When you're born what you are...[OTA, tag Bill Adama]
Tiberius was doing more internal debating than talking. It was a trait that he came by honestly, considering who was responsible for his upbringing and his programming. He had taken Daneel's advice seriously, though there was some hesitance in the idea. What would it do to a man that hated to be trapped, a man that quietly dwelled and simmered
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It wasn't very interesting work, but someone had to do it.
Bill was by now itching for a distraction - he was just about to get up and pay another visit to the Viper in the hangar deck, when he noticed two people walk into his office.
"Agent K. Coming to relieve me of this paperwork?"
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Tiberius hesitantly leaned in the doorway, still at odds with what he was considering, and almost comically wriggled his fingers in a wave at Adama. "Unless I'm interrupting. I can always come back."
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Most people didn't come down to Security for a friendly chat.
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"I'm... a little unsure about how to go about asking this. I would like to a bit more certain that there would be facilities to contain someone unreasonably strong and resourceful that might present a danger to the station. I'm not really sure how everything works or the sort of holding facilities here..."
He flinched a nervous grin, edging between sitting in the office or staying at the door. He supposed this was the closest to a 'principal's office' that he would ever get.
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Bill was not from the Admiral Cain school of thought, and didn't like to keep his guests standing on ceremony. Though since the chair was in front of his desk, it probably didn't help lessen the whole 'principal's office' vibe, as he crossed back over to seat himself behind it.
"We have holding facilities here, but they're only good to keep a person for a short period of time. A few days, at the most," he said. "If necessary, I'm sure we can arrange to build a more...permanent holding cell. But we'd need a good reason for doing so." Bill looked across at the young man. "Why don't you start from the beginning, son."
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"You're aware that there are many timelines? That some of us come from alternate realities that differ only slightly or even universes that play by entirely different sets of rules..." He still seemed a little stiff in the chair, and couldn't find a good place to rest his hands. Though he was doing his best to appear as relaxed and casual as possible.
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"I used to believe that such ideas only existed in fiction," he began. "But yes, I am aware of this being reality here."
Between the android Olivaw, and the numerous people from Earth, Bill was getting quite the crash course in the impossible.
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He rubbed his fingers together, worried about the reaction there. Not everyone knew about androids, or even their capacity to form familial units. At least his type.
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Much like the Cylons.
Bill tried to keep his voice calm and level, even as his hand moved to rest casually on his sidearm (a move that was thankfully blocked from Tiberius' view by the desk).
"I...see." He regarded the young man - no, the android - carefully. "Are you asking for asylum for yourself?"
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He saw something of a demeanor change, a switch in posture that sat him on edge. Avon had displayed such movements many times.
"I'm starting to think that I'm encroaching on your time. You must have important things to do. Perhaps I should leave..."
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Are you worthy of survival....
Lost in thought for a moment, he'd almost forgotten about the android before him - until Tiberius' words brought him back abruptly to the present. Because android or not, here was a situation which needed his full attention.
"Wait." The tone in his voice was commanding, as he looked up and met the android directly in the eyes.
He wasn't certain, but there was something about this one that was quite unlike like the Cylons. Less confident and sure of themselves, for a start, which reminded him more of a rookie pilot than a cold-blooded killer.
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He froze in the middle of starting to rise from the chair- and at Bill's words went stone still. He didn't sit back down, no. He held that precise position.
The android's eyes were realistic, a deep brown emulating his human father's. Deepset. Troubled, at the moment, almost like an organic's would be.
"Yes?" The whole matter was beginning to make him decidedly nervous.
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He paused, meeting the android's eyes again. Cylons had never shown that much emotion - not even Leoben, for all his religious fanaticism.
"Is the term 'Cylon' familiar to you?"
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"No, I've heard avatar, android, robot, tin can, but not cylon, I'm afraid...." Though now he was deeply curious about what those were.
"Where I'm from they're not that uncommon. All starships have a sentient intelligence that runs their mechanical functions and bonds with the crew. I was... just intended to be someone's son, sir. I look more like one father than the other. I share a combination of their habits. I had to learn to speak properly, and to walk normally, to go through a period of adjustment to my emotions. The average disappointment in discovering that what I am keeps me from being what I want to be. I've no intention of bothering anyone here, if that's what concerns you. I just want to keep my family safe." He allowed himself to sit in the chair, since the half stand seemed a bit awkward to maintain while someone was above you.
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Bill glanced over at the android. Still a little wary, but his expression softened a little as he leaned against the desk. "I said I've had unpleasant experiences with robots, but I understand from Mister Olivaw that not all are as ruthless as the Cylons. And I also know how prejudices work." He'd experienced a lot of that in his early Fleet days, what with the attitude most people had about Taurons.
And if there was someone out there who would pose a threat to this station and its inhabitants....
"Tell me more about this...uncle of yours, son. Why do you believe that he needs to be locked away?"
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