[open] and all watched over

[abandonware]

Who: A2 and open + some closed prompts
Where: all over Aldrip!
What: February open log for depressed androids
Warnings: Nothing yet.

Good morning, A2.

[Pod's clipped and calm voice makes her squeeze her eyes more tightly shut before they reluctantly flutter open. Dawn is beginning to make patterns out of the shadows of the tree branches. The snow is starting to melt. Cold water drips, drips, down onto the top of her head, the shock of it waking her up properly. A2 stands up in slow and careful passes, checking herself for damage. Those dreams...

But there is no damage, nothing outside of the usual. No pain, save the tingle in limbs that had been sprawled at odd angles on the cold, hard ground as she'd slept. Androids did not dream. And yet she had.

(Evolution?)]

Morning, Pod.

[Her own voice is without inflection. She takes her sword from where it leans against the trunk of the tree she'd been sleeping under, and studies the cold, blue-gray sky. Something is budding on one of the branches, a tentative spot of green on a dark, gnarled branch. Weak early morning light begins to flow in from the west. She can hear the discordant chatter of crows, intermingled with softer cooing from songbirds.]

The season is changing.

---

Comments

ii

[grappler]

[sometimes on her runs, she finds herself by the farm. she hasn't introduced herself to the new person who's run it after Kotone, but she goes by every now and then to see if the animals are well taken care of. and they are, of course. even when no one was technically taking care of it, the Chosen had picked up the slack.

she smiles sadly as she stops, remembering the person who'd owned it first. some days... she missed Astralin.

but then she sees the woman cautiously approaching the entrance, and steps forward until she stands not far behind her. her hands go into her sweatpants' pockets, and she tilts her head.]

Ever seen a farm before? I know I hadn't before I'd come here.

[abandonware]

[The greeting, as well meaning as it is, makes her whirl around quickly, all of her tensed in preparation for... something. Then she regains her wits again, relaxing. Slowly.]

No.

[Her hard, focused gaze takes in this new human. A woman she doesn't recognize — she'd remember that hair if she did. The frost leaves her eyes not long after, though, and she only looks surprised.] ... You hadn't?

[She'd thought such a thing was a given, for humanity. That all of them were surrounded by these... farms.]

[grappler]

[she takes in A2 suspiciously for just a moment. but then she seems to relax, and she takes another step forward. it seems as if this person's just jumpy, which she can't blame her for. everyone's worlds seem to be some sort of hell, after all.

she shakes her head, her gaze going out to the farm and the animals currently outside of it.]

Nope. I didn't even really see nature at all before I came here. Everyone thought I was crazy for being shocked about the sheer amount of grass that's outside Aldrip.

[that had been... almost two years ago. damn.]

[abandonware]

[A soft and surprised noise escapes her in response. There were no humans on her version of Earth, true. But nature? It was everywhere. Even with the machines. Despite all the endless battling between the android forces and their mechanized opponents.]

None at all? [...] Shit. That's awful.

[It's said gruffly, but there's real bite to it.] Not even trees?

[grappler]

[Vi shrugs. it's not like it's sad really, because it was just reality to her.]

Not where I lived, except for one place. There were some up in other areas, though. But still not... farm animals.

[that was reserved for places outside of Piltover. too dirty, and stuff like that.]

[abandonware]

[It's a baffling concept to her — a world so unlike Earth, stripped clean of plants and wildlife. Troubling too. It reminds her, truthfully, of being inside the Machine Factory, or worse, that awful Tower. Nothing but silicone substrate and metal everywhere.]

"Farm animals." [She repeats, then looks over to the pen of sheep.] Me neither. I read about these, though. Sheep.

[...]

If the humans in your world didn't have farms, how did they get food? [It was her understanding that this sort of location was where all humans gathered food.]

[grappler]

[at least she wasn't the only one semi-clueless here about this sort of thing.]

Oh, outside of Piltover does. We import that stuff in. Those rich bastards topside wouldn't dare stoop so low to do something like that.

[don't worry, she sounds bitter as she says it. she's just like that.]

We got the scraps of that, in the Lanes. Mostly they just cooked anything that wouldn't kill you down there.

[abandonware]

Humans starve each other. [It's murmured to herself with some distant amount of horror. Her eyes widen in the realization of it — the fact that androids knew little of these realities had been a deliberate thing. That humans starved and oppressed one another. That they fought each other just as mindlessly as androids and machines did. That they left their children to fend for themselves.

A2's jaw tightens. Her hand clenches into a fist at her side, then... she relaxes. Slowly. Like an ocean going still after a violent storm, the emotion gets lost under the waves again.]

That's terrible. [She says at last, with real sympathy.

Ah, but that name. Piltover. She recognized it.]

That place you mentioned. Do you know Ekko? [...] Professor Heimerdinger? [She makes a motion with her hands, indicating the latter's diminutive stature.] He's kinda small.

[grappler]

[Vi watches her reaction with curiosity. she wasn't really expecting the expressions that crosses her face, because to her? it's normal. it's wrong, but it's normal.

she shrugs.]

It's life.

[plain and simple. though she was hopeful that things could change, it wouldn't be overnight. there was so much hurt and fighting on both sides... and then if not them, it'd be something else. another Noxus trying to come in and take their resources.

she blinks, and shakes the thoughts off when she says those extremely familiar names. there's a bit of a smile on her face as A2 says them, especially Ekko.]

Yeah. I grew up with Ekko. Heimerdinger is someone I met really since I arrived here, but he's from there too.

[abandonware]

[The matter-of-fact way in which this woman speaks of this unfairness pushed on her troubles A2 further. Was humanity resigned to the mindless injustices hoisted upon them too? Were they trapped in a cycle, like the machines and androids were?

This time, she schools her expression into careful blankness, even as the thought settles in the back of her mind and takes root.

Better to change the subject.] Since childhood? [Years, then. This was how human development worked — they didn't "live" the way that androids did, she remembers.] ... Ah. [...A little awkwardly, she admits:] They both helped me, when I got here. They seem kind.

[grappler]

[she nods. that silly little boy that grew up in the Lanes... now a much more adult boy. maybe not a man in her eyes yet, but that's partially because she's blinded by the fact that he's basically an adopted little brother.]

They're pretty cool, yeah. Ekko's apparently made his whole life out of helping people for the last few years at home, so I'm not surprised to see him do that here too.

[helping people with being addicted to Shimmer. helping them get out of Silco's way...]

[abandonware]

Yeah. [She adds, casually rude and without any real ire:] He's kinda nosy. So that sounds right.

[She looks back to the entrance of the farm, though she doesn't step inside just yet.]

So how about you? [A nod in Vi's direction.] Are you one of those hero-types?

[grappler]

[hey, she's not offended.]

Oh, I know. He's been nosy for as long as I've known him.

[which was a long time. but it'd helped them, at times...

other times, not so much.

Vi snorts and raises her eyebrows as she puts her hands on her hips.]

Hero-type? Me? I'd help out if the world's going to shit like other people, but I'm not really sure I'd call myself a hero.

[abandonware]

[A2 considers this, head tilted just so. Then she nods, as if in approval.]

That's a relief. Was starting to think this place was full of people like that. [...] What's your name?

[grappler]

Nah, not really. The hero-types are just the loudest about it.

[there are plenty of people who aren't, who'd rather just live their lives and want to be left alone. Vi falls somewhere in the middle of this spectrum.]

Vi. You?

[abandonware]

[A2 doesn't laugh, though the huff that escapes her is an amused one.] That's usually the case.

A2. [Then, she frowns, seeming conflicted.] The... other humans who work here invited me to this place. [Everyone so far had been so friendly. It was uncomfortable.]

[grappler]

At least you realize it too.

[she looks at the farmhouse again, and then she waves at her.]

Well, I could show you the animals closer up, at least. If you want to, anyway.

[abandonware]

Ah-

[For a moment, the confidence in her demeanor falters. Then she finds herself again and straightens her shoulders.]

I would. [She follows at the invitation, and at last walks into the...

The farm. There's so much... noise. New sights and sounds too. The smell of animal musk and freshly tilled earth. The puttering around of the humans as they work. It's...

A2 glances down, and this time it seems she's gathering her composure for another reason altogether.]

...

There's so much life.

[It's overwhelming.]

[grappler]

[Vi's quiet for a moment, watching A2's reaction. she'd felt something similar, because she hadn't really seen animals like this so up close when she'd first gotten here, either.]

Not used to seeing it? The life, I mean.

[it's obvious she hasn't seen the animals themselves before, but...]

[abandonware]

Not like this. [A2's looking around, unable to keep her attention on just one thing for long — a rarity for her. The small fluffy animals were "sheep," she knew, and the little flightless birds were something called "chickens." The vegetables too, are a point of fascination. She studies each of them as if she wants to impart each one to memory, even though they are mundane and unimpressive things by most estimations.]

... There are animals where I'm from. But not many. A lot of Earth's ecosystem was destroyed with the wars. It's been improving, but it's slow.

[grappler]

[it's cute, and it reminds Vi of herself too. even though the animals were kind of different at home, it was still interesting.

Vi sighs.]

Why is there always war? It seems like a reoccurring theme for the people that get brought here.

[abandonware]

[Not a question she's expecting, not from a human anyway. A2 has crouched near a fence to watch the chickens, and glances over at Vi.]

It beats me. [...] I was created for war, so it's really all I know.

[It's said without a trace of grief, almost like an afterthought.] I can tell you what I was thinking, but I don't know if it would help.

[grappler]

Like... a weapon?

[she can't really fathom being created for it. it's not that she disbelieves it though, because she'd believe most anything about what people say about their homes at this point.]

Help or not, you can say it. I don't care.

[abandonware]

Yeah. Like a weapon.

[There's no point in denying it now, asserting her existence outside of being a tool of war.] I was designed to fight. I thought that if I completed my mission, I'd be free. [...] It was a stupid dream.

[One of the baby chicks has walked right into her palm. She's careful as she lifts it into the cradle of her hands to bring it to her eye level.] We'd been fighting so long that there was never a time where we weren't. No one could remember it. So it was easy to accept. Maybe the other worlds are the same.

[grappler]

[that definitely hits Vi too. she had thought if she'd fought a little harder, tried as hard as she could, she too would have peace and freedom. but that'd been a pipe-dream that she'd had in prison to keep herself alive, she realizes now.

she watches A2 with the baby chick, watching how gentle she is with it despite their darker tone of conversation.]

Not really stupid. I had something similar. And... yeah, there's something similar in my world, too.

[she squats down for her own baby chick, and she cradles it in both hands.]

My city and the city above ours had been fighting long before I was even born. It's only just now that we're establishing some sort of... I dunno, truce? Peace? We only have that opening to do that because another country tried to destroy us. There's probably going to be people on both sides that still want war, because it's ingrained in our DNA. That sort of prejudice and bitter feelings don't just go away overnight.