|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 1:13 pm
 Well, Ash was busy. Of course, Ash wanted to get a job one of these days, so he was spending most of his time looking for one. Ailur wanted to get a job, but he couldn't help but think that there was very little he could do. What I want to do, he thought in frustration as he nursed a large mug of cold coffee, is do something with computers. Not much I can do about that. He stared at his hands for a while. Black fingers and a white forearm. Concentrating on them, he could just barely make the white color glow. His eyes were much easier to glow, but it frightened his housemates when he did that. Heck, one of them considered him to be a demon--and not a demon like a demonic like his mother, but an actual demon, one with eldritch powers of pain and suffering. Ailur wasn't sure he liked that. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to like.
The fact was, Ailur was feeling sorry for himself, and more than a little lonely. This place was full of plenty of well-adjusted people who knew what they were supposed to do--but what was he supposed to do? He wished he knew. But he just wasn't sure. If there are other viruses, do they feel the same way? And are there any? he wondered morosely.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 3:56 pm
 The lights flickered dangerously when Bame entered the room, staring daggers at anyone who would dare look in her direction and running her paw along the wall, shorting out the television just for the heck of it. Normally, Bame wasn't the type to question herself or her actions, but today would be her undoing. Of course, thinking about anything made her angry at no one in particular, and today the electricity would be her victim. Plopping herself down in front of the TV, she stared at the static on the screen with a frown, disgusted with more than just what she was looking at.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 4:26 pm
Flickering lights and shouts of anger and frustration distracted Ailur from his brooding. He looked around the room, where the lights were still flickering back and forth. The TV in the corner, not long before blaring the dialogue from an afternoon soap opera, was now silent. Well, not entirely silent. The sound, however, was settling back in the background, setting teeth on edge all over the room. Static. The people who had been near the TV backed away nervously, and a few people left the room outright. Curious as to the cause of the disturbance, Ailur scooped up his travel mug and trotted over to the lone noodle still hanging out in front of the TV. Eyes still glowing slightly, but half-lidded out of habit, Ailur looked the stranger over. Something was...not right. Maybe it was the way she sat, or the way everything around her was even more glitchy than the rest of the room. Maybe it was the way her horns an her ears seemed to be not all there. "Excuse me?" he asked politely. "But what are you doing?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 11:52 am
Something approached, but Bame avoided looking in his direction should he choose to leave on his own. Everyone else seemed to get the hint but this one... When he spoke, she could only have the decency to stare at him for a millisecond more than she would give most before turning back to the TV. "I'm enjoying myself, Program." The hiss of breath she sucked between her teeth one of reflex whenever she spoke the word, despising those who were of use to technology. Just as reflexed, she gave off vibes of not wanting to be bothered with the likes of anyone unless they could prove themselves to either not be a program or someone normal. But this one who approached her...she knew something had to be different.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 9:37 pm
Some sort of energy came out of the stranger, but they sizzled against Ailur's natural barriers. He barely noticed them except to take note of the other sign of aggression from her. So, she didn't like programs? The insult and implied slur hurt him a little emotionally, but not as much as the reactions of the AI and robots he knew. So he wasn't really made of flesh. He didn't care. He crossed his arms on the back of the couch and leaned over, glancing briefly at the static. "The TV won't turn back on by staring at it, you know," he said nonchalantly. Something about this female was...familiar. Something about her was a challenge, a threat to him. For the first time in his life, Ailur wanted to be more than a virus.
He wanted to be a troll. Let's see if I can annoy her. Something about her made him feel...competitive.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 12:26 pm
Bame was caught off-guard, and she flicked her gaze to the male. "No... it won't." She agreed hesitantly, placing a paw against the side of the TV and watching it jump back to the regular programming. On her turning back to the male, she caught his scent and flared her nostrils, side stepping reflexively. "You... what are you?" Her words lingered dangerously, her wings fading in and out of view with her confusion. This... male... wasn't alive. Any more than she was. But she felt superior and would act as such, unless he could prove otherwise.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 7:29 am
She had done what he had suggested she do. Taken aback, Ailur settled back to take her all in. The first thing he realized was that she...was not normal. Something about the way she looked spelled danger. Maybe it was the hard, insubstantial reality of her wings, or the way her eyes were pinpricks in an abyss. Her smell was...confusing. He didn't have the best sense of smell, but Ailur recognized hints of copper and silicon, and other smells he knew all too well. So. She was a program herself, of some type or other. But she had said "program" like an insult. Was she ashamed of being a program, or...?
To hide his confusion, Ailur climbed onto the back of the couch, letting his feet dangle next to her shoulder. "Hi," he said cheerfully, "I'm Ailur. Who are you?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 8:04 pm
This wasn't normal, and Bame knew it. She felt... threatened, THREATENED, by this... Ailur, as he called himself. She couldn't help but test him, see what he could pick up on, " I... am... PS-MPC.Bamestra.536.... " Her gaze shifted from his dangling feet to his face, her words stretching the small distance between them though her physical form stayed in place, "I am... virus Bame." The last word was her strike, lashing out in an attempt to scare him off... her last attempt. Beyond scaring him off, she had nothing left to consider, should he be what she thought he was... a program.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 8:23 pm
The last strike was only enough to ruffle Ailur's fur and prove the dangerous assertion she had made. A virus? His mind fizzed with the possibility--another virus? He'd never met another virus! Well, besides his father. It was much rarer than being an AI, for some reason. So far as he could tell, his particular...class...of virus wasn't often passed on to children. He himself had been a freak accident. She was a virus? Instantly, Ailur's reaction went from amused and mocking to intrigued--and cautious. She could be more powerful than he was. He didn't want to risk it.
Still...she struck out at me. I might as well try a little of my own...? Against his better judgement, Ailur opened his eyes wide to show his surprise, letting his own full power come to play through its preferred channel, his bright eyes. "You're a virus too? Wow! I thought I was alone!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 8:36 pm
Of all the possible outcomes, Bame hadn't expected this one. She watched him with a quiet interest, daring to look him in the eye without fear. "Virus... too?" Going against all she held dear, she gently touched his paw with her own and quickly drew back, slimming her eyes suspiciously. This feeling of kinship was not one she was used to, and she doubted she could start now. Frazzled, she turned back to the TV, trying her hardest to be as intimidating as she was before, and failing miserably when she glanced back at Ailur, cautiously questioning his existence.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 8:49 pm
Emboldened by her lack of attacking him for such insolence, Ailur half-lidded his eyes again. She couldn't harm him. He couldn't harm her. They were equal, then. He slid down to the seat of the couch, tucking his wings against his back. "Seems like it. So, what was on the tube before you made it go batshit?" He could almost feel a resentment coming from her. So what? Let her be resentful of him. He didn't care. "And why do you call everyone a program?" he added.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 12:22 pm
She wouldn't, COULDN'T... but she was. She turned to face him, her features taking on an unknown shyness, "Ev-Everyone is-is a program. Made-made for good." Her tone skipped like a CD, and for someone other than her brother to hear it... it embarrassed her, to say the least. She looked at the TV and back to Ailur, shrugging halfheartedly. She wasn't aware what was on... she only knew that she could make it or break it as she saw fit.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 6:27 pm
"Even organics? I was under the impression that most people with parents were made for the continuation of the species, or the consummation of romantic feelings, not for any absolute good or evil." Ailur made a face. Trust some sort of silliness like that to pop out at a time like this. "Sorry, that was a d**k thing to say, wasn't it?" It was the sort of thing a hero would say in a cartoon to some sort of villain who wanted to take over the world, or kill everyone. And not a good cartoon, either, a cheesy, crappy one. "Couldn't have been that interesting, I guess," Ailur added. He barely noticed the odd speech patterns his acquaintance was making. Even if he did, he wouldn't have mentioned it--it would not have been polite.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
