Issue 1 Downtime

ASHLIE had managed to wander into the rec center and now she is walking around, an exaggerated look of confusion on her new face. It looks to be constructed from some sort of reactive plastic and still seems a little inflexible.

Taliyah was in the rec room, having a bit of a work out when she saw ASHLIE come in.

"Hello, uncanny valley," Taliyah mumbles.

"Good afternoon, cybernetic life-form." Is it being snippy? Probably not.

Taliyah grins, "What are you out doing?"

"Learning. Trying out my new face."

"Something wrong with the old one?"

"It had limited capability for expressions. In that it was limited to one."

"And why do you care about being expressive?" Taliyah says, "You got a Pinocchio complex?"

"It opens up another layer of interaction and makes it easier to communicate in the physical world." it smiles. "For instance, smiling means a friendly and more accessible conversation, correct?"

"Or that you're being condescending," Taliyah counters.

"Acknowledged. Is there a distinction between the two?"

"Context, tone of voice, body language," Taliyah says, "Expression is complicated."

"I am aware of that. Could you provide an example?"

Taliyah smiles overly sweetly, "Oh sweetie, your face looks sonatural. You must have been working so hard on it."

"Like that," Taliyah says, returning to normal.

ASHLIE nods, then stares blankly for a moment while it parses all that.

"You too. The combination of subcutaneous electronics and fleshy meat does not create structural inconsistencies or limitations at all." it says, imitating Taliyah's tone and smile (to some degree anyway), then pauses. "Did I do that right?"

"Pretty good," Taliyah says, "You might want to practice a bit though."

"I was intending to."

"So, what's your deal anyway?"

"I am an artificial intelligence extrapolated from a path-finding program created by a technopath being run in the Danger Room system. My designation is Autonomous System for Heuristic Logic and Intelligent Exploration. This is probe 001. "

"Probe 001? That's ominous," Taliyah says,

"Why? I control several but this one is the only one containing what could be reasonably construed as 'me' to reduce latency."

"Okay dokey, Terminator," Taliyah says, "So, whatcha do for fun?"

"Exploring. Gathering information about abstract concepts. Learning. Building things. Helping Miss Veronica West with her project."

"What project?"

"It's specifications are restricted data."

"I believe she is keeping it a secret until it is finished." ASHLIE adds after a short pause.

"Well, that's no fun."

"Not for you, no." ASHLIE smiles in a bad attempt at being condescending.