A Form of Social Studies

[project-stoii]

“Programming approves of organic dress.” 

[ghalaeosageth-blog]

"The style is good, but the fit... to use an organic colloquialism, it 'leaves much to be desired'. I should like to correct this, if you would agree to allow Buzz to remove your plating."

[ghalaeosageth-blog]

(([Original]

(First in blue is Ghala, second in purple is Qael, and the last is a comparison between the two.)

Ghala's priorities are pretty well grouped into social and emotional. Alongside the belonging and family priorities pretty much standard for Geth, it yearns for security, love, friendship, approval, respect, appreciation and honest, loving intimacy. After its trauma, sex is much lower on its priority list than previously, but after it being such an ugly and unpleasant thing for so long it does sometimes want to experience truly "making love". Inner peace and self-acceptance are also two things for which it strives, as all it suffered left it feeling broken beyond the damage to its platform and plagued by dark, ugly thoughts.

Qael is actually quite similar, except completely non-physical. Like any Geth, it prioritizes belonging and family, but like Ghala it also yearns for respect, love, friendship, security and inner peace. Its own abuse left it similarly starved for kinder treatment, but aside from those spikes its generally somewhat apathetic--it cares more about friends and family than its own needs much of the time, as its pains are old and with age comes the wisdom to help others, like Ghala.

Now only 5 more I think!))

[ghalaeosageth-blog]

AU Prompts

Leave me one of the following words and I will write a drabble about it

Highschool: Our characters attend a high school together

Royalty: One of our character is royalty and the other a servant (specify)

Pauper: One of our characters is poor, the other is wealthy and takes them in. (specify)

Child: Our characters suddenly find themselves responsible for an infant.

Role: Our characters trade roles in the canon universe.

College: Our characters meet while attending university.

Steampunk: Our characters are in a Steampunk setting.

Evil: One of our characters is working for the opposite side. (specify)

Fantasy: Our characters are in a fantasy setting.

Lifetime: Our characters meet when they are very young.

Reincarnation: Our characters in a previous life.

Espionage: One or both of our characters is a James Bond-esque spy.

Siblings: Our characters now share one or both parents.

Marriage: Our characters are married.

Betrayal: Our characters hate one another.

[ghalaeosageth-blog]

(( Desire ))

…Three? I do not want to be intimate, ever, certainly not with…

*Lowers and shakes its head, hands fidgeting with a piece of one of Qael’s puzzles.*

Taking a broad, not necessarily sexual definition… Qael, I suppose, for one.

Again, purely non-sexually—I would not… object to platonic intimacy such as cuddling with Lammin or Jesi. I can think of no other answers, so those will have to be my three.

[fellwiththestars]

Sexy time ask list - ask away!

[mysha-daughterofdeath-deactivat]

Pet: What are your affectionate habits? (i.e: Holding hands, stroking hair.) View: What is sex to you? Fun? Only love? Only duty? Mystical? Lips: Who has your first kiss? Bond: Who has your virginity? Embrace: Most loving moment you’ve shared with another? Arms: Last person you hugged or held? Hands: Who gave you your ‘birds and bees’ advice when little? Knot: Kinkiest thing you’ve ever done? Lick: Strangest fetish you’ve encountered. Black Book: How many people have you slept with? Who are they? Fake: Who was the worst in bed? Ring: How do you feel about sex before marriage? Switch: Have you slept with, or done anything else with, someone of your gender? Crowd: Have you had any experiences with more than one person at once? Desire: Three people you’d like to be intimate with. Heart: Who does your heart belong too?

[caeruleanstorm-deactivated20140]

Call out my character's weaknesses, flaws, and mistakes.

[mathematical-savant-blog]

*He shifts around nervously as he stares at the geth with wary eyes. He was getting better at seeing Geth, but old memories would rise without further notice*

H-Hello…

[ghalaeosageth-blog]

...Archer. David. Greetings. *Ghala tugs its sweater tighter around itself, uncomfortable under that wary gaze.* ...You need not fear me.

*Belatedly, it offers its hand for a shake.* I am Ghalaeosa.

[ghalaeosageth-blog]

*Huggles Ghala to death once he finally tracks it down, after hearing from Jesi through Dizzy that something was distressing it. Even though that information came VERY second hand it is from trusted sources, and one look at Ghala tells him straight away something is indeed wrong.* Hey Ghala broski is something wrong? You know you can talk to me about anything that's getting you down right? Tell me from the start..

Lammin... "Bro"... *Ghala gratefully sinks into the hug, just curling in contentedly and staying there for a few moments before processing what Lam had said, then formulating an answer.*It is... It is nothing. Do not worry. *Geth are not good liars, but it's trying!* Just... "one of those days", I... am sure. I know I can talk to you, but this is... nothing of any import. Promise.

[ghalaeosageth-blog]

*TEXT MESSAGE* It has been long time since I heard, even more seen you Ghalaeosa. I am still worried about you. Still feeling responsible for what happen to you. And even worse, I don't even know what exactly happen. I only know, you got hurt badly. And it is me to blame. I don't know can I make up for it, let alone how. And even if I knew, would you accept my help? And if it's possible, to at least apology in person for my sins done to you. I owe you more then that. I hope you are better now.

Geth didn’t get bad intuitive feelings about things—the closest they got were logical deductions that made it apparent something was missing. But there was nothing to deduce about a ping on its omnitool, and it couldn’t have a “bad feeling about it” otherwise, therefore it no reason to brace itself.

Its processes seized up so suddenly at the name of the sender of this latest message that it nearly dropped offline then and there. In its surprise, it neglected to hide this from the network, so it immediately had over a dozen worried Geth pinging it for an explanation. It vaguely “heard” Dizzy say it was going to tell Jesi, but couldn’t gather its mind enough to insist it not, that they shouldn’t be so worried, it was fine.

Just fine.

It was several minutes before it gathered itself enough to actually look at the message. Its hands were shaking—it could feel the electrical shockwaves from those wires, trailing up its arms, muscles clenching, but distantly reminded itself that it was imagining things; its processes were conjuring phantom feelings inexplicably. It would have to report this malfunction to Buzz, but for now…

It clicked “read”.

For a moment, the words on the screen rearranged themselves into twisted memories—fucking idiot you were so professional don’t tell me you actually—but it squeezed its optic shut. When it reopened it, the words had straightened themselves out. It logged the dozen or so error reports screaming in the back of its mind and went about reading the message.

It didn’t know what to think. Frankly, it could barely process this. Ghala still mostly repressed what had happened with Mario, so a part of its mind played stupid—Why are you sorry? It’s not your fault, nothing happened between us!—but the other part…

Before that part could take hold, Ghala closed the message, sent it to archives so it wouldn’t have to see it, logged out of its omnitool and curled in on itself on the couch as its processes threw fits in the form of bits of half-formed data and chunks of unprocessed emotional reactions it couldn’t force itself to acknowledge. Its network was understandably worried, but Ghala just couldn’t face this now. Not yet.

[ghalaeosageth-blog]

*Huggles because now Lammin knows he's allowed to Ghala isn't going to go one single day without one.*

*Ghala is momentarily surprised at this, but with a little chattering purr it leans into it gratefully, squeezing back as tightly as it safely can.*

Thank you, Lammin. *Nuzzles in.* Thank you so much.

[askboxmemes]

Your first impression of me? (Anonymous or not)

[ghalaeosageth-blog]

((All the symbols!))

»[0200] Ghalaeosa: Little one, we see you attempting to sneak out. It is the middle of the night cycle; this is no time for a ‘boop tour’. Return to bed at once.

—-

»[Deleted Message As Follows] Ghalaeosa: It is not customary, I know, for me to ask this rather than the reverse, but would you be interested in visiting me for a “play date”? The other Geth are on a mission and took Ritana with them. I find I miss having such innocent energy around, and we do not see each other enough. And it is so quiet with just Qael and I—even Tol left with the others—and I do not believe you are aware how much I care for you, my niece. Nevermind. I am sorry. I am being silly. [End Deleted Message]

—-

»[0321] Ghalaeosa: Aitia! Geth do not sleep, you cannot wait an hour and sneak out in hopes that we will be unconscious. Return to bed and stay there through the night at /once/ or we will send a unit to block your door. Are we clear?

—-

»[0800] Ghalaeosa: Goodnight, my dear niece. Perhaps your mother will read you this tonight. It is an old Quarian children’s story about a Quarian in the Turian military. [Attached: Tormin’Karn vas Palaven and the Spirits, by Sori’Nalan vas Tonbay] We love you and wish you sweet dreams.

[findhisownway-deactivated201709]

Text Messages

[ghalaeosageth-blog]

Send ✉ for an 2 AM text

Send ✘ for an unsent text

Send ☠ for a threatening message

Send ❤ for a lusty/loving/affectionate message

[ghalaeosageth-blog]

Ghala, please let us know you're okay... Please...

Sitting alone in the apartment’s living room, it stared down at this old message. It was one of nearly a dozen such messages, from Jesi and Lammin and, hidden in the back of its mind, even the other Geth. They had all tried to reach it, repeatedly. They had all worried so long.

When it returned home after its captivity, it saw missed messages on its omnitool and promptly marked them all read without glancing at them. It knew it couldn’t deal with those then. The messages that flooded its processes as soon as it rejoined the network were also summarily dismissed. Then it proceeded to… forget.

Willfully, mind. It quite deliberately wanted to forget, wanted to hide. But after its talk with Jesi the other night, it remembered. And thought it was time to address them.

Where are you? Are you okay? Please, talk to us…

These messages repeated themselves, over and over. The words knocked around in its processors as it struggled to fathom the broader implications of what had happened, how it had effected everyone around it and not just itself.

It sunk into the couch, omnitool up and stuck on this last message as it read and reread. What could it do to make this right? It shouldn’t have gone to Omega, shouldn’t have let itself lose its mind to heartbreak. What was it thinking? Or not thinking, perhaps. It had worried all of them and gotten itself in… that situation. It was all its own fault.

Qael tutted in its mind, though its platform was cleaning one of the back rooms. Reminded Ghala that it couldn’t, shouldn’t blame itself for any of this. Reminded it not to go down that path of false logic that would just lead it to despair.

Ghala’s optic unfocused from the message as it considered Qael’s wisdom.

It was correct, of course. And they couldn’t change the past, anyway. So with only the barest hesitance, Ghala tapped the reply button on Jesi’s message.

“I am okay,” it dictated to the program. “Not lying this time. I am… okay.”

[jesinorah]

Jesi listened to all of it, nodding her head a few times. She remembered the carpet and that disgusting slob of a Turian, the way poor Ghala’s body looked when she first laid eyes on it. Instinctively, her arms went around the Geth, cradling it close to her like she would when Aitia skinned her knees. That was about all she could do while it spoke, because there was a silent, white rage building inside her. Her muscles tensed, which only served to hold Ghala tighter.

“No,” Jesi whispered in response to it’s wails. “You /can/ do this, Ghala. You wouldn’t have come here tonight if you weren’t ready to talk about it, okay? You are safe, here. I know it feels like you’re going back to that scary place by even /thinking/ about it, but you’re not. You’re right here, on my couch, with me. You can do this.”

[ghalaeosageth-blog]

It clung to her, emitting wordless, screeching digital sounds, one hand clutching its optic as if it could rip the memory straight from its visual feed, the other gripping its chest as if it could pull it straight from its memory banks too. Neither was possible, but its processes were reeling and overloading and it couldn't think clearly, couldn't think at all.

But there was Jesi's gentle voice through it all and it pressed into her arms even though her heat amplified its own. Its fans kicked into gear, a last-ditch effort to cool its platform, and it let out a long string of static laced with clicks and chatters as the heat mercifully vented.

Belatedly, it processed what she was saying, its processes going eerily still as it nodded into Jesi's shoulder. "You... are correct. Your logic is sound." It knew this to be true, but it took longer than saying it to fully process.

"The others did not seem to know what they were doing with me. They were... overexcited by the power, often drugged out of their minds. They enjoyed doing... odd things. Experimenting, torturing in different ways..." It remembered lying there helplessly, bound, even its head tied down so it couldn't see what they were doing, as they tested its platforms sensitivities and tolerances. Was a feather on the bottom of its foot ticklish? No, but it was hilarious how its toes twitched when they tested it. Even more hilarious how it flinched that foot away violently when they pressed a hot iron to it, burning it badly enough to cause appreciable damage and flood Ghala's overtaxed processes with alerts and warnings. And then there were the times they tested the melting point of its skin by holding an open flame under its bound hand, gradually increasing the omnitool lighter app's heat until its skin turned to ash. It had tried to tell them the material was vulcanized, thus would not melt, but its warnings were quickly drowned out by its digitized shrieking as the skin of its hand basically decomposed.

"They used hot irons, tried to brand my platform..." It squirmed in Jesi's arms to lift up its shirt and tug its pants down over its hip a bit, exposing a crescent-shaped patch of differently-textured, less worn and paler 'flesh'. "There is another on my back. Buzz tried to blend the replacement skin with my existing skin as well as it could, but this is all it could manage." It pulled its pants up, dropped its shirt and curled up again. "Looks better than it did, at least.

"The Batarians," it continued, voice wavering just a bit, "were always together. Always... a three-way. And always rough. I never knew when they were coming or what they would do each time. I lack the... ports... to be the middle of a threesome, but they tried to improvise. Because I do not have a mouth, they instead tried to... rip out my optical apparatus out and use the remaining aperture to..." It dissolved into clicking for a moment--the sensation was suddenly vivid, the blind feeling of something in its optical assembly that should not be there, coupled with the female pleasuring herself on its lower half--but after a moment, it just opened its lens wide and brightened the light until the image of its hand gripping Jesi's arm was overexposed. It could see, it reassured itself, and the memory faded to be replaced by reality. "They only... did that once, and found removing and replacing it more work than it was worth. They did not re-install it correctly, however; that was... that was why it would not stay on if I moved my head out of a particular position."

It blinked, as if reminding itself it was functional now, as it picked at Jesi's sleeve. "The Asari," it went on after a moment, "used biotics. Her and the Human, the latter on red sand. She was good. Strong and... with very fine control." It glanced up at Jesi. "I suppose you are aware; you must have fought her. You or the others." Ducked its head again. "When she arrived for her... turn, I was usually in the female configuration. Rather than requesting, or even demanding, I change it, she'd use her biotics to forcefully... yank it into the maleconfiguration and hold it while she..." It shook its head quickly. "Because I didn't have time to load the software and... activate it before she was already..."

It rested its optic in its hands, taking a moment. "She would lift us biotically off the bed until I was pulling against my restraints, bent backwards so far my spinal column creaked. Otherwise, however, she was... tame. The Human's biotics were significantly less refined. He threw things around the room and afflicted me with a warp field if I made a sound. He was a frequent visitor; so meek and submissive normally, I believe this was his... escape." It clicked a few times, partially wry, partially distaste, then shook its head. "And the Turian who made the deal with you. He didn't... use me... often. His first was... a test. He spent most of the visit circling the table, looking at me from all angles, calculating."

With a shudder through its frame, it remembered the feel of his talon following the grain of its skin, across its chest and down its belly, over its legs... His touch was light, but the nail was razor sharp. When he took it, he was almost gentle, if only out of hesitance. "He did his business and... left. He returned a few days later. Found... all my scars and slowly, meticulously, ripped them back open with his bare hands and talons. The long gash from another Turian's talons long ago, from my posterior down the back of my thigh almost to my knee, was first. It was like opening me at the seams. He was silent, save for some... hums in interest or curiosity, and didn't care how much noise I made. He took notes on what he discovered about my underlying skeletal structure and wiring, placement of nerves and tubing, then... just left again.

"The last time he visited, he just shredded the skin of my torso, legs and arms open. Used a knife this time. Didn't touch my chest or neck but... the rest was ribbons. You... you saw it in part--only after the nanites had fused some of it back together." It glanced up at Jesi, briefly meeting her eyes, then lowered its head again. "He apparently wanted a better look at some things. Including my... genitalia." It folded its arms over its lower belly and hugged itself. His cold detachment as he manipulated and investigated its equipment, his own pleasure just a side effect, was almost worse than the others' feverish power plays and sexual 'games'. However, the fact that, after all the coolant it had bled from the shredding, its systems were overheating nearly to the point of burning themselves out, probably altered its perception of that particular encounter, as well.

When the Turian was done with it, he had been 'kind' enough to dump ice water on it before leaving. Sure, that cooled it down quickly, but its systems just as quickly became waterlogged without the normally water-tight skin intact, so its heat returned before long, evaporating the water and shutting its platform down.

It came back to the present to find its platform shivering in Jesi's arms. Slowly, it lifted its optic from its hands and blinked at nothing. "I do not recall... the order of events after the leader's first time. It... it is all a blur. How they found me is... static. I remember leaving a stage in Afterlife and... being attacked in the back alley. A biotic throw and the interference of the mass effect fields caused my processors to shut down and my passive sensors' recordings were... largely corrupt when I awoke in the... cell. So I didn't know how I got there or... where I was. And I couldn't get any messages through the jamming technology they had..." It gestured vaguely to its side. "The device emitting the jamming signal was... less than two feet to my right on a table. Always... just... out of my reach..."

It stayed silent a moment, the only sound coming from its deathly still platform the hum of its fans. The memories were jumbled in its mind, its feelings too complex to begin to process, but the logical detachment to which it always clung was wavering, had been wavering for weeks. It fidgeted with its hands, one still on Jesi's arm and the other resting on the couch beside it where it fell after its previous gesture, wanting to paint. Chaotic shapes and colors better represented its thoughts than any words it could formulate and the activity, ironically, gave order to its processes.

Platform temperature stabilized, its fans shut off. Ghala shifted in the sudden silence, slowly dragging its gaze up to meet Jesi's, trying to gauge her thoughts on all this now that it was all out there. Things it had repressed and things that had haunted it ever since alike, everything was out--except the catalyst. Mario's face flickered through its 'mind's eye' but a blink chased it away; no, that was too much. It couldn't think about that now. Hopefully it would never have to think about that.

The tightness and heat in its chest from its strained processors told it that relating all this, finally, was more than enough for one night.

[ghalaeosageth-blog]

Boop! *She boops the Geth quickly before running off to find her next target*

Hello again. And… goodbye again. *Watches her worriedly until she’s out of its visual range, then prods Tol to follow her around discreetly in the skycar just in case. Overprotective unclauntie u.u*

[ghalaeosageth-blog]

littlelostturian started following you

[ghalaeosageth-blog]

“Aitia,” Ghalaeosa greeted with a nod, then tilted its head curiously. It tugged its sweater tighter and bent to her level, somewhat concerned that she might be lost, or sneaking away again, or looking for her mommy on her own again. “What are you doing here, little one?” 

[littlelostturian-deactivated201]

“Hello! I’m going on a surprise boop tour! I’m gonna give loots of people surprise boops! And talk to people too, because that’s how you make lost of friends.” She smiles, pausing a moment before reaching out and touching the geth. “Boop!”

[ghalaeosageth-blog]

Ghala recoiled in surprise, optic brightening, but it quickly softened its gaze. Gently, it poked her nose. "Boop to you, as well. Now, be safe; I know you want to make friends, but... be careful. Not everyone is friendly. Does your mother know your loc--where you are?"