riverview | video; un: markus

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video; un: markus

[Markus has been busy. Since the festival, he's been working through some things. The humans here are so nice to him, so accepting. A few he's spoken with even encouraged him to try things for himself just like Carl did. It turns out that art is a good way of working through his feelings.

Most of what he's been doing are just recreations of scenes from the festival: the food carts and the various people working them, the float from the children's parade, people wearing body paint-- and here he included himself, wearing the android-appointed uniform instead of the scrubs he actually wore while attending. He did, however, include the face paint one of his new human friends did for him.

But that's not really the focus. He centers the camera on a portrait of an elderly man]

I was missing Carl, and so I painted this.

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So you did take up painting again.

[ Jim smiles; he had a feeling Markus wouldn't have been able to resist for long, not with how fixated he seemed to be on the idea. Fond, even, he might say. ]

You even included yourself. It looks really wonderful. All of them.

I liked all the colors in the festival and wanted to recreate them.

[He smiles a little] You're there, too. [He points. It was probably hard to see right away since Markus included the circuitry, but the figure he points to is definitely Jim]

You did a pretty great job, for the record.

[ He leans in to take a better look at the painting. ] Huh. Yeah, it is. [ His smile widens. ] That's a very flattering angle, thank you.

[ He's teasing, really. All his angles are flattering. ]

[It feels good having something he made from his own thoughts so well-liked. Even the festival scenes aren't exact copies of what happened. In one scene, for example, he included more androids mingling freely with the humans]

I was told there are festivals like this every month.

[ There's definitely a touch of imagination to each painting. Jim notes that, but doesn't point it out yet. It's clear that Markus has a lot he wants to express, and painting seems to be his preferred method. Can't argue with these results. ]

Yes. Well... different themes, so you have a little bit of everything. But they always relate to people connecting with each other. Just in different ways.

[It was the best way he could think of to work through his feelings. He still misses Carl, but having an image of the man does make him feel a little less far away.

"People connecting with each other". That has him frowning. So where do he and the other androids fit in?]

[ Jim catches that look, and he smiles a little at Markus. ]

By 'people', I mean you too. All kinds of people, whatever the species or type. You just have a different body from ours, is all, but you're still able to connect.

[He's at a loss. It's the sort of attitude Carl has, except Markus has never heard it from other humans before. The more he speaks with Jim and Dorian, the more he feels something strange happening]

I'm a caretaker android. It's part of my function.

Why can't it be more than that?

[ Jim shrugs, leaning back a little. ]

You can take care of people. You can empathize. That's good. But you can do other stuff, like... paint. Create things. Things that go beyond your function, or originally designed purpose. You are— alive. So you can connect, and I don't think that's just because it was written into your code.

[These are things Carl would say to him. It confused him, but made him fond of the old man. He's never thought to go beyond his function because of how he feels for Carl. But can he? And if he could, what then?

Sorry he's kind of staring at nothing. He's having a robot version of an existential crisis]

[ Jim's picked up by now that Markus sometimes takes a little while to process certain types of information. And he knows he just dumped a lot on him, so he gives him a moment to work his way through it.

But then the moment stretches on for longer than usual, so he tilts his head. ]

You alright, there?

[His eyes flutter and he focuses again]

Yes. My system was detecting a software instability.

[ He studies Markus quietly. ]

What kind of instability?

I don't know. I've never received that message before. I'll have to run a diagnosis of my biocomponents to make sure everything's functioning properly.

[ He smiles a little at that. Ah. ]

I'm sure everything's working just as it's supposed to.

[He runs it anyway, and Jim is right: all systems are fully operational. But then why the software instability? What could have caused that?]

I am just a prototype, so it could have been an unforeseen glitch.

I have an idea of what it might have been. [ You know, just tossing that out there. ] But I'm not an expert or anything.

You have knowledge of android software? [Somehow he knows how to put skepticism in his tone]

No. I told you, we don't even have androids where I'm from. I'm just good at understanding people. Different kinds of people.

[It doesn't seem like it would be helpful to point out that understanding a person is different from understanding a line of coding]

I see.

[ It wouldn't be, no. Mostly because Jim genuinely believes they're well beyond just a line of coding, here. ]

If you ever wanna hear my hypothesis, just let me know. [ He tips his head. ] We should meet for that chess game, though. How busy is your schedule looking?

You can tell me while we're playing chess. [He has to consider that question a moment]

We could play chess when I am with my more independent patients. They only need me for small errands, housecleaning and cooking. When they tell me I am done for the day, I will let you know.

Alright. [ He nods and smiles. ] I'll wait for you to get in touch, then?

Have a good day, Jim.

[He wasn't kidding about only contacting once he's done working, though. His programming won't let him do anything else until then]

You too, Markus.

[ Well, he'll say this much about androids, at least: they're incredibly reliable. ]

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