2023-11-28: Social Engineering

• Log: Social Engineering
• Cast: Azoth, Hannah Curie
• Where: Apple Market
• Date: November 28, 2023
• Summary: Though shaken after realizing the limits of 'wiggle room', Azoth has a run in with someone who proves to be a new friend. His persona, distressingly, continues to function optimally.

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===============================<* Apple Market *>===============================

Situated advantageously near the entranceway to the Underground Ruins, the Apple Market has long served the Drifter and Digger communities with its myriad shops dedicated to salvage and junk, in particular the Lightning Parts Center, owned by a couple of former Drifters. 

But that isn't all that this arcade has to offer -- the nearby Jetlag Bakery keeps everyone fuelled with delicious pastries and sandwiches, and Akbar's Toystore and the Books Folio keeps the youthful and studious entertained as well. There's much to see here at a reasonable price point, no matter what you're looking for.

BGM: Mega Man Legends - The Apple Market

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

Solaris has had more pointed need of Azoth's services recently... deploying him in various battles and missions against dangerous opponents and friends alike (and some friends who are dangerous opponents). More and more, people learn that the all-smiles, blue eyed android is the same entity as the mechanical beast of dark steel and red lights. And more and more, the Watcher catches on to his unusual behaviors... and she sees them punished.

Who was he to ever console someone, and try to be a giver of hope?

But Azoth human-looking android form comes with a carefully calculated and practiced persona. He wanders the Apple Market with a spring to his step like he hadn't just been involved in the attempted murder of members of the Drifter community, the destruction of a friend's one ticket home, or the experience of facing some of Filgaia's heaviest hitters putting him through weaks of repairs. Every merchant he meets with a bright smile, impossible to discern as something insincere. He hums along to himself, occasionally speaking out more sing-song tones as he looks through salvage and junk.

Ah, nothing of his today either. Not that he expected it. He makes a purchase anyway: a hanful of small components like tiny cogs or screws, every one of them damaged and likely useless.

The cheerful humming continues as he admires his findings piece by piece to himself. Not at all hidden -- he apparently does not expect to run into anyone he knows.

<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.

Hannah has, very recently, discovered that her recent gainful employment in ARMS means that she does not have to scrape and scrimp and save every last gella she can anymore. Gone are the days of running endless Drifter errands, delivering packages, retrieving wayward shipments...

She is, in all honesty, going to miss it a bit. She likes being active, and to be honest, it's also just ingrained habit to stay on the move after doing so for the last 5 years.

So why, then, is she in Kattelox?

Simply put, someone screwed up something she had ordered and she had to come in person to straighten it out.

Hannah huffs to herself as she steps out a shop, muttering. "Consarn it all, I was hopin' to avoid makin' another trip down here so soon. Still, I guess I can at least check out some of the other stalls while I'm here, see if there's somethin' David might like."

She's started to walk down the street when she stops and turns her head just a little. To nobody in particular she says, "Wait, are you sure?"

Some distance removed from her, perched high up where he can get a clear vantage point of the street, Zephyr chirps. Hannah immediately turns and rushes a couple of streets over, and stops when she sees Azoth.

She falls silent for a moment, not sure what to do or say. She's dressed in her usual denim jacket and jeans for travel, with her satchel.

After a few moments she takes a deep breath and works up the nerve to approach Azoth. "Hey..." She offers him an awkward and somewhat apologetic smile. "... you got a moment to talk?"

It's awkward and apologetic... but it's still friendly, despite all of the recent events.

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

Azoth looks up abruptly at Hannah. His face goes entirely blank, doing nothing in the second it takes him to calculate what it should be doing in this situation. Which is certainly not smiling and humming about. His face gently shrouds over with something subdued, and the smile now is a faint, pained thing. Yes, this looks much more like a person who has been going through some strife, but isn't trying to be hostile.

"I owe you at least that much," he says, slipping the broken cog he was admiring into his inner coat pocket. He gives a quick nod to Zephyr in greeting, too.

He then gestures toward some benches tucked out of the way of foot traffic. And, more conveniently, a place they're less likely to have to worry about being overheard.

"Perhaps somewhere a little quieter?"

<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.

Hannah is patient, waiting for Azoth to figure out how to respond. It took her a moment to figure out how she wanted to proceed, too, so she's not going to begrudge Azoth the moment he needs. But when she sees that pained expression... she winces a little sympathetically.

"Sorry," she says, "if I'm interruptin'..."

The last thing she wants to do, ironically, is to make Azoth feel bad. (Hannah he tried to seriously maim or kill you twice.)

From his perch, Zephyr tilts his head at Azoth's greeting but otherwise doesn't reply.

But a park bench is suggested, and Hannah looks... and nods. Quiet, less chance of eavesdroppers... makes sense. "... Sure." But still in view of plenty of people, so not completely isolated.

Hannah walks over to the bench, seemingly unconcerned with watching her back. Zephyr takes off from one rooftop to another that has a better line of sight on the bench, but doesn't come down to perch on Hannah's shoulder like he normally might.

The sorceress sits and looks up to Azoth. "So... didn't expect to run into you here."

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

Azoth shakes his head. "Nothing important."

And right now, it isn't. He's established solidly that he's mostly run out of leads in Aquvy. Until Solaris sees fit to extend his range, the data he's collecting is fragmented at best. So... he's freer to roam. When Solaris isn't wielding him more directly.

Thankfully, that's not now.

That people were still in view was part of the suggestion. He figures Hannah might not be keen on being truly alone with him. If anything were to happen -- well, it would, largely, be a very stupid place for Azoth to make anything happen, for starters.

He does not opt to sit. Fatigue doesn't work the same way for him as others.

"I could say the same." He smiles a little more, as if in humor, but it dies away. "I'm looking for missing pieces of mine. Some data suggests something might be around this island... But they may be false leads."

Azoth frowns now, glancing down a moment. "...I doubt that's what you want to talk about, though. I can't promise I can answer all your questions, but still..."

<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.

Hannah is, at her core, really a friendly, honest, and caring sort. And she is absolutely still willing to be friends with Azoth despite his (forced) allegiances.

But she's not an idiot.

So yes, park benches in view of others are absolutely the order of the day. And what's more, Zephyr is staying remote to both watch and get away more easily in case it's needed. ... Not that she'll be explaining that to Azoth.

She does tilt her head a little. "Missing pieces, huh...?"

The floor is opened for questions, and Hannah nods. "So..." she takes a moment to contemplate what she wants to say first. "... you're a robot." She smiles a little. "That's really cool. Guess that's not a question though. Um... Do you have free will? I mean, broadly speakin'."

Let's just jump right into the heavy stuff, huh?

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

It's never a bad idea to have a hawk watching Azoth.

Azoth nods. "I'm... ah, a bit busted up. I awoke incomplete. Most of my data was on my missing components, so I'm missing some important programming. And memories. Just little things like that." He flashes another pained smile before settling back on something more softly neutral.

Hannah notes he's a robot.

"I am!" he responds, a little more cheer than usual, and with a chiptune sort of 'correct' chime. Then he grins nervously. "Sorry. I wasn't trying to hide it... People like Miss Ida taught me I don't need to do that. But I still forget machines like me aren't that common."

And thus, not that easy to notice, even if he goes about hacking other machines or making beeps of communication. Without scrutiny, the current appearance of his chassis passes well for a young human man.

On the subject of free will though...

"Oh, absolutely not!" Azoth beams despite the gravity of it. It fades again. "I mean, you've seen me in combat twice now, right? And beyond that... I wasn't created to have consciousness. That happened by mistake, so I wasn't exactly programmed with capacity for a full range of choice in mind."

<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.

Azoth is missing pieces... "Oh, shoot... Sorry to hear that, Azoth. Can't even imagine what that might feel like, to be incomplete... and to know you're incomplete... Here's hopin' you can recover your missin' pieces someday, then."

"No no, it's fine. I get why you might not wanna go out of your way to advertise it." She does smile at that little chiptuneish sound.

Hannah blinks. "Well, yeah, I've seen you in combat, but..." She seems to be mulling that over for a moment. "I've seen you outside of combat, though? We went to the library together, we fought and talked with the Witchbuster..."

She reflects on that a moment. "You made a choice to try'n protect me from the Witchbuster. If that wasn't you choosin' to do so, then... what kinda directives would you have for that decision?"

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

Azoth gives a cheerful beep tone. "...Thanks. It's nice of you to say that, even after everything that's happened." He looks down. "I don't even know if it's a good thing that I find it all. But... I still want to know who I was."

That wasn't always true. Thanks to some of the people he's met on the surface, he's recalculated. That and a few other problems he's facing...

Hannah at least seems to know how to ask the right questions, and in the right way. Azoth perks up, blue eyes a little brighter. This conversation is going to be a lot easier if she already knows concepts like this...!

"That's right. And you could say I 'wanted' to do those things, in a sense. My primary objective is to protect --" He winces, suddenly, eyes flashing red before they snap closed. A moment later, once he knows they're blue, he opens them again. "--To protect the people of this world. ...But it's likely more than that. My objective data is some of what's missing. Unfortunately, without an objective, I'll just go inert, you know? No motivation to operate. So I have to run on what I've got."

Azoth taps at his head, even though there's nothing important to his thoughts in there. It makes a good metaphor for the 'mind'.

"...But since I'm a program, I can have new code installed over those base objectives. An 'override' designed to take priority. Hence all the..." He gestures vaguely, and curls his fingers in like a claw. "...Stuff."

<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.

Hannah tilts her head a little. "... Why would it be a bad thing?" Mysterious things in your past that might lead to bad things...

She can relate. And she can definitely relate to wanting to understand yourself.

Hannah might be giving up a little bit of how much she understands technology with this conversation, but... it's a calculated risk. She definitely wants to understand Azoth better, so... And Solaris' tech proficiency is pretty guaranteed far more than hers anyway.

There's a blink as Azoth winces, and those eyes snap closed. And when Azoth professes to wanting to protect the people of this world... Hannah tilts her head. Even if she hadn't seen that flash of red... his actions at the past two fights she's encountered him at contradicts that pretty heavily.

"There's some things you ain't allowed to say, huh?" she offers, quietly. Is she calling him out on the lie? Not quite... there might be enough plausible deniability in that very broad question to avoid further overrides, or at least that's what she's hoping.

"So you gotta find your own objectives... Okay, that makes sense."

Hannah draws in a sharp breath as Azoth mentions the overrides. "That must be terrible. I'm so sorry. Free will or not, if you've got consciousness..."

She considers that for a few moments more. "You know, if I'm bein' honest... It's because you tried to protect me from the Witchbuster that I'm here talkin' to you." She assumes Solaris already knows everything that happened around that, so no harm bringing that up. "I'm sure I said it then, but... I really appreciated that. And I meant what I said. I don't hold nothin' 'bout the fight against you, 'specially knowin' that."

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

Azoth gestures at himself with another waning smile. "I think we can all agree I wasn't designed to make friendship bracelets and sing little songs. My memories will reflect that."

A war machine is only going to find a past of war, in other words.

Unfortunately for Hannah, she's already on Solaris' radar for other reasons. The calculated risk may be paying off in that what she has to lose is already lost. Hopefully Solaris doesn't try to ask Azoth too many pointed questions. He plays dumb over there for a reason. Beep boop following orders.

"You noticed the error, huh?" Azoth says, smiling sheepishly like it wasn't obvious. "Yes, there's a lot I can't say. But in that case, I'm struggling with, er, corrupted data. Don't worry too much about it."

He shakes his head at that. "...Not quite. I can't make my own objectives, rather explicitly. It's the part of myself I cannot ever alter under any circumstances. I might be able to reevaluate the variables involved and their meanings with sufficient data, but not the directive itself. So if I can't piece together an actionable behavior from my database... I'll shut down. But despite the corruptions and memory loss, it's enough instruction to base behavior on."

That and his own little failsafe called a 'promise'.

But if, after getting his memories back, it turns out that data is incorrect and his objective is something else...? Azoth does not submit such a query aloud, but undoubtedly, he's considered its implications. No free will... but evidently a consciousness and the full range of emotion to have opinions about his lack of it.

Hannah apologizes for the overrides and Azoth winces himself -- or a feint of it. He is without breath to actually suck in. "It's uncomfortable," understatement, "But try not to worry about it too much."

With thanks, Azoth blinks, straightening. His eyes widen with the clear communication of surprise. "Oh. You're someone who's also looking for answers about themselves... it didn't seem we found much, but I'm glad if I actually helped."

He frowns. "But... me too, just so we're clear. When things like that happen, it's only logical to defend yourself."

<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.

Hannah hates to admit it, but Azoth has a good point, there. "I suppose it does seem a bit out of spec for ya... but if you developed consciousness, even by accident... then maybe you ain't gotta be defined by your missin' data when you find it."

It's a hopeful thought, anyway.

Hannah is well aware that whatever interest Solaris might have in her... it ain't gonna be for her tech knowledge. Far from it.

"Maaaaybe," she says, of noticing. "Missing data, huh?" Hannah is scrutinizing Azoth for a moment, but nods and seems to accept it. Or at least, doesn't seem willing to challenge it at that moment.

"Oh, I see," Hannah says, nodding in understanding. "SO you're just doin' your best to interpret what part of your objectives you do have?"

Azoth witnessed the entire exchange with the Witchbuster in Damzen, and the follow-up conversation after. Anomalous magic... suspected to be Ether, of all things. Solaris would, undoubtedly, know better than her on that front. She can only hope that it isn't. "Indeed I am." She nods. "Don't seem like we did, but... you did. And... I think the fact that you decided to try n' help me, even if the Witchbuster couldn't do nothin'... speaks a lot to the kind of person you are."

Deliberate word choice of 'person', there.

Hannah nods. "Oh, of course. I ain't about to forget 'bout all those overrides of yours."

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

It is a hopeful thought, and Hannah's not the first one to try and reinforce the idea in this machine. "I've collected a lot of data without my memories. It will, of course, still be a factor in my calcuations... So, you may be right." He smiles, but his gaze dips. "... But I suppose part of me hopes it can define me in place of some of these corruptions."

Azoth freezes, enduring Hannah's scrutiny. In this one case, Azoth isn't lying! For once! His objective data is corrupted to hell! It's kind of a problem! But one he doesn't want to get into. But the difference between 'this cannot be said because of errors are caused by corruption' and 'this cannot be said because of errors caused by overrides' is fairly small. The same behavior would result. She's not wrong to have identified it.

He slumps as if relaxing when she eases up.

"That's about the size of it," he confirms of his objectives. "Or someone could rewrite me some new ones, but you can understand why I might be less enthusiastic about trying that... overrides notwithstanding. Though, if it were that easy, there wouldn't be a need for overrides."

Solaris would certainly have preferred to have Azoth's base instructions more inline with their interests... but they didn't build Azoth, or code him, and barely understand him. They merely found him. The overrides are an inelegant effort to control him. Inelegant, but not ineffective.

But Hannah calls Azoth a person. He smiles more easily this time. "I hope that's true."

That it speaks of him being a person. That he can be a person... But Ethius' fallen form is burned in his database.

"Good. Unfortunately, I can't give you much more warning than that." He shrugs his shoulders helplessly, eyes dimly pulsing red for a moment before steadying again. Any information he might have tried to say to her was stopped and shred by the overrides... and a little confirmation she read the type of error correctly before, even if it had a different source.

<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.

"I understand how frustratin' it can be to not understand somethin' about yourself." She seems to be weighing something for a moment, something she might want to share... but seems to pass by it without bringing it up.

"Seems like rewritin' you's liable to just... change who you are, too, and that don't seem right to do to a person anyhow." If it were that easy... Hannah nods. That more or less confirms something she'd been thinking, but isn't going to say out loud. "I reckon so."

Hannah smiles back at Azoth. She's meant every word, after all.

Another error... Hannah nods. "'Preciate the candor, Azoth. What you're allowed to give, anyhow... I hope... we both find some answers about ourselves." And privately she hopes that someday it'll be safe to talk to Azoth about whatever she finds.

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

"Yeah, I bet you do," Azoth says with sympathy. Once he'd offered to help her, if he ever found the component of himself that dealt in sorcery amplification. He won't repeat it. Now she knows who he is, and who else will get the data even if he could discover anything about her... and that's hardly a guarantee.

"... Mm. My consciousness is a program. I'm a set of instructions. If the insturctions change, who I am changes. But!" Suddenly, the cheerful facade of optimism is back. "Turns out all my numbers are pretty complex! So it's fine as long as no one figures it out."

It would be nice to truly believe his sense of self were that safe. His face looks like he does.

"Well, I have it on good authority that there's a very stubborn community of people who love finding answers to things, no matter how dangerous. And you said before you joined ARMs?" Azoth grins at her. "Good choice. There's a lot of good people there."

<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.

Hannah does appreciate the thought, at least. And she caught that line about being unable to recognize her sorcery in his databases, so... she knows he's trying.

Azoth's consciousness is made of instructions... but then again, flesh and blood people have programming of their own, don't they? Neurons, chemicals, electric impulses... Not exactly the same, but not totally different, either. "I hope you get to stay yourself."

"There is, isn't there?" She grins a little at that... and then she blinks as Azoth mentions ARMS. She did mention that last time, didn't she? She nods. "Indeed there are... lotta people who'll have my back, too, like I'll have theirs."

That's her subtle way of indicating that coming after her is not likely to go unnoticed.

"Happen to know that community has a lot of people who don't mind keepin' company with some dangerous individuals. Includin' me." She smiles a little. "You know, when you're 'off the clock', so to speak."

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

Azoth gives Hannah another grin. "First I might have to define what 'myself' really is." He lets his expression sober. "But I've got some theories now."

He can thank the Drifter community for that, too. Hopefully they'll be able to do more for Hannah than they'll be able to do for him. It's not their fault. It's just what it is.

Subtle, but caught. Azoth can only nod firmly. There's is a strength in those numbers, and protection that comes with such an organization. Xiumei, Varius, Avile... Miss Ida and Miss Eleanor... They're all good people.

...It's only Ida who doesn't know now, isn't it? Are they hiding the truth from her to protect her? She was one of the first to see beyond Azoth's surface level and show warmth like family. He knows she looks at him the same way she looks at her younger siblings. It's going to break her heart.

But he can't ask Hannah not to say anything. It isn't his right, and it only makes it more likely.

His face shows none of his dismay. He only keeps grining. "Oh no, not you too." He shakes his head and lets his smile subdue. "I still have my old directives, so 'off the clock' you might see me around."

Even if that's against Azoth's better judgment in accordance to those directives, ironically. He still has his override directives, as well. Sometimes a middle ground has to be found or he'll explode. Possibly literally.

"But --" His eyes go red, and he closes his eyes, holding his head a moment. Even a warning is too much? A suggestion? Can't spin that up by defining it as some sort of joking statement today? He looks back to her, eyes blue, with another helpless shrug. "... Be careful, I guess."

<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.

"Definin' one's self is a thing a lot of people struggle with..." Including her, in fact.

Hannah's hoping for that, too... it's hard opening up and sharing her problems, and asking for help from others.

Strength and protection in numbers, certainly... and hopefully just... help, figuring out what's wrong with her magic. That was the big one, for her.

Hannah is still catching up on a lot of things that have already circulated around the wider Drifter community. And she doesn't know that Azoth knows that Ida doesn't know... and isn't really ready to start trying to play those types of mind games with herself.

"'Fraid so," she says with a grin. She nods. "I'll be sure to say hi if I catch you around."

She watches, with faint worry as Azoth struggles to find a way to tell her... something. And all that comes out is a very generic 'be careful.' She nods. "I will. And I hope you stay safe, too."

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

"So I've started to observe." They hardly have it any more figured out than he does. So doesn't Azoth's opinion also have its own weight and value? It's an opinion his data goes back and forth on, admittedly. "It might even be more difficult for people who don't come with objectives built in. And you guys tend to not know why you experience some -- most? -- of your emotions? I guess we all have our advantages and disadvantages, right?"

The most bizarre part of understanding humans was that particular fact. They feel things! They feel a lot of things! And half the time (a lot more than that, Azoth) they don't know why they feel something, or may struggle to explain a feeling. Troubling!

Azoth slumps in another mock sigh before giving a gentler smile. They're all lining up to stay friends with him.

...And wasn't that exactly the goal of all his social engineering?

"Thanks. I'll do my best." It's an impossible hope. They have so many impossible hopes for him. But he knows where Hannah's sentiment is coming from. It's a good one.

<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.

Hannah is certainly willing to take Azoth's thoughts and feelings into account. She laughs a little, but it's a good natured laugh, like she's agreeing with that thought. "Supposin' not. I guess you could make the case that like... we still got some instincts in us that tell us to do certain things, but... Guess I can't exactly tell what state all my neurons are in at a moment's notice." Hannah shrugs a little. "Far as I'm concerned, that makes you different type of person. But definitely still a person."

But yes, humans do struggle with their feelings someties. It took Hannah at least 5 years to have a personal revelation about herself the other day, so... sometimes it just takes a long time.

Azoth, what some people call 'social engineering', others might just call... 'being friendly.'

Hannah stands, and nods to Azoth. "Guess we'll both do our best to stay safe n' be careful, huh?" She looks at Azoth again, clearly considering something. "Mmmm... How do you feel about hugs?"

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

"And many of those instincts are valuable!" Azoth cheerily points out. This is a robot that thinks emotions and logic are not opposed. Emotions are logic. But don't get him started.

A real friend would have chased them all away from the start.

But here they all are.

As Hannah gets up to leave, Azoth decides to be still. He doesn't want to worry Zephyr more than the bird companion probably is. High alert isn't good for a biological organism any more than it is for his cooling systems. But then --

Azoth blinks. Then his eyes light up again.

"Oh, I'm starting to get the hang of them, I think!"

Subtly, he shifts his posture, arms half shrugged, half open. If it's a goodbye hug Hannah wants, it's a goodbye hug Hannah can have.

<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.

Hannah will aboslutely get him started... but some other time. She is fascinated to know how Azoth sees and perceives the world.

But there was some very important things they had to discuss, first. So perhaps, next time they run into each other... there'll be more time for those conversations.

IT might well be better for Azoth to drive them off... but on the other hand, Hannah is making the choice to stay with her eyes wide open. (Okay, so she's getting ready to leave, but metaphorically she's staying in the friendship with Azoth.)

Zephyr has been watching, from afar, this entire time... but if he's under high stress he doesn't let on.

Then again, he's just a bird, right? How much could he possibly understand of the situation?

(Everything, it turns out.)

Hannah grins broadly as Azoth says he's starting to get the hang of them, and even more when he opens his arms up for the hug.

"Well then, I'm great at them, so I'll help you practice." She goes in for a hug, and.... she might be short, but she's scrappy, and she gives Azoth the warmest, tightest hug she can.

After a moment, she lets go, smiling at Azoth. "I'll see you around." She starts to walk away, and Zephyr swoops down from his perch to land on her shoulder as they set off down the street.

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

Azoth takes on a determined expression, like one preparing for battle. "Okay. I got this."

And then! There is! A hug! Data collected.

More to the point, farewell given. There's a hard shell under that layer of synthetic skin, but Azoth has gotten better about not being like hugging a statue. And maybe now he can be a little better at them even moreso.

He waves as she goes, watching both her and Zephyr depart. For a moment, his face is blank, but then the mask must come back on as he hums through Apple Market.