Tales of the Abyss, "Better Than Human"
Guy wishes he could say something that would make Luke feel better, now that he knows about himself. But he just makes things stranger.
Written for areyougame@DW, to the prompt Guy/Luke: sci-fi AU - Luke is more interesting to Guy after it is revealed he’s an Al-copy. Implied Guy/Luke, some technobabble, highly AU.
.better than human.
Guy pulled his knee up to his chest, watching the redhead slowly sit down on the edge of the mattress across from him. His emotions were written all over his face, transparent: hurt, confusion, fear. Misery.
They were so clear and so strong. So real.
"I still don't understand," Luke said finally, soft. "Am I... some sort of robot?"
Heh. The sheltered prince knew less about technology than anyone else Guy knew. He leaned back on one hand and gestured casually. "A robot is made out of metal and it acts only on programmed logic -- if it's programmed to do a job, it'll do that job. It doesn't really think or feel anything, it just acts the way it's told."
Luke murmured, "I pretty much did that up until recently."
"Hey, don't sell yourself short. You ignored just about everything you didn't feel like doing until recently." Guy grinned, slightly lopsided, even though the humor had long gone out of the situation. He only thought, Van had to do a lot of work to keep manipulating you.
As he'd half-expected, Luke didn't see the humor in that, his shoulders curling in further. "Except when it came to Master Van."
Guy sighed to himself. It would be a little easier if Luke weren't so close to human. But, of course, it also wouldn't be as -- interesting.
"What's the word, then? If not a robot, then..." Luke's brow furrowed as he racked his brain for whatever terminology he'd picked up from the vids and games that had been the vast majority of his education. "A clone?"
"That's -- closer," Guy admitted, but he kept going, taking mercy on the younger man. "But it's too simple. You're something much more special than that, Luke."
Luke lifted his head, but it didn't seem like he suspected anything strange in that comment, even though the moment it was out of his mouth Guy felt awkward about it, like he'd professed a desire to disassemble him. But that faint implication had gone over Luke's head.
After a beat, Guy found the words he wanted to use: the way to explain it that would make sense to a small child, and to his clueless master and friend. He said, "Look, you know how digital waves are all over the place? The whole world is networked, and all of us have been so deeply immersed in it that -- people can put chips in their eyes and can see the internet in front of them, just like there's really a display there!"
The redhead frowned. "Yeah... I never really saw the use for that."
A sacrilege that Guy had long ago learned to overlook. "But you know that you can. And that's the key. That's how you were made."
Luke looked away. He understandably didn't see the excitement in his own warped state of existence. He wanted to be human.
Lorelai, he was so much better than human. Guy pressed on, trying to keep his tone gentle, the intensity dialed back. "You're an artificial intelligence. A -- program that's so advanced that it learned to think and feel like humans do. You may be designed to look like Asch, and your mind might be made of code, but you're a unique person. Your identity is completely your own -- just like any human, it's a natural result of how you were raised."
He understood the theory as Jade had explained it. Van had never given him the details, and he had privately assumed that Luke was a clone; boring, really, no more advanced technology in this day and age than the technology that mass-produced fish so that Guy could have sushi whenever he felt like it. The cloning process was interesting, but the end result was just a person, and not even a new person; the same person, the same fish, that you had started out with.
This was so much more exciting. It was difficult -- really, to stop thinking about it. To stop wondering what if and but how.
Luke paused, and then shook his head. "I don't understand how that's different from being a clone," he said.
"Forget about clones," Guy told him. "Clones are -- meat. You're a brain."
This time Luke responded with a more familiar skepticism, his expression souring a little. "I'm made of meat, too, Guy."
"No, you're not! That's what's really--" Cool. Amazing. Fascinating. "--Genius about this. Your consciousness isn't in this body that's right here in front of me, it's in a computer somewhere."
Guy hopped off his bed and crossed the last step over to Luke, crouching down in front of him and reaching up a hand... so gently, touching his fingers to the younger man's chest. He could feel the warmth even through his gloves, the firm soft muscle underneath Luke's clothing. He couldn't take his eyes off it.
He seems so real. Even to the touch.
"This body isn't real. It's just a manifestation of your awareness over the datawaves, made physical."
There was a silence, for what felt like an eternity. Guy was very, painfully aware of Luke's every move -- the unsteady rhythm of his breathing, the little tremor that passed under his fingers. How could any program be so real! Just the workings of an invisible network of data, made completely tangible to the sight, to the touch, because of a few thousand arcane lines of code that Jade, that psychopath, had programmed into a computer to let him pretend that Professor Nebilim had never left him.
It was so tempting to try and fill his senses with it. He wanted to experience it fully, to test its limits, to taste and smell and breathe and understand it--
"Guy," Luke said, and his voice was shaken. "What..."
All at once he realized that he was deep in Luke's personal space, touching him uninvited, staring fixedly at his body, and he reeled back, suddenly on his feet. This is Luke! Lorelai-- He's not an 'it'! Whatever else he may be, he's a person, and he's your friend.
He laughed, a little shaken himself. "So, that -- answers your question, right?"
Guy headed back to his own bed, not wanting to see Luke's face when he responded with a reflexive, "Yeah-- I think I get it now," and then, softer, "Thanks, Guy."
He'd probably have felt better, if Guy hadn't made it so very clear that what Jade had told them absolutely, positively did change things between them. The blond curled his fingers into fists at his sides and tried not to think about how very much he still wanted to turn around, press Luke into the mattress, and find out exactly how humanlike he was.
Written for areyougame@DW, to the prompt Guy/Luke: sci-fi AU - Luke is more interesting to Guy after it is revealed he’s an Al-copy. Implied Guy/Luke, some technobabble, highly AU.
.better than human.
Guy pulled his knee up to his chest, watching the redhead slowly sit down on the edge of the mattress across from him. His emotions were written all over his face, transparent: hurt, confusion, fear. Misery.
They were so clear and so strong. So real.
"I still don't understand," Luke said finally, soft. "Am I... some sort of robot?"
Heh. The sheltered prince knew less about technology than anyone else Guy knew. He leaned back on one hand and gestured casually. "A robot is made out of metal and it acts only on programmed logic -- if it's programmed to do a job, it'll do that job. It doesn't really think or feel anything, it just acts the way it's told."
Luke murmured, "I pretty much did that up until recently."
"Hey, don't sell yourself short. You ignored just about everything you didn't feel like doing until recently." Guy grinned, slightly lopsided, even though the humor had long gone out of the situation. He only thought, Van had to do a lot of work to keep manipulating you.
As he'd half-expected, Luke didn't see the humor in that, his shoulders curling in further. "Except when it came to Master Van."
Guy sighed to himself. It would be a little easier if Luke weren't so close to human. But, of course, it also wouldn't be as -- interesting.
"What's the word, then? If not a robot, then..." Luke's brow furrowed as he racked his brain for whatever terminology he'd picked up from the vids and games that had been the vast majority of his education. "A clone?"
"That's -- closer," Guy admitted, but he kept going, taking mercy on the younger man. "But it's too simple. You're something much more special than that, Luke."
Luke lifted his head, but it didn't seem like he suspected anything strange in that comment, even though the moment it was out of his mouth Guy felt awkward about it, like he'd professed a desire to disassemble him. But that faint implication had gone over Luke's head.
After a beat, Guy found the words he wanted to use: the way to explain it that would make sense to a small child, and to his clueless master and friend. He said, "Look, you know how digital waves are all over the place? The whole world is networked, and all of us have been so deeply immersed in it that -- people can put chips in their eyes and can see the internet in front of them, just like there's really a display there!"
The redhead frowned. "Yeah... I never really saw the use for that."
A sacrilege that Guy had long ago learned to overlook. "But you know that you can. And that's the key. That's how you were made."
Luke looked away. He understandably didn't see the excitement in his own warped state of existence. He wanted to be human.
Lorelai, he was so much better than human. Guy pressed on, trying to keep his tone gentle, the intensity dialed back. "You're an artificial intelligence. A -- program that's so advanced that it learned to think and feel like humans do. You may be designed to look like Asch, and your mind might be made of code, but you're a unique person. Your identity is completely your own -- just like any human, it's a natural result of how you were raised."
He understood the theory as Jade had explained it. Van had never given him the details, and he had privately assumed that Luke was a clone; boring, really, no more advanced technology in this day and age than the technology that mass-produced fish so that Guy could have sushi whenever he felt like it. The cloning process was interesting, but the end result was just a person, and not even a new person; the same person, the same fish, that you had started out with.
This was so much more exciting. It was difficult -- really, to stop thinking about it. To stop wondering what if and but how.
Luke paused, and then shook his head. "I don't understand how that's different from being a clone," he said.
"Forget about clones," Guy told him. "Clones are -- meat. You're a brain."
This time Luke responded with a more familiar skepticism, his expression souring a little. "I'm made of meat, too, Guy."
"No, you're not! That's what's really--" Cool. Amazing. Fascinating. "--Genius about this. Your consciousness isn't in this body that's right here in front of me, it's in a computer somewhere."
Guy hopped off his bed and crossed the last step over to Luke, crouching down in front of him and reaching up a hand... so gently, touching his fingers to the younger man's chest. He could feel the warmth even through his gloves, the firm soft muscle underneath Luke's clothing. He couldn't take his eyes off it.
He seems so real. Even to the touch.
"This body isn't real. It's just a manifestation of your awareness over the datawaves, made physical."
There was a silence, for what felt like an eternity. Guy was very, painfully aware of Luke's every move -- the unsteady rhythm of his breathing, the little tremor that passed under his fingers. How could any program be so real! Just the workings of an invisible network of data, made completely tangible to the sight, to the touch, because of a few thousand arcane lines of code that Jade, that psychopath, had programmed into a computer to let him pretend that Professor Nebilim had never left him.
It was so tempting to try and fill his senses with it. He wanted to experience it fully, to test its limits, to taste and smell and breathe and understand it--
"Guy," Luke said, and his voice was shaken. "What..."
All at once he realized that he was deep in Luke's personal space, touching him uninvited, staring fixedly at his body, and he reeled back, suddenly on his feet. This is Luke! Lorelai-- He's not an 'it'! Whatever else he may be, he's a person, and he's your friend.
He laughed, a little shaken himself. "So, that -- answers your question, right?"
Guy headed back to his own bed, not wanting to see Luke's face when he responded with a reflexive, "Yeah-- I think I get it now," and then, softer, "Thanks, Guy."
He'd probably have felt better, if Guy hadn't made it so very clear that what Jade had told them absolutely, positively did change things between them. The blond curled his fingers into fists at his sides and tried not to think about how very much he still wanted to turn around, press Luke into the mattress, and find out exactly how humanlike he was.