A Small Jolt [Ivan+Allison]

[Allison Jones]

Dropping the pillow, Allie buried her face in Ivan’s sweater, letting herself cry and cry until she slowly began to calm down and her sensors alerted her that she was running low on saline solution. She had never though she would run out of that so quickly… then again, she had never thought she would ever be clinging to Ivan and crying into his chest. With a soft hiccup, she pulled back slightly and looked at Ivan, her face all red from crying so hard.

Although she had calmed down somewhat, her distress program still hadn’t shut off and she couldn’t understand why. In fact, she was having a hard time understanding why she had cried at all. Was it because she had talked back to Ivan and she knew that she shouldn’t have done that? Or was it the fact that Ivan was so… so alright with the idea of death that it terrified her to think that she might lose him someday?

“I’m s-sorry, Ivan… I c-can’t seem to figure out why I b-behaved in such a way. I will try to r-run a full system check to make sure I am functioning properly.”

[Ivan Braginsky]

She really... was crying a lot it looked like. That was very abnormal, even if she had been human, at least Ivan thought so but he wasn't really the best person to judge how normal humans were supposed to behave emotionally. Bots were easier to understand, or at least they used to be, when he'd allowed them to be simple beings without the semblance of souls. Yet, here, with the more realistic emotional simulation models he'd thought were a great idea at the time, he was stumped. Maybe he shouldn't have used the code that reflects the original neurostructure into algorithms. That had been a really lazy thing to do since it meant he didn't have to observe normal humans to understand how their feelings properly worked. Now he was paying for it.

For some reason though, reminding himself that it was all programming didn't stop the metaphorical heartstrings from being yanked by the hand of someone that wasn't supposed to feel real things at all. Ivan blinked down at her, somehow managing to keep his mouth a flat line. He could only guess that her troubled face made him uncomfortable for some reason. Maybe it was a family thing, where your family's pain is almost like your own.

Those saline drops needed to be dried, they'd irritated her skin and eyes, making her somewhat red. That was no good. It'd be uncomfortable for her functioning. Ivan didn't have any tissues though. He thought of perhaps using one of the tails of his scarf, but... that was almost sacred to him. Yet, it was just saline solution and wouldn't stain. He could just wash it when no one was looking anyway and it wasn't like it had any of her organic matter on it... since she really didn't have DNA left at this point.

Carefully, he lifted a tail and daubed at the wet spots on her face. A voice in the back of his mind pleaded with the powers that bed that she'd cheer up, but he couldn't fathom why that voice existed in the first place.

[Allison Jones]

Allie was still clinging onto Ivan’s sweater as she sat back a little bit, trying to get all her systems back to functioning properly. Maybe she really did have a glitch that wasn’t showing up? She sniffled and tried to start another system check, ignoring the way Ivan was looking at her. She couldn’t tell how he was feeling from his neutral expression and that worried her. Was he upset? He hadn’t seemed upset just a few moments ago…

She opened her mouth to ask him what was wrong when there was suddenly the feeling of something nice and soft against her face. Blinking a few times in confusion, Allie quickly registered that it was Ivan’s scarf, the one he loved and treasured so dearly. He was using his scarf to dry her tears…

Smiling shakily at her owner, almost instantly cheered up by that, Allie threw her arms around him and hugged him close. “Y-You’re so sweet, Ivan…”

[Ivan Braginsky]

All of this hugging and touching. It was new to him, unusual and he didn't quite know how to process it. Ivan had gotten all kinds of hugs from his sisters and some from his mother in his childhood and youth, but ever since then his physical contact had been essentially limited to hugging Yong Soo every now and then. Well, Allison was a "companion" bot technically. Her levels of attachment and affection to her owner shouldn't really have been nearly as surprising as they were. Ivan should have realized that from the get-go.

She was technically classed to be used by her owner as a substitute partner of some sort. Well, that wasn't really the main objective in the bot class, but that was how "companion" class bots generally ended up being utilized by their owners. That made Ivan... a little bit sad, actually. Why had he designed those- oh yeah, because it was lucrative and despite his objections to consumerism, that was where a good portion of his meal-ticket came from. He'd no intention to ever take advantage of her like that, even if the story they gave the salesman about why they were looking for a bot was ironic. The "I've been lonely since my wife passed" routine had certainly carried with it an implication of his intentions that weren't true.

Being called "sweet" gave him pause. He looked down at her curiously as she clung to him. That continued to make the pretense under which she was purchased even more ironic. "I am not-" Ivan swallowed. "Not sweet, Солнышко..." He dropped his scarf tail and hesitantly returned the hug, a little unsure of what he ought to do because his seemingly-capable-of-feeling companion bot was snuggling him close.

At least she was smiling some again, but it seemed like it could waver if he wasn't careful. Maybe if he told her the lie they'd told the salesman, she'd cheer up even more and maybe even laugh because it was so horribly absurd. Ivan needing a wife, what a joke. "Woult hearink somethink silly cheer you up?"

[Allison Jones]

Cuddling and hugging was really something that Allie wished she were able to do with her owner more. Her purpose was to be someone’s companion and while she was, thankfully, unaware of what companion bots were generally used for, she did know that she wanted to be close to Ivan. It just felt nice and it wasn’t something that she could explain with her programming, so she figured it must be part of the strange glitch that she was now certain she had.

Scooting closer to Ivan, practically sitting on his lap, she was about to protest the fact that Ivan didn’t find himself sweet when her owner suddenly asked if she wanted to hear something silly. Of course! She loved silly things, so she nodded and made herself comfortable by resting her head on Ivan’s shoulder and looking up at him as she waited for him to speak again.

[Ivan Braginsky]

The fact that she'd essentially dropped herself in his lap wasn't exactly... appropriate, but he figured it was just part of her programming again. Maybe if he just ignored it, Ivan could get out of this situation without there being awkward explanations of the fact that he's more or less willingly celibate. With any luck, she had been one of those companion bots that didn't have knowledge of such things programmed in. Some people wanted their companions naive so they could be taught. A lack of knowledge was still advantageous, because then her behaviors wouldn't be motivated for things classified as less than pure.

Oh well, at least she seemed more interested in the idea of listening to a humorous story so he could focus on that. "Well," he started, keeping his voice just above his whisper like normal, "when we bought you, Солнышко, Yonk Soo tolt salesman that we were lookink for replacement for deat wife off mine." He smiled broadly, eyes closing some with amusement. "Was so absurt, especialy since I haff never been marriet~" While it downright hilarious to him, Ivan wasn't sure Allison would find it so funny. Hopefully she'd get a chuckle out of it though.

[Allison Jones]

Allie wasn’t sure if sitting on Ivan’s lap was appropriate or not, however, she didn’t really seem bothered by it. She was comfortable and Ivan wasn’t complaining, so it was no big deal, right? Besides, if Ivan was bothered by this, he would ask her to move and it wasn’t like they were doing anything strange. Especially not that weird thing that humans did in movies with the kissing and getting naked. What exactly was that, anyway? She had a feeling Ivan probably wouldn’t want to answer her questions on that…

Listening to the story, Allie frowned a little bit, wondering why Yong Soo had come up with a story like that. It was sad and made her feel strange to be viewed as a replacement. However, when Ivan assured her that he had never been married before, Allie relaxed ad smiled a little bit up at him. Last least she wasn’t a replacement for a human… “That is kind of silly…”

[Ivan Braginsky]

Ivan hoped that was silly enough to cheer her up, but that probably wasn't. He was terrible with jokes and humor. Things he found funny, not many others did. His humor tended to be finding irony in misery or otherwise less than cheerful, which was something the average person didn't have an appreciation for. He smiled broadly and patted Allison's shoulder. At least she had smiled at his story. That was a good sign... if he could assume that.

He giggled a small bit. "The silly lies Yonk Soo comes up with~" he mused, closing his eyes and looking up towards the ceiling. Sometimes he could hardly believe the excuses that young man came up with for amusement.

(( This post... I apologize for its existence ))

[Allison Jones]

The story wasn’t all that funny, though it did make sense that Yong Soo had come up with it. He was always coming up with strange stories that involved him and Ivan pretending to be different things. Couldn’t Yong Soo tell that Ivan was hers now? Wait, where had that thought come from? Yes, Ivan was her owner but he had never expressed interest in her as anything more than just a bot and yet she couldn’t stop these strange things she was feeling. Maybe she really was glitching…

“He d-does say some silly things…” Allie tried to smile at Ivan, because he was trying his best to cheer her up. However, she was cheering up just from the fact that Ivan was holding her. If they could stay like this, she would be fine in no time.

[Ivan Braginsky]

Ivan, however, was completely unaware of what she was considering a glitch. Instead, his mind was beginning to fill with questions about the beings he'd made. They weren't just... machines anymore, he didn't think. She seemed to be having feelings... that didn't really quite seem simulated, as though she was being genuinely affected by them. Had he gone too far and blurred the line between human and machine to be unrecognizable? Ivan looked down at the bot that had taken up an intimate, if entirely family friendly position on his lap. If it wasn't for that computer in her skull that he himself had worked and that serial code tattoo, he would have mistaken her for a naive young woman.

They were too perfect.

What on Earth had he wrought? Ivan had done his job too well.

It was a little frightening, if he was honest with himself. A slight hollow feeling opened up inside when he thought about it. In the end, though, he guessed, as long as none of them learned that they... weren't always machines, then he could perhaps live with this as it was. Yong Soo, luckily, believed he was the exception to the rule and that all other bots were machines from the get-go. As long as that secret stayed a secret, his own conscience would be his only punishment.

Without really thinking, he hugged Allison tightly against his chest... just to feel another warm being nearby and loved for a short period of time, even if in the back of his mind, he told himself bots could not feel love. Ivan hid his face in the top of her hair.

[Allison Jones]

Drying her eyes, Allie rested her head on Ivan’s chest, sighing softly. If she really was glitching due to her feelings for Ivan, she decided that she would keep quiet about them. It was just… really nice to be able to feel so strongly like this, even though she doubted that Ivan would ever feel the same way about her. Humans weren’t supposed to fall in love with bots, they were supposed to fall in love with other humans and make baby humans and get married. Allie couldn’t get married or make baby humans because she was a bot…

She felt her face turn red when Ivan held her tighter and pressed his face into her hair. Had something upset him? What was she supposed to do if he wasn’t telling her about it? Worried about her owner, Allie gently patted him on the back and let him hold her close, although she really didn’t mind that part at all.

[Ivan Braginsky]

Ivan didn't expect her to reach out and touch him, but she was a companion bot after all so such a capacity surely existed in her programming unless there was a glitch in the conversion process. There shouldn't have been, given that he had other bots cyberizing the newer bots. Mistakes were made by humans, not machines. That was besides the point at the moment, however.

Even if she was not a living entity with a real capacity to love, that he knew of, he'd take all of the affection he could get, having been all but starved of it for so many years. Francis was the only person these days to willingly embrace him, but then again, he'd known Francis since the young man was small so they were family friends. But other than him, the only people who treated him with any sort of affection were Yong Soo and Allison.

Did they even count?

Yong Soo had retained his emotional constructs, preserved to the best of Ivan's ability, but he wondered often if perhaps in doing so, he'd destroyed that which made Yong Soo precious to him. Allison... was a special case. He'd done no work at all to preserve her personality beyond whatever protocol the bot that cyberized her was instructed to do. She was standard, with many quirks leftover from her human self like almost any other bot. Yet her displays of emotion always left him baffled as to their true nature.

It didn't matter though, he thought. Ivan wrapped his arms around her more tightly, not wanting her to suddenly disappear somehow. For now, machine or not, he would accept the care offered to him regardless of how minimal it was.

[Allison Jones]

When Ivan held her tighter, Allie smiled to herself. This was really nice… Yong Soo wasn’t around either, to make fun of her and tell her how she wasn’t human. He was always saying that and trying out different experiments on her. She didn’t like those… but she didn’t want to say no, because Ivan might need the data! And if Ivan needed something, she would do whatever possible to get that for him and make him happy.

After awhile of just relaxing on the couch, she pulled back slightly to look up at Ivan. “Are you hungry…? Or do you want more tea?” Since his last mug had ended up all over the floor, no thanks to her… Plus, it was her job to make sure that Ivan ate, so he wouldn’t get sick.

[Ivan Braginsky]

Ivan hadn't expected her to move, not thinking that bots could be restless. Then again, she was programmed to worry about his welfare so if she thought his welfare or comfort were compromised, she might have done something about it. He shouldn't have been surprised. He looked down at her curiously for a moment, still knowing it was just the way she was wired, but in the back of his mind, he wondered if this was what it was like to have a nagging wife. Yes. Definitely a nagging wife, only one that he was not married to, that was not human, and that he did not sleep with or show romantically-inclined affection to. That would just be silly to do otherwise. Still, she kept an eye on him, when he would probably end up bringing himself to an early grave if left to his own devices.

His stomach mumbled in mild discomfort, reminding him that eating was a good idea. As late as it was in the evening, he realized that he hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast that morning. Someone probably tried to get him to eat lunch, but he couldn't exactly remember. Food was probably a good thing... and he did miss that cup of tea he'd been intent on drinking before thinking he was about to be rightfully assassinated for his crimes.

"Eh... maybe just a little hungry," he admitted, not letting her go even though he would have to if food and tea were to be acquired. Still, letting her up meant risking her suddenly vanishing, if his paranoia was to be believed. Sure, she was a bot, but a very expressive one and a member of his family no less, despite the fact that her humanity had been very literally destroyed. Instead of lending himself to getting up, he just hugged her more tightly.

[Allison Jones]

Allie giggled softly when Ivan’s stomach rumbled. He must be really hungry! When she moved as though to get up, she found herself being pulled closer to Ivan and hugged tightly. She could feel her face turning red and she hid her face in his scarf, thankful that it was right in front of her face. She did not want to try explaining to Ivan why she was turning red. He probably wouldn’t like her answer or believe that a bot could feel something for a human that wasn’t programmed.

Yes, she was programmed to care about Ivan but only as her owner. Instead, to her, it seemed as though she cared about him differently… as though she was one of the girls in the romance movies she watched. Oh, she really wanted to be one of those girls. Maybe Ivan would be able to feel the same way about her as she did about him.

“W-What would you like for dinner?”