CLARAv4 open mingle

[candlebot]

characters: Clara and you!
location: Bonfire Square
date/time: June 1-7
content: Meet your new robot best friend
warnings: n/a

Hello!!

[There is a small robot, about three and a half feet in height, meandering cheerfully in Bonfire Square. If you don't say hi back to her, she's likely to amble over and start scanning your lantern (which basically just looks like her standing there staring at it while her eyes glow) or will ask your name. She is very persistent.

If your character has died in Beacon before, she will absolutely just greet you by name as if you're already best friends. Because you are! Right?

Feel free to also make your own top-levels if you wish to discuss amongst yourselves. For the purposes of this log, replying under the CLARA header will tell me you're interested in interacting with her, but posting a separate toplevel will not involve the robot.]

Comments

[candlebot]

"By space travel you must mean going from the surface of a world into the vacuum of space and then down to another world with a vehicle, right? Neat! It's like taking the scenic route! That is a phrase I have heard about!"

Coming from anyone else that might sound mildly patronizing but Clara seems to find it genuinely fascinating. Then again, that might just be her default emotional state. Regardless, she leans in a little as if interested in hearing about the scenic routes through space.

[legalcy]

Minimus can understand the difficulty in sounding one way or another. He'd gotten many comments at how he gave any kind of information as grave news.

"This portal technology is rather experimental. Space travel is reliable and less resource intensive. When transporting supplies and a large group, we don't want to risk anyone's safety." He hoped that nothing terrible happened to Dr. Solis in her experiments. "To think of it, we mechanoids are slightly more familiar with metals and electricity than organics. Perhaps this marked our affinity with advanced technology, but not so we are all experts."

[candlebot]

"I see! That is an important difference! The portal devices are not designed for mass transportation."

Could they be? Maybe. It's not something she's either interested in or capable of expanding on, given how she just moves on.

"When you say you are a mechanoid does that mean you are entirely made up of inorganic materials?"

[legalcy]

In another timeline, Minimus would see exactly what kind of mess a large portal could do to the fabric of the universe. Even now, he can see how dangerous it is.

"That is correct. Even our home planet consists of inorganic material." He pauses. "I believe there are some hard carbon deposits in spots under the surface but they aren't entirely carbon."

[candlebot]

"Oh! Very different from here! ...Were your people created by someone else or did you assemble yourselves?"

Pardon the delays in her speech as she tries to work out what to ask. It is clear that neither philosophy or metaphysics must be strong subjects of hers, given she is a self-proclaimed specialist at keeping inventory of things.

[legalcy]

She is rather curious - proof that she is her own being and should be treated as such.

Minimus will defend this bot with his life.

"That lies more in the realm of theologians. We first emerged from the planet 12 million years ago, but the extent to which the first Cybertronians designed the later generations is debated among various schools of thought. The more religious of my crew would tell you the mythology of how Primus and the Guiding Hand granted our species the gifts unique to our kind before transforming into the embodiments of life, knowledge, wisdom, and transformation." This was a factual statement; no admission of his own beliefs. It wasn't usual for anyone to ask Minimus how he felt. It wasn't his job.

"Apart from that, half of us were born from the sparkfields on our home planet, and the other half were created in facilities. I am among the former group."

[candlebot]

There's a long stare as she takes all this in, or at least gives it her best attempt. Her eyes light up occasionally - different colors at different words, perhaps an indication of processing something, perhaps a display of emotion, from purple to blue to red and orange and then back to a more neutral (cheerful?) green, as seems to be the most common color out of the bulbs on her face.

When she speaks, though, it's simply to ask, "What is a sparkfield?"

[legalcy]

"As the core of Cybertron emits pulses towards the surfaces, it creates fields of energy where Sparks emerge and gradually grow into protoforms, then...into full-formed Cybertronians in the matter of hours."

He looks down at her, watching Clara's eyes. "Each Cybertronian's Spark provides life. When it does out, we die. Mine no longer burns within me."

[candlebot]

"I see! So an inorganic method of development!" Her eyes become focused, bright points of blue.

"That makes me think of how the lanterns are also inorganic objects that house light which is life! A spark, and a candle. They are very similar! Your spark does not burn within you but it is right there in a lantern instead," she observes.

[legalcy]

He unhooks his lantern from his side to gaze into its light. It glows a gentle yellow.

"If that were true, my lantern would glow green." Obviously, it's not as simple as a Spark transplant. This is an ember. One cannot perform surgery on it. "Though I do wonder - if we are dead, how would Dr. Solis have extracted our lives for these lanterns? I doubt humans have something like Sparks within them."

[candlebot]

"An ember? Interesting!" She's learned something, apparently - there is some very specific terminology going on here that she's definitely not familiar with.

"Dr. Solis never explained the exact details to me but I know that life can be represented by light spectra and those are what can be used to light candles and lanterns! When someone dies there must be enough left of them to capture in the lanterns," she offers, but tilts her head a little, as she too is clearly aware this isn't a complete or very satisfactory explanation.

[legalcy]

It isn't enough, but thankfully Minimus is not a certain scientist from home who would demand further explanation and refuse to give up until he learned the details of Solis' worth. Still, it's disappointing to hear that his existence is still uncertain. How does one classify when they have died yet act as if they had never died?

"I'm impressed that she could do such a thing with organic life and with Cybertronian Sparks. If anything, she must have done...extensive research on those like I." And Getaway. Considering how he hasn't seen him in months, it's likely he was a victim of the flood.

[candlebot]

"Either that or there is more in common between different types of life in the multiverse than you realize! I admit I am not sure which is the true answer but if you have a spectrum then at least you are like everyone else with a lantern here. Also you are bipedal and possess bilateral symmetry, and have distinctly human-like reasoning and communication skills!"

Astute, this one.

"These things are true of myself as well but I was constructed, most likely by a human or a member of a species possessing similar traits to humans and therefore I also possess these human-like traits! I think humans are neat. And you are neat as well!"

[legalcy]

He has to pause at Clara comparing him to a human. They're mechanoids. Why judge them on their similarity to an organic? Is it simply because Clara has no contact with others like her, and humans were the only sentient beings with whom she interacted?

Regardless of the reason, Minimus doesn't know how to best address this...strange bias.

"There are other methods to determine intelligence of a given species, but many of them flawed. There are many others besides humans and Cybertronians who possess the ability to speak as we do." Most Decepticons who would take incredible offense at this conversation, and thankfully none are present. Clara does not need any other source of distress.

Why didn't Dr. Solis bring a therapist or someone else qualified to handle this?

"I...thank you for your complement. I assure you we Cybertronians would accept you into our society if you were to visit."

[candlebot]

"That would be very interesting! I would like to see your society because I am sure it is very different from any that I am familiar with. Which is very few because I have not extensively studied any one species' culture!"

So yeah, she's probably just comparing him to humans because that's all she knows, if that statement is completely accurate.

[legalcy]

"It would be difficult to do so, however..." He recalls the night when memories fell from the sky. Among the difficult moments with his brother before the war, there were mundane recollections of old Cybertron. "I could show you some memories stored withing stones we collected months in the past."

[candlebot]

"Memories in stones? How did that happen? Yes, I would love to see some!"

She's so excited that she gets up on her stapler tiptoes, in fact, then rocks back on her heels. It's just the one rock, because anything more might induce instability, but she's willing to take this small risk to express her delight.

[legalcy]

"Careful. We have time to go through the memories." He holds out a hand to keep her balanced if she is about to fall over. "Call me ahead of time if you have space in your day."

[candlebot]

"Oh! Okay! I have lots of time so I will look forward to when you also have time so that I can see some of the things you have seen!"

The steadying does certainly help, and once stable she's a little less likely to bounce and topple over as a result. Although she looks up at him with the same smile she always wears, perhaps it's her voice that makes it seem a bit brighter.