Video | HAPPY... LATE... BIRTHDAY??? | @p.parker

[madeupnames]

[The feed is mostly full of textbooks, the spines all turned enough that they're legible; it's math, chemistry, social studies, all the fun things nobody misses from high school. And on the right side of the screen is Peter, sitting with his cheek on his palm and his elbow pressed beside a blank page of paper. He looks kind of sleepy, like he'd just nod off if he didn't have the feed to focus on.]

So I've got this essay I need to write by tomorrow, and I'm having a hard time getting — personal, and all that. The prompt's asking about what inspires you, specifically. [He looks to read it word-for-word:] 'What motivates you in your day to day life?' And I mean, I've got a lot of motivations, but trying to put it to paper is giving me a wicked case of the fogbrain.

[He tucks his pen under his nose, holding it with his upper lip for a moment before letting it fall pitifully to the table. He sighs.]

What motivates you guys? Into doing what you do? What makes you put your shoes on in the morning, huh?

And don't just say 'to avoid stepping on pointy stuff barefoot'. That's a cheap and obvious answer—

[Peter startles violently as birthday music blares behind him, so much so that his pencil goes flying through the air and RIP's somewhere off-screen. Pam the pancake making robot seems to be flying onto the scene in the background with freshly made pancakes and festive lights blinking all over her.



A little lighter arm pops out, preparing to light a lone candle on the stack of flapjacks.

Peter mutters, mortified:]

...I thought I disabled Birthday Mode for repairs...

[He looks back at the robot with his hand pressed to his temple, and clears his throat.]



... Pam, uh. My - my birthday was two days ago. Two days. It's August 10th. And, uh, it's... it's the 12th now.

[Peter watches as the AI seems to try to process this, tapping his finger on the table and thinning his lips at the awkward silence. Pam's little plate-holding robo-arms lower slightly, the generic birthday MIDI file slowing to a depressive stop as the party-themed lights and lighter are shut off together. A pause of nothing. Then she turns and dejectedly wheels away into the community kitchen with her plate of pancakes.]

Wait, Pam — Aw, c’mon, I can still eat them! Hey—

[Peter drops his arms.



... Note to self, fix her internal clock...]

Comments

video;

[childofaxios]

[ THERE IS A DISTINCTLY AMUSED CHYLER on the feed. ]

So it's your AI.

[ She may or may not have run into a wandering Pam. ]

Did you build her?

video;

[madeupnames]

Oh...! Um, yes! I had a little help from this girl named Shuri, and Mr. Stark, but she's mostly my thing.

[He smiles a little.]

She's still needing some updates. Like... something face-like? She's just a speaker on top, which isn't... very personable.

video;

[childofaxios]

The AI I'm familiar with can have projected avatars, sometimes. I've never seen a Smart AI, though--the one who ran our school was Dumb. No personalized projection, no advanced learning capabilities.

video;

[madeupnames]

That's definitely something I'd like for Pam! Advanced learning, and all that. She's mostly running off pre-determined dialogue options and works more like a phone AI. Her primary free roaming ability relies on algorithms that... basically has her decide whether someone has had breakfast or not by looking at them.

Which isn't the best set-up, because if you don't have toast or something food-related in your hand, she'll probably assume you haven't eaten.

[childofaxios]

[ That startles her into making a noise that's more like a snort than a laugh. Chyler doesn't really laugh. It's a thing. ]

Why did you build her? It's a very... specific purpose, for an AI.

[madeupnames]

I'm not very good at building them yet...

So if I can just get a robot to do one thing really, really good, I'm getting somewhere, right?

[childofaxios]

[ And that gets a genuine smile out of her. She approves of a systematic approach to learning. ]

That's very practical. [ A pause, then, because she's learned some humility here: ] It's better than I could do. I have absolutely no training in robotics of any kind.

[ TRANSLATION: NERDS ARE USEFUL. ]

[madeupnames]

... You're saving a lot of money on fire extinguishers.

[childofaxios]

Not as much as you might think.

[ IT A JOKE, MIRACLES. ]

[madeupnames]

[He laughs at that, and is more than happy to hear it from her lips, formal and serious as she can be sometimes.]

Boy, I'm sure you have stories behind that.

[childofaxios]

[ A small smile. ]

Most of them involve my brother.

[madeupnames]

Oh? What's your brother like?

... Other than being a potential fire-starter.

[childofaxios]

[ The small smile turns into a more real one. ]

Trouble. He was always in the principal's office for one reason or another. Too smart for his own good. He started prank competitions at our school, with his friends. Once they turned goats loose in the halls, three goats, and labeled them one, two, and four. The teachers spent hours looking for a goat that didn't exist.

[ A pause. ]

Competitive--we used to have races, trying to beat my father to the local bomb shelter, and he didn't care that I was younger or smaller than him, he always wanted to win. ...So did I, so I guess it's only fair.

Do you have siblings?

[madeupnames]

Oh, uh — ! N-no, no siblings.

I've always wanted some, though. It'd keep me on my toes, and I wouldn't be the youngest one around for once.

But I guess there's some perks to being the only child, right?

[childofaxios]

It's nice to have the company, but I would imagine there must be.

[ It's hard to imagine growing up without her brother. They survived together, learned about the world together, understood each other even when their parents didn't quite know how to make the world make sense for them. ]

No need to share, for one thing.

[madeupnames]

[Jokes on you, he couldn't afford anything anyway. Ha! But that's a good point. Being from a pretty low income family and having siblings? What a nightmare, right there. Or maybe good, because you can just entertain each other? He's not sure, come to think of it.]

Especially seconds at dinnertime. The battle that would turn into, if I had a brother or sister...!

[childofaxios]

Not as much of a problem when your meals are largely rationed.

[ She's amused when she says it, no bitterness at all. ]

But you should have seen us when we got anything special. Our parents had to lock it up so we wouldn't eat it all at once.

[madeupnames]

Heh, yeah.

... But it might have been nice, having someone to hang out with when you got that special something. Company's really important when you don't have the money to go out there and find people to do stupid stuff with, I guess?

[childofaxios]

It was. It is.

Maybe you should consider finding some company to eat those pancakes.

[madeupnames]

[He laughs.]

You mean find someone else to suffer with, when the twentieth pancake comes out.

[childofaxios]

Pam means well.

[ A thoughtful look. ]

I think. I would imagine, if she's anything like you.

[madeupnames]

[Are you trying to make him blush, Chyler.

Because it's very easy to do, who are we kidding.]

I think both our middle names should be something like that.

Peter "Means Well" Parker's got a ring to it.

[childofaxios]

[ A "heh." THAT'S TWO WHOLE ALMOST LAUGHS HE'S GOTTEN. ]

You know, that offer to teach you still stands.

Or you could get a dog, I suppose. Most people take me far more seriously when I have Dom with me.

[madeupnames]

[He chuckles.]

Wouldn't want to embarrass you with how hopeless I am at fighting.

But thanks. How about you? Interested in learning how to build a robot?

[childofaxios]

[ A contemplative pause. ]

Yes.

[ Why not? She has more free time here than she knows what to do with, even if she's started to spend some of her time at Gramarye. She might never be good at it, but it's something new, with someone her own age. She can at least try. ]