[Part 8] Anything Goes: USUK, AU based loosely on Chobits (I Can't Stop Loving You) - [13b/20?]
anonymous
January 16 2011, 22:32:20 UTC
Well, no one’s noticed me yet (or at least cared to), he thought and slipped inside, trying to manage a casual stroll over to the outlet. Either no one cared that there was a computer running around, or no one noticed. Either way, Alfred happily plopped down and plugged himself in.
For four hours, he sat there (he didn’t dare power down or even go to screensaver mode, lest someone walk up on him) until he realized people were starting to leave. Rather than risk being caught or shut in for the night, Alfred unplugged himself and sidled up next to the workers (looking like you belonged in a group was an easy way to slip in and out of places you couldn’t normally get into, Arthur told him once while they worked on a case. Something in Alfred ached at the thought and he quickly stopped the thought process in its tracks) as they filed out, only peeling away as they walked past the first alleyway.
There was very little in the alleyway besides a dumpster and a few empty cardboard boxes too small to house Alfred even if he curled up into a ball. He should have probably kept on moving, looking for another place to stay, but where he would have gone, he had no idea.
“This place is probably as good as any other place,” he mumbled, huddling up next to the dumpster to block the worst of the winter wind. At least it wasn’t snowing, or raining, but that didn’t mean anything. It was getting to the end of November (November 24th, his clock supplied helpfully), which meant they were bound to get both soon. Funny. This would be the first time Alfred would get to experience actual snowfall or rainstorms. Arthur had always been quick to bundle him away inside or cover him up at the first hint of precipitation. Arthur never would have let him be out this late in the cold either.
But then, Arthur probably didn’t care about Alfred at the moment.
“I…I can’t keep Alfred like this.”
That’s right. Arthur said that to Kiku just this morning, not even half a day ago yet.
“You don’t want to keep Alfred anymore?”
Arthur didn’t want him. Which could only mean one thing; he couldn’t stay with Arthur anymore, which meant he (or Kiku, perhaps) would sell him. Which meant they would erase his data, wipe his AI clean-no one wanted a used Companion. And that’s what Alfred was. Used. And that was all his own damn fault, wasn’t it?
It had to be his fault. Arthur might have been acting weird before but Alfred made it worse. My fault; I came onto him, I made him use me, and now he doesn’t want me.
But isn’t that what Companions were for? I don’t understand, why didn’t he want me?
“He’s just not the same. I…I can’t deal with a Companion unit, Kiku.”
I fucked up. I fucked up bad.
It was all his fault; he felt it, deep into his very code. Why else would Arthur want to get rid of him? It was Alfred’s fault. He felt his distress program trip and he finally let himself sob into his knees as he curled up against the biting wind. Arthur didn’t want him, so his data would have to be erased-or at least some of it would be, and then he wouldn’t be Alfred, or at the very least not Arthur’s Alfred, which he had been for all of both his lives.
His fault. But what to do? Arthur had always been the one to explain things to him, to help him sort through a problem. But Arthur wasn’t there.
“Arthur…what do I do?”
With no other choice, Alfred shut down, already half frigid.
That was Alfred’s first night, of many, many nights, of sleeping on the streets.
Re: [Part 8] Anything Goes: USUK, AU based loosely on Chobits (I Can't Stop Loving You) - [13b/20?]
anonymous
January 16 2011, 23:37:15 UTC
Wait! first night, of many, many nights, of sleeping on the streets.? So Arthur won't find him soon? *pouts and cries* This story is breaking my heart, anon. I just, I just hope Alfred doesn't find anything truly nasty in the streets.
Re: [Part 8] Anything Goes: USUK, AU based loosely on Chobits (I Can't Stop Loving You) - [13b/20?]
anonymous
January 17 2011, 00:00:52 UTC
Bawww, you bad person, that last line takes away all my hope for a quick resolution to the angst ;_;
I feel incredibly bad for Al, but even worse now that you've made me realise what's at stake here: his very self. The wiping part, his greatest fear, is so tragically sad that it made me tear up.
He seems to be doing well for himself, though. Naive in some ways, but crafty and independent, self-reliant, in others.
Author!anon
anonymous
January 17 2011, 00:30:09 UTC
Sorry, but we still have 6+ chapters to go, no quick plot resolutions just yet. The angst will let up a bit though. Alfred's still in the middle of realizing how bad everything got screwed up.
He is terrified of losing his memories, which is half the reason he took off like a bat out of hell. Even if he had stuck around, if he heard Arthur when he said it'd be okay for Al to lose the memories of the last week, Alfred would have flipped out.
Well, he is a computer--he works from a logical standpoint if he can focus. Unfortunately, his creativity isn't so great from there--that's one point where computer!Alfred and canon!America differ. He has to be self reliant in that sense.
Re: [Part 8] Anything Goes: USUK, AU based loosely on Chobits (I Can't Stop Loving You) - [13b/20?]
anonymous
January 17 2011, 02:53:25 UTC
Poor Alfred...! and that's just about all I can say... except for, excellent! Excellent fic! I can say with honesty that my whole being lit up with joy when I saw this had been updated.
Re: [Part 8] Anything Goes: USUK, AU based loosely on Chobits (I Can't Stop Loving You) - [13b/20?]
anonymous
January 17 2011, 16:24:06 UTC
Oh Alfred, sweetheart...don't worry hon, I don't think it's your fault much, I just blame Arthur! :D He's the authority figure for you, after all, and did he EVER just explain anything? Oh, but of COURSE not. Goddamnit, Arthur, I can't stop being mad at you. :(
I can't help but worry whether Alfred is both First and Second Law compliant as well? I have this awful fear that he'll be attacked by hoodlums or something, and that he won't be able to defend himself... ;_;
Author!anon
anonymous
January 17 2011, 17:11:41 UTC
How the three Laws interact depend on the computer in question--Companions tend to have weaker Third Law programs (for S&M purposes, not that some owners don't abuse that loophole) but Alfred, who technically has stronger Second Law programs but after 6 years he's learned how to work around them if Arthru doesn't make an implicit command, has a stronger version, hence why he ran. If a group jumped Alfred he would try to flee but if it came straight down to it, he could accidently kill someone in defense. Not a whole lot of people would want to risk attacking a Companion since even the weakest looking ones can benchpress a car. This will be coming up again though.
I put a lot of thought into this. Too much? Oh well. Thank you for the comment!
You didn't miss anything; author!anon probably just assumed most people knew this from science fiction, popular movies, etc. Maybe it was even in Chobits?
Re: [Part 8] Anything Goes: USUK, AU based loosely on Chobits (I Can't Stop Loving You) - [13b/20?]
anonymous
January 19 2011, 22:23:28 UTC
I find myself worrying that Arthur will try and use the data Kiku has stored to replicate Alfred, and that would just break my heart...I kinda hope that Arthur sticks to notepads and such, or even an entirely new laptop, because the idea of just replicating something so personal after a something like this would be so distressing.
I have a few questions since you seem to be taking them! :DDD Are there other Companions (or laptops, I suppose) that are homeless as well? Since Alfred was allowed to run in self-preservation, have others? Or are persocoms typically held onto until they run out or are resold?
Is Alfred in any danger of being 'snatched' and resold after a memory wipe? You mentioned that most people wouldn't attack a Companion because of the strength issue, but what about other situations like when they're shut down? Or if they run out of charge?
Author!anon
anonymous
January 20 2011, 01:41:51 UTC
This will actually be addressed later on, I promise! I just wrote the scene that does, actually.
I love answering questions. Fire away!
Yes, in fact, there are. I really should have put in foreshadowing earlier, but we will get to meet some of them too. Companions that are well treated rarely run off and most would never be bought if they were resold. Alfred's unit was so new though, it could have probably sold. Laptops are more likely to be run down or be resold, however, the market for old laptops isn't that much better than Companions, considering technology advances so fast.
Companion units aren't usually stolen and resold, but that has been known to happen. Laptops are far more likely since they sell better. If a Companion is taken, it's because it's outnumbered or inactive, so yes, that's a very real threat.
Thank you for the comment! Hopefully I'll be able to get ahead on the next chapter and post it soon.
For four hours, he sat there (he didn’t dare power down or even go to screensaver mode, lest someone walk up on him) until he realized people were starting to leave. Rather than risk being caught or shut in for the night, Alfred unplugged himself and sidled up next to the workers (looking like you belonged in a group was an easy way to slip in and out of places you couldn’t normally get into, Arthur told him once while they worked on a case. Something in Alfred ached at the thought and he quickly stopped the thought process in its tracks) as they filed out, only peeling away as they walked past the first alleyway.
There was very little in the alleyway besides a dumpster and a few empty cardboard boxes too small to house Alfred even if he curled up into a ball. He should have probably kept on moving, looking for another place to stay, but where he would have gone, he had no idea.
“This place is probably as good as any other place,” he mumbled, huddling up next to the dumpster to block the worst of the winter wind. At least it wasn’t snowing, or raining, but that didn’t mean anything. It was getting to the end of November (November 24th, his clock supplied helpfully), which meant they were bound to get both soon. Funny. This would be the first time Alfred would get to experience actual snowfall or rainstorms. Arthur had always been quick to bundle him away inside or cover him up at the first hint of precipitation. Arthur never would have let him be out this late in the cold either.
But then, Arthur probably didn’t care about Alfred at the moment.
“I…I can’t keep Alfred like this.”
That’s right. Arthur said that to Kiku just this morning, not even half a day ago yet.
“You don’t want to keep Alfred anymore?”
Arthur didn’t want him. Which could only mean one thing; he couldn’t stay with Arthur anymore, which meant he (or Kiku, perhaps) would sell him. Which meant they would erase his data, wipe his AI clean-no one wanted a used Companion. And that’s what Alfred was. Used. And that was all his own damn fault, wasn’t it?
It had to be his fault. Arthur might have been acting weird before but Alfred made it worse. My fault; I came onto him, I made him use me, and now he doesn’t want me.
But isn’t that what Companions were for? I don’t understand, why didn’t he want me?
“He’s just not the same. I…I can’t deal with a Companion unit, Kiku.”
I fucked up. I fucked up bad.
It was all his fault; he felt it, deep into his very code. Why else would Arthur want to get rid of him? It was Alfred’s fault. He felt his distress program trip and he finally let himself sob into his knees as he curled up against the biting wind. Arthur didn’t want him, so his data would have to be erased-or at least some of it would be, and then he wouldn’t be Alfred, or at the very least not Arthur’s Alfred, which he had been for all of both his lives.
His fault. But what to do? Arthur had always been the one to explain things to him, to help him sort through a problem. But Arthur wasn’t there.
“Arthur…what do I do?”
With no other choice, Alfred shut down, already half frigid.
That was Alfred’s first night, of many, many nights, of sleeping on the streets.
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I feel incredibly bad for Al, but even worse now that you've made me realise what's at stake here: his very self. The wiping part, his greatest fear, is so tragically sad that it made me tear up.
He seems to be doing well for himself, though. Naive in some ways, but crafty and independent, self-reliant, in others.
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He is terrified of losing his memories, which is half the reason he took off like a bat out of hell. Even if he had stuck around, if he heard Arthur when he said it'd be okay for Al to lose the memories of the last week, Alfred would have flipped out.
Well, he is a computer--he works from a logical standpoint if he can focus. Unfortunately, his creativity isn't so great from there--that's one point where computer!Alfred and canon!America differ. He has to be self reliant in that sense.
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and that's just about all I can say... except for,
excellent! Excellent fic! I can say with honesty that my whole being lit up with joy when I saw this had been updated.
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I can't help but worry whether Alfred is both First and Second Law compliant as well? I have this awful fear that he'll be attacked by hoodlums or something, and that he won't be able to defend himself... ;_;
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I put a lot of thought into this. Too much? Oh well. Thank you for the comment!
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You didn't miss anything; author!anon probably just assumed most people knew this from science fiction, popular movies, etc. Maybe it was even in Chobits?
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Laws_of_Robotics
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I have a few questions since you seem to be taking them! :DDD
Are there other Companions (or laptops, I suppose) that are homeless as well? Since Alfred was allowed to run in self-preservation, have others? Or are persocoms typically held onto until they run out or are resold?
Is Alfred in any danger of being 'snatched' and resold after a memory wipe? You mentioned that most people wouldn't attack a Companion because of the strength issue, but what about other situations like when they're shut down? Or if they run out of charge?
I hope you update soon, anon~
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I love answering questions. Fire away!
Yes, in fact, there are. I really should have put in foreshadowing earlier, but we will get to meet some of them too. Companions that are well treated rarely run off and most would never be bought if they were resold. Alfred's unit was so new though, it could have probably sold. Laptops are more likely to be run down or be resold, however, the market for old laptops isn't that much better than Companions, considering technology advances so fast.
Companion units aren't usually stolen and resold, but that has been known to happen. Laptops are far more likely since they sell better. If a Companion is taken, it's because it's outnumbered or inactive, so yes, that's a very real threat.
Thank you for the comment! Hopefully I'll be able to get ahead on the next chapter and post it soon.
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