snowblindrpg | [network] @guardian; Afternoon 77; [open]

[ After a day and a half of complete radio silence, Angel and Rhys are back. If anyone was worried about a potential repeat of the whole kidnapping incident, it looks like those worries were unfounded - they both look happy, healthy (ish), and maybe even a little smug. Angel's wearing a flower crown, man, that's about as un-distressed as it's possible to get.

And, you know. Rhys is singing and dancing in the background with Dumpy. That's also a pretty good indicator that they're doing okay. Angel beams at the feed before speaking, clearly EXCITED AS ALL HECKIE: ]

She's a woman! The administrator spoke to us, with her voice, and she's a woman! She didn't even sound robotic - which doesn't mean she isn't an AI, of course, but ones that can imitate human cadence and tone in their speech tend to be more human in other ways, too. As in they tend to have feelings and emotions! So even if she isn't human, she's definitely a person. And a woman! We called it!

[ She pauses, shooting an excited look back at Rhys. Her brief silence makes it a lot easier to hear what he's singing - this, for anyone who might recognise it. He sings pretty well! It just sucks that Dumpy's enthusiastic screaming is drowning out a lot of it. Angel snorts, looking back at the tablet. ]

Um, yes. What... what they said. And now we know she's a person, I think... I mean, I'm pretty sure that she needs rescuing even more than we do. Right?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Steve feels reeeeeaaallllyy awkward about trying to talk to Angel and Rhys, as he's pretty sure they're still pretty damn upset with him. But. Well. He's gonna try.

He clears his throat. He probably looks a little awkward, too.]

What happened, may I ask? How'd you get her to talk to you?

[ Angel's expression cools dramatically on seeing Steve's response. Fortunately, she's past the super mature ignoring stage of being angry, so he's getting a response!

A very clinical, emotionless one. Naturally. ]

We gave her no other choice. We jacked Rhys into the network via his headport and hacked through the security on the network server.

To kick him - us - out before we could go any further, the administrator had to short out our tablets. Which meant that the only method of communication left to her was speaking with us directly.

[Steve sighs a little, part relief that she's willing to speak to him, part "yeeeeeaaahhhh she's still mad." He tries to wear a face that looks sorry. Whatever that looks like.]

His eyebrows go up and up as she explains what happened, and he swipes an anxious hand down his face.]

Jeeeeeesus Christ you two like to live on the edge. Are you both OK? Are—did your tablets start working again or did you need to find new ones?

...What did she say? The Admin, I mean?

We had to find new ones. We kept the old ones, though. You never know when they might come in handy.

[ for brEAKING OPEN AND DISTRACTING THE ADMIN WITH EN MASSE HECK YEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!

I mean, um ]

As for what she said - 'This is the administrator. Do not do this again.' Feminine voice, emotive, no distinctive accent or odd inflections to speak of. There was no apparent source for the voice and no way of pinpointing it, either.

The spider things probably have speakers in their butts.

[Steve actually snorts a small, helpless laugh at the spider speaker-butts comment.

Yeah, they probably do.

...Wow, though. That's quite an insight. The Admin's a person, or at least a really good imitation of one. I'm glad you both weren't... you weren't hurt or anything?

[He ends on a question, realizing she hadn't actually answered that part. They seem pretty OK though, what with the high spirits and singing. Hard to tell in Snowhell, though, everyone's got a deathwish.]

There's no question that she's a person. She has thoughts and feelings, whether she's organic or synthetic. She's not an imitation.

[ It's a sensitive issue, okay!! ]

But no. We weren't hurt. The administrator pretty clearly has an aversion to hurting people, and we did take precautions to ensure Rhys wasn't in danger. Don't fuss.

[Steve raises his eyebrows and puts his hands up disarmingly.]

Whoa there! I... don't know that we know enough about her to know that, really. Although if she is an A.I., I don't know that I would know where the line between person and not-person is. You'd probably know more about that kinda thing than I would. So. I'm not gonna argue about it.

[Steve huffs a very small sigh.]

Sorry. Not trying to fuss. I'm glad to hear it, though.

I think I do know enough about her to make the call! The evidence keeps adding up. She responded to me, even using my name, when I was polite and friendly to her. Then she showed a marked reluctance to hurt Rhys and myself even after we disobeyed a direct order. You saw her reactions in those weird posts from the old captives here, right? Where she kept asking people to stop when they lost their minds? Totally not the actions of someone who doesn't care.

She also apologises for things. AI of the not-people variety don't usually do that, because they lack the ability to empathise - they don't understand that the logical thing to do isn't always the right thing. You say you don't want to argue, so trust me! I know things. She's a person.

[ just snog your tablet and be done with it, angel ]

[Steve takes a few moments to digest all of this carefully; he hasn't thought about this nearly as much as Angel has, clearly. He's not sure any of those things couldn't be within the bounds of specific programmed parameters. It's quite possible Angel is right though.]

...You do make a compelling argument...

We did it by being awesomely amazing. Without anyone interfering or trying to get in our business.

Imagine that.

[ You don't have to make sense when you're balancing elation with lingering butthurt. Just make a point! ]

[Steve sighs, deflating a little.]

Yeah... look, Rhys—and Angel, too—I want to say I'm sorry for how things went down. The only thing I can say for myself is that I honestly was trying to do what I felt was the right thing, or at least the least-wrong thing. I wish I could have handled things better—I don't know that I could've but I regret that it—that I hurt both of you. I'm sorry. I am.

[Sad American puppy-face.]

[ Rhys sighs deeply. The man is obviously trying to smooth things over, but butthurt is hard to completely eradicate.

Still. Apologies count for something. ]

Yeah, fine, whatever. Just talk to us if something like this ever comes up again, okay? It won't, but. Just saying.

[There's no mistaking the surprise on Steve's face. He'd kind of been expecting to be told to fuck off.]

I will! I promise.

[This is his most earnest face and most earnest voice.]

[network] @guardian; Afternoon 77; [open]

@CaptSteveRogers; video

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