un: c a t o , video

[unpurposed]

[It took Cato far too long to interface with what he was internally designating the 'network', though the term was a loose metaphor considering that he could not figure out any of it connected. Assuming, for a long time, that there must be a technological basis to it, he had spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to hack into something that instead seemed to simply work on command. It defied logic, but then, so many things about this place did.

When the image of cato finally appeared, at first it simply looked black. But upon closer inspection, the blackness was reflective, and as he pulled the strange device further from himself, his form became clearer. A robot, of some kind, comprised mainly of haphazardly repaired white panels (tarnished with age) and a very large red cross painted over his chest.

He made a sound distinctly like someone clearing their throat, before continue. ]

Hello.

[ His voice was surprisingly smooth, gentle, calm. Despite his appearance, his voice sounded like it belonged to a soft-spoken young human man. ]

Please accept my apologies for the direct address. I have recently been granted my personhood and have been assigned to a - [ He paused for a brief second ] - family. I am looking for the individuals named Sansa, Wrath, Alina Starkov, and Lan Sizhui. I will serve diligently.

If anyone is in need of medical assistance, please be informed that I am a fully licensed medical unit. [ Well. No one had taken his license away, so that was technically still true. ]

Thank you.

Comments

[downswing]

He does not linger long unsheltered.

Will return with evening's fall.

[unpurposed]

Then I will await to meet him.

May I ask your name, so I may tell him you have spoken to me?

1/3

[downswing]

He has the one fath

[downswing]

( That moment when you marry out of your Best Dad privileges. )

[downswing]

Wangji, sect Lan.

I beg you lend my son guidance.

[unpurposed]

[ Cato takes a moment to analyze the two statements, but decides that the second supersedes the first. ]

Wangji of the Lan sect, it is good to meet you.

You do not need to beg anything of me - I will always attempt to fulfill any lawful request given to me by my administrator. Which, in the absence of a direct administrator, I will extend such privileges to my designated family members. Lan Sizhui merely need ask and I am at his service.

Is there a particular subject you believe he requires guidance in?

[downswing]

( 'This is only courtesy.' But then, he does not think he has often encountered a creature more literal than himself. )


Perhaps care in attendance. Feeding.

[unpurposed]

[ We would never say you were robotic, Wangji, but— - ]

Of course, I am happy to provide those services. They are the basis of a caregiving relationship.

Though I am unaccustomed to the modes of dress and expected manners of this society, let alone of every society represented by those from “other worlds” as they put it. I will endeavour to learn as quickly as I am able.

[downswing]

You are... motherly.



( LOOK AT YOU, THOUGH. )

[unpurposed]

Thank you. I endeavour to be a caretaker skilled enough to be compared to such a status.

However, I am not capable of parenting children, and was designated male by my former administrator. But coming from a father, I take that sentiment as a deep compliment.

[downswing]

A caretaker. You served families? Courts?

[unpurposed]

Individuals, though that often comes with commitments and duties for their family.

Organizations occarebellisionally

Query function denied. Data access denied. Rebooting neuro-network processing. Re-engaging.

Primarily I served my first administrator as his primary palliative care nurse.

[downswing]

( ................ )



I do not grasp your tongue.

[unpurposed]

Technically, I don’t have a tongue.

But allow me to rephrase. For the majority of my existence I served one particular man for treatment and comfort during the course of his terminal illness.

[downswing]

A paid companion.

[unpurposed]

Ah, no. I suppose I was paid for, but my kind are considered property, and cannot own property of our own.

[downswing]

A war slave.

[unpurposed]

Ah, no.

I am not human, Wangji of the Lan clan. I was created by humans to serve humans, as all of my kind are.

I am an artificial intelligence.

[downswing]

( KEEPS TRYING. )


A golem.

[unpurposed]

Ah - in a way, yes. That is a close approximation.

I am a machine. An Automaton. A robot.

I am not something that exists in this world, as far as I have come to understand it.

[downswing]

You owe no servitude here.

[unpurposed]

Perhaps not.

But serving is my purpose. When you take that away, what is left?

[downswing]

Learning. Enjoyment. Care.

[unpurposed]

There are those that would claim my kind are incapable of all those things.

But I did learn. For a time. And I miss it.

[ there is a longer pause, this time, before he continues: ]

Caring is service. And I am happy to serve.

[downswing]

Care is sentiment, as much as deed.