video; un: markus

[compartmentalise]

[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.

Comments

[bespredel]

No living pets? [ He blinks, unable to imagine... anything like that, really. Doesn't know how he would live without a cat- remembers being so overjoyed the day that the Quarantine had dropped Potya off at his door. ]

What the actual fuck? What, did they go extinct or something? [ There's some general alarm to Yuri's tone. ]

What year are you from? [ Because honestly, Yuri didn't want to live in any century where house pets weren't a thing! ]

[compartmentalise]

Some species are extinct, but I think mainly people like how low-maintenance cybernetic pets can be. They don't need food or water and they're all hypoallergenic. Carl kept cybernetic birds. I always liked coming in and seeing them.

[Honestly, they were more Markus's birds than Carl's, since he was the one to check that they're turned on]

The year is 2038.

[bespredel]

Oh.

[ Yuri frowned, unpacking how he felt about that. He supposed it made sense; humans tended to like things that were easy. He could understand how the low-maintenance of cybernetic pets would appeal, but... he wondered... how similar it could be. Could they make that level of companionship? Would it always feel like there was something missing?

Markus didn't make him feel like that, though. There was nothing awkward, or dare he say- soulless, in the way Markus seemed. But then again, they'd only just met. Were there... weird things about being an android that would make it more apparent? ]

Man that's a lot closer than I thought it'd be. But I guess it makes sense. Well, I mean once I hit 2038, I'll probably still have a real cat.

How could you replace this face? [ He beams, holding Potya up to the camera even despite her protest, waving one of her dark paws at Markus playfully. ]

[compartmentalise]

[He's taking it as a rhetorical question, but he does have to raise an eyebrow at the question]

Why would you like androids, then, since we're seen to replace human workers?

[bespredel]

What? [ Yuri blinks a bit, before laughing a little- an unexpected burst of it, because the other's question was pretty serious, and Yuri hadn't really expected it. ]

Well I mean, I think there are a lot of things that androids will just be genuinely better at doing. Like you said yourself- people like the appeal of the low-maintenance pet. I bet there are a lot of jobs and things that androids are a lot more useful for than people. Like being able to tell what someone's medical needs are. Or if their blood sugar is low, or things like that. I think there's space for both androids and people to coexist comfortably.

[compartmentalise]

[He just frowns more. Maybe that's how it started, but androids do a lot more than that these days, and not everyone is comfortable with it]

I wonder how you would feel about android figure-skaters.

[bespredel]

They'd probably be a hell of a lot better at it than I am. [ The idea makes him uncomfortable, because of course it does. ] I imagine they'd probably make a league for that, though. Like they have mens skating and womens skating- why not android skating too?

[ He shrugs, flippant about it. He's still just a teenager, after all. He might be simplifying the concepts a bit, but. That's just how he do. ]

I don't see why android figure skaters couldn't have merit of their own. Though it's a bit like- that chess computer? Who beat the best chess player in the world? It didn't at first, but then it did eventually and I guess it's kind of like that. Of course androids would eventually be better at it than any human could be...

[compartmentalise]

[It's hard to believe someone would be that accepting of an android taking their place at a thing they love]

I don't understand. It bothers you that there are robotic pets, but not that there are robotic athletes?

[bespredel]

Dude, it doesn't bother me that there are android pets. It's just not my preference, you know? Doesn't mean I can't see the merit or value in having one option over the other.

Like I said I don't even really see why there can't still be robotic athletes and human athletes- sure I don't think one should be expected to compete against the other, just because I don't think humans could. But it would still be fucking cool to see the extent of their capabilities too. [ He shrugs. ]

[compartmentalise]

I think people used to think that way. But then there were more androids doing those things than people, and they were angry.

[bespredel]

A lot of people are afraid of change, or of feeling... obsolete, I guess.

It's something that scares me a lot- the thought of what will I do when I can't compete anymore? What if I've already reached my peak and I can't get any better? Just... what will I do when someone really is finally so much better than me that I can't keep up? It happens in most careers I guess, but it's... It's certainly scary.

I don't think that's their fault though. Or your fault. It's just... progress. Time. Change. [ He frowns. ]