001 | Video

[khaji_da]

[The video feed switches on and shows Jaime. He’s still taking in all that he’s been told, but he’s handling it fairly well.]

And I thought when I woke up this more I was going to have a normalish day. Figured I’d wake up, play some video games, maybe put some homework off until the last minute. Guess I might have been hoping for a little too much there.

[His Mom was going to kill him when he finally gets home. He just knows it.] Well it’s probably obvious that I’m a new arrival and since complaining won’t help anything, I should probably try to get acquainted with you all. I’ll start by introducing myself. I’m Jaime. Jaime Reyes.

[He’s about finished when something else pops into his mind.] Oh. And..uh. If there is anything important that I should know that was left out of that little orientation, feel free to fill me in on it.

Comments

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[khaji_da]

Tell me about it. It's kind of hard to do a proper job helping these people out without the proper info.

Nice to meet you, 0sprey.

text

[checksum]

Might I enquire what sort of skillset you bring? You seem to be taking this better than many, which suggests training of some kind.

[khaji_da]

A lot of weird stuff has happened on my planet. You get sort of desensitized after a while. I can..uh. Fight.

[checksum]

Fighting can mean a lot of things, depending on who you ask. Is your reticence uncertainty or caution?

If the latter, would meeting in person help?

[khaji_da]

I guess it is more so the latter. [He never really knows who he is talking to when they use text.]

Where do you ant to meet?

[checksum]

Choose a place you feel comfortable meeting. I do realize that I'm the one imposing here.

[Transition to action, perhaps?]

[khaji_da]

I hear there is a Gymnasium here? How about we meet there?

[Yes!]

[checksum]

Works for me. I'll be on the sparring floor. Look for the guy with prehensile feet.

[When Jaime gets to the gym, Osprey won't be difficult to spot - he's showing off a bit, practicing cartwheel throws from a hybrid style pulling from Brazilian jiujitsu and capoeira, designed to allow uplifts and bouncers to take advantage of their extra grappling limbs. As the dummy falls to the ground, Osprey looks up and smiles a bit.]

Jaime, I presume?

[khaji_da]

[Jaime stops when he sees the guy practicing his moves. It is actually pretty impressive. He's never seen another person use a fighting style quite like that before. Jaime smiles back to the guy when he finally takes notice of him.]

That's right. It's nice to meet you in person, Osprey.

[checksum]

Likewise. Come pull up some mat, and we'll talk.

[He taps a small white circular button stuck to his shirt.] White noise generator - nobody'll be able to listen in.

[khaji_da]

[He does so, pulling up a mat so he has a place to sit.]

..Just what exactly are you, if you don't mind my asking?

[checksum]

Good question to start with. I'm a transhuman-friendly limited-strong AI, currently running on a significantly genetically, cybernetically, and nanotechnologically enhanced human brain and body, trained as a physical and digital security expert with applied experience in covert operations and assassination.

[He smiles again.]

And what are you?

[khaji_da]

Alright..I'm just going to pretend I understood all of that.. [Sciencey stuff was never his strong suit.]

I'm just a normal human..but I..uh..have sentient alien technology in the form of a scarab attached to my spine.

[checksum]

[Osprey sighs.] OK. TL;DR version - I'm an AI wearing a souped-up body, trained as a stealth scout and assassin.

What sort of things does this scarab attached to your spine do? And do you trust its motives?

[khaji_da]

You might want to start explaining what you are that way.


It does a lot, actually. It has like a gazillion weapons and abilities built into it. [Jaime looks around a bit before mentally telling the scarab to activate. When he does, blue armor with black little accents over take his body.] I didn't trust it at first because it seemed pretty evil. But now it sees me as a friend instead of a host.

[checksum]

So, did you change, or did it?

[If Jaime's observant, he'll notice that Osprey's suddenly become very still, with none of the usual small motions that even people at rest usually have.]

[khaji_da]

Well..It's original programming got messed up. So it became more of a free thinker, able to make its own decisions. And it chose to be my friend and work with me. So I guess it was a little of both.