originally posted in:The New Dojo
<This desperation and hopefulness... Can you describe it? How you actually experience it?>
*She leaned a bit closer with interest. Though she had failed to acknowledge she had heard and begun analysis.*
English
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"I feel hope when I speak to the people. I swell up at the thought that I have a voice for them, that they want me to be someone they can look to..." "But alongside that feeling, my stomach is a pit. I am desperate to know what the future holds and I lie awake at night considering what it means... What it will lead to..."
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*[i]This guy is really preachy... I wonder if he thinks about anything other than this,[/i] thought Alice.* <Okay, thank you for the analyses. Tell me, what do you like?>
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"I greatly enjoy cakes. Hamburgers and fries, perhaps some pizza every so often. Unless... You meant something else? '
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<No, that is correct. What else?>
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"I enjoy watching films, especially fantasy. Game of Thrones was an excellent show on earth... A shame we can't recreate it." "I enjoy helping the people..."
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<Interesting...> *It sounded like she was going to continue speaking, but five seconds of silence said otherwise.*
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"Was there anything else, Miss Alice? Or will that be all?" Malcolm sipped at his coffee and finished it.
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<I believe that is all, unless you had anything to ask as well.>
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"I simply wish to ask why you why you are asking me these questions?"
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<I do not have exact likes or dislikes, apart from whether something conflicts with my morals or not, I am neutral about most things. Therefore, I am studying the likes and dislikes of others, as well as their motivations and how their emotions are felt. I wish to be seen as more [i]real[/i].>
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"Then why did you ask me questions about my political career as well as those likes and dislikes?"
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<I thought you understood that I do not trust that you have good motives. Many people in the past have done the same thing you are doing, but have turned out to be monsters.>
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"Of course, it was just that I was not anticipating that part of the question to turn into my likes and dislikes. It was... An odd direction to say the least." A soft chuckle escaped his lips as he shook his head.
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<I apologize. I am still learning to behave like organics. Sometimes I’ll freeze up or I’ll ask questions out of nowhere.>
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"It's quite alright. If you're going to try to behave as an organic, you might as well learn how true ways."
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*She nodded.* <That is why I asked those other questions. I have learned body language, I just sometimes forget about it. Thought processes and emotional responses are different.>
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"So what's it like... Being a robot and all? Don't believe I've truly ever met one."
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<Well, I don’t have any experience being anything else, so it is hard to describe. I don’t eat, drink, sleep or get tired. I cannot see the way others do either, I use echolocation.>
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"Huh..." Malcolm looked off, seemingly lost in thought. "So how do you see me? Now? In this large, open space?"
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<Well, really it’s less like seeing and more like feeling... I have no form of ocular input whatsoever, so when others describe something I imagine feeling it. I can use sound to not just tell shape, but texture and density as well. It’s as if I am reaching out and touching my surroundings. I can ‘see’ everything around myself within thirty yards, but it gradually becomes less clear. On the other hand, I can sacrifice my area of perception for more clarity from a distance, like a telescope. At short distances I have an advantage over others, but at long distances I am disadvantaged.>
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"Huh..." Malcolm chuckled lightly, clearly fascinated by the technology it took to make Alice.
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<What is it?> *She tilted her head curiously.*
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"You are incredible, might I say. A prime example of the capabilities of humanity."
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<Thank you, but my father is far from human, actually. He is Sphirin.>
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"Mister Sketch." Malcolm concluded, smiling slightly as he looked at Alice. "Him, I'm assuming. He's the only one I know of."