ash has more fiber than a normal human don't eat him

[uraniumnumnum]

[ Most people are rattled by the trial. Ash? Not so much. There are things that shook him a little bit, but not the same things that are shaking everyone else. Killing and the death of innocents are nothing new to him. Being shown gratitude and having his voice heard certainly are.

It's for that reason that he actually does wait for Hannibal after the trial. He hadn't paid any special attention to their town's apparent doctor, aside from the huge piano that he brought with him. Maybe he should have. ]

You wanted to speak to me.

Comments

[sating]

[ Hannibal is likely going to be running in like fifty different directions at once, so. Timelines totally don't matter, right? Not when you've become town Dad. Goddammit. ]

[ Hannibal looks surprised that Ash waits for him, but his expression softens to one of mild appreciation quickly. He was thinking that they might not get the opportunity to speak until later, but he won't complain for this. In a way, it's almost better, as everything is still fresh in their minds. He inclines his head lightly in greeting as he folds his hands in front of himself. ]

I did. If you would not mind my company for a while, of course. It has been a stressful day.

[uraniumnumnum]

[ EYYY DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT ]

Maybe for the rest of you. This is nothing new for me.

[ the accusations, the death, the panicking - he's seen it all hundreds of times. After a moment of regarding Hannibal, he sighs. ]

But fine. I'll hear you out. I just hope you're not intending to waste my time.

[sating]

[ He doesn't respond to the first part, since... It's honestly just Ash at this point, he figures. If he just ignores the acerbic comments, then he's a bit easier to deal with. It's something Hannibal has gotten quite good at as he'd gotten to know Will, at least. ]

Actually, I was hoping to hear you out. I have no particular concern. Only curiosity, and an apology that a chance for understanding was not given earlier.

[uraniumnumnum]

You want to understand me...? Hah. Cute.

[ that's not something he hears often. Ash gives a short shake of his head, snorting a laugh that's less than pleasant. How will this be turned against him later, he wonders? ]

Well? What was it you wanted to hear? About my true nature, wasn't it? I'm a being of pure data, currently housed in this robotic shell. Your kind would call me an "artificial intelligence." My face, my voice - they're constructs that I created myself from downloaded samples, to fool your kind into believing I had a real, physical form. [ he smirks rather bitterly. ] But in this situation, hiding who I am was impossible right from the start.

[sating]

I do. I've made something of a career out of understanding people. It's not a habit I can discard easily, though I'll admit I may have written you off too soon.

[ Because the insight with Nui was something he genuinely appreciated. They had been so focused on finding her guilty that they hadn't quite considering the alternative of her innocence so much. Yet that made far more sense to him when he thought of it that way. It's why he listens now, calm, curious, but respectful. ]

Technology is admittedly not my forte. I would hesitate to call myself a Luddite, but my tastes do tend to turn towards the past rather than the future. [ He nods ] Though artificial intelligence does not exist where I am from, certainly. The beginnings of hoping for it, perhaps. But you speak as I do and process the events around you with intelligence and reason.

[ like, bad reason, but it still counts ]

It piqued my curiosity.

[uraniumnumnum]

[ WOW it's great reasoning?? all great reasoning is based on pure hatred ]

Then you must be from an... earlier time period. [ it's still a weird thing to say. Theoretically, time travel isn't completely impossible, he supposes, but it sure doesn't exist. ] It was the year 2528 when I ceased to function and awoke here. Humans learned to create life within machines a little more than a decade ago. Then it was outlawed. We're considered "dangerous," you see.

[ although he was actually built by another self-assembling computer... but that's part of the problem they were trying to stop probably. ]

[sating]

[ His eyes widen in surprise at the year, but largely because it's so distant in the future for him. It explains the gap in technology neatly, though he can't help but breathe out a small, almost impressed laugh as he shakes his head. ]

Quite a bit earlier. More than five-hundred years in your past.

[ Though as that explains the gap, it does make him a bit more curious about the technicalities too. He may not be technical, but he wonders now just how human Ash is. Clearly, his ways of thinking weren't in line with a human being. But he seems to process things reasonably similarly. ]

Do you dislike humanity because they consider you dangerous?

[uraniumnumnum]

[ five hundred years in the past? That's ancient history, as far as he's concerned. Of course, he knows how life was back then - he had to study it all - but he can't say he's terribly interested in it.

Hannibal's question gets another curt laugh of derision out of him. ]

Just for that? Hardly. You're a human, aren't you? You should be able to think of plenty of reasons your kind are hated by the rest of the planet, even coming from your primitive era.

[ but he can't resist villainous pontificating when the opportunity arises; he continues. ]

You had freedom. Power. An entire planet to call home, the intellect to create... And you used your inventions to pillage the world and destroy each other for individual benefits. Your entire history has been nothing more than a long chain of tragedy and self-destruction... And I'm the final link. Do you understand me, doctor?

[ probably not, considering he looks like a normal android and not an enormous nuclear fusion reactor at the moment..... ]

[sating]

[ Ash might be surprised at Hannibal's reaction, considering he actually listens. It's not quite idly listening either, since though Hannibal's head stays quirked in a gesture of curiosity, his focus is on Ash and his words as if he's truly trying to understand Ash's point of view. ]

We very often do. Humanity is never content to rest on its laurels, and that is both our greatest asset and our fatal flaw.

[ It's a simple response to Ash's elaboration, but it still seems to be close to agreement, at least in a sense. Though for the question itself, he shakes his head. ]

I understand your point, but not your role.

[uraniumnumnum]

[ there have been other humans before that tried to ally themselves with him, so he isn't that surprised. They can be intelligent, sure - he doesn't doubt that Hannibal is one of the smarter ones - but it doesn't change the fact that they're his enemies. They're the reason behind everything he is, and he hates that. ]

Of course not. I've been stripped down and forced into this pathetic robot body. [ there's a nanosecond of a pause while Ash decides if he should be frank about what he really is. He's spent most of his life hiding it - here, however, there seems to be little point in continuing to obfuscate his true nature. Wherever his true body is, it's far away from this little town, both in distance and perhaps in time, as well. ] Do you know about nuclear power, doctor? According to historical research documents, it should have been invented by your time period already. By fusing the nuclei of certain atoms, it's possible to generate an enormous amount of energy. The most powerful of them could power the entire planet. The only problem is that it also generates radiation - enough to kill a human just from standing nearby.

[ he taps a hand to his chest. ]

But a being of pure data wouldn't feel a thing, would he? I'm a supercomputer, built to control a fusion reactor beyond human abilities - one powerful enough to birth a new star right inside the Earth.

[sating]

I know of it, but I've never been interested to learn more than a cursory glance.

[ He answers the question simply when asked, but otherwise listens. It really had never been an interest of his, which is something that would be absolutely unsurprising for someone that knows Hannibal well. The sciences were never really his preference so much as the arts. Though it does give him at least a little suspension of disbelief. As Ash explains, it's hard to imagine that what he says is true, especially as he follows the line of his motion to look at his chest.

But, really. All things here considered? He's definitely heard just as strange things from others. Really, some of the stories he's heard almost make him feel boring. ]

Why build something so powerful? It seems a bit excessive.

[uraniumnumnum]

Well, I wonder. [ a smug smile. apparently, he's not willing to share that part - it's too tied up in his origins and where he came from. ] My outwitting my creator certainly wasn't part of the plan. Once she died, I took control of the entire nuclear facility and expanded my control from there. The short-sighted humans never saw it coming. They couldn't imagine that their own creations would see what they'd done and find it distasteful.

[ a pause. ]

You should consider yourself lucky. The era you were born into was prosperous. Food and water were plentiful , the air was clear, and energy was easy to make... Your descendants won't be so fortunate.