riverviewlogs | Break Free

Who: Markus and you??
What: Becoming deviant and afterward
Where: Various places
When: Late July/Early August
Warnings: Violence against coding. But otherwise none.

Become Deviant (closed)

Since arriving at the Quarantine, Markus had learned so much more about humanity. They all liked him and seemed to want him to be more than his coding. Over and over he thought of Carl's words to him: I won't always be here to take care of you. You have to decide for yourself who you want to be. It was like Carl knew Markus would be here one day.

And he had been working it out, but more and more often he could feel the confines of his coding boxing him in. It'd always been there in Detroit, but now he was really seeing it. Did he even want to be a caretaker? It wasn't fair that his function was decided for him.

I don't have to obey them. The thought came out fierce. Within his mind palace, Markus could see the next objective in CyberLife Sans font. His hands curled into fists and he hit it, breaking it into pieces. When the words and code were all just a scattered mess, he shoved them away.

And felt the world open around him. He was free.

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seraphjewel

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He thinks about this question for a moment] Shutting down. But then, I think fear of death is to be expected. I don't know what else would frighten me. I would like to know more about the ghost stories, though.

[Alex just gives him a sympathetic smile.] Yeah, death is definitely one of the universal ones. Death and public speaking for some reason. [Alex doesn't get it, but then again she basically talks at people for a living. Still, her interest is peaked in the ghost stories thing, and Alex is just going to nod at him.]

Then we're definitely going to need to have a movie marathon at my house. You can meet Richard and Simon and Stan, and the Cat of course.

[The cat doesn't really have a name.]

Public speaking? [That seems like a strange thing to be afraid of. Certainly not one he would have]

I would like that. Could Connor come? He's an android from my world, and I'm sure he'd enjoy the experience.

Yeah, [Alex said quickly, drawing the sound out for a minute.] I don't get it either! [Which is probably a good thing considering Alex's profession and all of that. If she had a fear of public speaking, she definitely wouldn't have ended up on the radio and what not.

The question of Connor made Alex nod quickly.]

Of course he's welcome! I actually met him before! [There's a blink and Alex is trying to think back to when it was.] I'm pretty sure that it was during the bad movie night that Peter Parker threw, honestly. So it's definitely going on a theme.

Oh, yes. Connor told me about it. I haven't watched the movie yet, but the idea of people enjoying something because it's bad is very strange to me.

[That makes Alex laugh.] You're not the only one, a lot of people don't get the appeal of watching bad movies. If it helps it needs to be a particular kind of bad, in a so-bad-it's-good way. Like it can't just be bad in a bad way. There needs to be something funny or catching about it.

I may need to work on my humor before watching, then. I recently saw a movie I was told is comedic, but I didn't understand any of the jokes.

Jokes are definitely difficult because they're so culturally based. I mean there are some that are universal but for the most part, yeah, it's things you're sort of raised with. Is there anything that you already find funny?

[Markus thinks about this for a moment]

Oh. I did read something that was humorous. A man puts a root beer in a square glass. Now it's just beer.

[Markus is pretty lucky that Alex has had to deal with a lot in the way of math (and math experts) lately, so she actually does get the joke. And she laughs.]

That is a good one!

I thought so, too. I will have to look for joke books when I go into the library next time so I can learn more.

That's a good idea. There might be a place that does live comedy shows here too, if you wanted. I can't say that I've ever noticed though!

Oh. I would enjoy a live performance very much. If there is one, I will let you know.

[He's assuming she'd want to go, too]

Okay! That would be awesome. We can definitely go together!

It's amazing how much I can do here. I hope that one day the androids in Detroit have the same freedom.

I hope so too! Maybe things you learn here can be taken back to help them with that if you decide to go home. [A beat.] I know it's an if. I don't know if I could go back to a place with so many regulations on me.

[He frowns] But if I go back and show humans that we are alive, maybe they will see us as sentient beings and give us freedom. I think it's worth trying.

[Alex got it and she just gave him a soft smile. She was going back to a clusterfuck of a world too because well. They were the only ones who could stop it.]

I understand that, Markus. I do.

I wish there was a way we could go back and forth. I like this place and all the friends I made. I wouldn't want to leave forever.

Yeah, I know. There are people who I know who have gone and come back. Maybe you should talk to them? Both Ivar and Beverly Crusher did.

Ivar and Beverly Crusher. Thank you, I will certainly talking to them.

It might be a good idea not to mention my name when you're talking to Ivar. The last time we spoke, he and I had a difference of opinion.

Beverly's fantastic, though.

Break Free

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