Reflector is not stupid
They know exactly what's going on...
Tabula stumbled into the apartment she had rented, credits clutched in her hand, scraped and dented, to find Reflector waiting for her. They each bore a very serious expression, and Tabula shivered a little. Primus below, they could be creepy at times...
"We know what you did," a three-part voice... accused? Informed? Tabula couldn't tell. There seemed to be no real inflection, and yet... She opened her mouth to say something, deny it perhaps, but Reflector silenced her with a simple head-shake. "We will not stop you. We know why you took this route, we have watched you search for work. We understand that you will do what you feel you must, and we do not care, as long as it does not harm us." One frowned a little as they said that.
"Y- you've watched...?" Tabula asked, glancing back to see that the door was shut.
It was the one who had frowned, Viewfinder, the lensed mech, who answered. "We- did not trust you at first. We followed, watched. And then Spygl- we realized that you might be in danger... If we watched, we..."
"We would at least know," Spyglass finished, crossing his arms and looking at Tabula with a kind of nervous defiance. He had a button in his shoulder, she had learned...
Shivering a little still, Tabula slumped to the floor. They had been... worried about her? Followed her, watched... "You're supposed to be playing! Be sparklings, younglings...! You shouldn't have to worry, shouldn't-"
"There are a lot of things we were supposed to be and do," Spectro cut her off. Spectro, the leader... "We cannot be young- It is not your doing, Tabula! You are working to set things right..."
They still shouldn't have seen her disgrace. Tabula didn't say it, curling against herself. She was surprised when the sparklings, younglings, adults in small bodies, came up to her, surrounding her and stroking her with gentle hands, humming and... cooing? It was amazingly relaxing.
"We will not stop you," Reflector said quietly, once Tabula had stopped shivering. "But we cannot allow you to follow this path without protections. Will you trust us to upgrade your programming?"
Tabula looked at Spectro. He was the leader, so she usually interacted with him the most, even when the, they called it 'overmind', was active. "U- upgrade?"
"Firewalls, to protect you from slaver viruses. And- We cannot kept anyone from forcing you, but we can ensure they will not do so again."
She hadn't thought about that... She hadn't let herself think about those. Of course she knew the stories, everyone did, young mechs and femmes who fell in with the wrong crowd, finding themselves reprogrammed to obey, or simply with their memories wiped... "Please."
Spectro nodded and pulled out his cables. Tabula accepted them, plugged them in, and then the world went black.
-------
She woke up still on the floor, with Reflector stroking and purring at her. It was a nice way to wake up, she decided, soft and gentle and... it made her feel like they liked her. Some notices came up, new programs installed... "Okay, I see the firewalls. I assume I should just leave them alone? What about these programs, what are they?"
"Yes, leave the firewalls. You can drop them for a medic, but don't change anything. The intruder program is what you run when someone plugs in that you haven't invited. It's best you not ask what it will do, but trust, it will not be linked to you. Overload is, well, just that. We can't be sure if it will force you to overload, it shouldn't, but your customers will think you have, for those who prefer to pretend the act is mutual. Sensitivity lets you play with how strongly you react to tactile data. It's at eighty now, zero will leave you completely numb, and two hundred fifty six will be twice as sensitive. Be careful at that setting, though, it could burn out your processor." Reflector was being more serious than Tabula remembered ever seeing them.
"How did you... know how to MAKE..." Curiously, Tabula poked at the one program she felt safe messing with, the sensitivity one. Setting it down to thirty-seven, she whimpered as the small hands became bare ghosts of feeling, and she quickly set it back up to eighty. She might play with it, but... later...
"We told you. This one's creators were programmers. Our other components have learned, and we have dissected much code. How do you think we got out?" Spyglass answered. "Oh, and... you should charge at least twice as much, unless you want to be seen as giving away your 'wares'."
Tabula nodded, and found herself petting Reflector back. "I just... hadn't realized you knew so much. Um... thank you. Thank you very much..." Twice as much... that would be... oh, they could have a life with that much!
"You are doing this to protect us," Reflector answered, snuggling against her. "We need to recharge now..." That was as much warning as Tabula had before the three mechs fell offline. She smiled a little. It was the first time they'd fallen into recharge while she was in the room.
About the odd numbers; hello, base 16! Suffice to say, 256 is '100' as far as they're concerned. Also known as I overthink this... Sanjuno approved it! Also, 48 in her time scale is '30' in their counting. Nice round numbers ftw.
Tabula stumbled into the apartment she had rented, credits clutched in her hand, scraped and dented, to find Reflector waiting for her. They each bore a very serious expression, and Tabula shivered a little. Primus below, they could be creepy at times...
"We know what you did," a three-part voice... accused? Informed? Tabula couldn't tell. There seemed to be no real inflection, and yet... She opened her mouth to say something, deny it perhaps, but Reflector silenced her with a simple head-shake. "We will not stop you. We know why you took this route, we have watched you search for work. We understand that you will do what you feel you must, and we do not care, as long as it does not harm us." One frowned a little as they said that.
"Y- you've watched...?" Tabula asked, glancing back to see that the door was shut.
It was the one who had frowned, Viewfinder, the lensed mech, who answered. "We- did not trust you at first. We followed, watched. And then Spygl- we realized that you might be in danger... If we watched, we..."
"We would at least know," Spyglass finished, crossing his arms and looking at Tabula with a kind of nervous defiance. He had a button in his shoulder, she had learned...
Shivering a little still, Tabula slumped to the floor. They had been... worried about her? Followed her, watched... "You're supposed to be playing! Be sparklings, younglings...! You shouldn't have to worry, shouldn't-"
"There are a lot of things we were supposed to be and do," Spectro cut her off. Spectro, the leader... "We cannot be young- It is not your doing, Tabula! You are working to set things right..."
They still shouldn't have seen her disgrace. Tabula didn't say it, curling against herself. She was surprised when the sparklings, younglings, adults in small bodies, came up to her, surrounding her and stroking her with gentle hands, humming and... cooing? It was amazingly relaxing.
"We will not stop you," Reflector said quietly, once Tabula had stopped shivering. "But we cannot allow you to follow this path without protections. Will you trust us to upgrade your programming?"
Tabula looked at Spectro. He was the leader, so she usually interacted with him the most, even when the, they called it 'overmind', was active. "U- upgrade?"
"Firewalls, to protect you from slaver viruses. And- We cannot kept anyone from forcing you, but we can ensure they will not do so again."
She hadn't thought about that... She hadn't let herself think about those. Of course she knew the stories, everyone did, young mechs and femmes who fell in with the wrong crowd, finding themselves reprogrammed to obey, or simply with their memories wiped... "Please."
Spectro nodded and pulled out his cables. Tabula accepted them, plugged them in, and then the world went black.
-------
She woke up still on the floor, with Reflector stroking and purring at her. It was a nice way to wake up, she decided, soft and gentle and... it made her feel like they liked her. Some notices came up, new programs installed... "Okay, I see the firewalls. I assume I should just leave them alone? What about these programs, what are they?"
"Yes, leave the firewalls. You can drop them for a medic, but don't change anything. The intruder program is what you run when someone plugs in that you haven't invited. It's best you not ask what it will do, but trust, it will not be linked to you. Overload is, well, just that. We can't be sure if it will force you to overload, it shouldn't, but your customers will think you have, for those who prefer to pretend the act is mutual. Sensitivity lets you play with how strongly you react to tactile data. It's at eighty now, zero will leave you completely numb, and two hundred fifty six will be twice as sensitive. Be careful at that setting, though, it could burn out your processor." Reflector was being more serious than Tabula remembered ever seeing them.
"How did you... know how to MAKE..." Curiously, Tabula poked at the one program she felt safe messing with, the sensitivity one. Setting it down to thirty-seven, she whimpered as the small hands became bare ghosts of feeling, and she quickly set it back up to eighty. She might play with it, but... later...
"We told you. This one's creators were programmers. Our other components have learned, and we have dissected much code. How do you think we got out?" Spyglass answered. "Oh, and... you should charge at least twice as much, unless you want to be seen as giving away your 'wares'."
Tabula nodded, and found herself petting Reflector back. "I just... hadn't realized you knew so much. Um... thank you. Thank you very much..." Twice as much... that would be... oh, they could have a life with that much!
"You are doing this to protect us," Reflector answered, snuggling against her. "We need to recharge now..." That was as much warning as Tabula had before the three mechs fell offline. She smiled a little. It was the first time they'd fallen into recharge while she was in the room.
About the odd numbers; hello, base 16! Suffice to say, 256 is '100' as far as they're concerned. Also known as I overthink this... Sanjuno approved it! Also, 48 in her time scale is '30' in their counting. Nice round numbers ftw.