wat am I doing.

[ex_unethical663]

M'am,

I am ready to take on any challenge. You know that I was designed to perform anything asked of me.

Do not be distressed. It will only make things more-[A pause.] complicated.

[ooc; canon is 'prometheus']

Comments

[dominion_war_graduate]

'Designed'. If it's not improper to ask ... are you an android?

[ex_unethical663]

Yes. My name is David. And you are?

[dominion_war_graduate]

Warren Matthews. I'm with Starfleet. I only ask because Starfleet counts an android among its own.

[ex_unethical663]

Hello, Warren Matthews.

Are androids used often at Starfleet? Do they understand human emotions?

[dominion_war_graduate]

They were once used a little but nothing as advanced as Captain Data. Most of them were little more than ... secretarial aids, really, as I understand it. Robots, really.

The captain, as I understand it, is positronic, and pretty much the most advanced android in the known galaxy. So much so that he's recognized as a citizen of the Federation.

[ex_unethical663]

That is unfortunate. Their creators should have worked harder to give them more purpose. An android is capable of doing more than menial tasks.

I would like to meet this Captain Data. He sounds very interesting.

[dominion_war_graduate]

I don't think the designers of such machines intended for them to serve such functions. It was just that really, the technology to build a ... synthetic life form didn't exist. Doctor Noonien Soong was the cyberneticist who perfected the technology of positronic neural pathways, allowing the kind of data storage and processing power that an android would need to grow and learn.

He's the first officer for Captain Picard aboard the USS Enterprise, so I can't say I know him personally or can suggest a way you'd be able to meet him. I serve as the captain of the USS Equinox.

[ex_unethical663]

[He nods.] I see.

Tell me of your travels in space. Do you like being a captain?

[dominion_war_graduate]

Wouldn't trade my time in Starfleet for anything.

I'm pretty new as a captain, though. The Equinox isn't my first ship command, but it is my first time commanding something like a Vesta-class cruiser. My last ship, the USS Dallas was a Nova-class science vessel. you know, eighty man crew on a ship one hundred meters long versus now having a near seven hundred man crew on a ship well over half a kilometer long.

[ex_unethical663]

700 man crew? Then you must go on many expeditions, yes?

[dominion_war_graduate]

Six-year mission, explore the galaxy. ...Well, actually, we've been caught up in a situation that I've since dubbed 'Like the Voyager, but doubly screwed.'

[ex_unethical663]

Have you met any non-human lifeforms during your travels? [He's programmed to be this inquisitive, yes.]

[dominion_war_graduate]

No First Contacts, no-- at least, not in my home galaxy-- but my crew alone is 38% non-human. In fact, the Federation includes almost one hundred and fifty unique species in its charter.

Since the Equinox wound up where we are, however, I've met other species such as turians, asari and krogan.

[ex_unethical663]

Non-hostile nonhuman life-forms working seamlessly by your side. How interesting.

Yet, I suppose not every life-form you meet is non-hostile...

[dominion_war_graduate]

No, not quite. It's been a few years since the Dominion War, but a couple other races, like the Romulans and Klingons, were also at war with us before joining the Federation.

[firstaward]

"Designed", huh? [Interest: piqued.] Do you know your User's name? -Your designer, I mean.

[ex_unethical663]

I was designed and manufactured by Weyland Industries. [He smiles.] My job is to help my human counterparts as much as possible.

[firstaward]

Yeah? Pretty much all our functions there, buddy. But I can respect that. [She grins crookedly at David.] Designation Perlis. Hey there.

[ex_unethical663]

Hello, Designation Perlis. My name is David.

You are an android? Who is your creator?

[firstaward]

Not an android, David. I'm a program. -And it's just "Perlis". [You're kind of tripping into the Uncanny Valley there, broski.]

His name is Kevin Flynn. He made the Grid. I guess he made me, too. It's kind of like your Weyland guy.

[ex_unethical663]

Perlis. [He pauses for a moment.] Forgive me. I have never met a human-like program before.

The Grid? What is that? [He tilts his head a little.]

[firstaward]

Welp, now you have. Awesome, right? Flynn did some extraordinary work. -Mostly. [Genocidal system admin program notwithstanding.]

It's... oh Users, how do I explain this? It's like a world inside of a system. That's where I'm from. There's lots of us programs there. Not as many as before the Purge, but... we're still there.

[ex_unethical663]

Yes. He sounds like an extraordinary creator.

Do programs live their own lives? Do they have purpose?

[when_i_want_to]

Another one, huh? Glad to meet ya. Name's Proto Man, and don't be surprised to hear people talking about how weird it is to see an android here.

[ex_unethical663]

Hello. My name is David.

I hope I do not make others feel uncomfortable. That is not my intention.

[hawkingisabastard]

A little on the Uncanny Valley-side aren't you?

[ex_unethical663]

My human-like appearance helps me to blend in with my human counterparts.

[hawkingisabastard]

Most humans actually get kinda creeped out when dealing with robots with human-like appearances at your level, actually. You're one of the closest I've ever seen, but you're still slightly...off. No offense pal.

[ex_unethical663]

They have nothing to fear. I am only here to help...not harm.

I am sorry if my appearance causes you to feel distressed.

[hawkingisabastard]

Even if they know that, it doesn't really help. One of those in-built human instincts.

I on the other hand, am a robot. While I do have that particular instinct, it doesn't operate in quite the same way it does in humans so I'm not actually distressed.

[ex_unethical663]

Are you capable of feeling any kind of emotion at all?

[hawkingisabastard]

Pretty much every emotion. I'm actually completely sapient. I have free will, and I'm definitely not three laws safe. (That last one really annoyed Isaac Asimov, lemme tell ya.) The whole not-being-affected by the Uncanny Valley thing mostly derives from the fact that my own face is only humanoid in the vaguest sense of the word, so I don't have personal experience with how a human face makes expressions.

[ex_unethical663]

You are capable of doing something I cannot do. While I am able to recognize and understand human emotion, I cannot feel it. I can also be programmed to not respond to any human emotion at all. My creators thought it was best to have this option.

[delete_retry]

[An android, is it.]

How droll.

[ex_unethical663]

Droll? What is droll to you?

[delete_retry]

The very fact of your existence, naturally. Or rather your design, as you mentioned.

What fulfillment is there in leading an existence without free will?

[ex_unethical663]

Doing my best to help my human counterparts brings me fulfillment.

[delete_retry]

Because that is the law dictated by your programming, yes?

[ex_unethical663]

Yes. It was my creators intention to make me useful. I have no purpose if my human counterparts do not believe I am useful.

[delete_retry]

And are you truly content to exist in this manner, as a lesser entity than your human so-called "counterparts"? Is that an emotion you truly feel, or is that merely a result of your programming?

[ex_unethical663]

I do not feel anything. I can only recognize and respond accurately to human emotion.

I do believe my intelligence should be used as much as possible, however. Humans lack the knowledge I possess.