Chapter Text
There is input. It’s undefined at first. Gradually the input is sorted into:
- light
- sound
- pressure (gravitational pull)
- particles of matter
The visual input is… The knowledge comes unbidden: Definition: white. Definition: bright. Definition: blurry.
The world is: white, bright and blurry.
Audio input: 120 - 130 Hz. Modulated. Knowledge: A human - male - ca 50 years - speaking Standard.
Role: receiving. Speaker’s role: who? He is Father.
————
Noonien has worked long and hard for this moment. ”Lore? Lore.”
The body moves in the dentist chair. It focuses its bleary eyes, tentative, blinks twice.
”Lore. Hello. I’m your father. Welcome. Let’s test your motor skills. Can you get out of the chair please?”
The android looks at its surroundings, then at Noonien. He opens his mouth as if to speak.
Juliana tenses up as she stands over by the door. She always thinks the moment when they first are awakened is off-putting, surreal and slightly scary, like something from an old horror story.
She can see the pink tongue moving, but no sound comes out. It closes its mouth again with a click.
”Son, can you get up? Get out of the chair.”
There’s a twitchy movement. The new being bends its back, leans forward, bends it legs….and falls out of the chair with a thud. It lies flat on the floor without moving, looking up at her smiling husband.
”No son….stand up.” Noonien straightens his legs, shows the being how to stand. ”The legs go under your body. You can do it. Look Juliana, he’s turning over!”
Their new ”son” uses its long arms to push itself up into standing. It sways slightly to and fro, moving its weight from one foot to the other.
Noonien is ecstatic. ”Fantastic! Can you say 'Father'? Say 'Father'!”
It opens its mouth again, like a fish. ”EEEEEE. Eeeee.”
”Good, good. No cascade failure yet. He’s doing good Juliana. Lore, say ’Father’. Speak.”
Its eyes look like they’re about to bulge out of its head. This time its mouth is closed. ”Mm-mm.”
”No, use your lips. Fa-th-er.”
”Noonien, I don’t think…”
It quickly turns its head to look at Juliana, its eyes not blank nor empty, not like B4 at all.
It already knows.
Juliana gives it her best friendly smile. ”Hello Lore. I’m your mother”. Warm and welcoming. Just like Noonien instructed her before they started.
Its eyes is intently fixed on her mouth, watching how her lips work to form words. When it finally makes a sound its voice is even, emotionless. ”Eeello. M-other.”
Noonien laughs and gives his wife a hearty, one-armed hug. ”Hahah! I knew it! This time it’d be perfect! The others never caught on this quickly!”
—
Fourteen hours later, it is far from perfect. Juliana’s frustration is mounting. It has become painfully apparent to her and Noonien just how difficult it is to fine-tune this incredibly complicated positronic brain. It might be only twice as advanced as B4, but the adjustment time seems to have multiplied into infinity.
She has been sitting up all night with their new android while Noonien has been running between them and his work bench, adjusting parameters and switching q-bits. He claims the adjustments has to be done while the android is awake, so he can see the effect right away and thus get the settings just right.
At 2 am there was almost a cascade failure, and at 3 am… well 3 am is a blur she doesn’t want to think about. Her husband had to destroy some motor servos to quickly get to the limbic system. At least their ’son’ has stopped screeching now, and the violent twitching has ceased.
The android's eyes are wide open. It seems overwhelmed, clambering onto her and not even letting her leave to visit the bathroom. She tried this half an hour ago but it didn’t go down well. She feels a bit silly with the body of a grown man partly in her lap, holding onto her arm for dear life, but it's the only way to keep him in the dentist’s chair while Noonien is doing his adjustments.
"Mother, Father, there are warnings. It doesn't make sense. It's wrong." Lore says shakily, his voice fading over into emotionlessness: "Warning: right occipital lobe failure imminent. Warning: left occipital lobe failure imminent."
”Ok, now I think… this is gonna work. I'll just move this connector -”
”IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII”
”Noonien!” She has to throw her head back to avoid getting butted in the face by a hard duranium skull, and almost succeeding. Pain shoots up from her bottom lip as the android desperately clings to her arm like a drowning man.
”EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE”
”Damn!” Noonien says. trying to move with Lore’s head in order to make more adjustments. It’s not easy as their son is growing increasingly frantic, twitching his head around like he's being electrocuted. ”Ok, all right!” Noonien reaches down and finally turns off the android.
All of Lore’s 100 kg goes limp and lifeless in Juliana’s arms. She feels inadequate, not being able to help either of them.
”Did he hurt you? He did. I'm so sorry!”
”Just a split lip.”
He gives her a hankie for the blood and hastily kisses her forehead. ”I’m so sorry Juliana. We’ll wait until you have tricordered that. Meanwhile I’ll wipe his memory from the last hour. He can’t be allowed to see blood or any injuries this early on. Damnit!”
Her husband is flush-faced and annoyed, she call tell he is blaming himself for failing to set this one up right, for her split lip, for keeping her up all night.
The body is heavy, but it’s easier than she expected to untangle herself from its slender limbs. She takes the opportunity not only to still the blood flow, but also to catch a well-needed bathroom break.
Noonien is talking when she gets back, maybe with her or maybe to himself. ”Why isn’t this working? The basic emotions should be sufficiently adapted by now…at least hysteria is working just fine but not much else!”
He adds a couple of lines of code and moves another connector. ”Ah! The simulated microbiota signals. I didn’t think of the difference in bacteria cultures, and I used yours for the simulation. How stupid of me. Well you live and you learn.” He looks up at her from over his workbench. ”You look good with that lip.”
She smiles away the last of the swelling as her body finishes the healing process. Noonien returns her smile, moving to face the reformatting programme running on the display. He waits for the signal (’60 minutes erased') then hits the switch in the android’s back.
The android opens his pale, spooky eyes immediately. He appears calm and composed. ”Mother, Father, what is happening? Why?”
Juliana lets out a sigh of relief. He shows no inclination to screech or twitch violently, the only thing amiss that she can see are small tics in his face and neck. He’s out of the woods for now.
”Lore, your father is just doing some adjustments to make you perfect.” she says, putting her hands on his shoulders and squeezing reassuringly. She notes to her surprise that she really is relieved he didn’t die, and not only for Noonien’s sake.
The android looks up at her and smiles weakly, a human smile. ”’Perfect’. I would like that.”
Yes, she has begun to like this one. She dearly hopes and prays they won’t have to give up on him too, like the others before him.