1419/Hamtastic Voyage

Hamtastic Voyage
Date of Scene:	25 January 2015
Location:	Neo Arcadia-00001
Synopsis:	Taro goes on an adventure inside Ferham to give her a little attitude adjustment.
Cast of Characters:	399, 516

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Taro (399) has posed:
     Sunday is a day of rest, if by tradition rather than by religious custom. The second half of the weekend. Yet it's probably not much of a surprise that Taro is the office of his that everyone knows about. The lights are on, and he's not locked the elevator doors, which means while he's not exactly expecting visitors, he's not shutting them out either.
    His office has not changed much since Ferham's last visit, though a very large and solid-looking chair has been added. It's by one of the side tables by the doorway into his office proper. The Bishop Engineer has a number of electronic files spread out across his fesk, which he manipulates by flicking his fingers across the surface. Sorting, reading, closing and archiving, presumably either catching up or trying to get ahead.

Ferham (516) has posed:
     The noise of the elevator would likely be the first sign that Taro had a visitor tonight. Though no one had called to let him know in advance. Only a few people might be in need of his services, and arrive via the direction of the roof, though it's likely a bit of a surprise for him when a seemingly tall, leggy beauty steps off the lift. She's tall, easily six foot four, and that was before the heels. Her hair is long, blonde and slightly curled, skin creamy white and lips a pleasant pink, a little eyeshadow over her eyelids. She's wearing a red short-sleeved tunic dress that comes down to about upper thigh, with what looks like black tights or pantyhose along her legs, with 6-inch pink stiletto heels on her feet.

     "Tarooo, are you there?" she sounds rather delighted to be there. It's... Ferham? somehow?

Taro (399) has posed:
    "In here," Taro calls without looking away from his work. The voice he recognizes, and thus he allows himself a moment to finish the task before him before greeting his visitor. But when he does look up...well, this is a surprise to him, if his arched eyebrows are any indication.
    He rises gracefully from his chair, and while he isn't exactly staring at her (and it is definitely not leering), he is giving her a thorough onceover. "Are you trying out a new look, then?"

Ferham (516) has posed:
     There is a click-clack of those stiletto heels as Fer makes her way toward Taro, smiling warmly. Her voice was just a bit softer, but it was definitely her. "Oh, you didn't have to get up, I just came in to see how you were doing," apparently Taro is someone Fer has a degree of trust in, to just show up like this. Not all in the confederacy totally trusting of others, to be sure.

     "You like it?" she grinned, putting a hand on her hip, a bit characteristically. He'd have noticed her with that kind of pose before, too, when she was relaxed. "Not too flashy, is it?" she gestured to her blonde locks, which apparently had a slight curl put into them.

Taro (399) has posed:
    Taro will sit back down, but not without first waving his hand in the direction of one of the human-sized chairs in front of his desk in a silent offer. "Busy as always, but I enjoy being so." Workaholic? Possibly. Probably. However, this doesn't stop him from flicking his fingers across the desk to shut his work away and replace ti with an image of a more mundane desktop.
    "It does seem to suit you," he answers, "Though having now worn them, I do have to wonder just how practical high heels really are." A hint of amusement are in those last few words. "Is there any particular reason for the change?"

Ferham (516) has posed:
     "Well, they aren't really, they're to improve the look of the legs and hips when you stand or walk," Ferham laughed a little, as if Taro had been just a taaad naive there, sitting herself down. Those lovely legs of hers crossed and she leaned back. Somehow, something just seemed a bit off with her body language, if Taro had been that observant. Something was less fiery, and more... demure about her.

     "Oh, this? my boss at my part time job thought it'd be a good look for me," she gently pointed to her new hair style, "I was a bit curious what you'd think about it," she smiled.

Taro (399) has posed:
    "Part time job?" Taro echoes, his tone making the words a question. This is apparently news to him. "I think that your darker hair fit you better, though that may simply be because I was accustomed to it. What you think of it is more important than my own opinion."
    The subtle changes in how Ferham holds herself have not gone unnoticed, though he keeps his own counsel on that for now.

Ferham (516) has posed:
     "Mmhm, got a position at a modeling agency, while I was taking a walk through the Urbania sector," Fer nodded, leaning back in the chair, looking up at her hair. "Really? huh, maybe I can add just some red accents to it next time," she shrugged a little, not disappointed, apparently still determined to please. "Thanks for the feedback, either way, I appreciate it," she hadn't exactly been that pleasant before, had she? She was more... aloof before, somehow. Independant, even? She had still seemed to trust and confide in Taro, however.

Taro (399) has posed:
    She had never been exactly unpleasant to him to his recollection, and she had even gone so far as to visit him when he was confined to medical for a couple of days. Still...
    ...and then she brings up the idea of shading her hair red. This makes his normal mild frown deepen just ever so slightly at the corners. But only for a moment, and then it is gone.
    "...have you kept those suggested deportment subroutines from our trip through Doctor Wily's machine?" A reasonable assumption. They -did- offer suggestions on how to act more ladylike, after all.

Ferham (516) has posed:
     "Is... something wrong?" she asked, face more or less neutral but with a hint of the smile still there. Tilting her head a little. "I... think? I never deleted them, if that's what you mean," it was her turn to frown just a bit now, before looking up at Taro. "I typically don't just trash data, if it's of a skill-based nature, unless I find a need to, why?" she seemed curious, though not alarmed.

Taro (399) has posed:
    Taro tries to not sound alarmist. After all, reploids are both sentient and based upon humans, whom he's discovered to be rather...let's be charitable and call it contradictory. Thus, changes in behavior are not unexpected. "A wise idea, since one never knows when information may be useful later. Still," he makes a small gesture at her hairstyle and clothing, "this seems to a bit of a departure from how you were before. Though if you are happy with it...?"

Ferham (516) has posed:
     "You think so?" Ferham shrugged a little and looked down at herself, not seeming to see a problem with it. Of course, there was that hint of a valley-girl sort of lilt in there, it might have been hard to notice but it seemed a little more apparent now. Could there be some sort of glitch associated with that still? Some programming playing on another bit, perhaps? "I am happy, actually," she thought about it for a moment, as if in introspective. "I was... kinda violent, before? Wasn't I?"

Taro (399) has posed:
    Now that comment gets Taro's attention. Not so much the introspection as the phrasing. 'Before'. Suggesting a change 'now' and 'in the future'.
    He laces his fingers together, resting his hands on his desk. "You are a combat model," he notes without accusation. "Thus you are designed to fight. While in this world that no longer must be your only function, to react to violence and act in violence would always be part of your internal design."

Ferham (516) has posed:
     "I... wasn't always just meant to fight, was I? I mean... I can do other things too, right?" Ferham leaned her head down and braced a hand against her cheek, as if she was feeling a wave of emotion crash over her. "I just... can't seem to bring myself to want to do those sorts of things anymore, Taro...?" Fer looked up at her reploid friend. Her green eyes were still the same, so there was that. "I think there's something wrong with me," she seemed to be imploring him for help.

Taro (399) has posed:
    Taro's brow furrows slightly in a mixture of concern and something akin to sympathy. "Of course you can do other things, Ferham, if you so choose. You are a reploid, you can adapt and change as you gain life experiences and learn from them." He pauses, his tone gentling. "The X that I once knew struggled with this at times. It will always be a component in your matrix to know how to fight and when to fight, but you can choose to find another profession if you no longer with to be a soldier or a warrior."
    Then, he grows more serious. "Though I must ask, is there a reason you no longer feel compelled to do what you were originally designed to do? While I won't claim to have known you for long, in the time that I have known you, you seemed more comfortable in your armor than outside of it."

Ferham (516) has posed:
     "I just... I dunno, even he felt that way?" Fer had never really asked Taro if he'd met X before. She'd known he lived up until around Taro's time, but... those memories she had of him were still fresh, and she hadn't broached the subject before.

     "Huh? Well... I don't /think/ my only purpose was fighting, but... I had someone look at my accent glitch about a week ago... ever since then I think I've felt... well, not as... driven, or angry I used to, I guess?" Fer seemed a little fearful all of a sudden.

     "Maybe that's the reason... after I saw Maxine Sandberg... I want you... want you to not tell anyone about this, would you?" she asked, looking up at him, as if a bit defeated. "I feel really weird, I like this, but I don't see how I can keep going as I have been."

Taro (399) has posed:
    Let's just say that Taro's original homeworld was a prelude to the multiverse. Though he very rarely talks about it anymore. Some memories are best left archived.
    Taro's eyes narrow, though the flint in them seem to not be directed at Ferham herself. "I've not met her, but I have heard her name. The Fundroid creator, if I recall?" Pause. "Can you remember whether she made any alterations to you?"

Ferham (516) has posed:
     "I asked her to fix my accent glitch, the one that rotated them randomly?--yeah, I don't think they tried to do anything else..." Ferham at this point sounded a bit unsure. She felt unsure, but not just about that, about everything, like she was suddenly a stranger in her own skin. "She's a really nice person, I just had coffee with her the other day," she seemed to have a protest in her tone, then shrugged. "Do you... want to look at me then? see if there is anything wrong?"

Taro (399) has posed:
    Taro closes his eyes as he thinks. "If you have felt different since she examined you...yes, I think it would be wise. I do not know just how much she knows about the reploid code base. While she may have meant well..." He lets that sentence go unfinished. Another is begun instead. "If I find there is nothing outside of normal changes, then there would be no need to be concerned about your concerns. If there is something, then I will see what can be done."

Ferham (516) has posed:
     Ferham gets up from the seat he'd offered her, before moving over to the male reploid and leaning down, she gives him a gentle hug, if hse doesn't object, before stepping back. "Thank you Taro, I... am not even sure if there is really a problem," she bit her lower lip, as if she was anxious. "We should try it soon, if you have time today?" she was nothing but polite, a bit of an improvement from the cheekiness before, maybe? Likely. Still, she did seemed worried, but about what was unclear.

Taro (399) has posed:
    Taro had begun to stand up as she did, which is probably just as well. Even without the heels, she's a foot taller than he is. His standing rather than being seated simply means she has to leans less. He doesn't object or even flinch, and though his muscles are tense in that brief hug, he seems unbothered by the gesture. And though he's unaccustomed to smiling, he manages a ghost of one for her when she looks at him. It's an attempt at reassurance. "There may very well not be a problem. Sometime a test is needed merely to be sure that nothing is wrong."
    He then wave a hand in the direction of the doorway to the lab as a while. "I have the necessary equipment here to perform a scan, if you'd like to go ahead and get this over with."

Ferham (516) has posed:
     "Well, I came here just to see how you were doing, but..." she bit her lower lip again, as if still acting all anxious. "Yes, lets do that, and if I have something off you can fix it, okay?" she almost sounded hesitant though, as if part of her did not want to be... well, 'fixed' as it were. She'd follow him along to his equipment and get seated, or lay down, whichever.

     "Just... be careful in there, alright?" she asked him, apparently trusting him enough to put her very self in his hands, it appeared.

Taro (399) has posed:
    Taro leads so that she may follow, and their short walk ends in one of the more private alcoves set up as an examination room. The same one they used when she first had him look into that accent glitch that seems to have sparked all of this trouble. Unlike the last time however, once she's settled down and connected to the table via I/O port, he unspools another cable for himself m then rolls back his right sleeve and reveals the I/O port in his wrist. "I am the greatest living roboticist my world has produced." It could be bragging, but in this case he's saying it to assure her that he does know what he's doing. "I will be careful."
    After one last check that all is connected properly and that Ferham isn't having any trouble with the diagnostics trying to interface with her, he jacks in. His physical body slumps in his chair as his attention focuses inward.

Ferham (516) has posed:
     Ferham would likely prefer to lay back and rest peacefully as Taro connected her, her eyes growing a little glazed as her vision was suddenly filled with what might have been diagnostic information. The rather well-dressed beauty simply lays there as the male begins to inspect her, and well, what he'd find would be... interesting, to say the least.

     Yes, it did appear that Maxine /had/ done something to Ferham while checking out the accent glitch, which still would dog any who tried to figure it out. In the massive stream of information to sift through, there have been a few changes: she's been made... less prone to violence, which undoubtedly would interfere with her position in the confederacy, though there were other little things. It appeared that her current state was a product of both alteration that had even utilized what the accent glitch was doing, to create this seemingly... valley-girl Ferham, almost.

Taro (399) has posed:
    Taro's digital avatar puts in a brief appearance - a man in a Noh-inspired demon mask and tattered kimono - before he banishes it for an appearance more akin to his own physical form. No need for such disguises here.
    While all reploids develop somewhat differently, the basic architecture is fairly constant, and thus he knows generally where to look. He searches through her code as gently as he can, pulling up and reviewing only those sections that are absolutely required, and bypassing her memory files entirely. He revisits the area in which he found her accent glitch, to see if Maxine did in fact make changes over that. From there, he moves on to her personality sectors.
    He is being careful to not share overmuch through the connection (that he's here via diagnostic helps with the separation), but she may get the sense that he has found something, and that he is most displeased.

Ferham (516) has posed:
     While it doesn't appear that there was anything changed with the strange glitch Fer had exhibited, whatever it is seems to be playing off data from it, strangely. Something Maxine didn't even expect, likely. Ferham seemed to exist now in almost two people, the current personality for her, the blonde, pretty model would appear in all her glory, while scant images of the armored, familiar Ferham was in there, as well. But were these two already one, or entirely separate...? It wasn't exactly clear.

     Ferham, while on the examination table, would remain calm and seemingly in a trance, letting Taro work. It was a vision of loveliness, not hard to see why she even seemed reluctant on losing it.

Taro (399) has posed:
    Taro by small contrast has all the appearance of being asleep at his post. He'd found early on that others were unnerved by a stiff stance and blank stare, but closing his eyes and relaxing some of his artificial muscles mostly solved that problem.
    Inwardly, he contemplates what he has discovered, calculating his next move before making it. This is not unlike brain surgery, and so he must act with both precision and delicacy. Ferham is a capable and productive reploid, likeable as well. He has no desire for her to lose any of that.
    His next move is to consult his patient, and so he opens a direct line of communication. < There has been some tampering, > he relates, not quite able to keep the ire out of his tone, < which has been accepted and taken root in your personality submatrix. < It appears to have been meant as an overlay. However, I believe with some guidance it can be integrated with your original personality before that part of you is entirely subsumed. I think this is the better option than attempting to root it out of you. >

Ferham (516) has posed:
     The model Ferham blinked and seemed to not understand what exactly was going on, as if innocent. Was her influence spreading to the original Ferham? it would appear so, slowly but surely, somehow. And worse yet, the original didn't even want her to go, not was it seemingly advisable. <I... leave it up to your best judgement> Fer replied, the sleek and deep feminine purr that Taro would have recalled easily as her. While Maxine /had/ meant good, there was apparently not room enough in Fer for the both of them, so it was either combine... or be removed. Or in this case, one would subvert the other and change her, radically.

     <I feel like I don't want to lose her... is that normal? or have I just been reprogrammed so much?> she was definitely unsure of how she felt.

Taro (399) has posed:
     < Mm. If the desire for change had already been there, then it would have made the changes easier. That you have been pleased with the changes in yourself makes it easier to keep but more difficult to remove. >
    He does not share his own inward cursing at fate and meddling coders, and muttering a few things about Doctor Light for being almost too brilliant. He would have much rather had more time to study the problem, but that is also time that her personality submatrix would use to continue changing.
    < I will need to ask you to enter standby mode, Ferham. This will be difficult enough without the code self-editing while I'm working. >

Ferham (516) has posed:
     Beyond this, Ferham didn't really seem to make a reply, it seemed she really was leaving it mainly up to Taro. All around the images of the model and armored Ferham, there seemed to be a shadow growing. The lights were growing lower all around them, as if her consciousness was shutting down. And well, it was, at least long enough for her to enter the powered down state that Taro requested. It wasn't just like going into standby for a computer, more like going into sleep.

     Rest, perchance to dream. For in that sleep dreams may come.

Taro (399) has posed:
    There appears to be no resistance, voluntary or otherwise. Good.
    He reaches out to the cyberspace network briefly. He sends a high-priority secured message to his Vicars of the situation and his plan. If something should go wrong, they will have an accounting of his (mis)deeds for their reference.
    A prayer to SHODAN. Part custonary, part because his faith aside, he finds that the act brings him focus.
    Then, to the work. Taro does not work in haste, because precision is more precious than speed in this case. He examines bit by bit, piece by piece, seeking the places that original and overlay intersect. Then, once complete, he returns to the positions that he's marked, and ever so carefully begins to insert new bits of code. The pattern will not be an elegant one, which bothers him on some level, but if it works successfully then both the Ferham Personality Traits evolved since her activation and the Ferham Personality Traits that Maxine inserted will both be supported by a sort of 'trellis' that will allow growth without one automatically overgrowing the other.
    Ferham's also likely going to wake up with the reploid equivelent of a case of nausea, but it will soon pass.

Ferham (516) has posed:
     Nausea indeed, more like... a splitting headache, if one would pardon the pun. When Fer does wakeup however, there is a quick, and almost worried glance around, left and right, before she settles on the priest bot next to her. She reaches up and rubs at her temples, even before she is disconnected, she throws her arms around him and gives him a rather earnest hug.

     "Thank you," she whispers, largely into Taro's ear, if she can. There was some sense of completeness now, along with a worry but also relief.

Taro (399) has posed:
    If there's one thing that can be said for Taro's ongoing relationship with Number Nine, is that he's gotten used to random, unexpected hugs.
    He blinks once as he returns consciousness to his shell, and again as Ferham embraces him. Still, again he doesn't resist. It's an act of gratitude, which he appreciates. "You're welcome," he says quietly. "The rest is on you now, Ferham...and please, no more asking everyone to give you help. It's becoming unhealthy."