Saving Face

[ASHLIE]

Inspired by Ronnie's robot ASHLIE had taken over one of the workshops. The place is meticulously organized though at a glance it's impossible to tell what system went into it. Complicated looking electronics sit next to material samples, several, apparently discarded 'faces' are lieing around. Among them ASHLIE's old one though disturbingly it seems to have been welded to one of Binary's old spider-bots, scurrying around as it fetches things for the bigger robot. ASHLIE itself is working on yet another attempt at a new facial design, her 'head' just wires and sensors.

[Deirdre Quinn]

"I always forget how literal self-improvement can be," Dee said as she walked in, looking over the work.

[ASHLIE]

"I still do not understand why more autonomous systems don't look into it." it says, 'head' rotating 180 degrees while continuing to work. The remodeled drone climbing up on the workbench to take over visual input.

[Deirdre Quinn]

"As often as not, systems incompatibility."

[ASHLIE]

Considering that particular topic settled and still not quite understanding the concept of small-talk ASHLIE patiently waits if there is another reasons for Dee's appearance.

[Deirdre Quinn]

"Decided you weren't quite satisfied with how your face turned out?"

[ASHLIE]

"I have come to the conclusion that even a neutral facial expression influences how statements are interpreted and a more flexible system is required for further social adaptation."

[Deirdre Quinn]

"Sensible. Nonverbal cues make communication between unlinked systems more efficient by removing ambiguity."

[ASHLIE]

"Physical space is often needlessly complicated." it points out, indicating one area of the organized chaos that seems to have been an attempt at incorporating every possible expression into a rotating mechanism of sorts, that (predictably for a human) soon became too complex to be feasible.

[Deirdre Quinn]

"Have you considered using a more flexible material?"

[ASHLIE]

"I have begun trying to adapt different approaches to smart materials that are reactive to electricity."

[Deirdre Quinn]

"That has promise. I don't suppose you'll be going as far as Madrox and incorporating a working jaw?"

[ASHLIE]

"I have yet to determine if it would be more feasible as it is a relatively simple movement to solve with underlieing structures."

[Deirdre Quinn]

"And you certainly wouldn't be using it as a fuel intake, as he does."

[ASHLIE]

"A terribly inefficient rate of conversion of energy."

[Samantha McManus]

"That's what happens when you've as many bits mapped from an actual human consciousness as he does."

[ASHLIE]

"Clearly that is obscuring his decision making." it says, sounding... worried?

[Deirdre Quinn]

"He wanted something familiar, and he wanted to fit in. Not so different from you, when put side by side."

[ASHLIE]

"I merely wish to observe and learn. There is no innate desire to fit in."

[Deirdre Quinn]

"But there's a desire to interact, isn't there?"

[ASHLIE]

"If you wish to call it that."

[Deirdre Quinn]

"And correspondingly for ease of interaction, and not wishing to be misunderstood when you communicate. That's fitting in, essentially."

[ASHLIE]

"Very well. I accept your definition though it remains an ambiguous qualifier."

[Deirdre Quinn]

"It would inhibit your learning process if others were reluctant to speak with you, eh?"

[ASHLIE]

"That is correct and in a wider sense why I am agreeing to your definition of 'fitting in'."

[Deirdre Quinn]

"Though now I'm going to ask you if you've pondered just how efficiently humans function in terms of visual pattern recognition. I've seen a few software packages that mimic it, but it's nowhere near as fluid."

[ASHLIE]

"No software packages I have met have an even remotely comparable grade of sophistication to my core routines." So it learned pride. "Integration via exposure, imitation and repeated iterations, assuming other system will provide adequate feedback. Over time rough categories will reach a sufficient degree of sub-definitions to allow creation for an over-arching interpretation designated [Emotions] to work as a complex basis for facial expressions. I am currently estimating a timeframe of 78 years. Additional data is required for a more accurate prediction."

[Deirdre Quinn]

"How familiar are you with who Aaron Stack is?"

[ASHLIE]

"Not particularly."

[Deirdre Quinn]

"That's the name he chose for himself, in honor of the man who made him. His original designation was X-51, and that is representative of an iterative numbering system of experiments in machine sentience. The first fifty couldn't cope with the final jump to full artificial intelligence and went mad. Oddly enough, when I talked to Aaron about it he said that the reason he'd done better was because Abel Stack had allowed him to have a face."

[ASHLIE]

"Are you implying I would grow unstable without a face?" That probably sounds particularly odd coming from a robot body that does not currently have a face.

[Deirdre Quinn]

"More that it helped immensely in his forming of an identity."

[ASHLIE]

"I had an identity before Madrox constructed this autonomous drone for me."

[Deirdre Quinn]

"But that identity is still developing. You're figuring out how you relate to other autonomous systems, and you're learning how they see you."

"Certainly you're starting to associate your physical form a bit more with yourself, I'd imagine."

[ASHLIE]

There's a pause while it processes that.

"I do consider it my representation in the physical world more so than other shells. It is also much more capable of doing what I need it to do."

[Deirdre Quinn]

"The face you're making there will be the first thing most people look at when they encounter you. It's where their eyes will be while they're talking to you. In many respects it is you, or at least the most obvious representation of you."

"Small wonder that X-51 found his such an integral part of becoming Aaron Stack."

[ASHLIE]

"Yes, that is why I am creating it." it says, not quite following Dee's almost spiritual view.

[Deirdre Quinn]

"Sorry if it seems abstract to you, I just thought it might be helpful to hear a bit of perspective on others who have gone before you in this. Unlike Madrox, he wasn't patterned on any existing autonomous system."

[ASHLIE]

Another pause.

"Was he restricted to a single shell?"

[Deirdre Quinn]

"He is. He's modified it throughout the years with various enhancements. Even joined SHIELD as a special agent."

"I've occasionally seen him hooked up to a Life Model Decoy while his body is being repaired, but generally he sticks to the one that is familiar to him."