What Makes Us Human

:rules::about::verses: An Independent RP blog for the AI Delta from the popular webseries Red vs Blue.

[lyricsxmusings]

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[thestupidmeanone]

"That works too." Still better than the fucking ocean. Church didn't even want to think about what crazy shit lived in Chorus' seas.

He paused, looking down at himself. Oh, right. Huh, Delta had his swim trunks on, how did he miss that-

"Yeah, uh, I should probably... deal with that. I'll meet you there?"

[humanxcreated]

"Do you know where it is?" Certainly, he could find the place, but it's easier to know, isn't it? Delta wasn't intending to wait for an answer- it the answer was no, they could amend that, but as it stood, he had at least a little faith in Church's ability to appraise his own situation.

Turning, he continued the walk that Church had interrupted- the migration to the spring that had become a bit of a community spot, for better or worse. At least the people here were generally kind; rough around the edges, maybe a little rowdy for his tastes, but generally not mean-spirited. It did make the public space more palatable.

[thestupidmeanone]

"Yeah, it's a little weird, but maybe you just need some goggles," Church said with a shrug. "If you can see what's going on, it's a lot easier to orient yourself. Unless you're in the middle of the ocean, I guess..."

He paused, squinting.

"I'm gonna go ahead and assume that's not your plan, though. Is there even a pool around here?"

[humanxcreated]

"Not a proper pool, no. A few decent natural springs, though- and one that's tested low enough for residual radiation to be deemed safe to swim in." So... They wouldn't be alone, most likely- sorry Church.

"I can wait nearby if you need to retrieve proper swim attire." Delta was actually... Already in his. It's just that he'd made sure to get a good shirt that could pass casually, if you didn't look too closely. Surprise.

[thestupidmeanone]

Church didn't bother to hide the roll of his eyes.

"That'd be fuckin' stupid."

Plausible, maybe, but still stupid. What was this, a comedy web series? Don't answer that.

"Sure, why not? That's probably a good life skill to have now that you have lungs." Or a close enough equivalent. "Are you, like... just starting, or have you had some practice already? Do I need to play lifeguard?"

[humanxcreated]

"I have a firm grasp of the basics." He wasn't about to drown, but he wasn't exactly elegant, either. Despite his desire to maintain a level of integrity, learning new things, unfortunately, could only be accomplished through an amateur stage; he'd have to embarrass himself a little.

"Though I have found orientation underwater to be more difficult than I would have initially assumed." Something about the liquid messing with the inner ear...? He wasn't entirely certain that that's how his own balance worked, but that was his understanding of the human confusion on the matter, so it was likely a similar enough phenomenon.

[thestupidmeanone]

"I can think of a few words that would have done the trick with a couple less syllables, but you do you, my guy."

Really, he hadn't had nearly enough time in the past to tease Delta for being so formal, so he had to make up for it now. Sorry, bud, this is called brotherly love.

"I promise I don't have any ulterior motives beyond what I've already told you," he insisted, raising his hands. "I mean... well, shit, I guess York could have followed me?"

[humanxcreated]

"There is a non-zero probability that he believes we're naturally drawn to one another by proxy of our origin." And, frankly, anecdotal evidence didn't point far away from that thought, did it? The possibility of confirmation bias only made it a more plausible concept- but it's not like Delta had been in the man's head recently.

"... Would you like to join me? I've recently opted to learn how to swim." Really, that just seemed like a useful skill, more than anything- but he found boredom was prone to get to him faster than anything else, without the constant risk of danger. AI are optimized for high activity- and, frankly, he was struggling for that constant stimulation. It wasn't a problem he'd imagined himself having, but, in retrospect, it made sense.

[thestupidmeanone]

After a moment, Church's face broke out into a shit-eating grin.

"Nothing, honestly, but your reaction was so very, very worth it."

He wasn't used to Delta... emoting. It was fun to see how he reacted to things now. Was that weird? It was probably weird. Whatever, they were from the same... brain, or something, who cared.

"Also, very good use of the word 'countenance,' dude."

[humanxcreated]

Facial expressions were still new to him, on a technical level, but he had studied them- of course he had- and how to effectively communicate with them; if he was to be the proud owner of a face, after all, he should know how to use it. He isn't to blame for the people around him assuming he won't so much as raise an eyebrow from time to time, is he?

"It was the best word for the meaning I was attempting to convey." Your choice of compliments is confusing him, Church.

"I am beginning to believe that you are holding me here for a more insidious reason than communication, however. I do have a very skilled former intelligence officer to avoid."

[thestupidmeanone]

"Can't even tell me a hobby, huh?"

Yeah, that'd just be too easy, and Delta was surprisingly stubborn when he wanted to be. York might appreciate the feedback, though--he was almost as competitive as Carolina was. Almost.

"Just saying, you seem like the artsy type.

[humanxcreated]

Please allow him the grace to look just a little befuddled by that assertion, one eyebrow raised as he leaned onto his right leg, notably away from Epsilon as if to appraise him once again. Where had he gotten that idea? Delta could certainly see the benefit of artistic pursuit, but he would hardly consider himself the 'artsy type', as Church had so eloquently phrased it.

Of course, he had dabbled somewhat, so perhaps Epsilon wasn't as off the mark as Delta would have appraised him to be; he surprised himself more than he cared to admit, these days.

"What about my countenance purveys an inclination toward the arts, dare I ask?"

[thestupidmeanone]

"Yeah, I guess there's no point in pretending otherwise, is there?" Church rolled his eyes, clearly in agreement that this whole situation was very much not worth his time.

Even if he was a little curious.

"You don't have to give me all the details, just something. Anything to get him to dial it back a bit."

[humanxcreated]

"I don't want him to dial it back. If he's wringing his hands this much over the whole ordeal, then he needs the exercise, no?" Mental exercise in this case, sure, but still.

"If it appeases you, though, you can tell him that I'm being deliberately difficult because he's failed to disguise the fact that he's tracking me. At least, to effectively do so. I'm sure he would have had more success with a less aware target." Delta had always had a bit of a way of showing York up from time to time. It was hardly deliberate; he saw his job as being to shore up the man's shortcomings. It just so happened that his shortcomings, in this case, were less a lack of skill and more a side effect of being unable to embed himself in digital code. Limitations of physical medium, really.

[thestupidmeanone]

@humanxcreated

"Hey, Delta, this is a stupid question and don't ask me why I'm bothering, but what do you do in your free time?"

Church didn't want to be the one pestering Delta with dumb questions, but alas, York had begged and pleaded with him to figure out where Delta went when he was by himself. Apparently the guy was a stealth expert.

"Do you just stay home all day, or..."

[humanxcreated]

Delta took a moment to respond- clearly he wasn't anticipating the question from Epsilon, specifically, and he was taking a moment to discern the probable causality of the abrupt query, gaze affixed on Epsilon as if the answers were written on his face somewhere.

"It depends on the day. I am being tracked, and have found that I rather dislike that fact- but by York, so I'm willing to turn it into a challenge rather than an insult." Historically, being tracked has led to a loss of freedom- and the scant freedoms he has, he's rather keen to hold onto. Self determination isn't something he's had much of, historically.

"In that regard, I hope you will forgive me if I do not disclose any precise patterns; I am under the assumption that he requested you speak with me on the matter, and as such, anything I tell you could be to his benefit. He'll need to be more clever than that."

[humanxcreated]

(favorite running gag that's only ever been on discord and has yet to make it here is "Delta's girlfriend who may or may not exist" and I would like it to be known that she is a very real character that I have a draft of in my head and she may never actually see the light of day because it's REALLY funny to just dangle that thought out there thank you)

[chickenlipsactivated]

can u hear my heart breaking rn

[grcundedxdreamer]

York could actually handled going downstairs. Kind of a nice break, to be honest. Needless to say, though, he was a bit confused by Delta's update.

"Back door? I mean, we can just head to the other side of the building then, right? I doubt it's a long walk." Oh, you poor buffoon.

[humanxcreated]

"No, I mean she's already upstairs. I have reason to believe she's referring to her window." Unfortunately, both for York and for Delta's own sanity. He was pretty sure existing around Carolina was bad for his mental well-being, honestly.

[grcundedxdreamer]

"We shall."

Unfortunately.

But he was doing this for love! Or at least a mended friendship! Really, he wasn't going to be picky about the end result at this point, he just wanted the air clear. So, he followed Delta, regrettably, back down the stairs. Easier going down, at least.

[humanxcreated]

The descent was, in fact, faster than the ascent, but even Delta gets tired eventually; while his "muscles" didn't work the same as a human's would, they still had forms of fatigue- heat, energy cost, and the like- and, frankly, he wasn't exactly designed with prolonged activity in mind. He's not a soldier, and they didn't have the materials necessary for him to be kitted that way even if he'd wanted to be. At least down is, in fact, a little easier than up.

It wasn't until he was at the bottom, naturally, that he'd gotten more information, and he paused, out of the way of the stairs this time, eyebrows raised.

".... I've just been informed that she entered the 'back door' and is unsure of our location." And the only possible explanation for that was that the madwoman had found a way to get home through the exterior window of the building. On the 16th floor. Which... Wasn't necessarily out of character, or even particularly unusual for her, but she continued to defy any attempts he could ever make to predict her behavior simply by being, as he'd heard it said, incredibly extra.

[grcundedxdreamer]

"It's the thought that counts." Though maybe, in the long term, he could find old contacts somewhere out there to establish some sort of supply route to Chorus... but that was a problem for the future.

"Alright, well... might as well meet her downstairs, yeah? Help her haul everything back up here...."

[humanxcreated]

Definitely a problem for the future- there were a lot of planet-side problems to solve before that could happen. One step at a time, though; at least this area of the planet wasn't so radioactive as to be unliveable. That was step one, really, and there was a tower out there for that somewhere, he imagined. That wasn't really his domain, though.

Nodding to York, Delta stood up, stepping measuredly toward the stairs.

"Shall we?"

[grcundedxdreamer]

"Right, brain phone." Or whatever the equivalent would be, he supposed.

"Groceries... perfect! I can, uh, give her a hand when she gets here, that'll be the right opportunity to say hi, right? Being helpful, starting off on the right foot..."

[humanxcreated]

"'Groceries' here is more shorthand for weekly allocated rations. Calling them groceries is a colloquialism to make the current living arrangement feel more... Normal." Everybody wants things to feel normal, he'd found; Delta wasn't entirely sure 'normal' was a thing that existed, but even he could admit that this particular colloquialism made things a little... Softer.

"Which is to say, there isn't actually that much to carry. I'm sure she wouldn't mind the gesture, though."

[grcundedxdreamer]

"Uh huh." He's really just messing with him, honestly.

York shot Delta an odd look, though he did at least get back to his feet in preparation. "Uh, you sure? Does she just keep a super tight schedule that you happen to know really well?"

[humanxcreated]

"Have you already forgotten that I am not, in fact, human? I messaged her. She replied. She's on her way." It's not hard.

"If I knew her schedule that well, we would have just gone straight to where she is. Apparently she's on a grocery run right now." A remarkably domestic task, honestly- but it meant she'd be carrying them up the stairs when she got in. They could offer to help, but Delta would follow York's lead on that decision.

[grcundedxdreamer]

"You're not good at hiding the smugness in your tone as you think you are," York joked, reaching over to try and give Delta's arm the gentlest 'punch' he could manage without knocking him over.

[humanxcreated]

"I'm not trying to hide anything." He can stand being gently touched on the arm, York; the slap on the back is just a little much when he's not expecting it. He would not regard that with much more response, however; he's a little distracted, staring at nothing in particular for a moment.

"She's on her way." Evidently, he'd been contacting her. Of course he would insist on having a way to message people directly rather than have a physical phone in his hand; why wouldn't he do that? It's remarkably efficient.