uploadednet | 001 █ radio

[The radio he hadn't been able to get to do anything suddenly chirps to life beside him. Dean is so surprised at the voice in the relative quiet, he drops the knife he's been sharpening, very narrowly missing his own foot. He recovers quickly enough, though, and grabs the radio.]

Hello? Catherine, this is Dean Winchester. Are you here in the mall?

Yup. I'm here. Thanks for answering-- it's kinda spooky talking to a radio all alone in an abandoned retro electronics store.

[ To Catherine, the fact that she has a body of any kind now is the bit that's hard to adjust to; all the rest is situation normal, which is probably apparent in how very un-distressed she sounds. ]

Radio Shack? I can come to you.

[He gathers up the few items he's purchased or "borrowed" into a pack, and heads out of the dark ice cream parlor (but not before grabbing a whole jar of chocolate chips on the way, because, c'mon, why not?).

On the way, he continues talking with her over the walkie.]

I haven't actually been out there yet, but I've seen some things from inside. It's... not good.

Right... Radio Shack. [ This is her first time ever seeing one, so she hadn't totally internalized the name until he says it, but the branded merchandise all around her makes it pretty obvious. ]

Well, whatever you have to say would be helpful. I'd like to make a robotic scout to take a look around, but if it gets munched in two seconds, it's going to be a lot of work for nothing.

[ Catherine, meanwhile, has been assiduously avoiding the doors, windows, and any trace of the outside and the mist. She's not a coward, but she knows where she's most useful, and it's way back here in Radio Shack. Aside from which, she's more than a little worried about damaging her shiny new android body with who-knows-what out there -- a body she has no idea how to repair, and she definitely can't just upload herself into a new one if something goes wrong. Yeesh. Her mortality rearing its ugly head again is freaking her out, a little. Secretly. ]

[Robot scout? That sounds cool. Dean's not sure how he can help, but he's not totally useless. If nothing else, he'll be happy to take the thing outside (and then run like hell to get back inside).]

Well, I've only seen bloody chunks of... things, so I don't think whatever's out there cares much about electronics.

[It's just his best guess. For all he knows, the things could be collecting and trading tech like some kind of card game. He turns down the hallway where he thought he remembers seeing the Radio Shack and is rewarded.]

Hey, I'm here.

[ Cath switches off her radio and calls out, in a voice meant to carry rather than be outright loud: ] Back here!

[ She's sitting on the floor in the aisle with the internal computer cables, surrounded by tiny screwdrivers and bits of wiring and microchips and assorted tech. She's a slight, very human looking Taiwanese woman, slightly ruffled but otherwise completely average and unharmed. ]

Dean, right?

[ That sounds normal. Totally normal. Ugh. Catherine has not missed in-person interaction. She just needs to fake it. Not a weirdo workaholic hermit here, not at all... ]

[He joins he in the back. Immediately, he's mystified and a little impressed by the assortment of doodads.]

Yes, Dean. Hi.

[He offers her his hand to shake.]

You been here long?

[ Oh... handshaking. Okay. Catherine is awkward about it, exactly like someone unused to physical contact would be, and only part of that is it's her first time shaking a hand since she scanned herself and she's aware her synthetic skin might not feel the same. Not that she has any basis for comparison on that. She moves on quickly to cover it up, nervously brushing hair out of her face. ]

Um-- a few hours. Today. It's been a little frustrating. This isn't what I'm used to working with.

[Dean senses he's making her nervous, so he backs off a little, leaning on a display of laptops designed for preschoolers. He's used to this - he often has to speak with people who have recently survived trauma, and as he's usually assuming the role of law enforcement, so he knows he can come off a little intimidating.]

So how far from 2007 are you from?

[He awaits some strange pain or prickling sensation - he and Ariadne had both been victims of strange physical reactions when they talked about what was happening - but nothing happened. This entire place was far too unpredictable for Dean's liking.]

[ It makes her much less nervous to be given a straight-forward, factual question, and not have to deal with physical contact, either. Catherine's still not great about eye contact, but it's out of shyness. Her voice returns to the same even, informative tone from the radio. ]

Last I knew, it was 2104. Computer chips do not look like this anymore. [ Especially irritating since, clearly, she has several highly advanced models embedded somewhere in her. She has to, to be handling the complexity of her scan. ]

[Okay, so quite a way from even his own time. Interesting, but not altogether a surprise.]

Well, I don't know much about that kind of thing, but I can do recon or collect parts for you. Pretty much anything. I've been here three weeks and I am just about bored senseless without something to do, y'know?

Why do you think I'm trying to make a robot with century-old parts? [ she asks wryly. Catherine definitely knows bored. ]

How are you with building metal frames? I had someone who was doing that part, but he... [ Catherine hesitates. She's actually not sure what had happened to him after he volunteered to run out into the mist to get their radios. ] It's been a while since I saw him.

[Where Dean lacked skill with technology, he more than made up for mechanically. Maybe he couldn't design and build something from scratch - or had never been interested in doing so - but he could certainly follow directions. He'd rebuilt his Impala enough times to know that much.]

Not bad. I mean, I can do the basic stuff.

[He noted her hesitation regarding her cohort, but filed it away for later. He didn't know her, and didn't want to intrude, but he had a feeling if the guy had gone outside, it hadn't ended well.]

Don't worry, it doesn't need to be pretty. It just needs to carry a basic chassis, some treads, a motherboard, a camera and mic combo, and a radio unit.

I'm hoping it lacking a real brain will keep it immune from most of the mist's effects. I can give you a sketch to work from if you feel up to it. [ As long as she can stay busy with this project -- whether it leads anywhere or not -- Catherine can keep it together, no problem. ]

[Dean's eager to find some way to keep busy, so he nods enthusiastically.]

As long as it doesn't have to look great, I can cobble something together.

[He's already looking around for something with wheels, and as luck would have it, there's a decently sophisticated radio-control car on display. He's pretty sure he can start there and just tear it down enough to house the rest of her robotics. He takes down the display unit and another in the box. As he starts digging into the box, he glances at Catherine.]

So are you an engineer?

It's probably not even going to come back, so don't worry about it too much, [ she says, relatively cheerfully, already reaching for a pad of paper and her mechanical pencil to start sketching. Catherine has to reach over her lapful of electronics, and rather than sort anything or move it out of the way, she just balances the pad on top of everything.

She pauses before putting pencil to paper. ] Oh-- yeah. I'm an intelligent systems specialist. Designing robots to chart territory man isn't meant to go is actually my job.

[Dean begins removing various components from the box, glad to find the chassis is fairly sturdy. The plastic body of the car isn't even attached, and there's a large surface to support a battery. If he can attach two together, he's confident he make a workable basis for her robot.

He's suitably impressed with her title.]

That sounds sort of fun.

[Dean's a problem solver, so he understands the allure of such a job.]

[ It would be Shinichi Izumi who would manage to establish what may be considered a boring routine even in the mall from Hell -- but it's a comfort to him. Anything mundane is welcomed, even sought out. Doing regular rounds of the various shops has become part of that routine, and it has its purpose, too. Migi is constantly checking to see if anything has changed, to keep tabs on supplies and the whereabouts of the other mall residents.

Even now Shinichi is found with the familiar notepad in hand, letting his counterpart jot down at will, the quick scritches of pen against paper the only sound in the quiet area. He's taken to moving stealthily these days, adopting a much less clumsy walk than used on his first days here. No more running around panicking, either. Now he slips behind things and hesitates before moving forwards, and steps lightly -- which means he can accidentally sneak up on people even when he didn't mean to.

Indeed, when he hears the voice, it's definitely close enough to take him by surprise. He pauses, at first thinking it's directed at him, when he tilts his head around a corner and catches the woman who is speaking, into one of the radios. His own was left behind at his "campsite" this time, to free his hands for any potential supplies he may encounter.

Shinichi knows Catherine by association; he's made it a point to introduce himself to nearly everyone else in the mall by this point, not only because he's a painfully polite young man by nature, but also for the fact Migi wants to consistently take notes on everyone here, even just on people's surface behaviours. She's seemed quite pleasant to him, amiable, but there's something distinctly off about her. It could be dismissed as awkwardness -- and Awkwardness is his figurative middle name, so he gets that -- but after encountering a variety of oddities around this place, he supposes he is a little wary.

It doesn't stop him from still being polite. Even if the politeness comes after lingering long enough to eavesdrop on what she just said, process it a little, and then act. When did he start doing that? ]

Ms. Chun! [ His greeting is bright, left hand lifting in a wave. ]

I was just looking around and heard you over here. You're trying to make something that can help?

[ Meanwhile, Catherine has given herself a goal and a project that will Contribute To the Group and has consequently spared little brainpower for silly things like socializing or remembering peoples' names. She has a hazy understanding of Shinichi as a polite Japanese teenage boy and that's about it.

(No surprise people think she's a little odd...)

Catherine looks blank but receptive on being greeted, lifting her hand too-quickly in return wave before lowering it. When he asks about her project, she relaxes, comfortable talking about that. ] Yeah, my real job is programming the A.I. for robots that assist with sustaining human life on the ocean floor, so making a robotic helper to scout for us isn't too far from that in principle. [ Her light tone fades into a grimace. ] The parts I have to work with, on the other hand... Not easy.

Edited 2018-10-22 22:29 (UTC)

[ While Shinichi may have some wariness, Migi on the other hand has found himself very drawn to Catherine. Human behaviour and all of its quirky nuances intrigue him greatly, but that isn't the only reason he finds himself keeping a closer eye on her than some of the others. She seems highly intelligent and efficient even from the sparse interactions Shinichi has had with her over the past weeks and simply from watching her from a distance.

The alien has recently decided that scouting some potential allies in this place is the next course of action. So when she replies, Migi perks up -- suddenly tense and alert, fingers twitching and very much startling Shinichi, who gasps... loudly.

...She isn't the only one who may come across as odd. But he can try to play that off as a reaction to her words, which admittedly are pretty surprising. ]

A robot? That's... that's... wow.

[ The spider that is his hand flinches almost aggressively, impatient. And Shinichi knows what that means. Migi wants more information -- because the knowledge that Catherine programs artificial intelligence in robots is no doubt starving his curiosity. The human can practically feel the alien snapping at him: 'That's... that's... wow' is hardly a useful statement, Shinichi. ]

Um-- what kind of robots did you program? I mean, what did they look like? Like androids?

Edited 2018-10-24 01:31 (UTC)

[ It’s not the worst next place, not that it’s a high bar when you didn’t expect a “next place” from PATHOS-II. Even the cold, automated voice they were greeted with when they were dropped in here is more communicative than the WAU, although telling Simon that his goal is to “survive” is pretty redundant and unhelpful by this point.

Anyway, this is the most relieved Simon has ever been to hear from Catherine. And not only is this moment up against some incredibly stiff competition, it also occurs shortly after he’s inadvertently passed out in one of the massage chairs.

It results in the radio flying across the floor when he jerks up into awareness, where it probably hits the button once or twice and transmits half of Catherine’s name in the ensuing kerfuffle before he’s secured it.

And even then, Simon waits until the end of her surreally casual message, where she identifies herself, to respond, clutching the radio in both hands like the lifeline that it is. Now that it works. How did Catherine get the century-old walkie-talkie to work before century-old Simon did? That’s just how life works. ]

Cath- Catherine, can you hear me?

Simon? [ Her voice hitches briefly, followed by the disorienting sensation of feeling confused, hopeful, distressed, all at once without the accompanying feeling of tightness in her throat or pressure in her chest. Having a physical body without the accompanying physical reactions is just confusing. At least when she'd had nothing, all she had to do was not think about it.

But she has to think about it now, because Simon's here. ] Simon-- are you here? When did you get here?

[ A muddle of feelings jumbled together makes the words come out with some pressure behind them, a sense of urgency. ]

[ Simon gets up and starts pacing. Because carrying around things that Catherine is in (?) and continuous motion just go together at this point, and the flood of relief and inner conflict are just reinforcing it. Even when she was plugged in in a single room, it’s not like Simon stayed still while he talked to her.

For some reason, he hadn’t expected the emotion in her voice, and feels a prickle of guilt at the sound of it. ]

I- I don’t know, it feels like days. Are we in some kind of game? I looked for a server room, or... something, but the only thing that’s out of place is those... cryogenic pod things.

[ yeah ok simon that’s what they are. ]

And the customers. If they’re brain scans, they’re bad ones.

[ Of course she's emotional. Sheesh. She's a person, not a robot. (Ha, ha.) ]

They're definitely not brain scans. Way too limited. Seems more like a rudimentary A.I. [ Maybe she'll be lucky, and Simon will just keep asking her expository questions... Uh-huh. Catherine already knows she won't just be able to sweep everything under the rug; she's not even sure, for once, if she's capable of it. But the urge to do so is very strong nevertheless. She has to squeeze her hands into fists, pressed on her thighs where she's kneeling, surrounded by electrical parts and her radio. ]

... Otherwise, I don't know. [ Her voice gets quieter. ] Sorry, Simon. This time, I don't have any answers.

[ he pauses. That pause is where a window of opportunity to address the elephant in the room feels like it was. But there it goes, because he let it. Well, shit. ]

Can’t you just... can’t you dig around in the mainframe or something? The technology can’t be that different if it can handle us, right?

[ Simon doesn’t labor under the delusion that Catherine always has answers. She just usually has answers. She’s his sole answer-provider when it comes to suddenly finding yourself a digital clone in a deserted human settlement, so his tone is a bit dismayed and incredulous. ]

[ There we go, there's the illusion that she isn't affected by anything that Catherine had been putting up like a bulwark against her feelings. ]

How am I supposed to do that? Simon, it doesn't work that way-- I told you-- [ Catherine breaks off in frustration. ] There's limitations to what I can do. There's always been limitations. I thought that was pretty clear by now.

[ Nope, not bitter at all. Augh. She hadn't meant to let that slip through. She's so frazzled from everything going on right now, and Simon's in the unique position to know exactly the right buttons to push, to know her just too well to put up with the polite fiction that she's above and beyond all this. ]

[ Her frustration seems disproportionate, to him, but not entirely out of character, so Simon responds the way he would at any other time: by doubling down on sounding dumb, but you know, very earnestly. ]

What are you talking about? You did it all the time when you were plugged in in PATHOS-II. You can’t see anything?

[ Obviously she’s still in digital form, because human Catherine is Other Catherine (and human Simon is Real Simon, because.... logic), so obviously she should be able to spread her consciousness across this whole simulation somehow via means Simon can’t even visualize, much less understand. Or, if not that, at least do it a little, an even more nebulous concept. ]

[ Impatiently: ] Do you see anything for me to plug into? The best I've found is an electronics store with hundred year old computer cables.

[ Come on, Simon, catch up. It doesn't even occur to Catherine that they need to go over that she isn't a digital presence anymore, because she assumes the same thing that happened to her happened to Simon. It should be obvious, right? ]

[ Of all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these: “it should be obvious, right? Come on, Simon.”

He’s already walking in a random direction, because just standing around making noise here is freaking him out a little. If this simulation’s implemented calories, post-PATHOS Simon is going to burn so many. ]

Well, you’re in something. How are you talking to me? Where are you?

[ It’s impatient, too, but a toothless, bickery impatience, borne of what’s started to be a seed of understanding that Catherine is maybe sincerely unable to predict the conclusions Simon comes to, or fails to come to, as the case may be.

Unselfconsciously sussing out the one layperson neuron they have in common is just kinda what he does now. ]

I'm using a radio, same as you are? [ There's Catherine's blank 'duh' voice making its return. Maybe Simon's missed it. ]

You have realized there's no Omnitools here... right? This is 2007. There's no mall-wide system for me to be in apart from some security cameras.

[ Okay, she'll back up for him-- back way up. This is still better than having a real argument, which had seemed all too likely a possibility when she'd first heard his voice, though she was still relieved. ]

That’s not what I meant. [ He doesn’t elaborate beyond that, because even if Catherine’s Duh Voice doesn’t come as a second shot of strange, pricking relief (it does), it’s not like he’s ever been all that invested in avoiding it, or arguing against it. ]

It’s a simulation like the ARK, why wouldn’t there be a system for you to be in? There’s nobody left. Somebody has to be maintaining it as a scan from the inside somehow, right? I mean, if we’ve actually time traveled—

[ Simon has been so focused on a digital environment where the creator herself would be inside of it — while it floated in space — that the idea makes more sense to him than it probably should. More sense than it would to somebody from not-an-apocalypse, you know, without a computer floating in space full of human brain-clones with exactly one programmer on board. ]

Just... look, how do I get to you? [ impatient!! CATHERINE!!!! ]

Bleeding. Lots of it. We didn't last more than two minutes.

Who's we? And by last, do you mean you came back in?

Just me and Jason. And yeah, we came back in.

So, clearly you survived. Bleeding shouldn't be an issue... Anything else?

I should clarify the bleeding was from everywhere. Eyes, ears, finger tips. They're really going all the way with the horror concept.

This is Ignis Scientia. I've not ventured out myself, but I've witnessed others. [He just... won't call Noct out by name because wow what a dick move that would be.]

It seems the majority of those who wander out are rendered apart by something lurking out there. The one person I saw manage to return was physically uninjured, but was quite disturbed by the event. I'm not certain if the mist has any sort of mind-altering properties that would play into that, but I wouldn't rule it out.

You say you're making something?

That's a funny name, [ she answers, totally without apology. (Thanks, Cath.)

Getting actual information is useful, so she moves right along. ] I'm making an exploratory remote-controlled robot. So, it shouldn't be affected by mind-altering anything, but I'm hoping whatever's out there is less interested in metal and wires than it is in human flesh, or this might be a very short-lived exploration.

Well. At least one of us is amused by it. [wow, Cath. his name is fine what are you even talking about what could possibly be funny about it.]

The idea certainly sounds useful. What information are you looking to obtain with it? Visuals of what lives out there would be useful, but so would determining the scope of the fog's coverage.

You probably get that all the time, huh? [ Said... still without apology, or even a contrite tone. ]

I'm not sure yet, though scope of coverage isn't a bad idea. Mostly, it's so if we need to leave the mall, we have an idea of where we're heading -- if there's any other safe zones, that kind of thing. We can't expect to be able to stay here forever, and wandering out into the mist without a map seems... bad.

001 █ radio

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