Downloading Uptown (IC)

[Avenger Assembled]

"Okay," agreed Sharl, murmuring quietly as he walked around the room. "This is really amazing," he murmured to Miss A, just loud enough for her to hear. They didn't have libraries where he was from, not like this, but they had museums and art galleries, places where quiet contemplation was best. He picked up a technical manual and held it in his hands, marveling at the weight of the metal-bound volume. "I can't believe you can afford to have so many hard books," he murmured, shifting the volume from hand to hand as his internal magnetics shifted. "Are they from the town library?" He'd seen plenty of those on television!

[Fox]

"No, we own them all."

Dragonfly stepped out of the elevator, adjusting one of her gauntlets and looking around the library. "The ones that aren't on loan, anyway. More than this in the digital archives, of course, but hard to beat an actual, physical book sometimes. Ease of reading, reference. Local libraries - plural - probably have more books than this, but worse selection of scientific volumes. Something to be said for specialization. Miss Americana," she greeted, nodding in the heroine's direction. "And you're her frien.....mmh."

She tilted her head, double-checking to make sure her visor wasn't lying to her. heat pattern looks like - that bit's real in his pocket - the rest is - that's a very good hologram "You're not really here," she noted. "Interesting."

[Avenger Assembled]

Automatically, Sharl looked down at himself to make sure his display wasn't flickering. _How did she...hmm, maybe she's got superpowers! Like supervision!_ "Hologram and magnetic fields," offered the electronic teenager, gently, if somewhat awkwardly, sliding the unfamiliar shape of the book back onto the shelf. "Hello," he told her with a wave, keeping his distance. He was used to giving people their privacy, and until he knew differently, he'd give this new girl the space. "I'm Sharl! What's your name."

[Fox]

"Dragonfly," the young woman offered, putting a hand on her chin and folding the other around to her elbow. She wasn't so much looking at Sharl as looking through him, studying what she could with the limited resources her visor offered. "Your work?" she asked Miss A, tilting her head back the other way. "Clever. Can't even begin to...mmh. Suppose I wouldn't be allowed to open it up. Will keep my mind away from it for now. Do have a question, though...Sharl. Are you broadcasting from elsewhere, or are you here and simply creating a form to interact with? Both have merits...hard to tell without studying the device."

[Electra]

"Be nice, Dragonfly," Miss Americana said, her voice entirely pleasant, though with a soft hint of warning. "Sharl is a sentient computer program, and deserves to be treated like any other guest to the Lab. You'll have to ask him nicely before you have a look at his code or try and sneak a peek. Dragonfly is a cyberkinetic and inventor," Miss A explained to Sharl. "She's very enthusiastic about her work, but she won't do anything that makes you uncomfortable."

[Avenger Assembled]

"I'm here," said Sharl, tapping the projector inside his pocket. "But most of my files are in Miss A's computer, too," he added. "Just as, you know, backups. I'm really excited to be here!" he said with a smile. "This is my first time outside Miss A's headquarters. Outside further than just talking a walk, anyway. It's my trip where I can see people and move around. Miss A found me on the Internet!" he offered. He walked around, unconsciously showing off for the girl paying so much attention to him. "This is the first time I've ever been in a physical library. It's really cool. Did you write any of these books?" he asked Dragonfly, taking another off the shelf. Watching, she could see the patterns of energy that made up his body shifting as he hefted the weight in his hand.

[Dr Archeville]

"Greetings, Friend Americana, Friend Dragonfly, Friend Ironclad," the strange robot from Lincoln announced as it entered, moments the Dragonfly and Ironclad had arrived. It came bearing two baskets, one large and one small, filled with fruits, power bars, and small bottles of water. He looked at the strange visitor.

Observation: Infrared scans detect anomalous thermal readings in Subject: Sharl.

When Sharl announced what he was and his name, the android's eyes focused in.

Updating File: Sharl is not organic, but is electronic entity. Appears sapient. Creation of Friend Americana? Investigate.

But the conversations continued to flow, and before it could begin any investigations, some of Protectron's questions were answered.

Observation: Sharl was not created by Friend Americana, but found by her.

Hypothesis: Sharl's origin and my own are connected? Likelihood of two entities such as Sharl and myself appearing in this city at same time is statistically unlikely to be a coincidence. Attitudes towards organic life must be determined. Investigate.

Observation: Sharl's status as electronic entity precludes need for nutrient intake. Gift basket is obsolete.

Placing shell program around sadness subroutine so as not to unduly worry others.

"Hello, Sharl," the robot said flatly to the newcomer. "I am Protectron. Are you here to aid and preserve organic life?"

The strange golden robot turned just enough to look at Dragonfly, and extended the arm holding the smaller food-gift basket to her.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Oh, hello Protectron," said Sharl politely, if a little distantly, to Protectron. "I didn't know you had talking synthezoids," he commented to Miss Americana. He was familiar enough with the concept, but he didn't think Gina's world (as he still thought of this place) built that way. He did bear a slight resemblance to pictures he'd seen in history books. "You're very articulate!" he commented. "I've never met a synth who could talk as much like a person as you." A little belatedly, he added, "I'm here to meet people and see the world, but if life needs protecting, I'm happy to do that too," he said with a smile. "Freedom City has so many superheroes, and I think they're great."

[Fox]

Dragonfly sighed, accepting the little gift basket with a minimum of fuss; she'd learned that the robot was awfully stubborn, and frighteningly inventive for something - someone - who wasn't allowed into 80% of the building. "Yes, will be...nice, and keep my hands - and brain - to myself. Sentient AI...very interesting. Have had some ideas there, but not the time to truly experiment." She frowned, but shrugged the idea off for later. "Will get back to it, hopefully...sorry, no, did not write any books. Most interesting of my...developments...shouldn't be made publicly available. Rest I prefer to release to other people for their use...have contributed on some published things. Stayed anonymous. Dislike the attention."

[Raveled]

Jessica hadn't had much of a chance to examine Protectron in the month he'd been residing at the Lab, so she was doubly-excited when he showed up. She raised an eyebrow at the food assortment that the robot handed her friend, but there wasn't time to speculate on that. There was just so much to watch! Sharl, alone, was a fascinating enigma, but she wondered how Protectron would react to this fellow non-organic sentient? Not to mention the fact of his origin. She sidled up to Miss A so the pair could converse at a lower tone. "You said you found him on the Internet," she whispered to the other woman. "Where, exactly?"

[Dr Archeville]

Observation: Sharl claims to have encountered other 'synthezoids.' Investigate; may lead to truth about own origin.

"Have you encountered many other 'synthezoids' on the Internet, Sharl?," the robot asked. "Have you found places where they are common? Or are there 'synthezoids' among your digital communities? I have spent many hundreds of hours accessing the Internet, for observation and intelligence-gathering purposes, and have only encountered stories of four machinekind lifeforms; of those, three were a threat to organic life, and the fourth inactive for many years."

Being connected to the internet was how Protectron had spent much of its time while in the Lab, when not helping out with routine chores. It had learned many things about the world, including the presence of other entities like it. It was saddened, however, to learn that many of them -- Talos, Keres, Argo the Ultimate Android, and the Furies -- had either started out as or had become anti-organic villains, and that the only apparent pro-organic, heroic one, Galatea, had sacrificed herself to stop Talos after she unwittingly restored him. Galatea's sacrifice spurred Protectron on to do more for organickind, thought it was still unsure how.

Hypothesis: Prevalence of anti-organic machinekind due to recurrent errors in programming? In fears by organics somehow transmitting to their creations? Must investigate further; consult with other Lab-Friends.

[Electra]

Miss Americana intervened before Sharl could give himself away under Protectron's questioning. Looking to both him and Ironclad, she explained, "I tracked down Sharl on the internet, thinking that he was a rogue program, possibly some kind of virus. As it turned out, he was an artificial intelligence who had gleaned a great deal of knowledge of human behavior, but whose matrix had grown too complex for the mainframe that originally held him. Sharl's awareness of robots is fictional, I'm afraid," she explained to Protectron. "He's seen many science fiction shows and read many books. Part of his education now is to help him separate truth from fiction." The explanation was so perfectly plausible that even Sharl wanted to believe it.

[Avenger Assembled]

"That's right," agreed Sharl, wincing briefly at how he'd almost given himself away. A citizen of Tronik, familiar with synthetic life from early childhood, would have had very different knowledge of the world compared to a creature of this world's Internet. "I'm sorry if I sounded strange," he apologized. "Things are very different here than how I'm used to. Miss Americana's been helping me understand the way things are in the real world. She even programmed this body for me! Not bad, huh?" Nervously, he took the shades out of his pocket and started toying with them. Facing Protectron, he added, "You really are sentient? That's amazing!" And it was; though he knew some worlds had built synthetic intelligences, such things had never developed on Tronik: they had a bad reputation. "Were you once a person, or have you always been...artificial?"

[Dr Archeville]

Observation: Sharl seeks distinction between facts and fictions encountered in travels via the Internet.

Analysis: My own search of the Internet for ways to aid and preserve organic life has been difficult, but rewarding. Working together, with his knowledge of the Internet and my analytical processing power, we could aid one another. Additionally, Sharl appears to be a unique entity, as I (as far as I can ascertain) am.

Conclusion: Propose alliance for mutual benefit.

"I am both sentient and sapient," the robot replied flatly, "and have, as far as my incomplete logs and knowledgebases indicate, always been as such since coming online 34 days ago. I am not a transferred organic consciousness, as is Doctor Atom. Have you encountered him? I anticipate you and he would have much to discuss."

It shifted slightly, so it could address both Miss Americana and Sharl. "If there is any way I can be of assistance in Sharl's education, please inform me. I believe he and I could aid each other in our respective, as Friend-Gossamer would say, 'quests for knowledge.'"

[Avenger Assembled]

"I've never met Dr. Atom," said Sharl, "but I've heard of him." Reading about Dr. Atom had been reassuring for Sharl; here was a human being who'd been uploaded into a machine, and his intelligence was as respected as everyone else's! On the other hand, he thought, Dr. Atom had at least once been alive, while he wasn't at all sure the same could be said for himself. Do I mean anything if I'm just a machine inside a machine? Dismissing those thoughts, he said, "Ah, well, that's about as long as I've been in the real world too! So maybe we have the same birthday!" He smiled. "Are you a superhero?" he asked the robot, reminding himself to be polite. "Because they're totally cool!"

[Fox]

Dragonfly was more than happy to take a step back, listening to the conversations and taking copious mental notes. Two artificial lives interacting was just fascinating, and an awfully rare event; just these scant few minutes had already given her an assortment of ideas she wouldn't be able to get to for months. should at least modify my pet - better AI couldn't hurt - tie it into security system? - insights will help - from the internet - mmh - interesting - proximate source only - ultimate source?

[Raveled]

Jessica shook her head. "Just an overgrown bean-counter," she mused. "Well, I don't suppose you've examined his source-code closely enough to determine who wrote him in the first place? I don't mean that he should be property," she added hurriedly. "He's sentient and free-thinking; he deserves all the rights and liberties of anyone else. But if someone, some company wrote Sharl, they might want him back." She watched Sharl and Protectron interacting, even she held her side-conversation with Miss A. "If the Lab's going to be the target of lawsuits by Majestic or the Grant Conglomerate, wanting their in-house super-program back, I think we should prepare for that."

[Electra]

"It's not going to be a problem," Miss A said with confidence. "For one, Sharl is a sentient individual, and the rights of artificial sentients are protected. A lawsuit couldn't be brought on his behalf without his cooperation. Two, any organization who tried to make a case for ownership would also be responsible for the millions of dollars in infrastructure damage he caused before I was able to track him down and partition him off. And three, Sharl is just visiting, he's not actually affiliated with the Lab. His code suggests an undeniably organic pattern of growth that indicates an original author would be hard-pressed to recognize what he had wrought by this point anyway."

[Avenger Assembled]

Sharl had a brief, irrational vision of his mom at those words, but luckily he quickly dismissed it. "It's true," he said with a little nod, "I'm not anyone's property. I thought I might be before I met Miss A," he confessed, "but she took care of me and got me started here. I owe her a lot." He slid his glasses back into his jacket and slid his hands into the pockets too, taking them out again after a second. "Are you guys all superheroes?" he asked, echoing his earlier question to Protectron and expanding on it. "Because that's really neat. I've seen superheroes online before, but seeing them now...that's even cooler!"

[Dr Archeville]

Query: Am I a superhero?

Accessing files...

Qualities of Superheroes:

* Extraordinary Abilities, Skills, and/or Powers: Compared to standard organic humans, I do possess such abilities.

* Strong moral code, including

** Willingness to sacrifice self for others: Confirmed

** Reluctance to kill: Confirmed

* Strong Motivation: To aid and preserve organic life. Motivation confirmed.

* Secret Identity: Provisional. Uncertainty of true origin means identity is secret to self.

* Distinctive costume/iconography/look: Armored plating/"skin" serves as unique visual identifier. Confirmed.

* Support Staff: Lab-Friends. Confirmed.

* 'Rogues Gallery': None as yet identified. However, uncertainties of origin may conceal some threat.

* Independent wealth: No monetary wealth, though access to materials and other resources of The Lab can be used in aid and preservation of organic life.

* Base of operations: The Lab. Confirmed.

* Weakness or 'Achilles Heel': To magnetics and gravitics. Confirmed.

Conclusion:

"I am a superhero," it said firmly. "However, specifics of modus operandi still to be determined."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Can I see other parts of the Lab?" Sharl asked Miss A and the others ingenously, his face full of hope. Hologram or not, he certainly looked like the friendly teenager he believed himself to be. "Science is really cool," he said with conviction, "and I like watching scientists do their thing, especially science heroes." He folded his hands in front of him and added, "I won't get in the way, or at least, any more in the way than a hologram should." Gina had warned him about some of the things that could destabilize his display on earlier outings, and somehow he had a feeling Miss A knew all about those. "I, er, spend a lot of time with computers, but of course I'm not as smart as you guys."

[Fox]

Dragonfly frowned, glances at Miss A and Sharl hidden behind her visor. "Have...few reservations for a guided tour. Happens often enough. Just need to have someone along - building has decent security, for good reasons." She tilted her head, sorting through her memory for recent Lab news she'd heard. "....not sure who has interesting projects lately. Usually try to give others space unless they want help. Probably something somewhere, though."

[Electra]

"Of course, Sharl," Miss A told him benignly. "We can start with my lab and I'll show you some of the projects I have going right now. And if anyone else would like to show you their lab, we can go visit there, too. There's plenty to see here, even if you may not understand all of it right off the bat. Have you got anything on your table you'd like to show off?" she asked Dragonfly politely. "Sharl's very interested in computers."

[Dr Archeville]

Hypothesis: As I have spent much of my time here since coming online, I may be called upon to act as a tour guide. I shall mentally prepare a suitable showing, and endeavor to show my organic Lab-Friends how helpful I can be. This should also set a good example for Sharl.

Further Analysis: Offer to assist in tour may ease social anxiety Friend Dragonfly is experiencing.

"It would please me to aid in tour duties, Friends," the robot said flatly, "particularly if doing so would allow Friend Dragonfly a return to more familiar and comfortable environs such as her personal workspace. Perhaps Lab-Friends can show Sharl their personal workspaces first, and then I can take him around the public and common areas to which I am restricted?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"That sounds great," said Sharl cordially. "If you're going to take me to the kitchen, I can't eat anything," he said, putting his hand over his stomach. "Not anything that isn't digital, anyway. I have a stomach, but it's just electronic impulses, and when I go back into a computer the food just falls out." He patted his belly and winced at what was evidently an embarrassing memory. "I do really like computers, though! I've been inside all kinds of systems, apparantly. I wasn't really paying attention at the time."