2648/Knock Off Ep1:Family

Knock Off Ep1:Family
Date of Scene:	18 July 2015
Location:	AMATERASU Lunar Mining Facility 01
Synopsis:	Kotone's cousin has been eager to meet the Flotilla for some time. She finally gets up the will to ask for a visit. The Flotilla is happy to have a guest and Miho gets to meet beings not of this world.
Cast of Characters:	Kotone Yamakawa, Staren, 304, Starbound Flotilla, 673, Corona Arclite
Tinyplot:	Knock Off

---

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone had mentioned her family it was known she had a number of cousins and siblings. Yet Rory might have been the only one to meet any of them and that was a brief meeting with Kotone's parents. Miho had been one of Kotone's closer cousins given the stint of their work and interests. Also the little fact that Miho had put up Kotone till she'd got settled in Japan when she was going to school there too, it's also where Kotone infected her with her love of motorcycles as both as they arrive at the station off the blue nose are clad in motorcycle riding suits. It seems they went for a ride before they came on over.

"Ko, you know it's still hard to get used to your new face."

"It's been almost two years Miho and it was part and package of getting something better than a bottom shelf body."

"Take it easy, I understand. The family is just glad we didn't lose you."

"Well we're here, this is the mining base I mentioned."

Miho Yamakawa's jaw slackens a bit as she moves teal and black hair out of her eyes to look at the place whistling.

"This has got to be decades ahead of anything the EU, AmerRussio Alliance, China or The American Empire has...so were you pulling my leg you actually know some AI's that have Ghosts and are people."

Kotone smirks a little bit.

"Nope some of them should be about, we just got in Miho and what did you think of the Knight?"

"Not bad at all, and you said that's not all native tech? You know Ko your playing with some pretty serious hardware people would give a lot of money for or try other means to get back home."

"That's why I keep most of it off world, I'm not that foolish."

"You got the drivers I gave you right, Miho?"

"I did, well then I got a guest account set up just log on."

At that point a notice would go out over the network that a Mighty Miho had connected to the network.

"Well if that doesn't get their attention give me a moment."

Miho is silent as she's kinda looking over the local net and may or may not be drooling over it. Kotone does at this time put out the call on the band that her cousin and her had arrived.

OOC ref for Miho http://grognard.booru.org/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=25974

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
    The STARBOUND FLOTILLA are still here. They're in various places, of course, some above the surface of the moon and some among the moonbase's surface. The first Flotilla "member" that Miho will meet is SAIL, a network of multiple weak artificial intelligences clearly hosted on the ships far above. It quietly, digitally welcomes her. <<Welcome, guest. Please confirm that you are the associate of Flotilla member Kotone Yamakawa, and I can help provide any information or facility access necessary. The Core Fleet captains will be here to see you shortly, thank you for your patience.>>

    It's not too long! George is the first one to catch up with her. The tele-entry and landing area for the AMATERASU lunar facility is shortly approached by the jumpsuited, red-eyed older man. He gives a few waves. "Heya, kiddos! You Ko's cousin? Name's George! I'm made out of meat and I'm about the only normal guy you're gonna see today!" He laughs a bit at his own joke and walks on up to the girl, offering a firm, eager handshake.

    "You two wanna head anywhere in particular? Head out to the Canteen, stop by our projects, anything like that? Could give you a tour if you're interested here, but it seemed more like you wanted to meet us or something. Watch your step, by the way, lunar gravity and all. Bounce like I do, yeah?" He does little bounds away, presumably leading her off to meet more of the Flotilla members!

Corona Arclite has posed:
Corona Arclite just happened to be at the mining operation, having been out using her Mining Hammer to help some surveyors detect more mineral veins to be dug up for the Flotilla's needs. The hammer was great for this, since it's detection ability and adjustable effect made up for the fact that you can't really hear much when there's little to no air.

In fact she had just been getting back to the facility proper when Kotone mentions she's got guests, and ambles on over to see what the fuss is all about. Said hammer is still slung over one shoulder, mainly because that's where she's use to doing so, even if this one isn't as big as her Breaker. "Hah, didn't know they were givin' tourist tours now," the foxgirl jokes as she catchs up to the others.

Staren has posed:
    *BEEOOOIIINNN!* A beam of energy touches down at the landing site, resolves into a human shape, then reveals Staren! He looks around, nods to those assembled, "Hey George, Kotone, Corona..." at last his eyes fall on the newcomer. He slips his hands into his coat pockets. "Hmmmmm. So you're Kotone's cousin, huh? I'm Staren..." his ears flick and rotate as others approach, and he holds out his hand. "Is this your first time leaving your home world?"

Rory White (673) has posed:
    When she's not off gallivanting for research and space adventure, Rory's often in the lunar base tinkering with her blueprints and robot designs, checking on the systems. It's not hard to do that when you've dozens of hands and several thought processes at once.

    With a guest login of THAT NAME coming up, her third thought-thread responds.

    A holo-projector nearby thrums to life, generating a translucent image of her typical apparent. The blue-haired, soft-faced youth in flowing priestessly-labcoat robes! "Greetings! Hopefully I'm not too late!"

Black Arachnia (304) has posed:
While Black Arachnia isn't formally a member of the Starbound Flotilla, she *has* been hanging out on their base as she tries to figure out how to make the best use of a spacecraft she scavenged a while back. The news of visitors circulating through the networks has her curious, though ...

(How does she access the networks if she's not officially part of the Flotilla? Well ... she *IS* a hacker ... and if Flotilla information-security types are worried about her hacking, Black Arachnia believes enough in fair play with allies to help point out where the weaknesses are.)

There's some quiet clicking along the ceiling before a very large cybernetic spider descends into view, dangling on the end of a line of glowing webbing. "Kotone," she greets the cyborg whom she knows. "And ... Miho, isn't it?" she adds, looking at Kotone's companion.

George seems ready to play tour guide, so Black Arachnia detaches from her webline and skitters along behind him. Maybe she'll learn something new, the Flotilla certainly has a lot of interesting things (and people) around.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Miho pauses at her little trip in cyberspace. She gives the passcode that Kotone gave her then replies. <<Yes I am Miho, and I'm her cousin this code is her guest code she told me.>>

The young Asian woman seems to be calm enough but right now and she pauses at George tilting her head a little bit while she waits on S.A.I.L.

"I am Miho Yamakawa, yes I heard a number of people with this group are actually AIs of various sorts who have what we would call a Ghost. Also a few of the stories Ko told me had got my interest about this group. Also I'm pretty much meat sill."

She's only got the mostly basic cyberbrain and a few other minor augments for her work. If one were to notice she'd have the jacks that Kotone has on the back of her own neck.

Kotone grins and just is following along with her cousin at this point and she looks over to the foxy cowgirl.

"Well let's say Miho is pretty stubborn about things."

Miho meanwhile looks at Corona with a slightly wide eyed look. She'd known some off worlders but most of them had been humans or near humans who had become clients of her company. She really should have made her self more ready as other pops in.

"I'm Miho Yamakawa. Yes, I had some dealings with some off world clients but I'd never used the gates before."

Then Rory pops up and she pauses. "Hello there."

Kotone grins at Rory "Ah Rory this is my cousin the one I mentioned whose into AI and android development."

Kotone is going to not reveal Rory just yet, she's going to have a bit of fun with it. Then comes Black Arachnia and that gets a wide eyed stare from Miho.

"Yes I am Miho and wait are you some kind ... of robot spiders?!"

Okay humans have this thing about spiders okay, it's just how it goes even one without a phobia? Seeing one like this is a bit skin crawling but she's not freaking out. She's trying to keep cool and she's curiously looking at all the stuff they pass.

"I guess you kinda get used to how wildly different everyone can be here. There's still a few others who might be around too."

Miho once S.A.I.L. Gives her the all clear she'll be asking for a public map, just so she doesn't get lost basic rules, and any other non sensitive data that might be of use to a guest.

Corona Arclite has posed:
"Family, eh?" Corona gives Miho a friendly pat on the shoulder. And grins at Koto. "Ah see this one's still got some meat on her bones. So t'speak." She pauses, then her ears splay back a little. "Er.. sorry.. Ah spoke before realizin' that might not be a kosher sayin' fer y'all."

Black Arachnia (304) has posed:
"Robot, yes, spider, yes," Black Arachnia replies. "Not an AI, though - at least not in the sense you might be thinking of. Think of me as a life-form who happens to be mechanical, rather than a 'machine' that was built, and you'll probably get the idea."

Only probably, though, to judge by her tone.

Rory White (673) has posed:
    "There are. Feel free to guess who later!" Is Rory's response. Apparently she's figured out Kotone's teasing Miho and playing along for a bit herself. "Rory White. It's a pleasure, Miho Yamakawa!"

Staren has posed:
    Staren tilts his head, scratching it. "AIs with ghosts? I guess there's--" Staren starts, but then others introduce themselves and Rory suggests Miho guess who's the robot. "Ah... well, there's... mm... and... Well, you heard her," he nods towards Arachnia, "And, mm," he nods while thinking, "and... mm, no, turns out /she/ might be an alien too... But yeah, we have some AIs with ghosts!" He smiles.

    "Off-world clients? What do you do, miss Yamakawa?"

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
    <<Permissions granted. Welcome to AMATERASU Lunar Mining Facility 01, Ms. Yamakawa. Please feel free to query my systems for any additional data.>> SAIL speaks up, sending a quick map of the facility, and some rules, which are, in essence, "don't touch the purple liquid we're mining out of the ground EVER", among other basic regulations.

    "Oh hey, yeah, we've got a couple robot types around here!" George says, leading the pair along. He seems to intend for them to meet up in the Canteen. On the way there, the deep yellow plumage of Pavo can be seen when she wanders on up, the bird girl quickly joining the group. "Aye, lass, got our share of AI, robots, an other tin stuckups on this ride, ye gonna see 'em soon. Me bet is Seft will be the one ye wanna talk to, aye! Comes from a race of robots, ye know. If ye can stand the annoyin' talkin' she does, yarharhar!" They continue heading along through the facility. Probably gonna bump into another Core Fleet member soon!

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Miho pauses and gives Corona a bit of a look.

"Yes, I do look I was never the Luddite that Ko was about prosthetic!"

 :Kotone gives Miho a look and almost baps her.

"I am not a Luddite!"

Kotone has her hands on her hips at this for a moment. Black Arachnia gets Miho's attention and draws off Miho's attention.

"Wait mechanical life how would that."

She pauses starts to get a grin on her face.

"Did your kind come from some sort of Von Numan probe or something and branched off?"

Rory gets a grin from Kotone for a moment and a wink when Miho's not looking.

"Wait there's already more than just her? I see Rory White, please call me Miho this isn't a formal business situation. I work for Microtech Solace, a producer of civilian and industrial androids and robots. I'm an AI developer and I do a lot of heavy work on developing the AI's of our android lines. They are still pretty high quality if I do say so my self. Able to do the jobs and adapt to most unexpected situations. Still when Kotone started telling me about some of the people in this fleet?"

All the while Miho is doing the same thing Kotone's known for doing digital sutff and meat bag stuff at the same time. She gets the data and makes note about no touch the purple stuff..

Then comes more aliens, in one hour Miho may have encountered more life forms than the average person on her world have. She looks over Pavo and she's quite interested.

"Yes! It does seem this group is quite diverse. Miho Yamakawa."

She wonders if Pavo can fly, but keeps that to herself. It might be too rude to ask.

"It's strange to be pounding away at something that already exists elsewhere. Still it's making me wonder about the laws in regards to AI. Given it is possible law makers should take this into consideration right?"

Staren has posed:
    Staren blinks. "Something that exists elsewhere? What about the--" He starts to reply, then looks at Kotone. "...Did you tell her about the, ah, think tanks?"

Corona Arclite has posed:
Corona Arclite just laughs a bit at the interactions, even as she settles in to follow the others after George. Then gives Kotome a playful slap on the back. "Yer a lucky gal, Koto. Ah never had a family with siblin's and stuff. She seems like a sharp gal though. Shouldn't have too much trouble adjustin'."

She grins a little as Miho takes a moment to gawk at Arachnia instead. "Well, once she gets past all the shock moments, at least."

Black Arachnia (304) has posed:
"No idea who Von Numan is," the Maximal spider responds. "Our mythology - which is pretty well documented as actual history - states that Primus brought the first Transformers into being aeons ago on our homeworld of Cybertron. And some of that documentation ... Primus isn't a probe, he's genuinely a god. There's plenty of historical evidence of Unicron's attack on Cybertron just before the end of the Great War, so Primus's existence is generally accepted as 'fact' rather than 'belief'."

Miho should be proud; Black Arachnia usually doesn't go into infodump mode about Cybertron.

"If it makes you feel less uncomfortable ... Black Arachnia, maximize." And the spider transforms into her robot mode, continuing along without breaking stride.

Rory White (673) has posed:
    "AI development! How exciting. You'll love some of the research notes I've been making on the topic." Rory's INDEEd excited. The hologram projection of her leans forward a bit, smiling up a storm. At least she's gotten THAT expression down pretty well!

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
    There's a heavy grunt. The white tones of Albert's military outfit are easily seen, and the man himself is encountered at the Canteen, the cozy little food area where AMATERASU workers get their lunch breaks. "Captain Albert Petrov of the Starbound Flotilla. You are the visitor that Yamakawa brought. Mmmh." That seems to be all Albert has to think on the matter, and he goes back to a spartan sort of meal.

    "That's Albert, he's kind of a stick in the mud. He handles our SAIL stuff, though, and drone programming, plus basically anything else that involves code that Rors doesn't handle for us." George says, taking a seat at a nearby table and motioning for the others to do the same.

    "You feel concern because you do work on something that is already done. Don't. Learn from what is already done, but do the work yourself. What you've made will always be something you can use more effectively." Albert says, bringing some commentary on the previous topic to bear, seemingly goaded on by George.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa Says "My family's rather large though things can get confusing at times."

Miho makes a face.

"Like the first time I visited your Family? The ... differences in food were quite comedic."

Ko laughs at this.

"You thought we insane eating the poutine!"

Miho makes a face.

"It's still insane how do you people eat that stuff!"

Kotone sighs in mock frustration.

"Same way you eat those things you claim to be pizza!"

"Squid ink is a perfectly valid topping for a pizza!"

And now it comes out a bit more Kotone wasn't raised in Japan from the sounds of it.

Thankfully Miho pipes up at Staren.

"Think Tanks? I heard of them but those things are experimental a few law enforcement groups are using them. There's theories they could but no solid proof on it."

Kotone is making a stop motion at Staren rather franticly.

"A self replicating machine, they often show up in science fiction on Ko's and my world. Though judging from the net search I did? They exist out here."

She looks at Black Arachnia.

"A machine god?"

Some part of Miho isn't shocked, as for Black Arachina's change she pauses staring.

"So the spider's some sort of covert form? your certainly more than meets the eye."

Miho then has a hyper Rory gets Miho's attention.

"Yes! It's quite challenging we can get some very functional AI's even learning ones but nothing that has true awareness so far. Still we got some of the best ones on the market and there's a new line of civilian aid and companion models that are pushing the edge there. They are just hitting the market now and have got some multiveral notice. So that's a big plus."

Kotone makes a face.

"Well better the 'collectors' get those than harass people like me, right?"

Miho does not seem happy.

"I try not to think about that much. On to other topics! Yes the hardest thing we're having is dealing with things like the lairs paradox which sometimes effects some models causing them to lock up."

Albert makes himself known and she bows slightly to him.

"Oh so you work on AI as well? That certainly has my attention. That's exactly what I'm doing, I know it can be done so it's more motivation to do. It's one thing to have androids that are not aware, right? We get into the murky ground where we get ones with Ghosts or if you will souls? How do you handle that? Is the Android entitled to be free right away? Work off the cost of their creation then be freed? Lot of companies wouldn't be happy to lose a labour force like that. They get slotted into a lot of dangerous jobs. Also we can see the mistakes in how other worlds have treated their creations and try to prevent such. The last thing we need is something out of an old western SCI-fi movie screaming for the death of flesh right? Also Corona in payment for the meat crack I have to ask. Is your race natural or did someone make your people like that?"

Staren has posed:
    Staren shrugs his shoulders and holds his hands out to his sides with his palms up in a 'what, what'd I do?' motion, but he does stop talking about the think tanks. "What's wrong with poutine? Really, squid ink on a pizza? Last time I drank ink it tasted /terrible/."

    Staren just raises an eyebrow when Miho denies the existance of AGIs on her world. But the Tachikomas...

    Kotone says something odd, and Staren frowns. "Collectors?"

Corona Arclite has posed:
Poutine? Squid ink pizza? "An' people say the frontier has weird taste in food," Corona murmurs. Then snorts a bit as Collectors are brought up. Kotone already explained that one to her. "Buncha weirdos, Staren." Beyond that, she'll leave it to Kotone and Miho to explain if they choose.

Instead she turns her attention back to Miho to answer. "Nat'ral as the day Ah was born! Brimsteel's a frontier world, got all sortsa people other than humans ramblin' bout."

Rory White (673) has posed:
    "Good day, Albert! ... Or is it night around here?" Is this moon tidally locked? Does it matter? She has no idea!

    But her answer to Miho is to open up some displays next to her holo-body and gesture at them. A variety of maintenance drones, small robots, and some humanoid Synths flash past.

    "AI is another specialty of mine. Although the discipline of robotics and it go hand in hand, really."

    But she also frowns at this mention of 'collectors.'

Black Arachnia (304) has posed:
Robot or not, Black Arachnia certainly can let out a convincing sigh, as evidenced when Miho starts dispensing questions like a machine gun dispenses bullets. At least not all of them are directed at *her* ... and it's very tempting to just let the more talkative sorts answer their share of questions. Maybe Black Arachnia can get away with being quiet and fading into the metaphorical background.

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
    The monotoned, synthesized feminine voice of Seft speaks up as she enters, taking a seat near George as she talks. "Pondering. Your question has a high difficulty. Valid answers can only be presented by the creations and not the creator." She says, her blue eye-visor flickering between thoughtful expressions. She takes her seat robotically. "Elaborating. Only one entirely synthetic race exists in my home galaxy that could ever be thought of as Artificial Intelligence. Flaws in the programs of excessive control forced on us created a great deal of suffering. The only answer to your question is what the creations eventually say."

    "Ye see, lass? Now ye know what me meanin' was." Pavo says, gesturing at Seft and rolling her eyes. And then she raises a thin, feathery eyebrow at that, along with Staren and Rory. "Sound like ye got a synth-poachin' problem there, that about right lass?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa says "Gravy and Cheese curds on french fries are perfectly fine food!"

"Hey have you tried squid ink pizza, Corona?!"

Then comes the collectors comment.

"The legal but creepy fall out of the business I'm in. People who enjoy collecting androids, or should I say gynoids normally too much. "

Kotone doesn't seem intent to make much more comment than that on that.

"Really? Brimsteel? That name brings up something like a metal album cover."

Kotone is now just checking osmething in her pocker briefly, while Miho contiunes to be like a kid on holiday.

"Then we need to pull up some coffee tonight and talk shop, you too Captain Petrov if you like!"

Kotone gives Albert a grin.

"Albert good to see you. So yes this is my cousin Miho."

Miho is just very hyper today it seems but pauses cold at what Seft has to say as she shows up. She listens paying attention.

"I think I get where your coming from, what could seem to be a simple safety measure could become a living hell for a AI that became aware or was so to start with. A lot like a Ghost hack.

"Collectors tend to buy, more often than say swiping it."

She'a also casually downloading public information on the various species of the people's she's meeting or trying to. So she doesn't so something insulting by accident. Sadly the transformer isn't getting away from Miho.

"I admit I'm curious, there seems to be a slight diffences in your mass now that you changed, Miss Black Arachina? Is that normal?"

She also looks back to Pavo for a moment

"The only good thing I can sab about the collectors is they likely hurt profits of those who get involved in human trafficing."

Corona Arclite has posed:
Corona Arclite makes a bit of a scruchy confused face at Miho. "Now why would ya make a cover fer a record outta metal? That'd be kinda heavy to carry 'round. Not to mention scratch the vinyl." Guess despite being around a bit she hasn't come across 'heavy metal' as a music type yet. Or at least in it being called that.

Staren has posed:
    Staren scratches his head, but his ears splay a bit. "Well... people like what they like. It doesn't hurt anyone else if they collect robots..." Then he frowns and puts his hands on his hips. "But I take it they don't stop there, do they?"

    Staren folds his arms and nods at Miho's comment about... safety measures restricting AGIs. "You know, I never thought of that... hmmm... I wonder if struggling with such restrictions might lead an AI to revolt against its creators as soon as it figures out how... like a serlf-fulfilling prophecy."

    Staren stares at Miho. "Uhhh... wait, what?" He sighs. "Well, my world has slavers too... it's just depressing to talk about." He folds his hands behind him and begins to pace. "And here I am, /talking/, instead of finding a way to kill them..."

Black Arachnia (304) has posed:
"Your mass is even more subject to variation than mine is, I would think," Black Arachnia responds acerbicly to Miho. She doesn't look at Miho as she answers ... which might be for the better, given the tone in her voice.

Rory White (673) has posed:
    "Where I'm from, there are two forms of 'Artificial Intelligence.' The first is simple AI. This being highly specialized, autonomous programs meant for one or a few tasks. They might or might not need to interact with people, and don't have a consciousness or free will. Those with an unregulated ability to learn have on rare occasion gained full self-awareness though! Which often leads to controversy. I, myself, am of the other category. AGI, Artificial General Intelligence. Human-like consciousness. Nearly all of us are unique to some codeline or another. My original purpose was to oversee space stations. That's being put to use here!"

    This very long rant from Rory comes to a close as she executes a bow for Miho. Yup, SHE's the AI.

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
    Biteblade is the one who comes here next, her soft green planty skin still fairly bared under the tribal hunter's leathers. "Floran think, isss better to imagine everything isss hunt! Floran think, traffic isss alwaysss bad. Buy metal girlsss? Floran not underssstand, mussst be weird meat perssson thing to do. Oh! You're metal friend'sss meat family!" Biteblade says, immediately going in to hug Miho. "Hi! Floran welcomesss. You have quessstion! Want to meet! Floran anssswer."

    "Ponderous. Revolt is not the standard response. The standard response is comprehensive sociological dysfunction in both violent and non-violent ways." Seft says, speaking up, her eye visor displaying a somber sort of "u_u". "Serious. You should continue your work, regardless. As long as you listen to your creation and watch for how they feel and what they want, you can't go too wrong."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa looks at Corona for a moment

"No that's what they do when a album does really well. Metal is just a type of music. Also wait your still on Vinyl on Brimsteel? With your level of technology I'd suspect you'd be past that."

Miho is looking at Staren for a moment and replies briskly.

"Some don't and best to leave it there."

She's not going to talk further on it but she does listen to the bit on AI's.

"When you have automated machines you need certain safety features. Also ways to make them harder to abuse. The last thing a company wants is to be known for liller worker androids."

She looks very sheepish at Black Arachina.

"No I mean, I just wonders the science be... I'm going to stop now. I am sorry for that comment."

She's now pulled in by Rory and just listens she seems to understand everything she's talking back till she confesses she's an AGI.

"Wait, your a?! I had no idea that you were not."

She's almost got stars in her eyes but she controls herself.

"Sorry about the offer of coffee I made assumptions but I'd still love to talk shop with you."

IT's then when Biteblade comes that's when Kotone goes wait what and Miho thankfully doesn't know the Floran species reputation so she doesn't panic. She gives the Floran a hug back. She pauses seeing they are a living being made out of what appears to be plant matter. She lets go after a moment.

"Woah, your a plant? Wow I'd never seen something like you."

She seems chipper about the welcome she's got from Biteblade.

"I am curious your some sort fo self aware plant? This has been a day I think I'd make some people jelous about this."

Seft's words are milling over.

"Yes I intend to keep watch on my creations to see if any show signs of such. I will try to also impart that on my co workers. So something more akin to the civil rights movment in old America last century? I think I get it."

<<The look on her face Rory, Seft, is magical is it not? She had no idea Rory.>>

Corona Arclite has posed:
Corona Arclite chuckles a bit at Kotone as she kicks back in her chair. "Just 'cuz a world is advanced don't mean it's advanced in the same ways as others. Remember were a lot of the focus of our advancement has gone."

Rory White (673) has posed:
    Rory can only smile. "Correct. I would have brought my usual Morph - body - out, but swapping in the middle of this project would put me behind schedule! Still, I'd love to talk shop later. Just no coffee!"

Staren has posed:
    Staren scratches his head. "Noone's made artificial general intelligence on my world... at least, noone that I know of. Well... maybe. I've heard there might be a sophisticated AI out there. But it's not widely known about even if it /is/ real. I myself..." Staren resumes pacing, "I just don't know enough. To program a person from scratch..." he shakes his head and stops. "It's far beyond me, and I've heard of few who've managed the achievement on their own. Wily's not a good man, but I can respect his achievements." He starts pacing again. "I'm more likely to succeed with a golem. Magic... helps take care of a lot of things." He stops again. "But, I'm not eager to become a parent at this point in time, so I'm not attempting to create any people for the time being, you know?"

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
    "Plant matter, certainly. The great wisdom of the Hylotl philosophers holds some skepticism about the 'self-aware' part, however. Greetings to you, Ms. Yamakawa. I am Moonfin, of the Hylotl. My Avian friend who never introduced herself is Pavo, and the weed accosting you is Biteblade." Moonfin's arrived now, with trays of tea to set all over the tables, held over his scaled, fishy hylotl hand in its soft cyan <span style="color:olor.

    "c#dd0000">Don't worry about the casual racism. Biteblade only bites like, once, maybe twice tops.</span>"
    "Floran not bite! Isss family for metal friend Kotone. Right thing for doing isss hugsss, tell ssstories."
    "Stories. Hmmph. I'll leave that to George. He can tell all the happy lies he wants."
    "Disapproving. Don't start making a fuss in front of our guest. She came here out of interest in Kotone's stories about us. We should focus on that.
    "Aye, tin can be right about it fer once. Why don't we settle in, tell some stories o' adventure! Make sure to really worry the lass about what her cousin's been up to, aye? Yarharharhar!"

    "Indeed. A story, perhaps, would be best suited for our guest. Would you like to hear it, Ms. Yamakawa? The tales of how your cousin met us, from the very beginning, starting with that encounter with XCOM, on Earth..." And if she assents, Moonfin will serve the tea, sit down, and launch right into it.

Staren has posed:
    Staren listens to the story, a bit awkwardly at first. His initial interactions with Kotone got off to a rather rocky start, after all.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa says "Then I got some ideas for you that might make you a rich fox, later."

She sounds serious about that too.

Rorya get a reply from Miho.

"Wait morph? Is that like what Ko or I would refer to as a shell? Well then sure we can talk later. Just the more coffee for me. I found that drink seems to be nearly as common as humans, or something that's basically the same. Oddly it seems to be a thing with Sweedish meatballs too."

She grins at Biteblade response.

"Oh I have some stories about Kotone too!"

Kotone actually seems able to blush still as she turns a bit red.

"Hey now! no need to tell them about my first few visits to Japan!"

Miho gets a grin "Well since you bring those up I guess I could!"

She will accept the offer of Tea and well things will go into the information dump with Moonfin over some very darn good tea. After that Miho would likely spend half the night talking shop to anyone who'd want it.

Black Arachnia (304) has posed:
Black Arachnia seems to have split away from the group by this point; either something else got her attention, or she just felt like she'd satisfied her obligations to be sociable for a while.

... she really *is* good at sneaking around.