barrayar | idk I guess I still play this dumb asshole

Catherine can't say she's all that happy about being a human again. She'd have been content to ride around behind Tex's sensory inputs probably indefinitely, cheerfully running background processes and shamelessly eavesdropping on Tex's entire life. It's not like she's at much risk of going insane or anything, like most A.I. are-- she'd pioneered a whole new technique for just that reason. A technique not without its drawbacks, but one that worked for her purposes just fine.

She was the only Catherine around anymore. Life was simple, in her view; and then she took physical, organic form again and life became complicated. She'd known how she perceived feelings and senses wasn't quite the same as a program, she'd known that her systems were reinterpreting the data to mimic what she expected as a human, but it's not until she's staggering, clumsily reaching out to grab onto something to hold onto (Tex? Warm and firm-- soft skin--) and she heaves in a fresh breath of air that she realizes the full extent of how far off her perception of things had been.

And she hasn't even gotten to the emotions part of things yet.

"Whoa," she says faintly, the vibration of her vocal cords startling her. "Can I go back in yet?" It's a weak joke, but not an insincere one.

Having an onboard passenger, even one remotely connected to her, had been an experience. It helped that Catherine maintained their boundaries and everything was simpler and efficient when she could call on the other AI to assist. Training routines and weapon modifications had become trivial with another processor and mind to pick ideas from. Something that may be changing altogether depending on how this change went, one that Tex hopes will be for the better.

She's there when Catherine makes the switch from digital to physical. It's an adjustment she remembers dealing with not too long before and if she wanted to, she could pull up the precise feeling of disorientation and disconnect once feeling became a factor. When Catherine reaches out, she offers her arm and rests her free hand on the woman's shoulder to steady her. Whether that would help ground Catherine or throw her off even more, Tex isn't sure, but she figures it's better than watching the AI fall on her face as she maneuvers her new body.

"Don't tell me you want to give up already," she teases as she scans Catherine's form. Nothing abnormal yet. "It hasn't even been a minute."

Catherine was comfortable, even happy, in the support role. She wasn't a violent person, and she didn't like dealing directly with people she wasn't close with, which was an extremely small number that basically amounted to one. Tex was in all respects much better at serving as her de facto interface with the broader world than Catherine was herself.

Why was she doing this again?

"I didn't make a novel method of creating artificial intelligences because I enjoyed being human," she grumbles, her voice feeling sore. Belatedly, her nudity starts to register with her, gradually becomes more than just an abstract and distant concept. It's rapidly becoming embarrassing. Catherine wasn't what anyone would call a person comfortable with intimacy of any sort.

She wants to draw away despite herself, but doesn't trust her feet yet, and finally sighs. "Alright, alright. Can we get me some clothes? I'm starting to remember what the sensation of cold is, more than just a measurement."

Edited 2017-01-24 02:01 (UTC)

There's a snort of laughter at the grumbling. Yeah, she's not surprised that's Catherine's take on all of this. 'Being human' even in the artificial sense often felt as if they were sacrificing far more than they gained. But Tex has found the good in being able to interact with the physical word in a more tangible way.

Catherine's state of undress had been noticed and ignored until the woman deigned to mention it. With a swift motion, Tex removes her jacket to wrap around Catherine's shoulders.

"Scrubs suit your tastes?" she asks. The question is entirely rhetorical as she reaches for the set laid out on a counter top to pass over. "It's what was on hand. We can find you something else later."

She gives a sheepish, sort of nervy smile in appreciation at Tex's quick reaction. Catherine's enough smaller that Tex's jacket is comfortably large on her, and she reflexively curls into it.

"They're comfortable," she says with a shrug, accepting them but letting them rest on her lap for now. She's sufficiently covered that her instinctive human sense of modesty is appeased and now second to an A.I.'s slow adjustment to being an organism.

"How long did it take you to adjust to this? Do you remember what it was like when you first woke up?"

Tex relaxes once Catherine seems to settle at least somewhat. This isn't easy, but the woman doesn't have to deal with it alone.

"Hard to forget, it's saved somewhere," she replies with a light snort and motions towards her head. Memories, just another type of filing system. "I'm still getting used to it. You're not cold like that?"

"Still? Great. That means there's a long adjustment period," she sighs.

Catherine shifts a bit, unsuccessfully trying to hide her discomfort. There's going to be an adjustment period for getting used to body language, too. "As for being cold... I guess. But it's-- sort of nice? I'm perceiving the physical sensation of cold rather than registering ambient temperature on a sensor. It's been a while."

She lets out a low whistle of appreciation and not just because she let her gaze quickly scan the rest of Catherine's form.

"Dredging up old memories already? Don't let yourself stay cold for long or you'll have a harder time getting warm." Though Tex is willing to sacrifice her jacket to the cause. "You're the newly-minted human today. Got a list of what you want to tackle first?"

idk I guess I still play this dumb asshole

FOR KAWAII KOMPYUUTA ROMANSU

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