you have to tell me. Alright?"

He was becoming more and more human.​
 
His wrist moved with cautious deliberation, testing the joints as he simulated a hand shake just as she'd shown him. Easy enough, as long as he didn't grip too hard or too light, or make it seem to alive and human that it became unsettling. He was aware that these things would need to be toned down if he wanted to keep a low profile.

With the more human eyes and a name, striking up a conversation with one of Annie's siblings. He'd found the brother's fascinating, even before his thoughts had become realized and he'd begun to think properly. They taught him things and he appreciated their time. In the future, should there ever be one, he'd be sure to impart what he'd learned on the new generation of automatons-- if, that is, they learn to exist like he did.

"I doubt I won't like it," he intoned softly. "Humans stare. I will draw less attention this way, won't I?"
 
"Only if you're wearing clothes." Annie laughed. "A bare human skin, it would be obvious on any automatons that you are not human. The folds and bends where your joints are won't be as natural as my own skin."

She held out her arm and turned her wrists in small motions. The skin stretched and rolled with her, but Marcus wouldn't have the exact same feel. Where hers was slightly tanned from constant work and heat, his would be clean and soft no matter what he did. A tear would make obvious his inner workings, and too close a look and it'd be clear it was silicone and not real skin. From a slight distance he would look the part of any human. Annie stopped moving her hands for a while, holding them out in the open air if Marcus wanted to examine them for any reason, for a difference of what real and artificial looked like.

"Oh Marcus, I'm so excited!" She squealed. The inner gear head was coming out, and at the noise one of her brothers laughed from the front of the store.

"Annie, I know that sound, what are you doing this time?" Russell, the custom parts expert, shouted.

"Nothing!" She replied. "Actually, come here, I want you to meet someone!"

Russell sighed loudly, but eventually sauntered into the room with a dorky grin plastered on his face. He looked just like Annie, only of the male variety. His sandy colored hair was darker than hers, but they had the same blue eyes. He gave the android a look, not noticing anything different about him right off the bat. It wasn't his creation so it was harder to pick up on the subtle changes.

"Yes?"

"Russell, meet Marcus."

"Oh, did you name him?" Russell asked. He extended his hand to the android.

"No, he named himself."

"That's fantastic." Russell beamed, his hand still in the open air. "Marcus, it's a pleasure."​
 
"... A good point." Skin or not, clothes would always be necessary because of the simple fact that nobody wanted to see the unnatural seams in skin or gears. His optics refocused on her hands, watching as the tendons visibly moved under the skin. Skin, so obviously human, but not something he'd miss. His faux skin wouldn't move like this, but it bothered him very little.

Her excitement seemed to rub off on him, his optics shining brighter and his posture more refined and straight. Something he had picked up and integrated into his natural responses, a good way of communicating his feelings without voicing them. He'd have to watch them more closely to get a better idea when it came to the entire spectrum of human emotion.

Following what he'd seen with the humans outside, Marcus dipped his head in greeting. "The pleasure is... mine." He nodded, as if to affirm. It was good to finally introduce himself to the people who'd been around nearly all of his existence. As part of the greeting, he held out his hand, angled properly and as gentle as he could.

He'd always had something of a gentle grip, but this time he was being extra careful.


(I apologize for my diminishing speed - I've been getting sick, but I'm still here!)
 
(Don't you worry! I'm slow because, well, I'm a student I hope you're feeling better.)

Russell burst into a fit of laughter. He wasn't laughing at name or the handshake, no, he was too damn impressed for it to be funny. "Annie, you're really going to make something of him." Annie had to agree. Marcus was advancing faster than anything the brothers had built. They had to be a touch proud of their baby sister for coming so far.

She stood up, one leg flesh and blood, the other the same material as Marcus. Maybe if there was extra silicone she'd be able to patch up her own leg, make it look a little more lifelike. She didn't like thinking about the accident, nor did she like talking about it any more. It was embarrassing, and painful to recall. Annie cleared her throat and looked to Marcus once more.

"Come on, let's go see if Max has that book for you. Tomorrow we'll get you fitted."

Annie took him by the hand, grasping it gently, and led him on. Tomorrow. Tomorrow would be better.​
 
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