Gun HQ - Synthetic Bonds

[Scarz]

(Closed RP due to setting story between Scarzzy and Catknapp unless otherwise stated)

@selilli@

Inside a Laboratory within the GUN HQ, a researcher was making the final touches on a project that had been in the works for some time. It looked as if everything seemed fine.

A computer had been left on, somewhat overlooking the scene. Voices were sometimes heard from it piping up.

"....Is it ready yet?", a feminine voice emerged from the computer's speakers. "I want to see it!"

[catknap]

@sefinn@

"It won't be much longer, luvvie... just a few final adjustments..."

Finn wiped his brow, his eyelids feeling slightly heavy as tiredness began to set in. He'd forsaken sleep in favor of pressing on for the sake of this project; and he was so close, the end was in sight.

Well, not so much the end... but a new beginning. Especially for the person awaiting her freedom from confinement inside his lab computer.

He'd built everything exactly as she had specified, following her design blueprints down to the finest of details. Everything was looking to be in order.

"Excellent!" he cried, rubbing his hands together in excitement, "All that is left is to hook it up, and... done!"

Finn hooked up the gynoid body to his computer with utmost care. He stood up from his seat, wringing his hands in anticipation, a mixture of wonder and nerves swirling inside him, as he awaited the final step of LIL-02's integration to be complete.

[Scarz]

@selilli@

It felt as if there was much anticipation in the air. Although no one could see it, there were also elements of fear within the A.I's voice.

"A...alright. I can do this. I want this to work so badly..."

For a moment, all was silent and the computer had gone dark. No sounds were coming from the device at all. Eventually, it was turned off.

An uneasy paused had filled the air. Did everything go perfectly fine? Had it all been according to plan?

The answer soon arrived in the form of the gynoid body's eyes slowly opening, showing off her blue iris' , followed by a slowly growing smile.

"....I am alive" She whispered, the smile growing bigger. "I AM ALIIIIVE!" the quiet whisper suddenly booming out into a loud, victorious shout before being cut off with a soft "Sorry...".

[catknap]

@sefinn@

"No, don't be sorry!" Finn called quickly. He had been afraid for a moment, and then startled, and now, was rapidly becoming giddy. "This is incredible! A cause for celebration!"

Circling the table her body had been laid out on, it was as if he was seeing her for the first time, complete, functional, whole... alive.

"Oh... everything is perfect. I am so happy for you, LIL-02!" Finn sighed, suddenly overcome with pride, and struggling to keep his voice from wavering. "Ah... but we can't refer to you by that name any more... it's... demeaning."

The monkey stopped his pacing about and stood by her side, wiping his glasses off on his jumper, where the lenses had gone misty. If he'd been the type of man to smoke, he'd likely have lit up a cigar by now.

"Yes..." he continued, "As a living being, you need a name. So, then! What do you plan to call yourself, luvvie? Any ideas?"

[Scarz]

@selilli@

She laid there, never moving once, as if deep in though. She began to murmur a few times over some name choices.

"LIL-02. My code. Lil... two.... lil by two... Lil lil..."

She continued her thought process, furrowing her brow a little as she began to come up with different ways to make her name work silently. Her answer came when she spoke once more.

"Lilli. My name... is Lilli."

She seemed to be more introducing this new identity to herself more than to her creator, as if to let herself know this is the young woman she now was. She then twisted her neck towards Finn to then introduce herself to him as well.

"Hi... I'm Lilli!" She said to him with enthusiasm.

[catknap]

@sefinn@

"Lilli... I still can't believe you're finally here, as in, physically present..." Finn mused, still in disbelief somewhat over it all, before shaking his head, "Oh, yes-- Hello!"

Finn almost knocked his chair over hurrying up to grab a few things from his desk. When he sat back down, he was balancing a clipboard and a timer, and had set up the tape recorder in advance. Beside him, there was a tray of assorted bits and bobs.

"Lilli... I'll need to begin some routine tests. Before we get to making sure you can walk, I need to do some eye tests with you, and check your motor skills... nothing major, but I don't want us to go rushing off trying to learn to run before you can walk, or walk before making sure everything else is in full working order, alright?"

He suddenly held up his hand and performed the peace gesture. He wanted to make sure her vision wasn't blurry or disorientated.

"Lilli, how many fingers am I holding up?"

[Scarz]

@selilli@

Her eyes fixed dead onto his fingers. For a moment, she seemed amazed she could actually see. Not through programmed theories or algorithms of 'That is a hand'. It was a hand, right in front of her, which seemed to make her smile once more. It was only until she snapped out of her fascinated trance that she quickly answered.

"Two. You're holding up two fingers."

She slowly glanced down at her motionless body to her left hand.

"two... two.... t-two..." She strained out, appearing as if to be concentrating very hard. Her left hand gave a few minor twitches, but no more than that, let alone moving any fingers to return his peace sign.

[catknap]

@sefinn@

"Very good, Lilli!" He replied, pleased with the answer, and checking off a check-box on a form made for the tests, before growing a little concerned, "Are you alright?"

He had taken note of her twitching and decided that the next part, which would be using the snellen chart on the wall, could wait in favor of letting her use a specific toy he'd brought along.

"Lilli, try holding this..." he began, gently taking ahold of her hand and placing the handle of a ball and paddle toy in her palm, helping her wrap her fingers around it so she held it firmly, "give your hand a little flex, if you want. The next part of this is one part of the hand and eye co-ordination tests. Try to keep hitting the ball using the paddle, okay? I'm going to time it for a few minutes or so."

He hoped that this would also help her ease more into using her hands and arms, since further testing down the line would require use of lifting, carrying and sorting.

Outside of all these required tests, however, he felt happy just seeing her getting a feel for herself and the world around her... like watching a child exploring everything for the first time. It was a nice feeling.

[Scarz]

@selilli@

After being given the paddle and ball, she seemed to stare at it for a moment. Her hand twitched some more, but showed more signs of movement. It took some time, but she was eventually able to lift her hand off the table. She then managed to bring that hand closer to her face to examine the toy closer.

She had 'heard' of something like this once before and had sometimes 'witnessed' Finn with one. It's purpose was to hit the ball on the string with it and do it again when the ball returned for as long as you could. As an experiment, she positioned her hand so that the ball was resting on top of the paddle and with a slight flick of the wrist, hit it once. Her eyes widened in awe. To anyone this would have been child's play but to her, it was as if she'd discovered the meaning of life itself.

Suddenly, she started rapidly hitting the ball with the paddle, gradually getting better with it. One bounce per second, then two, then four, then ten somehow in just a moment. At points, she even started performing trick shots, such as twisting the paddle between hits or twirling it between her fingers while keeping up her pace. It didn't take too long for her to accidentally break the string.

"Uh oh..." She said as she saw the break. Through a moment of panic, she snapped the paddles handle into two. "Oh no!" She cried out in shock and horror, as if she'd destroyed an artefact of ancient lore. "I'm sorry!" she sputtered out quickly in a panic.